Hate crimes overall, and antisemitism in particular, was down in April compared to prior years, even though Jew-hatred rose in the earlier part of the year, Jessica Tisch, commissioner of the New York City Police Department, told attendees of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council annual legislative brunch at Congregation Anshei Lubavitch in Brooklyn on Sunday.

“Since Oct. 7, 2023, the NYPD has dealt with thousands of protests, many of them aimed at our Jewish community,” Tisch said. “You have been the target of some of the most vile and detestable rhetoric that I have heard. Under the First Amendment, we cannot and we don’t police speech, no matter how offensive, but we will never tolerate threats, harassment or violence.”

Jews make up some 10% of city residents, face more than half of all hate crimes, according to Tisch.

“We understand what that means for families, for houses of worship and for communities like this one,” she said. “That’s why the NYPD is relentless in investigating every complaint and confronting hate in any form, led by our hate crimes task force, the premier unit of its kind in the nation.”

“After a rise to start 2026, we are now down this year, so far, in both antisemitic and overall hate crimes year-to-date,” she said. “These crimes tear the fabric of society through both the acts themselves and the underlying hatred that seeks to divide us.”

According to NYPD CompStat data from April 1 to 26, the city recorded 39 hate crimes, and 183 hate crimes in the city since Jan. 1—down 7.1% from the 197 in the same span in 2025. It wasn’t clear if the 2026 data included reported but not confirmed hate crimes, as the NYPD has twice changed the way it reports hate crimes this year, after the city recorded a 182% increase in Jew-hatred in the first month of Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral term.]

NYPD reported 76 hate crimes in the city in April 2025, up 31% over the prior year (58). Of the 76 hate crimes, 41 (54%) targeted Jews, a 41% increase over the prior year, when there were 29 anti-Jewish hate crimes.

The NYPD hate crimes dashboard hasn’t yet updated with data from April.

Tisch told attendees that the impact of Oct. 7 has been “magnified by rising tensions amid the war in Iran. The threat of international and domestic terrorism, including threats aimed at Jewish communities around the world, has put us all in a state of ongoing, heightened alert.”

“In fact, I have not seen a threat environment quite like this one in my 18-plus years in government, which started in counter terrorism work,” she said. “Rhetoric has shifted from outrage to incitement. Slogans are becoming direct calls for violence, and when people are already on the edge, they only need a spark.”

“It is our job to snuff out these sparks before they catch,” she added.

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