Queens officials are stepping up their response to rising anti-Semitism, with District Attorney Melinda Katz, Congresswoman Grace Meng, Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi, and City Councilwoman Lynn Schulman outlining new efforts after visiting Congregation Machane Chodosh in Forest Hills multiple times following the May 5 Nazi graffiti attack. More Nazi graffiti hit Forest Park and Highland Park on Sunday, May 10.
DA Katz urged organizations to take advantage of the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes Grant to improve security through panic buttons, shatter-proof glass, locks, and alarms.
“The troubling rise in anti-Semitic incidents demands urgent action, and we are working closely with our partners at the NYPD to identify those responsible for the recent vandalism. My office stands with every community affected by hate, and we will not allow fear to take hold,” said Katz.
According to the NYPD, anti-Semitic incidents accounted for 57% of reported hate crimes in 2025, even though Jews make up only about 10% of the population in New York City. Jewish New Yorkers were the targets of hate crimes more often than all other groups combined.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin’s multi-pronged plans include:
Establishing a hate crime hotline for the public to report incidents.
Requiring the NYPD to report on the status of hate crime cases.
Building upon an existing program for private schools to be reimbursed for security guards.
Designating an agency or office to create emergency plans for religious institutions, in consultation with New York City Emergency Management and the NYPD.
Requiring police to submit a plan to establish security perimeters at educational facilities and places of religious worship.
Distributing age-appropriate materials to middle and high school students regarding the risks and dangers associated with social media for youth.
Expanding Holocaust education for tens of thousands of students citywide by continuing a public-private partnership created in 2024 to send all eighth-grade public and charter school students to the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
“As the first Jewish Speaker of the City Council, and as the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, this effort is deeply personal to me,” Menin said. “These bills and our new task force will help protect New Yorkers and ensure that hate, harassment, and intimidation are never normalized in our city.”
City Councilwoman Lynn Schulman said in a statement: “The continued rise in attacks against Jewish New Yorkers is unacceptable and has reached a critical point. We cannot and will not accept this as normal.” Schulman is urging the City Council to pass Speaker Menin’s proposals.
Congresswoman Grace Meng is Co-Chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism, and she noted that she is the top Democrat responsible for funding federal law enforcement resource programs. Meng helped secure $300 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, allowing synagogues, yeshivos, and Jewish community centers “to better protect their properties from threats and attacks, including money for local facilities in Queens.”
Meng also introduced the bipartisan “Pray Safe Act,” creating a centralized hub for houses of worship, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations to access grants and other security resources more easily.
Additionally, Meng supports legislation strengthening the enforcement and reporting of violations of students’ civil rights on campus. “People can disagree with the actions of foreign governments and exercise their First Amendment rights,” Meng said. “But for anyone who seeks to justify hate, harassment, vandalism, and terrorism by citing the actions of a foreign government – that is scapegoating, and it’s wrong. The tidal wave of anti-Semitism in New York and across the globe is unacceptable, despicable, shameful, and disgusting. This hatred has no place in Queens or anywhere in our society. In fact, we must do everything possible to eradicate this evil whenever and wherever it occurs, and in any form that it takes.”
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi is focusing on helping religious schools pay for security. The Nonpublic School Safety Equipment Grant (NPSE) currently has $70 million available, benefiting more than 1,400 schools and 400,000 students. Assemblyman Hevesi also recently signed onto his colleague Micah Lasher’s bill to establish buffer zones to prevent places of worship from being unfairly targeted.
“Overall, any and all anti-Semitism comes from a place of pure ignorance – specifically ignoring the massive contributions our Jewish community has made in our neighborhoods and to our very foundations,” Hevesi said. His district has many Jewish-affiliated organizations that regularly serve thousands of people regardless of faith, not to mention the millions more New Yorkers helped across the state.
Rabbi Yossi Mendelson of Congregation Machane Chodosh expressed gratitude that funding for guards at Jewish institutions will be available, but he also called for a spiritual response: Torah, T’filah, and G’milus Chasadim. “These things define us,” he noted, “in contrast to the types of people who sprayed the graffiti – they are defined by what they oppose.”
By David Schneier