The one where the Brooklyn DA testified alone on rising anti-Semitic hate crimes

At the inaugural hearing of the City Council’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, the most consequential moment wasn’t a vote—it was the absence of four out of five district attorneys. Only Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez appeared in person, testifying before a packed room while his counterparts from Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island sent written statements. The hearing, co-chaired by Councilmembers Ina Vernikov and Eric Dinowitz, spotlighted a grim reality: anti-Jewish hate crimes made up over half of all suspected hate crimes in NYC in early 2026, despite Jews comprising just 10% of the population. The NYPD confirmed that in Brooklyn alone, 62% of hate crimes in 2025 targeted Jews—numbers that DA Gonzalez called “alarming and unacceptable.”

The hearing laid bare systemic gaps in tracking and prosecuting hate crimes. Deputy Commissioner Michael Gerber explained that while the NYPD rigorously tracks confirmed hate crimes—those proven in court with evidence of bias motivation—it only recently began releasing data on *reported* hate crimes, which include incidents flagged by victims or community groups but not yet verified. This change, ordered by Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, marks a shift toward greater transparency. But critics, including Councilmember Vernikov, pushed back on past inconsistencies, like the discontinued use of an informal “hodgepodge” dataset that mixed unverified reports with confirmed crimes. The NYPD acknowledged it should have communicated the changes better. Assistant Chief Andrew Arias, the department’s point person on hate crime data, fielded questions but deferred to Gerber on legal thresholds—highlighting the difficulty of proving motive, a unique burden in hate crime prosecutions.

Community testimony painted a harrowing picture. Councilmember Dinowitz cited incidents involving children: a man shouting “I’m gonna kill the Jews” while driving through a Brooklyn yeshiva’s lawn, a Jewish woman sexually harassed with anti-Semitic slurs, and a child on a Bronx bus told, “You best not be a effing Jew.” He noted that 23% of anti-Jewish incidents in Brooklyn since 2023 occurred in places frequented by children. The DA’s office responded by emphasizing its standalone hate crime bureau—created before city funding existed—and its work with groups like the ADL, Hatzalah, and Chabad. But Gonzalez made clear that Brooklyn’s bureau remains unfunded by the city, unlike counterparts in other boroughs. He called for dedicated resources, arguing that even without funding, his office will continue prosecuting hate crimes aggressively.

The practical impact is clear: residents, especially in Jewish communities, are being urged to report every incident, even if it doesn’t lead to prosecution. The NYPD and DA’s offices say reporting helps track patterns and allocate resources. But the real takeaway is political: with hate crimes rising and institutional trust fraying, this task force is now the city’s most visible effort to confront anti-Semitism head-on. Residents should watch for monthly data releases on both confirmed and reported hate crimes, and developers, schools, and houses of worship in high-density Jewish areas—from Borough Park to Williamsburg—should expect heightened police coordination. The message from the DA and Council is unified: silence enables hate. Reporting, transparency, and accountability are the first steps toward stopping it.