Res. No. 487

Resolution recognizing April 29 as End Jew Hatred Day annually in the City of New York.

By Council Members Vernikov, Yeger, Menin, Gennaro, Richardson Jordan, Dinowitz, Holden, Lee, Louis, Carr, Ariola, Borelli, Kagan and Paladino

                     Whereas, The Anti-Defamation League’s 2021 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents reported that a record high of 2,717 anti-Jewish acts had occurred in the United States (U.S.); and

Whereas, These 2,717 incidents averaged out to more than seven incidents per day, representing a 34 percent increase in acts of harassment, vandalism, and assault since 2020; and

                     Whereas, In 2021, the Anti-Defamation League noted that these 2,717 anti-Semitic incidents had occurred in all 50 states and was the highest number on record since the Anti-Defamation League began recording reports of such incidents in 1979; and

Whereas, The Anti-Defamation League found the highest number of incidents in 2021 to have taken place in New York State, which reported 416 such incidents, followed by New Jersey State, which reported 370 such incidents; and

                     Whereas, In 2021, 51 anti-Jewish assaults were recorded in New York City (NYC), representing a 325 percent increase over the previous year; and

                     Whereas, According to Americans Against Antisemitism, 194 cases of anti-Jewish hate crime assaults occurred in NYC between April 2018 and August 2022; and

                      Whereas, According to Americans Against Antisemitism, 94 percent of anti-Jewish assaults targeted Jews who were dressed in religiously identifiable attire; and

Whereas, In 2021, there were more assaults on Jews in Brooklyn than anywhere else in America; and

Whereas, End Jew Hatred is a global network of grassroots, non-partisan civil rights activists and supporters dedicated to promoting justice for the Jewish people by taking action to raise awareness against the growing threat of hate crimes and antisemitism; and

                     Whereas, According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Judaism is the second-largest religion practiced in NYC, with an estimated 1.6 million Jews comprising approximately 18 percent of NYC’s population; and

                     Whereas, According to the U.S. Census, while nearly half of NYC’s Jews live in the borough of Brooklyn, the Jewish community within the five boroughs of NYC represents the largest Jewish community of any city in the world and is greater than the combined totals of Jews living in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; and

Whereas, An End Jew Hatred Day proclamation was signed into law in New York State on April 29, 2022, by New York State Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick; and

Whereas, The Nassau County Legislature declared that End Jew Hatred Day will be recognized annually on April 29; and

Whereas, In October 2022, local and State elected officials and Jewish community leaders gathered at the Center for Jewish History in Manhattan to proclaim that End Jew Hatred Day in NYC should be recognized annually on April 29; now, therefore be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York recognizes April 29 annually as End Jew Hatred Day in the City of New York.

LS 8992

CD

1/23/23