Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and a pair of Albany lawmakers on Monday pitched a new state law that would expand the list of hate crimes in the Empire State and boost certain punishments.
The proposed Hate Crimes Modernization Act, expected to be considered by the state legislature when it reconvenes next year, would add 31 new offenses that could be charged as hate crimes, including gang assault, sex trafficking and weapons possession.
The bill was introduced in the Senate last week by state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) and is expected to be sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblymember Grace Lee (D-Manhattan).
It comes in the wake of a spike in hate crimes in the state and the city, including anti-Asian attacks during the COVID pandemic and recent antisemitic assaults stemming from the conflict between Israel and Hamas terrorists.
According to the state Division of Criminal Justice, hate crimes jumped by nearly 56% in 2021.
But prosecutors say they are handcuffed to fight the surge due to the limited list of 66 offenses that can be charged as hate crimes.
Under state law, dozens of crimes can be charged as hate crimes if it can be proven that they were motivated by bias, discrimination or racism.
The proposed law would grow the now-limited list to include many crimes related to gang assault, sexual misconduct, some rape offenses, labor and sex trafficking, arson, falsely reporting an incident, several weapons possession charges and graffiti-related crimes.
Bragg said his office has increased hate-crime prosecutions by 24% every year since 2021 and has beefed up its Hate Crimes Unit with a $1.7 million infusion of funding by the City Council last year.
The unit now has 15 cross-designated prosecutors, two supervisors and four senior investigators.
The Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel by radical Hamas militants — and the subsequent Israeli retaliation in the Gaza Strip — has sparked a new round of antisemitic attacks in the state and the Big Apple.