Antisemitic hate crimes have skyrocketed by 45% this year, according to police data obtained by The Post Wednesday — as the NYPD said they’ll increase patrols at synagogues for Passover.
So far in 2024, 96 anti-Jewish incidents have been reported across the Big Apple, compared to 66 for the same time period last year, according to the police department statistics.
The troubling numbers account for antisemitic crimes occurring from Jan. 1 through April 14 — months after Hamas’ surprise attack against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“The terror attacks on October 7th changed the public safety landscape, and we’re still feeling the ripple effects of that terrible day,” Police Commissioner Edward Caban said Wednesday at a pre-Passover security briefing.
Among the attacks was the Feb. 11 assault where maniac Obadiah Lashley allegedly seethed “dirty Jew” before bashing a 25-year-old man in the head with a baseball bat on Staten Island, according to police.
Lashley, 29, who police said was a stranger to the victim, then ran off.
He was later collared and charged with hate crime/assault, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, aggravated harassment and menacing.
Two weeks earlier, a hate-filled creep ripped off 42-year-old David Kent’s yarmulke and threw it on an Upper West Side street, according to police and video.
“Fake Jew” and “f—-t!” Kevin Dunlop, 28, allegedly yelled before grabbing Kent’s kippah.
Dunlop — who was caught by police with a gravity knife on a keychain — was charged with criminal mischief involving a hate crime and criminal possession of a weapon.
On Wednesday, Caban said cops will patrol synagogues during events and services when Passover begins next week.
“Jews who display openly overt signs of their Jewishness shouldn’t have to feel insecure, anxious, and apprehensive,” Rabbi Alvin Kass, the chief chaplain of the NYPD, also said during Wednesday’s briefing.
“It’s hard to think that after so many thousands of years antisemitism is still alive and well,” he added.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore
