In the aftermath of last month's terror attacks in Paris, New York City officials have bolstered security and quietly stepped up outreach efforts to Muslim residents, trying to calm fears of possible hate-filled retaliation while trying to extend government services to a community that often has felt neglected.
The city has increased its presence in Muslim neighborhoods, sending staffers to visit mosques and build better relationships with imams and worshippers. Police officials have briefed community leaders on new counterterrorism procedures.
Other city officials have urged Muslims to report any hate crimes, the number of which, despite terror-filled headlines and the inflammatory rhetoric of some national politicians, is sharply lower in New York in 2015 than at this time a year ago.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is to deliver a speech today at an Islamic community center, reaffirming that the city's 800,000 Muslims have the same rights as all New Yorkers while pledging protection from any hate crimes, the mayor's aides told The Associated Press yesterday.
De Blasio's speech at the Jamaica Muslim Center, or Masjid Al-Mamoor in Queens, is the most high-profile move the administration has made to calm jittery Muslims since the November 13 attacks that killed at least 129 people in Paris, and this week's slaying of 14 people in San Bernardino, California.
But it's far from the only step the administration has taken to reach out to Muslims, some of whom deeply feared discrimination after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Six days after the Paris attacks, the Mayor's Community Affairs Unit organised a meeting between 40 community leaders the vast majority from the Muslim community and the NYPD's Hate Crimes Unit with aims of building the trust necessary for Muslims to turn to law enforcement to report crimes.
Teams from the mayor's office and city council have spent time at mosques and community centers, hoping to improve relations with imams who could also advocate city services, such as free pre-kindergarten and municipal identification cards, that would improve some Muslims' level of civic engagement and potentially ward off alienation.
NYPD officials said there has not been an uptick in bias crimes against Muslims since the Paris attacks. So far this year, there have been 14 hate crimes against Muslims, a 39 per cent decrease from this time a year ago, according to NYPD statistics. But officials acknowledge that some hate crimes go unreported.
