Metro

City Council’s Jewish Caucus taking on CUNY anti-Semitism

The City Council’s Jewish Caucus is drafting legislation to require the City University of New York to report all bias incidents on its campuses to the Council.

The legislation is in response to a Post report last week about claims of anti-Semitism against Jewish students at several campuses.

Councilman Mark Levine, who chairs the 14-member caucus, said Tuesday he expects the legislation to be submitted to the full Council within the next month.

“We’re not convinced that the university is adequately tracking what is clearly a pattern of bigotry,” Levine (D-Manhattan) told The Post, adding Brooklyn Councilman Chaim Deutsch would be lead sponsor on legislation.

The Council caucus on Tuesday also fired off a scathing letter to CUNY Chancellor James Milliken, “demand[ing] to know what comprehensive actions” he’s taking to address anti-Semitism and ensure all CUNY administrators respond to bias claims “with seriousness and sensitivity.”

The letter added that the caucus “insist[s]” the chancellor inform Council members of CUNY policies for reporting hate-based campus incidents to the NYPD – and, if no system exists, set one up immediately.

The Post last week reported accusations of anti-Jewish hostility at CUNY, laid out in a letter to university officials by the Zionist Organization of America. The ZOA called for CUNY to probe Students for Justice in Palestine, a group it says has engaged in “anti-Semitic and violence-inciting conduct” against Jewish students.

Milliken responded days later by ordering an independent probe into the bias claims.

CUNY did not respond to questions about the planned legislation.

Instead, it issued a statement saying, “Our campus-based public safety officers are trained to identify possible hate crime incidents. They refer these incidents to and work closely with the [NYPD]. Further investigation may lead the police to designate an incident as a hate crime. We report any such designations publicly to a federal registry as all colleges and universities are required to do.”