Queens pols’ hate crime bill signed by gov
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Governor Kathy Hochul signs recently passed hate crime legislation into law and is joined by the Queens representatives who sponsored it, Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal. Photo by Darren McGee/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By Ryan Schwach
Governor Kathy Hochul took steps to protect New Yorkers against hate crimes this week, allocating $51 million of state funds into safety and security, and also signed a bill from a number of Queens electeds into law.
On Tuesday, Hochul announced the $51 million dollar infusion, the largest of its kind in the history of the state, into programs meant to strengthen the safety and security of community-based organizations.
The governor on Tuesday also signed legislation penned by a number of lawmakers from the World’s Borough that requires colleges to report hate crime data and establish plans for investigating potential hate crimes that occur on school campuses.
“Hate has absolutely no place in our state, and we will continue to do whatever it takes to make sure every New Yorker is safe from baseless violence that stems from prejudice,” Hochul said. “This is a historic investment in the communities that need our help the most, and with these funds, New York’s most at-risk organizations will be able to invest in the security measures they need to stay safe.”
“If you attack one of us, you attack us all — and no one wins a fight against New Yorkers,” she added.
Hochul signed into law the bill sponsored by Queens Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal, which seeks to increase transparency around hate crimes committed on college campuses, and was partially spurred by a hate crime on the Queens College campus in 2022.
An unidentified man repeatedly shouted antisemitic and racist remarks outside of Queens College over the course of a week in September 2022. The incident inspired a pair of Queens lawmakers to pen legislation aimed at increasing hate crime reporting on college campuses. The bill was signed into law by the governor on Tuesday, July 11, 2023. File photo via Stopantisemitism/Twitter
“This new law will help identify and quantify hate on college campuses and allow us to better address the issue,” said Stavisky, who is chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee. “By clearly identifying how these incidents will be reported and tracked, students will now have access to resources for the campuses they call home. College is an opportunity for young people to learn about other cultures and customs. We must counter hate with education and teach a new generation that we accomplish much more together than we do apart.”
Last September, a man stood outside the gates of Queens College and shouted a number of antisemitic and racist comments. Because he was not standing directly on the college’s campus, the Queens school was unable to take much action beyond calling the police, who in turn issued him violations for using a megaphone and parking in the crosswalk.
The incident prompted Stavisky and Rosenthal to push the legislation aimed at updating colleges’ rules and procedures surrounding hate crimes.
“This is an issue that is not going away,” Stavisky said. “There was one particularly troubling incident at Queens College, and in September, we got together at a press conference which Assemblymember Rosenthal and I co-chaired with a number of elected officials, and we said we were going to try to start solving this problem.”
The result of those talks was the bill, which passed 62-0 in the Senate in May, and requires colleges to review their current policies and procedures for educating the campus community about hate crimes, the reporting of hate crimes and assisting victims during hate crime investigations.
The bill also requires colleges that receive state funding, like CUNY and SUNY schools, to modernize their disclosure of hate crimes committed on their campus, and make the statistics available on their website.
“This will not allow colleges to sweep this problem under the rug any longer,” said Rosenthal, who recently announced he would be vacating his Eastern Queens seat for a job at a Jewish non-profit.
“We've seen an alarming rise in hate crimes throughout the country, and unfortunately, New York is not the exception to that,” he added. “Discrimination, antisemitism have begun to seep into our institutions of higher education, leaving students feeling unsafe while they are in school…Our colleges need to take discrimination more seriously and need to be proactive in combating hate on their campuses.”
Rosenthal celebrated the bill’s passage into law this week, noting it may be one of the last times he sees a bill of his signed by the governor.
“As I end my time in government service, I want to publicly thank the governor for signing this bill into law before I leave and I'm truly grateful for that,” he said.
Throughout the borough, hate crimes have gone up in the last two years according to state data. In 2021, there were 106 reported incidents, more than double the previous year. Last year, Queens, the second most populous county in New York, had the third most hate crime incidents of any county, only behind Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Also announced Tuesday was the new funds for nonprofits, which will be used to better help protect the organizations against hate attacks.
The $51 million is the largest ever dolled out through the Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes Grant, which was created in 2017.
The community organizations include civic centers, cultural museums and day care centers, which could be at a particular risk due to their beliefs.The funding can be used to enhance brick and mortar protections, like locks, alarms, fencing and other security measures.
For the first time, the funding can also be used to enhance online safety measures as well, with 187 of the now-funded projects related to cybersecurity to protect against digital attacks.
“In the face of disgusting vitriol and violence, I want to be clear – we are not afraid," Hochul said.
