People v. Assi

*21OPINION OF THE COURT

Acosta, J.

In this appeal we are required to examine the Hate Crimes Act of 2000,1 including the effective date of the legislation and whether to limit prosecutions under the Act to crimes committed against an actual person rather than against a building, such as a synagogue.

At about 10 o’clock on Saturday night, October 7, 2000 (the day before the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar), the live-in custodian of the Conservative Cong. Adath Israel of Riverdale, in the Bronx, checked the synagogue’s door before retiring for the night. The door was…