Teach Coalition CEO Sydney Altfield is calling for stepped-up police patrols at Jewish schools and synagogues nationwide as the High Holy Days open Sept. 11.
Altfield, whose New York-based group works across seven states, framed the push around basic safety for students and worshippers. “Every Jewish child deserves access to a safe place to learn, and every individual deserves to worship in peace,” she said. “Jewish day schools and houses of worship have increasingly become targets.”
The urgency comes as antisemitic hate crimes hit near-record levels. An Anti-Defamation League analysis found anti-Jewish incidents made up nearly 63% of religion-based hate crimes nationwide in 2025 — the third-highest total ever logged in federal crime data. In New York City, hate crimes jumped 9.4% through July compared with the same stretch last year, with Jewish New Yorkers bearing the brunt of more than half those incidents, NYPD statistics showed.
The timing compounds the anxiety. Rosh Hashanah begins Sept. 11, the 25th anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks, a convergence that has Jewish leaders and law enforcement on high alert. The holiday calendar runs through Yom Kippur on Sept. 20 and Sukkot on Sept. 25.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, 66, addressed congregants at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue on Friday and vowed state resources would flow to protect houses of worship. “If you need more money, if you need more protection, I will send the New York State Police here,” she said. “We will fortify this place not only now but certainly ahead of the approaching High Holidays.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch made her own promise to the same synagogue on Aug. 21, telling attendees that Jewish institutions across the city will “not be left to protect themselves” against the rising tide of antisemitism.
An NYPD representative confirmed Sunday that the department will hold a security briefing as the holidays approach and noted that boosting patrols around Jewish institutions during this period is standard practice. The department did the same earlier this year for Purim.
The Teach Coalition operates as a project of the Orthodox Union across New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California and Nevada. The New York City metropolitan area holds the largest Jewish population anywhere outside Israel.
Some Jewish leaders have pointed fingers at Mayor Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken Israel critic who has accused the Jewish state of “genocide” in Gaza and called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mamdani has maintained he has zero tolerance for Jew hatred.