New York synagogues, museum got fake bomb threats, officials say

NEW YORK: At least three synagogues and a museum in New York received bomb threats on Sunday but none were deemed credible by the New York Police Department, a city official and police said.

Manhattan Borough President Mark D. Levine said on X the synagogue bomb threats were “a clear hate crime, and part of a growing trend of ‘swatting’ incidents targeting Jewish institutions.” “This is a clear effort to sow fear in the Jewish community. Cannot be accepted,” he said.

Antisemitic incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment in the US more than doubled last year to a record high as anti-Jewish sentiment spiked after the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October, the Anti-Defamation League said in a report last month.