Queens Leaders Rally Against 'Plague Of Prejudice'

KEW GARDENS, QUEENS — A series of anti-Asian and anti-Semitic incidents across Queens became the impetus for a rally to demonstrate unity in the face of what Queens Borough President Donovan Richards called a "plague of prejudice."

Richards brought elected officials, community organizers and faith leaders to the steps of Queens Borough Hall on Monday morning to decry the "pandemic of hate" and show support for communities experiencing bigotry.

"For even just one of these incidents to occur here in Queens, the most diverse county in America, is an affront to everything we represent," Richards said, "but for three to happen in one week, on top of everything our borough has been through over the past year? It’s time to stand up and say ‘enough.’"

The rally was prompted by two recent incidents of anti-Asian assault and harassment in Flushing and Astoria and a swastika drawn outside a Rego Park synagogue last week.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a dramatic increase in anti-Asian hate crimes; bias attacks against Asian communities accounted for 10 percent of hate crimes investigated by police last year.