NEW YORK, March 5 (UPI) -- New York City had 57 anti-Semitic crimes in the last quarter of 2003, a state lawmaker said.
Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-Queens/Brooklyn, said the 57 incidents were nearly half of the year's total of 118. In 2002, New York City had 111 anti-Semitic crimes, the New York Daily News reported Friday.
"The surge at the end of the year is troubling and should be viewed as a warning sign," said Weiner, who cited the upswing in tire slashings and graffiti, particularly in Brooklyn. "We're trying to bring light to this disturbing rise."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg dismissed the report as a politically motivated attack orchestrated by Weiner, who is eyeing a run for mayor in 2005.
"Given the source, you should expect that it is one of these statistics that is either made up (or) maybe they picked one day," Bloomberg said. "The truth of the matter is that bias crimes continue to come down in this city."
