More than half of Asian New Yorkers experienced race-related hate in the past year, study shows

More than half of Asian American residents of New York City say they have experienced hate due to race or ethnicity, according to a recent survey.

The survey by The Asian American Foundation, found that 54 percent of Asian American New Yorkers said they had experienced “either insults, harassments, threats, or physical attacks in the past 12 months.” It also found that 62 percent of Asian American New Yorkers said they had witnessed someone else experience “either insults, harassments, threats, or physical attacks in the past 12 months.”

“The anti-Asian hate rhetoric and violence that targeted the AAPI community in 2020 has not stopped,” foundation CEO Norman Chen said in a press release on the survey.

“We’re seeing this in the continued hate, violence, and distrust towards Asian Americans New Yorkers. The othering of our community contributes not only to discrimination and prejudice in public spaces, but also erodes any efforts toward equity and inclusivity for AAPIs,” Chen continued.

A survey last year found that increasing rates of violence and anti-Asian sentiment were having a negative effect on Asian and Asian American professionals’ mental and physical health, with 63 percent of respondents saying ongoing violence negatively affected their mental health and 45 percent saying it negatively affected their physical health.

In 2021, President Biden signed legislation targeting the rise in hate crimes against the Asian American community that happened in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The bill was designed to better the tracking and reporting of hate crimes and strengthen support for state and local officials investigating hate crimes.

“My message to all of those of you who are hurting is we see you and the Congress has said, we see you. And we are committed to stop the hatred and the bias,” Biden said at a signing ceremony.

“We have to change the hearts of the American people. I mean this from the bottom of my heart, hate can be given no safe harbor in America. I mean it, no safe harbor. It can’t be dismissed, like ‘well that’s just what happens,’” he added.

The Asian American Foundation commissioned BSP Research to conduct the survey, which featured 1,000 Asian American residents of New York who were interviewed between Nov. 30 and Dec. 19, 2023, and has an overall sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.