New York officials say measures being done vs hate crimes

NEW YORK – The city government of New York has given assurance that measures are being taken to combat hate crimes and discrimination against minorities, including Filipinos.

Jasper Diaz, legislative representative of the mayor’s office, said the administration of Mayor Eric Adams is inclusive and would serve everyone in the city regardless of immigration status.

“We continue to stand strong to fight discrimination and hate crimes, and it’s a multiagency effort. There’s a lot we are doing from the legal side to multiagency cooperation that I have mentioned,” Diaz told visiting journalists here last Tuesday.

“We are seeing results but there’s still more to be done and we’re going to continue to work hard for our community,” he added.

Hannah Yu, chief of the hate crimes unit of the New York City district attorney’s office, said all cases involving hate crimes are being taken seriously.

“We leave no stone unturned in terms of investigating the motive behind the hate crimes,” Yu said.

On Monday, two Filipinos who were assaulted in 2021 lamented that their cases have not been resolved.

Yu said there are impediments that could affect the disposition of cases involving possible hate crimes.

“If the perpetrator is not identified, there is not much we can do. Second impediment is if we are bound by the law,” she said.

“Some crimes happened when there is no video and if the perpetrator can not be identified, that will lead to closed investigation. That’s one of the impediments,” she added.

Yu said about a third or 33 percent of her unit’s caseloads are anti-Asian hate crimes.

“That has remained the same as last year. We haven’t seen an increase in anti- Asian hate crimes compared to last year. It has remained consistent in the largest category of our pending cases,” Diaz said.

However, the number of cases recorded by the city government this year surpassed the total figure in 2021.

“Year to date, we have more cases than 2021 and we haven’t finished the year,” Yu said.

She said the pending hate crimes in Manhattan are physical assault or assault with a weapon, coughing or spitting, verbal or physical threats, stalking or following, theft or damage to property, vandalism or graffiti and murder or attempted murder.

A recent report by advocacy group Stop AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) Hate showed more than 11,400 hate incidents against Asian-Americans have been recorded in the US between March 2020 and March 2022.