NYC to open office for preventing hate crimes next week

New York City will open its Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes (OPHC) next week, local media reported on Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Mayor's Office said on Friday that the OPHC will be opened next week to ensure New Yorkers feel supported, safe, and respected, according to the China Press, a local newspaper.

The office will be operating under the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and tasked with coordination among a variety of agencies to promote awareness and prevention of hate crimes.

Three City Council members prompted Mayor Bill de Blasio to establish the office earlier this year, citing a dramatic rise of hate crimes in the city.

According to the Mayor's Office, the number of hate crimes between January and May increased 64 percent compared to the same period of 2018, while cases related to anti-Semitism accounted for 60 percent of those incidents.

Earlier this month, four men were charged with assault and robbery in connection with three incidents targeting Jewish people in the borough of Brooklyn, police have said.

On Friday, a Manhattan man was arrested and charged with hate crime assault. He has attacked at least four strangers on the street since Aug. 9 in New York. The man allegedly made anti-white statements in at least one attack, according to the police.