Antisemitic graffiti reading “The only good Zionist is a dead one” was reported in the New York City subway on Saturday, according to advocates documenting incidents through the Report It Now app.
Antisemitic incidents accounted for 57 percent of all reported hate crimes in New York City in 2025—330 of 576 suspected hate crimes—despite Jews comprising only about 10 percent of the city’s population. This represented a suspected anti-Jewish incident every 26 hours.
The problem has only grown in 2026. Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 182 percent in January 2026 compared to January 2025, while overall hate crimes increased 152 percent over the same period. In the first quarter of 2026, 55 percent of all confirmed hate crimes in the city—78 of 143 incidents—were antisemitic.
A UJA-Federation of New York survey found that nearly half of Jewish adults in the New York area fear for their safety as Jews when attending specific places or events at least some of the time, and among those concerned about safety, 44 percent said this fear keeps them from attending. ADL
College campuses have become epicenters of antisemitic activity since October 7, 2023, with 191 antisemitic incidents recorded by the ADL on NYC campuses in 2024—one-fifth of all incidents citywide. Columbia University, with 53 incidents, reported the most of any university in the country. ADL
The incidents span from physical violence to property destruction. Vandalism has included messages such as “Kill Jews,” “Crush Zionism,” and “Burn Zionism to the ground,” while some protesters have called Jewish students “Stupid [expletive] Zionists” and “Jewish Nazis.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that “antisemitic incidents still accounted for 330 cases, representing 57 percent of all hate crimes reported in New York City, despite Jewish New Yorkers making up roughly 10 percent of the city’s population,” adding that “these numbers remain far too high, and antisemitism continues to be the most persistent hate threat that we face.”
The NYPD is expected to release April hate crime statistics this week.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
