These 9 New York Counties Had the Most Hate Crimes

New York State is a melting pot in so many ways. You have New York City which is filled with people of countless different races, nationalities, ethnicities, genders, religions, and sexual orientations. Then you have the rest of the state, where diversity might not be as significant. There are bustling cities in New York State as well as quiet farming communities. There are urban centers and plenty of suburban cities. Of course with all of the diversity, there is bound to be friction. According to New York State's annual hate crime report for 2020 (which is the most recent data),

Hate crime incidents and/or arrests were reported by police departments and sheriffs’ offices in 49 of the state’s 62 counties.

There was a total of 488 hate crimes reported across the state and 187 arrests. The total number of hate crimes reported is most certainly significantly lower since many go unreported.

Of the offenses reported, here's a breakdown of the races of the perpetrators,

White - 104 (47.7%)
Black - 61 (28.0%)
Hispanic - 34 (15.6%)
Asian/Pacific Islander - 5 (2.3%)

The top reasons for the hate crimes were,

4. Anti-Gender - 7 (3.1%)
3. Anti-LGBTQ - 43 incidents (19.3%)
2. Anti-Religion - 54 incidents (24.2%)
1. Anti-Race/Ethnicity/National Origin - 118 incidents (52.9%)

The most common targets of hate crimes in New York were Black and Jewish people and members of the LGBTQ community,

• Anti-Black bias accounted for 59.2 percent (128 of 216) of the incidents involving anti-race/ethnicity/national origin bias and 26.2 percent (128 of 488) of all reported hate crimes.
• In the anti-religion bias category, antiJewish crimes accounted for the overwhelming majority of incidents: 88.3 percent (182 of 206).
• Anti-Jewish crimes accounted for 37.3 percent (182 of 488) of all hate crime incidents.
• Anti-LGBTQ bias accounted for 11.5 percent of all reported hate crimes (56
of 488).

Here are the top 9 counties in New York with the most reported hate crimes:

9. Erie (Buffalo) - 12 incidents and 8 arrests

8. Monroe (Rochester) - 16 incidents and 5 arrests

7. Richmond (Staten Island) - 18 incidents and 7 arrests

6. Bronx (Bronx) - 22 incidents and 17 arrests

5. Nassau (Hempstead) - 28 incidents and 8 arrests

4. Westchester (Yonkers) - 40 incidents and 6 arrests

3. Queens (Queens) - 47 incidents and 18 arrests

2. New York (Manhattan) - 82 incidents and 23 arrests

1. Kings (Brooklyn) - 103 incidents and 34 arrests

While any number of hate crimes is horrible, when you think of the population of New York State, these numbers are relatively low. However, keep in mind the bar to consider an incident a hate crime is pretty high. Aside from the fact that many potential hate crimes often go unreported.

Data provided by the NY Deptartment of Criminal Justice Services

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