The New York City Council Committee to Combat Hate, chaired by Yusef Salaam, held an oversight hearing on community-based prevention and response to hate and bias on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. The hearing examined progress in reducing hate crimes citywide (a 20% drop in 2025), persistent challenges including underreporting and spikes in certain communities, and the roles of three city offices: the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes (OPHC), the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism (MOCA), and the Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships (OFCP). Councilmembers present: Salaam, Mealy, Sanchez, and Wilson. Absent: Krishnan, Schulman, and Won.
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's New York City Council hearing for the Committee to Combat Hate. If you would like to testify, you must fill out a testimony slip with one of the sergeant at arms. You can also submit testimony at testimony at council.nyc.gov. At this time, please silence all electronic devices, as no one may approach a dais at any time during this hearing. Chair, we are ready to begin. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Youssef Salam, and I serve as the chair to the Committee on Camp to Combat Hate. I would like to first start off by thanking everyone for joining us here today. And I would also like to recognize my colleagues as they come into the role. None yet, but today's oversight hearing examines the role of community engagement in preventing and responding to hate and bias. New York City is one of the most diverse places on earth. That diversity is our greatest strength, and it is a source of great pride and unity for New Yorkers. Hate crimes strike at the very heart of this strength by seeking to divide, seeking to pit us against each other, as opposed to uniting one another. They target not just the individual, but all our communities, sending a message of fear and exclusion to all who share the victim's faith, the victim's race, the victim's gender identity, or the victim's background. That harm is immediate, but it can be it can reverberate throughout generations. At our last hearing, we examined some very concerning multi-year trends of increasing hate crime and bias. Yet in 2025, we also saw some encouraging trends. Last year, New York City recorded a 20% citywide reduction in hate crime complaints across the board compared to the prior year. This includes decreases across all four major categories of bias religion, race and ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, and of course, age. Much of this progress reflects sustained investments in prevention, in youth leadership, in community outreach, and in coordinated citywide action. We are here to learn more about this work and how it can be supported and expanded in the coming years. And at the same time, we must also take an honest look at where the fight against hate is falling short. Even in a year of overall progress, some communities still suffered spikes in hate bias violence. Buddhist communities, for example, saw a dramatic increase in reported hate crimes and anti-female crimes rose as well. These variations remind us that aggregate data can obscure real challenges and harms. We must ensure that no community is left behind, that no community is ignored. We also know that hate crimes are chronically underreported, not necessarily because of distrust in government, although that can be a part of it. Instead, many turn to their communities for trusted support when they have been the target of hate and bias. This is why it's crucial that we partner with community-based organizations to build trust, to encourage reporting, and to connect affected individuals and communities with the resources and support they need. Today we will hear from three offices whose work reflects this principle. The Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism, and the Mayor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. I look forward to a thoughtful discussion surrounding these issues, as well as feedback and testimony from the administration and of course members of our public. I'll now like to pass it to our committee council to administer the oaths. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for being here. If you could raise your right hand, please and repeat after me. I re I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before this committee. Thank you so much. You may begin. There it is. Good afternoon, Chair Salam, members of the committee to combat hate, and all members of the New York City Council. My name is Vijay Ramjatin, and I am the executive director for the New York City Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, also known as OPHC, which under Mayhem Dani's leadership is now proudly part of the city's uh new office to come uh for community safety. Before I begin, I want to thank Mia Mamdani, the deputy mayor of community safety, Renita Francois, and the Commissioner of the Office of Community Safety, Dr. Aisha Delani Bramsey for their bold vision and for making the prevention of hate a genuine priority of this administration. The decision to bring OPHC into the Office of Community Safety was not a routine reorganization. It was a clear statement of value. But preventing hate before it ever takes hold is not peripheral to public safety, but rather it is central to it. That commitment has finally given officers like ours the mandate, the partners, and the support to do the work at the scale our city deserves. For too long, hate prevention has often been treated as an afterthought, expected to solve growing challenges without the resources necessary to meet the moment. This administration has made a different choice.