Saritha Komatireddy
On Aug. 17, crime-fighting New York State attorney general candidate Saritha Komatireddy pledged to declare a state of emergency over antisemitism and to use the attorney general’s supersession power under Executive Law § 63 to take over prosecutions from any New York district attorney failing to protect Jewish New Yorkers, or any other community under attack.
Ms. Komatireddy’s pledge follows Friday night’s assault at Central Synagogue in Manhattan, where an intruder disrupted Shabbat services, struck a 63-year-old congregant, smashed synagogue property, and spat on and headbutted a security guard before an NYPD sergeant took him into custody. The suspect has been charged with multiple hate crimes.
“A woman was punched at prayer on a Friday night in the middle of Manhattan. A guard protecting a congregation was spat on and headbutted. This is not an isolated incident. It is a pattern, and the pattern is getting worse,” Ms. Komatireddy, a former award-winning federal prosecutor, said. “On Day One of my administration, I will declare a state of emergency over antisemitism. And I will put every district attorney in this state on notice: if you will not protect Jewish New Yorkers, or any community being hunted because of who they are, the Office of the Attorney General will step in and prosecute those cases itself. The law provides for it. I will use it.”
Jewish New Yorkers make up roughly 10 percent of New York City’s population but have been the target of 57% of hate crimes recorded this year, with confirmed hate crimes citywide up this year.
Under Attorney General James, the OAG Hate Crimes Unit remains unstaffed. Ms. Komatireddy pledged to immediately staff it upon taking office.
“Hate crimes have doubled under Letitia James and antisemitic incidents have more than tripled. The Attorney General has special jurisdiction to prosecute hate crimes, and she has never used it — not once in seven years. The Attorney General has a Hate Crimes Unit, but according to her own records she doesn’t staff it. All that changes when I am Attorney General. As a federal prosecutor, I prosecuted terrorists and criminals. As Attorney General, I will prosecute those who are terrorizing our communities.”
The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services publishes data on hate crimes in New York: it recorded a 49% increase from 2020 (505 incidents) to 2024 (989 incidents).
The ADL tracks antisemitic incidents in New York: they recorded a 234% increase from 2019 (430 incidents) to 2024 (1437 incidents).
The former terrorism and drug cartel prosecutor and chief of staff of the 10,000-person U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, has spoken out repeatedly on the crisis. Following last month’s broad-daylight stabbing of an Asian man and a Jewish man on the Upper West Side, she said New Yorkers “should never have to wonder whether they will be attacked while walking through their neighborhood or leaving their place of worship,” and that identity-based attacks “thrive in a culture and system that enables this to happen over and over again.”
“Whether the driver is hate, mental illness, or both, the result is the same: innocent New Yorkers bleeding on the street,” Ms. Komatireddy said. “I prosecuted terrorists. I know what it means to stop violence before someone dies — because if someone has died, we’ve already failed. If New York isn’t safe, nothing else matters.”