In light of the increase in hate crimes across New York City and the country, two Queens lawmakers are hosting a virtual bias conversation with the community.
The virtual conversation will take place on Wednesday, June 2, at 6 p.m. and includes participation from Assemblyman Edward Braunstein, Senator John Liu, the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, the NYC Commission on Human Rights, the NYC Office of Immigrant Affairs, the NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force.
Over the past few months, Queens has seen its share of violent hate crimes, including a Rego Park man who was berated and attacked on his way to a local synagogue an attack on an Asian woman in Flushing and the still-investigated crime against an Asian man who was pushed onto the subway tracks in Long Island City.
NYPD data showed that of the 101 reported hate crimes in the 2021, 47 of them were anti-Asian while 27 of the crimes were anti-Jewish. In 2020, 30 crimes were classified as anti-Asian while 127 were anti-Jewish.
“It is up to each one of us to speak up against all forms of hate, whether it’s witnessed on our streets, subways or social media platforms,” Braunstein said. “I’m proud to join with Senator Liu to organize this important conversation and to say that we will not stay silent, and will stand together, in the face of violence and discrimination against the Asian American and Jewish community.”
The conversation will be multilingual and simultaneous interpretations of Mandarin and Korean will be available.
“The hate and bigotry can only be stamped out when we all stand up and speak out in condemnation,” Liu said. “This event is a perfect opportunity to do so, so please sign up! Much thanks to Assemblyman Braunstein for spearheading this effort.”
To participate in the conversation, visit bit.ly/BraunsteinLiuNEQueensConvo.
