Schumer calls for more protection of N.Y. houses of worship after Texas synagogue attack
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) calls for additional federal funds to protect New York houses of worship after the recent hostage attack on a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas.
The powerful Senate majority leader said that the Jan. 15 attack has put New York’s religious communities on edge — and the feds need to help.
“The hostage situation that we watched unfold at the Texas synagogue and other local incidents of intolerance at the places we worship or congregate here have New Yorkers very worried,” Schumer said. “Protecting our religious spaces, like our synagogues, mosques, churches, and more demands more help.”
Schumer announced the new push at a Wednesday morning press conference with religious and non-profit leaders outside the United Jewish Appeal on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
“I am making a $360 million push so that the nation and New York can tap these funds and help fortify more places of worship,” Schumer said.
Hundreds of churches, mosques, synagogues and other places of worship have benefited from the Non-Profit Security Grant program launched in fiscal year 2020.
About $33 million last year went to organizations in New York state, up from $17 million in the program’s first year, an aide to Schumer said.
The increased funding is needed because hate crimes aimed at religious groups are rising nationwide. Despite being a bastion of tolerance, New York has also seen shocking rises in anti-Semitic and anti-Asian hate crimes.
The latest incident to cause unease came on Jan. 15, when an armed man took four people hostage in the synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, near Dallas, during a Sabbath service.
The attacker, who demanded the release of a jailed Islamic radical, eventually released the hostages and was killed when police stormed the synagogue.
