Newburgh NAACP President Kyle Conway says he knows his friends of all backgrounds face hatred, often. 

“Someone has to ask to be respected and asks for their humanity to be valued," he said. "It’s not cool.” 

It’s something that many minority groups are seeing more of, according to a new report by the state comptroller. From 2019 to 2023, hate crimes increased nearly 70%. The groups most targeted during that time included gay men, African Americans and Jewish Americans.

Hank Greenberg, the spokesperson for the Northeastern New York Jewish Federation, says he’s disturbed by the 89% increase in hate crimes against Jews. 

“Simply hating someone is not what is being reported by the comptroller," he said. "What's being reported are people who are acting on their hatred and engaging in acts and incidents of hatred based on faith, religion, sexual orientation and other grounds.” 

Religious hatred is a common theme in the report; Muslim New Yorkers saw a 106% increase in hate crimes. Greenberg says trying to cast groups as the “other,” has a lot to do with it. 

“It requires those of us who want to stop this from occurring, to speak out, to educate," he said. "To inform and try to bring all of us together and understand our commonality is so much more powerful and important than our differences.” 

The comptroller’s report stated New York has taken steps to tackle the rise in hate crimes, including implementing enhanced reporting mechanisms and expanding the list of criminal acts eligible for hate crime prosecution. Leaders like Greenberg and Conway say increased education efforts could also make a difference.

“When you sit and actually talk with people and you sit with people who pray, whether they are the Jewish faith, the Islamic faith, how can you sit and stereotype a whole group of people that pray and say, 'I just want to get to know you guys,' whoever their God is," Conway said. "How evil can any group of people be?”