NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Thousands of people marched from Manhattan to Brooklyn on Sunday in a show of solidarity with Jewish communities after a series of anti-Semitic attacks in the city and region in recent weeks.
The "No Hate, No Fear Solidarity March" started at 11 a.m. in Foley Square. Marchers were going over the Brooklyn Bridge to Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn.
Crowds of participants jammed the streets in lower Manhattan as they waited their turns to get across the bridge.
"It is wonderful that we are doing this and sad that we still have to do it," said Claudia Stoller, 31, of Manhattan. "But it was never lost on me that the Jewish community could always be targeted and should always be ready to be strong.''
Marchers carried signs saying "No hate in our state" and "Always here without fear."
Among those attending the march were Mayor de Blasio, Gov. Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Attorney General Letitia James.
"Discrimination, racism, anti-Semitism, is repugnant to every value that New Yorkers hold dear, and repugnant to every value that this country represents,'' Cuomo said as he lauded the crowd of several thousand that turned out in support of the march.
Cuomo, a Democrat, announced a state grant program that gives out funding to improve security measures against hate crimes at religious-based organizations would have an additional $45 million available, and said a state hotline had been created for people to call if they experience discrimination.
The march was organized by the UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the Anti-Defamation League of New York, the American Jewish Committee of New York and the New York Board of Rabbis.
The march comes a day after de Blasio declared a “crisis of anti-Semitism” while visiting a synagogue on the Upper West Side. The mayor said it’s important to properly educate young people about anti-Semitism and its history. He also promised to keep an increased security presence in Jewish neighborhoods.
The Department of Homeland Security is working on new measures in the wake of the attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Monsey and the deadly shooting at a kosher market in Jersey City. Acting Secretary Chad Wolf directed agencies to review recommendations for preventing attacks on religious targets. CNN is reporting that Wolf gave agencies two weeks to review recommendations and come up with implementation plans.
Police are still looking for the suspects in some of the recent anti-Semitic attacks in New York City. On Saturday police said a Jewish woman was spat on by a man outside a yeshiva in Queens, the latest in more than a dozen attacks in recent weeks.