STATEN ISLAND — Mayor Bill de Blasio promised worshippers at a Staten Island mosque that the city would aggressively deal with bias attacks after an increase in hate-crimes across the borough since Election Day.
Speaking on Sunday at the Albanian Islamic Cultural Center, de Blasio said the city will "confront bias and hatred" and "win the day over hatred and intolerance," according to the New York Daily News.
"Any threat made against any New Yorker — a Muslim New Yorker or any other New Yorker — any threat or hate speech or violence will be confronted by the NYPD and by the city government," he said.
Since Trump's November election, NYPD officials reported about a 36 percent increase in hate-crime incidents around the city.
From Nov. 8 to Nov. 21, there were 30 hate crimes reported, up from just six over the same period last year, NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce previously said.
The biggest spikes were in anti-Semitic graffiti and anti-white attacks, according to the NYPD.
Some of the attacks have targeted Muslim New Yorkers including an MTA worker who was wearing a hijab and was called a "terrorist" and knocked to the ground in Grand Central Terminal, police said.
During his presidential campaign, Trump called for barring all Muslims from entering the country.
"That is the American way, to respect all religions, and anyone who suggests that some religions should be separated or isolated or that one be given special favor over the others hasn't read our Constitution," de Blasio told the mosque's members, according to the News.
The mosque de Blasio spoke at was the site of a bias incident in June when a pipe-wielding man threatened to kill Muslims and Imam Tahiri Kukiqi.
"Some people will try to target our values in New York City," de Blasio said.
"We know this. Some people will not abide by our laws, will try to divide one New Yorker from another."
