IPA staff participated in a City Hall press conference called by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn this morning announcing a citywide “Day Out Against Hate” on November 29. The five borough day long series of events are set to include meetings between Holocaust survivors and teenagers, and comes about as the city is experiencing a rise in bias and hate crimes. Among the attendees were four of the city’s Borough Presidents, Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes, several members of the City Council, including Simcha Felder Jim Gennaro, David Weprin, and David Yassky. Rabbi Michael Miller of New York’s JCRC spoke of our need to live “side by side” in a city made stronger by its diversity. On the flip side, speaker Rabbi Serge Lippe, of the recently vandalized Brooklyn Heights Synagogue reminded us what can happen if we fail to stop hate. During her remarks, Speaker Quinn specifically mentioned religious discrimination as well as discrimination against those with disabilities, two areas that sometimes get lost when we think hate and bias crimes.