ALBANY — New Yorkers think race relations in the Empire State are going down the tubes, a new poll has found.
Just 33 percent of voters surveyed in a new Siena College poll released Monday — Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday — said they had a positive view of race relations in the state.
That’s down from 51 percent in 2010, shortly after the election of the nation’s first African American president, Barack Obama.
This year, only five percent of New Yorkers surveyed by the college described race relations as excellent, while 28 described them as good.
Nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers — 64 percent — said that race relations in the state have grown tougher: 44 percent rate them fair, while 22 percent describe them as poor.
“New Yorkers’ views on race relations today are nearly as negative as they have ever been over the last dozen years. Since 2008, only 2015 saw New Yorkers more negative about race relations in the state,” said Siena pollster Steve Greenberg.
“Interestingly, these negative views on the state of race relations in our state are across the board. At least 60 percent of whites, blacks, Latinos, upstaters and downstaters, liberals, moderates and conservatives all view race relations negatively.”
The most dismal view comes from New York City, where 29 percent of residents think race relations are poor, compared to 20 percent of suburbanites and 15 percent of upstaters.
Seventy-three percent surveyed agreed that minorities experience racial or ethnic discrimination — including 85 percent of Democrats, compared to 54 percent of Republican voters.
A majority, 78 percent, thinks religious minorities — including Jews and Muslims — experience discrimination based on their religious affiliations.
This comes at a time when hate crimes, particularly anti-Semitic attacks, are on the rise in New York.
Seventy-two percent of New Yorkers also view sexual harassment as a significant problem.
More women have suffered sexual harassment in the workplace compared to their male colleagues, according to 45 percent of female respondents, compared to 14 percent of men.
A total of 814 people were surveyed, with a 4.1 percentage-point margin of error.