By Bob Tannenhauser
On Monday, the New York Police Department released the citywide crime statistics for the month of November, 2022, with a comparison to November, 2021. While the “overall index crime [sic] in New York City decreased by 1.2% in November 2022 compared with November 2021,” according to the report, there was a 70% increase in the number of reported hate-crime incidents. The Rag did a deeper dive into the available data to determine how the hate-crime rise played out on the Upper West Side.
The first two charts below present the data for the city as a whole, followed by the reported incidents for the Upper West Side (20th and 24th precincts), sorted by bias motivation.
The data reflects a steady rise in overall hate crimes in the city, except for a decline during the height of the pandemic in 2020. There was a clear spike in Anti-Asian hate crimes following the pandemic. Anti-Jewish hate crimes, which were trending upward prior to the pandemic, also continued to rise following a pandemic dip.
New York City
| Bias Motivation | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022* Thru November |
| Anti-Arab | 18 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Anti-Asian | 6 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 131 | 68 |
| Anti-Black | 34 | 45 | 36 | 41 | 38 | 49 |
| Anti-Catholic | 7 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 6 |
| Anti- LGBTQ | 59 | 51 | 66 | 43 | 100 | 77 |
| Anti-Hispanic | 7 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 16 |
| Anti-Islamic | 14 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 17 |
| Anti-Jewish | 151 | 186 | 242 | 116 | 198 | 243 |
| Anti-White | 9 | 19 | 28 | 10 | 18 | 12 |
| Other | 20 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 49 |
| Total | 325 | 353 | 420 | 265 | 524 | 537 |
Upper West Side
| Bias Motivation | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022*
Thru September |
| Anti-Arab | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anti-Asian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Anti-Black | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Anti-Catholic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Anti-LGBTQ | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Anti-Hispanic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anti-Islamic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Anti-Jewish | 7 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 7 |
| Anti-White | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 13 | 24 | 10 | 7 | 15 | 19 |
Overall, year to date, crime reported on the Upper West Side has increased in the seven major crimes categories, from 2,009 incidents in 2021, to 2,266 thru 12/4/2022. Petit larceny increased from 2,372 incidents in 2021, to 2,892 in 2022 through 12/4/2022. The following chart reflects the individual crime incidents for the 20th precinct and the 24th precinct.
| CRIME | Pct | 2021 incidents | 2022 Incidents | PERCENT CHANGE |
| Murder | 20th | 0 | 0 | 0%- |
| 24th | 1 | 1 | 0% | |
| Rape | 20th | 6 | 12 | +100% |
| 24th | 14 | 9 | -35.7% | |
| Robbery | 20th | 106 | 110 | +3.8%% |
| 24th | 134 | 146 | +9% | |
| Felony Assault | 20th | 76 | 98 | +28.9% |
| 24th | 171 | 174 | +1.8% | |
| Burglary | 20th | 75 | 127 | +69.3% |
| 24th | 126 | 170 | +34.9% | |
| Grand Larceny | 20th | 688 | 778 | +13.1% |
| 24th | 445 | 491 | +10.3% | |
| Grand Larceny Auto | 20th | 83 | 69 | -16.9% |
| 24th | 84 | 81 | -3.65% | |
| Petit Larceny | 20th | 1,185 | 1,736 | +46.5% |
| 24th | 1,187 | 1,156 | -2.6% | |
| Misdemeanor Assault | 20th | 181 | 208 | +14.9% |
| 24th | 253 | 285 | ++12.6% |
Interesting data. And very alarming. 2 questions.
1. How/why do they differentiate between Arab/Islam? I know not all Arabs are Muslims, but isn’t that why they are targeted?
2. How specifically are Catholics targeted? I mean, unless you actually see someone leaving a Catholic Church, how can anyone tell they are Catholic?
Churches and statues are attacked all the time.
In accordance with the New York State Penal Law, the New York City Police Department uses the following guideline to identify hate crime and bias incidents: “A bias incident is any offense or unlawful act that is motivated in whole or substantial part by a person’s, a group’s or a place’s identification with a particular race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, ancestry, national origin, or sexual orientation (including gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender) as determined by the commanding officer of the Hate Crime Task Force.”
There have been a lot of knockout punches targeted at white elderly individuals. Should that be considered a hate crime?
If elderly people are hit by a “sucker punch” or with a baseball bat over the head, they care little about how the violence is classified.
Yes. If the crime, typically one that involves violence, is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc., then it’s a hate crime.
yes! . . . a person’s, a group’s or a place’s identification with a particular race, color, religion, ethnicity, gender, age, disability, ancestry, national origin, or sexual orientation
Perhaps that depends on who’s running the city, and the Police Department?
Even tho the law spells out what constitutes a hate or bias crime it is very subjective. And if the person is apprehended the DA has the ability to reduce the charges to plain assault or charge it as a misdemeanor
I am hoping nothing will increase because of the nonstop Kanye West outbursts.
Thanks to Trump and Kanye hate speech has risen through the roof.
Sadly NYC has turned into a tinderbox. One day the chinese are neighbours, the next day carriers of disease and personal representatives of Communist China seeking world domination. This anger jumps from one minority group to the next. No one knows whos next.
But the perpetrators are always the same: miserable people who have miserable lives and since they won’t blame themselves for their miserable situations, they blame someone else. When is modern science going to realize this. No one really addresses the source of the issues.
Can’t agree more.
Some people are just waiting to blame someone for their own and sometimes other people’s misery. This is not out of concern for other people. They are not doing anything to help the situation. They are angry and are looking for an excuse, real or perceived, to show their outrage. In all possible forms including violence.