Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Announces Up to $70 Million Available to Help Protect Community-based Organizations Vulnerable to Hate Crimes and Attacks

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that nonprofit, community-based organizations at risk of hate crimes and attacks can now apply for record-level funding - up to $70 million - through the state's Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes program. The FY27 Executive Budget includes $35 million to build upon the $35 million currently available from the FY26 Enacted Budget in response to heightened threats facing organizations vulnerable to hate crimes and terror-driven violence amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning, please be seated. I want to thank the leaders who are standing behind me in a show of solidarity on an issue that has affected so many lives of New Yorkers, which is why we're here to talk about action. We're taking our District Attorney, Melinda Katz, a longtime friend from Queens. I welcome you once again, Melinda Katz. Our District Attorney here in Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, thank you for all your doing to keep Manhattanites safe. Rabbi Silber, the Director of Government Relations for the Israel of America, Muhammad, the CEO of the Council of People's Organization, and Reverend Doctor Robert Waterman, the Pastor of Antioch Baptist Church.

They are a broad representation of communities that are asking for help, that are undergoing an era when there is more hatred unleashed than we've seen in decades, and they're also joined by law enforcement because I believe that together with our faith leaders, law enforcement and support from state government that we can make a real difference. And so their presence here to me means everything. And there's a saying I've used many times, but I really mean it: Hate has no place in our state. This is a state that was built on being a welcoming beacon for people who are oppressed in other nations, who came here in search of a better life and practiced their religions freely. And now there are times when that commitment, that belief, is being challenged in our streets and our schools and our places of worship.

We're seeing a rising tide of hatred unleashed and we'll not talk about the sources. I think we know many of them originate from Washington, D.C. It's hard to think about what has been happening out of Washington as a practicing Catholic and challenges to Christianity and the Pope. But also a rising tide of hate and antisemitism, Islamophobia, attacks on our LGBTQ+ neighbors. Asian hate crimes have been rising during the pandemic. Racially motivated crimes have been ever present, and it's cruel. Hate crimes were starting to go up dramatically, and we started to realize that investments by the state and support from the state and changing the laws and the Hate Crimes Task Force, changing the bail laws to make sure that hate crimes are now eligible for bail, as was not the case, they were not treated as seriously as they should have been.

These are all reforms that we put in place, and yes, I can report that there has been a decrease in some forms of hate crimes, but over half of them are still antisemitic. An increasing number of anti-Muslim and the racially motivated crimes have always been there and never seemed to abate. So last month, I went to the Park Avenue Synagogue and spoke with Rabbi Cosgrove, and he told me something that stayed with me. He said it has become normalized for people to see law enforcement with long guns outside the doors to protect their right to go worship their God. This is New York City, this is New York City and no one should have to encounter that specter which automatically triggers fear. Why are they here? They must know something, something bad could happen to myself or my family. Only because I'm walking into this Institution to live out my faith. We are far better than that, my friends. That is not what is meant by the promise of New York and that cannot be the new normal.

And as Governor, I'll never rest until I know that all New Yorkers are safe. Regardless of who you are, how you worship, who you love and that is my solemn commitment to each and every one of you. And part of that means that people should not be harassed when they go to worship. And in this budget, I'm calling for a 25-foot buffer upheld by our police around places of worship - I want to get that done. That is common sense, it's a statement when people leave their homes that they will feel safe from harassment because it is not a hypothetical, it is happening - it has happened and the effects are lingering. It shatters that sense of security that you deserve when you're going out to your place of worship, I want to ensure that that remains. Also when I first became Governor, we had about $15 million invested in securing locations, securing vulnerable community locations. $15 million statewide, I knew was not enough, especially when hate was rising in so many of our communities.

So since 2021, we've invested $131 million in securing communities against hate crimes, securing more than 1,700 projects and nonprofit organizations because of a heightened risk. Today, I'm making up to over $70 million in new funding available through this program. Now, these are all provided to community based organizations at risk of hate crimes or attacks because of their ideology, their belief and their mission. Now, these are for physical improvements, the real basics - lighting, reinforced doors, cameras, alarms, security training, cybersecurity protections. And we're offering up to $250,000 per organization. The most ever, meaning it's going to be real money that'll make a real difference and $35 million of this has already been secured in this year's budget, and it's ready to move. I want that out the doors. I don't want to talk about this program in the abstract, I want to see it in action in our communities. That's how I'll start feeling better and safer as well. So we have to reach the full $70 million, I need to get that passed in our budget.

So I'm calling on the legislature to support me and making that happen. I believe they will, but I want to make sure that we don't make any assumptions here. I want to see that in the budget as well. And these organizations, many present here, are counting on this support. So we also launched a series of efforts including a hotline. It breaks my heart to know how often that hotline is used. People just walking down the street, on a subway, not just in places of worship around schools. You know, how often do I get a call about some slur or some horrible graffiti on a building where children can see it. Again these are vulnerable kids, they're experiencing something that they never should have to in a great place like New York, have to go home and ask their parents why their school is marred. We're better than that, we're so much better than that. We also have a unit that ensures a rapid response and a network for communities when they're targeted, It's not just a one day incident.

We also want to make sure that there's regular communication with our law enforcement. Right now, we have an opportunity to lean into this crisis, to talk about it, to expose it for what it is. It's a mark on our communities. Good and God fearing people asking for nothing sometimes, but just to be left alone. And yet their sanctity of their space is violated by someone with so much hate in their heart. We're stopping that now, it ends with us and all of you are part of that solution. Yes, it's money from the state, yes it is a Hate Crimes Task force. Yes, it is a hotline, yes it is getting these barriers - but everybody through your actions and your words and your positions, whether it's law enforcement or respected clergy or leaders of organizations, the people in this room. All of us have a responsibility to stand up for each other, because an attack on one is an attack on all of us. And that has deep, deep meaning. And I'm so proud when there are these attacks. It is always a response from many faith communities standing together saying, we're with you. And that makes me so proud as the Governor of this state.

So let's get this done. Let the word out, the applications are out there. I've told my team, "Go quickly, no one should have to wait." Hear that again, team, "Go quickly." I want to make sure that when people are applying that they get assistance - that money - additional money, this unprecedented amount of investment from the state is in the places where it's needed the most to create that sense of security that every single New Yorker deserves. So with that, I want to introduce one of my partners in this effort. We've met many times here in Albany. But Rabbi Silber, I want to thank you for your leadership and your leadership and your voice in this important matter.

So, Rabbi Silber.

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