Civil rights leaders launch ‘UnMaskHateNY’ campaign as city grapples with ‘alarming’ rise in antisemitism
National civil-rights leaders from Jewish and black communities are launching a campaign to prevent bigots from using masks to hide their identities — likening the movement to bringing down the Ku Klux Klan.
“Those who carried out the violence at Charlottesville and on Jan. 6 may have felt there would be no repercussions. They were wrong, but only because we saw their faces,” said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, referring to the deadly white-power rally in Virginia in 2017 and the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Had they been masked, not only would they have gotten away with literal murder, but they would have been emboldened to continue and escalate the violence,” he added.
The #UnmaskHateNY coalition will finance a paid media ad campaign throughout the summer and fall to raise awareness about the drive to outlaw “masked intimidation with intent” to harass and terrorize Jews, blacks and other Americans, a spokesman said.
Jewish leaders have told The Post that escalating antisemitism in New York has reached breaking point — with some comparing the city to the 1930s and the rise of Nazism.
Hateful vandals recently splattered red paint on the home of the Brooklyn Museum director and Jewish board members, and at least two homes were also scribbled with a red triangle symbol that Hamas uses to denote targets marked for death.
Many of the crimes are committed by masked vandals or harassers traveling in groups spreading hate-filled terror, including in the subway and even Ivy League campuses such as Columbia University in Manhattan.
“This isn’t about infringing on anyone’s right to free speech, this isn’t about undermining the right to protest,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said at a press conference outside Columbia on Thursday. “This isn’t about preventing the right to assembly, this isn’t about preventing anyone from wearing medical masks or religious garb.
“This is about ensuring that majority of New Yorkers are not terrorized by KKK tactics. That’s what these are. These are KKK tactics.
“In the past, the victims were African Americans,” he said. “In the present today, the victims are American Jews, in the future it could be any marginalized community.
“This is about isolating those individuals and groups who think it’s permissible to harass and terrorize others simply because of where those people are, how they pray or where they’re from. These individuals are employing KKK tactics, and we’ve seen it throughout history,” he said.
Hazel Dukes, the longtime president of the New York state Conference of the NAACP, said in a statement, “Black communities know all too well that individuals who hide their identities with intent to terrorize, intimidate or harass are a threat to all of our safety and have no place in New York.
“Reinstating New York’s masking laws will protect New Yorkers from some of the most terrifying periods in our history; when the Klan menaced black Americans, faces covered, without accountability. We can’t let history repeat itself,” she added.
Mayor Eric Adams endorsed unmasking the haters.
“As someone who has participated in numerous protests to defend my beliefs, I can confidently say that those fighting for a noble cause do not hide behind masks — cowards do,” said Adams, a former police captain, in a statement.
“I have been clear that hate has no place in New York City, and since October 7th, we have witnessed thousands attempting to spread vile hatred while concealing their identities behind masks,” said the mayhor, referring to the Palestinian terror group Hamas’s massacre in Israel in October.
“New York City will always defend your right to free speech and will continue to protect public health, but we are increasingly seeing masked protestors using anonymity to intimidate, threaten, and break the law. This behavior is unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it.”
The coalition announced its the mask ban campaign during the press conference outside Columbia, whose own task force investigating antisemitism has found a disturbing pattern of bias against Jews while anti-Israel vandals took over a campus building.
“Dangerous and despicable actions such as intentionally covering your face to go hunting for Jews inside of a NYC subway should not feel the comfort of state law,” said Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, a member of the coalition, in a statement.
Eric Goldstein, CEO of the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, added, “M asked intimidation cannot be allowed in our city. This diverse coalition is critical in helping to reduce the escalating and frightening harassment of New Yorkers.”
Elected officials who are part of the coalition include state Assembly members Jeff Dinowitz (D-Bronx), Brian Cunningham (D-Brooklyn), Nily Rozic (D-Queens) and Jennifer Raju Rajkumar (D-Queens), as well as newly designated Manhattan Democratic Assembly nominee Micah Lasher.
Dinowitz is one of the lawmakers who proposed legislation to reimpose a mask ban for participants in protests that was repealed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a law, if approved, would likely provide an exemption for those who have medical issues or wear coverings for religious reasons.
Gov. Kathy and state Attorney General Letitia James have expressed support for prohibiting hate-mongers from covering their identities with masks.
Hochul’s office, asked for comment on the new effort Thursday, directed The Post to comments she made on MSNBC on Sunday.
“People have a right to be safe on our public transportation, walking down the streets in their places of worship,” the governor said at the time. “And no one should be able to hide under the cover of almost a full-face mask to commit these atrocities against fellow New Yorkers. That’s where we have to draw the line.”
