Despite a recent spike in anti-Semitic and violent attacks on Jewish people living in and around New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio declared it “the safest big city in America.”
“Look, this is the safest big city in America, and I’m very proud of what the NYPD has done,” de Blasio said on MSNBC Monday. “The bottom line is we take all of that seriously.”
More than a dozen attacks on people of Jewish faith have been reported in New York during the last week, including a mass stabbing in Rockland County over the weekend that left several people critically injured.
Hanukkah, the holiest seven-day period for Jewish people, ended on Monday.
Nationwide, there were 1,879 incidents of anti-Semitism reported in the United States in 2018, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
The overall crime rate in New York City fell to a record low in 2018.
According to 2017 data, New York City had a 2.8 murder per 100,000 inhabitants rate, compared to 4.8 Los Angeles and 9.4 in Chicago.
De Blasio has made cracking down on violent crime, especially hate crimes, one of his chief proprieties since being elected mayor in 2014.
He responded to criticism from former New York mayor and current personal lawyer to President Trump, Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani called de Blasio “possibly the worst mayor” in the city’s history and slammed him for allowing anti-Semitic sentiment in the city to fester.
“[De Blasio] is too unconcerned or lazy to nip it in the bud,” Giuliani said.
“It’s striking how out of touch Rudy Giuliani is at this point,” de Blasio hit back. “He does not even understand what is going on in New York City.”
De Blasio ran an unsuccessful campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president.
[Read more: ‘Worst Mayor in NYC’: Giuliani and de Blasio trade punches in online spat about anti-Semitic attacks]
