October 18, 2025, New York:
This month is recognized nationwide as “Hate Crime Awareness Month” (OPHA), and New York City government has organized a series of community events to raise awareness about the existence of hate crimes and how to prevent and stop them. Following last week’s online seminar, the “Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes” (OPHC) held a day-long resource fair on October 17 at the Sunset Park in Brooklyn, with several Chinese-language organizations participating in the event.
The “Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes” in New York City was established in 2019, collaborating with the New York City Police Department and 60 community organizations to conduct educational activities, offer various services, and enhance community understanding to prevent hate crimes. This month, the office has launched a month-long series of concentrated activities.
At the resource fair held on Friday (October 17), Erica Ware, the Deputy Director of OPHC, introduced the event named “Partners Against The Hate” (P.A.T.H.).
“We hold such events every year, covering all five boroughs. Last month, we hosted the first Hate Crime Awareness event on Staten Island to educate people about the services provided by these organizations, and today we are in Brooklyn,” Ware said. “We go to community centers, schools, wherever we are needed to provide education on bias and hate. These exceptional community organizations also support our mission.”
Numerous Asian community organizations participated in the event, including the Asian American Federation (AAF), Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), and South Asian Community Services.
Lingxiao Ren, the Community Outreach Manager of AAFE, explained that based on their five years of collaboration with OPHC, they found that hate crimes in New York City are actually more prevalent than the reported numbers.
“We have received a lot of feedback that when Asians are victims of such crimes, they often do not recognize themselves as victims or know what legal help they can get. For instance, if someone is insulted or spat at, they don’t know where to find Chinese-speaking organizations or if the police will accept their complaint. Therefore, many crimes against Asians are not reported,” Ren said. “The actual numbers submitted to the government, from 2019 to the present, are only in the range of two to three hundred cases annually due to lack of Asian reporting, creating a false impression that there are fewer discrimination cases now, when in reality they are just not being reported.”
Thus, organizations like theirs are responsible for educating the community and providing resources for residents. So, what should the public do when faced with a hate crime?
“Simply put: in an emergency situation or if you are physically harmed, call 911 for the police. In less urgent situations, such as someone spitting and leaving, where you don’t know how to handle it, you can reach out to organizations like ours,” Ren explained. “No matter the circumstance, it is necessary to document the incident with your phone to keep evidence.”
Ren also mentioned that AAFE offers a variety of services, especially free legal consultations every third Wednesday of the month from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the organization’s community center located at 111 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002.
AAFE has offices in Flushing and Chinatown and can assist Chinese residents with services related to welfare, health insurance, housing, and immigration and citizenship matters.