September 8, 2026
GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL: Well, first of all I want to say with Rosh Hashanah being just a few days away — let me start with Shana Tovah and wish all of you a very sweet and Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a relaxing Labor Day. Those of us who marched yesterday, our feet are a little bit sore. I probably shook 10,000 hands and every police officer, so I hope I didn’t give anybody a cold or anything. It was great to be celebrating with the communities in Brooklyn yesterday. But also I want to acknowledge the people who’ve been working so hard to keep us safe, the people that you don’t see, the ones who are doing all the planning and the strategic thinking to anticipate any threats that could harm people who gather in places like the parades we just had, the West Indian Day Parade, or to gather to observe religious observances. And I want to thank Superintendent Steven James for all he has done, and let’s give a round of applause to our State Police.
They have been so vigilant, so on top of the situation, executing my priorities that we need to do everything we can with all of our resources to keep communities safe especially this time of year. I want to thank Sydney Altfield as well, the CEO of the Teach coalition, who’s been a real driving force behind many of the changes and reforms we see as well. Thank her and all my partners in state and local government who are here today and our faith and community leaders who have joined us, including members of my interfaith council. We just had a big conference the other day, and it was very, very successful, and I thank everybody for being involved in that.
I mentioned the tireless work of the men and women in law enforcement, I give them so much credit. We are now seeing historic lows in crime rates across the state, and especially true right here in New York City, where just last week NYPD announced that Major Crimes were down another six percent in August from a year ago, and last year they were setting records as being low. So this is the continuation of a trend — the exact opposite of when I first became Governor five years ago and the trend line was just going up and up and up and no one ever knew when it was going to stop. Not only has it stopped going up, not only has it not plateaued — It has now been going down in a significant way, and we’re really proud of that. So in fact, this was just the safest summer on record for gun violence.
And we’ve invested heavily — I want to thank my partners in the state government, particularly with our Liz Krueger — who had had her hands on the pot a lot at the time as our finance chair. And I want to thank her and other other representatives here for making sure that we had the funding necessary. We spent over $4 billion in law enforcement — $4 billion to keep communities safe. And the latest statistics show that these efforts are working. But we’re never going to say mission accomplished as long as hate crimes continue to rise, which they exactly are — our work is not done. Every one of these crimes is a tragedy that tears at the heart and the fabric of who we all are as New Yorkers. And I’ve said it before and I’ll never stop saying it. Hate has no place in our great State. It just does not belong here, It is not who we are and we must condemn it in every single form that it takes.
But the reality is — thank you. The sad reality is that hate crimes are on the rise, and more than half of those crimes are targeted against Jewish New Yorkers. Half of all the crimes are being committed against Jewish New Yorkers. As I said at Central Synagogue just two weeks ago, “There has been more Anti-Semitism and overt hatred levied against the people of Jewish faith that we can remember in recent history.” And yet as I said, “I’m so impressed that people remain joyful and living out the words of the Torah every day despite the adversity they face.” But that’s one of the reasons I’m so proud to be not just a protector, but an ally and friend to the Jewish people of New York State and proud that we have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. That is a significant statistic to me, but if it was only five people — my job was to protect them. So this is what I want to convey here today.
I’m in awe of the resilience and the willingness to continue going back into places that have been threatened that are sometimes frightening, because that is what has defined the Jewish people throughout its history — that sense of strength and resilience. But the threats against them are real. And just yesterday I was walking the streets of Kew Gardens Hills and heard about really hateful Anti-Semitic messages — David Weprin was with me, I thank him for joining us. People were talking about words I cannot say here about the Jews spray painted on stop signs and in storefronts and places where I cannot imagine being a parent having to walk my child in front of that stop sign on the way to school — that just tears at you, that tears at you. And you just say, “how do you explain that to a child about what this is saying about who they are?”
And it just has to stop, it has to stop. And that’s why when I first became Governor, I worked so hard to make hate crimes subject to arrest instead of just a desk appearance ticket where you could just commit a crime, walk in the door, walk back out and do it again the next day — and that’s exactly what was happening. So now we made Hate Crimes bail eligible. That’s important, that had been taken away and now it’s back. But think about just in the last few months, a Jewish man who had left a synagogue on the Upper West Side was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver. And I hate to repeat that, because it just evokes that sense of fear that people have that they should never have. But this was real and a Shabbat service at Central Synagogue just a block from where we had been, was interrupted from a violent intruder and numerous Synagogues and Yeshivas defaced with vile messages. And as we know the most sacred period of the Hebrew calendar gets underway in a few short days.
So this is always a time of anxiety, concern and now I would say it’s been ratcheted up, absolutely ratcheted up — I hear it directly. And at a time when millions of New Yorkers and communities across the State will welcome the New Year with the High Holidays, this is a deeply meaningful time. It’s a special time, it’s when families get together. They’re out shopping, I saw them out shopping yesterday at Wasserman’s. Everybody’s out buying their wonderful food, and it’s a time of reflection, it’s a time of prayer and I want to take this opportunity just to say what I can say. As we look forward to the start of the year 5787 on the Hebrew calendar, I wanted you to know directly from me as your Governor what steps we are taking – what additional steps we’re taking to keep people safe, and that’s why I’m proud today to announce $70 million in grant funding being distributed to our Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program. I will say this, this is triple the amount it was when I first became Governor five years ago, because it’s a statement of our priorities, our values.
Money says something to a community, that we understand what they’re going through. and they don’t necessarily have the resources to do this and we’re there to provide it. These grants will start going out this week with them for very important security projects.
Nearly 300 organizations will be funded, helping those who are most at risk who have applied. The funding will allow them to fortify their buildings with advanced cameras and alarm systems, provide more training for their security staff and enhance their cyber security efforts. And actually as I’m saying this, it really makes me sad to have to say that. We shouldn’t have to do this. We should never have to be thinking that these places of worship and places children go to school have to be fortified against hate. And I pray that this time will pass, that at some point the fever will break. People will understand these are people who came here, many times they themselves, their parents, their grandparents are escaping atrocities across the world. Come here for that place to live, to worship, to raise their families with what every New Yorker and every American deserves — that sense of security.
But until such time, until such time, and I pray we get there — I’m going to continue doing everything I can, and these grants have already proven results. Last November, when swastikas were found on Magen David Yeshivah in Brooklyn, I went right there to the community in the aftermath. The perpetrator who was responsible for that heinous graffiti was caught and thanks to security cameras, paid for by our Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes grant, that person was stopped. I’m proud of that kind of result, and I was proud to stand with the Jewish community there 24 hours after the incident and let them know we’re going to continue increasing the funding. So this new round of grants brings the total funding to more than $200 million since I became Governor. As I said it was triply increased — it was actually 35 percent for anybody keeping score – 35 percent, much higher than it had been before and it didn’t stop there. In my budget this year, we fought for an additional $90 million in funding for security at non public schools like Yeshivas.
So parents, this is where being a mom Governor kicks in. You worry about your children all the time, even when they’re adults, but especially when they’re little — especially when they’re little. And you never lose that sense of concern but to know that you’re sending them to a place where you want them to have an incredible education, to help them understand the values of their faith that their family was raised with, their grandparents are raised with — but also just having that little extra sense of anxiety. Are they going to be safe walking to school? Are they going to be safe while they’re in school. Will they’ll be safe walking home from school? I just want parents and students to rest easy knowing that their schools will be able to be safe spaces and help them focus on what’s important and learning. I know we’re just a few days away from Rosh Hashanah, it’s important to know that we’re going to be extra vigilant during these days.
So I’m also announcing, and you’ll hear more about this from our Superintendent in a few moments – I’m announcing that I’ve directed our hate crimes task force, including the State Police to have a surge. A surge in police presence at religious sites all across the State, from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur — our police officers will be out in force. They’ve already started proactive outreach to religious leaders and sharing intelligence with law enforcement agencies statewide and our federal partners. That means when a grandfather walks into a shul, they have a peace of mind of knowing he’s protected. In case any protesters are there as well, and we’ve seen this before, trying to interfere with their right to worship peacefully, that we now have a new buffer zone as well — the buffer zone is in effect. We got that through with the support of the legislature. I want to thank again our legislators who are here. The new buffer zone means that harassment within 50 feet of a Synagogue or any house of worship is now a crime. You’re not allowed to do that. You’re not allowed to harass people when they’re going in and exercising their God given right, their constitutional right to exercise their freedom of religion and we’re standing behind that — and it’s being challenged. We’re going to stand and fight back because this is really important to me. Again a statement of priorities, but I hope it gives people a little more peace of mind when they go to worship, that they don’t have to be stressed out about this. I want people of all faiths to practice their religions without fear and intimidation.
To discuss more about the tactical steps we’re taking to keep New Yorkers safe during the high holiday season, I’ll turn it over to Superintendent Steven James, but let me leave you with this. True security requires a collective effort by all New Yorkers. In New York, our diversity is not what makes us vulnerable. It’s something that gives us unbreakable strength, especially when we stand together as one. And that means an attack on one is an attack on all of us. So let us come together during this holiday season, during all seasons for all faiths and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to show our appreciation for each other. Our love of each other’s communities and what we know in our hearts makes New York so incredibly unbeatable, unshakable and an exceptional place to live and raise our families.
