Williamsburg Chosen for Neighborhood Safety Coalition to Combat Hate Crimes

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the creation of neighborhood-oriented groups to help counteract the rise in hate crimes in New York City.

Three Neighborhood Safety Coalitions will operate in Williamsburg, Crown Heights, and Borough Park and will be overseen by de Blasio’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes that was launched last year.

Each NSC will be comprised of local leaders from approximately “24 community religious congregations, local organizations, tenant associations, community boards, businesses, and schools from of the three each neighborhoods,” according to the press release from the Mayor’s office.

With an initial budget of $200,000 each from the city, coalitions will start meeting in February and will take a page from other anti-violence programs in the city while engaging their communities with talks at schools and at local organization.

“NSC coupled with all levels of government dedicating the appropriate resources will enable us to stabilize the crisis of hate crimes that keeps sinking into our streets,”said Rabbi David Niederman, President of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg.

According to NYPD stats, hate crimes jumped by more than 19% in 2019 compared to 2018, with 423 hate crimes reported in NYC last year.