During a Brooklyn press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio told a crowd that he believes the reported rise in anti-Semitic activity is a right-wing movement.
During the address, de Blasio quoted statistics that show hate crimes in New York City have risen 64 percent in the last year. The study also shows that crimes motivated by anti-Semitism have risen by 90 percent.
Staten Island Republican Borelli disagreed, calling the mayor's position laughable, calling it "literally the stupidest effing thing he's ever said."
Brooklyn Democrat Chaim Deutsch also disagreed with the mayor's comment, saying, "I have not seen any white supremacists coming in here and committing crimes."
According to an article in the New York Post, NYPD Police Chief Dermot Shea said perpetrators of hate crimes run the gamut from teens to people with mental illness, to first-time offenders and career criminals.
Photo Credit: Getty Images