Hate Crimes Surge in New York, Officials Question Parole System

  Three days after a young Chassidic family from Belgium was attacked with a knife by 30-year-old Darryl Jones during a Chol HaMoed walk through Battery park, a 38-year-old Asian man who was punched during a walking in Central Park with his wife and 5-year-old son.

   In fact, 13 New Yorkers reported hate crimes last week, NYPD data shows, the New York Post reported.

   On March 31, in Midtown Manhattan, for instance, 38-year-old Brandon Elliot, who has been convicted of murder several times, including the murder of his mother at age 19, verbally abused, knocked to the ground, and repeatedly kicked Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old Filipino woman, while building workers watched without intervening.

   Police have said that Elliot made "anti-Asian statements" during the assault, including reportedly telling her that "you don't belong here."

   NYPD Police Commissioner Dermot Shea described the assault as a "completely unprovoked, violent attack on an innocent, defenseless woman.”

    Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said at a news briefing last week that Elliot could face up to 25 years in prison as well as "other consequences related to his lifetime parole."

   Last week at a press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio pointed out that the fact that the perpetrators of so many hate crimes, are perpetrated by recent parolees point to a problem with the state’s parole system. 

   “It's time to hold the State of New York responsible for their parolees and for actually providing the services that will give us a chance of avoiding these horrible situations,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said last week.

   “The parole system in New York State does not work: takes people coming out of prison, including folks who have committed violent crimes, dumps them in New York City with no plan, no housing, no job, no mental health support.”

     Mayor de Blasio also said that NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has also tried to “bring to light,” the problems with the state’s parole system, “but it has not gotten the attention it deserves.

   “Now, maybe that the imperial governorship is being challenged that we're going to see a different discussion on this topic.”

   In terms of policing to prevent hate crimes, the mayor said on Thursday that the Asian Hate Crimes Task Force “is using undercover officers and decoy officers,” although it was not clear whether he is using the same for anti-Semitic hate crimes.