Hate crimes skyrocket in New York so far in 2021

This is the destruction in Gaza after Israel attacks 1:34

(CNN) -

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is stepping up its presence in New York City's Jewish communities following two hate-related incidents in Brooklyn's Borough Park neighborhood during over the weekend, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday.

Around 7:45 pm on Saturday, two teenagers, ages 18 and 17, were approached by two men who "demanded the victims to repeat anti-Jewish statements," the New York Police said in a statement Sunday.

When the victims, who are Jewish, refused, the attackers began punching them in the head and one of the men gave the 17-year-old a "choke hold," the New York Police said, adding that one of the men the attackers also chased the victims while "brandishing a baseball bat."

The alleged attackers then fled in a blue Toyota Camry, according to police.

At the same time, three male occupants of a blue Toyota Camry began "shouting anti-Jewish statements" at four male victims, who are Jewish, in front of a nearby synagogue, New York Police said.

After the four men got into the synagogue and closed the door, two of the three men got out of their car, knocked on the main door of the synagogue and kicked the side mirror of a nearby car and then fled, the department said in your statement.

The New York Police Department tweeted that the three men are wanted for aggravated harassment.

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'It must be stopped'

As the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force investigates the two incidents, police said they believe the perpetrators of both cases are the same, a department spokesman told CNN.

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Mayor de Blasio met with Jewish leaders in Borough Park on Sunday afternoon.

“We will end anti-Semitism wherever we find it.

It is unacceptable.

This is a city that is for everyone, and whoever perpetrates an act of bias and prejudice will be found, "de Blasio told reporters after the meeting.

"The record of the NYPD is very clear."

The incidents on Saturday night show that you have to keep working, de Blasio said.

“There is a stain of anti-Semitism that still lurks in this city, in this country, around the world.

It has been here for thousands of years and every time people try to say that it has disappeared, it has not disappeared.

Anti-Semitism is too alive.

It must be stopped.

The department's response will include the deployment of "critical response command officers" and having officers drive with their turret lights on to deter any potential attacker, New York Police Department Chief Rodney Harrison said during the conference. press with the mayor.

They are not isolated incidents

These incidents were among those across the United States last week, when tensions over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict flared amid violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

On Thursday, Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza agreed to a ceasefire, after more than a week of conflict that left hundreds dead, most of them Palestinians.

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On Thursday, in New York's Time Square, a man was detained after a 29-year-old Jew was beaten, kicked and pepper sprayed, a New York Police Department source told CNN.

"I unequivocally condemn these brutal attacks on New Yorkers who are clearly Jewish and we will not tolerate violent anti-Semitic harassment and intimidation by gangs," Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday.

"People of all faiths, origins and ethnicities must be able to walk the streets safely and free from harassment and violence."

Hate crimes reported to NYPD currently stand at 191 so far this year across the city, an increase of nearly 71% compared to the same time in 2020, according to the statistics portal. NYPD criminals.

- CNN's Dakin Andone, Cheri Mossburg, Nicole Chavez, Brynn Gingras and Kristina Sgueglia contributed to this report.

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