Uptick In Anti-Black Hate Crime Spurred By N-Word Graffiti: Cops

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers are more likely to see the N-word scrawled in spray paint than they were last year, according to the NYPD.

New York City saw a 233 percent uptick in anti-black hate crimes in the first two months of 2020, in comparison to the same two months last year, according to newly released NYPD data.

“What we’re seeing is a lot of graffiti being displayed across the city with the N-word being used,” said Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison.

There have been 10 cases — five aggravated harassment and four criminal mischief cases — linked to anti-black hate crime in 2020, officials said.

Last year, there were just three.

Police’s hate crime data compared the first two months of 2020 to the first two months of 2019 and found the total number dropped to 64 from 65 last year.

The number of hate crimes targeting black people, multiple groups and based on gender all increased.

Anti-semitic hate crimes dropped to 36 from 41 in 2019, sexual orientation-related hate crimes dropped to four from six in 2019 and there were no hate crimes reported against Asian or Muslim communities, data show.

Anti-white hate crimes dropped from three in 2019 to two in 2020.