Hate crimes across New York state surged to their highest level in years in 2023, according to a report released Wednesday by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli. 

According to the report, there were a total of 1,089 hate crime incidents statewide last year, marking the highest number since the Hate Crimes Act of 2000 mandated data collection.

Of the 1,089 incidents, 669, or 61.4%, were reported in New York City, while 420 were reported throughout the rest of the state, according to the report.

Hate crime incidents reported in New York City increased by 59.3% between 2019 and 2023, and the rest of the state saw an even sharper increase of 87.5% during that time, the report said. 

The nature of those crimes is also shifting, according to the report.

“As the number of hate crimes has grown, these crimes are increasingly targeting people rather than property, with most attacks against Jewish, Black and gay male New Yorkers,” the report said. “While both hate crimes against persons and against property have risen since 2018, the number of hate crimes involving an assault against a person has been increasing more rapidly, overtaking property crimes as the predominant type beginning in 2021.”

According to the report, Jewish New Yorkers in particular have been disproportionately targeted, with 65% of all felony hate crime incidents reported in New York City in 2023 involving an anti-Jewish bias. 

Seventy-two of the 669 hate crime incidents reported in New York City in 2023 were felony assaults, and nearly half of them were motivated by anti-Jewish or anti-gay male bias, the report said. 

The report also identified first-degree aggravated harassment — a felony which includes actions such as painting hate symbols or damaging religious property — as the most common offense in New York City last year. Of the 145 incidents reported in the category in the city, 131 were driven by anti-Jewish bias, according to the report.

The city also saw 127 incidents of hate-crime assault in the third degree and 108 incidents of hate-crime aggravated harassment in the second degree last year, the report said. 

“These incidents were predominantly motivated by anti-gay male, anti-Jewish, anti-Asian, and anti-Black biases,” according to the report. 
The report said the state has taken steps to tackle the rise in hate crimes, including implementing enhanced reporting mechanisms and expanding the list of criminal acts eligible for hate crime prosecution. 

“The state budget also increased state-supported grant funding to nonprofit organizations to improve security and support services for communities at risk of hate crimes,” the report said. 

The report said those efforts “recognize the severity of this issue,” but added that “more must be done to prevent the prejudice and biases that motivate these crimes from taking root.”

“The fight against hate crimes requires community, faith and political leaders willing to take an active role in denouncing hate, investing in reporting, prevention and protection, and enhancing educational efforts that center on celebrating diversity as a strength,” it said.