Gaza Hate playing on the Great White Way

This Sunday, October 8th, 2023, was the twenty-third Anniversary of the attempted arson of the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale. This was the first case to be tried under the newly minted New York State Hate Crime Law. I was part of the investigative team that arrested four young men who attempted to set fire to this synagogue. These terrorist made Molotov cocktails and attacked a synagogue on the eve of Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar.

Twenty-three years later, we have the terrorist attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip. The resulting attacks have raised the likelihood of more Anti-Semitic attacks occurring in New York City. I watched news coverage of a Pro-Palestinian rally in New York's Times Square. Twenty-three years ago, a similar Anti-Israel rally motivated the four young men to go home and plan the fire bombing in Riverdale. These four young men previously had little or no criminal records. However, they had the embers of their hatred stoked by the crowd and, while not necessarily radicalized, certainly motivated to take action.

This was sadly not my first or last investigation of a synagogue or group of synagogues being targeted by arsonists. I have investigated numerous arsons of religious institutions. These arsons have occurred in churches, mosques, and synagogues alike. However, the lion's share of these crimes has been and continues to be the Jewish communities.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, hate crimes against the Jewish community in New York City have risen thirty-nine precent this year. I am saddened and disappointed to see my city continue to import the hatred as well as the violence. The last few years have been filled with media accounts of Jews in New York being openly assaulted without fear of consequence.

New York City houses the United Nations and numerous Foreign Embassies. People from all over the world come to live, work and raise families in the great melting pot of New York. We are a city comprised of diverse faiths, cultures, and attitudes. We need to come together as New Yorkers to prevent the violence and hatred in Gaza become part of the "beautiful mosaic that is New York City.