Defined respectively under Sections 155.05(2)(e) and 135.60 of the New York Penal Law, the offenses of Extortion and Coercion are unique in that they criminalize violent or confrontational speech when employed for a particular purpose. What differentiates these two offenses, however, is that purpose.
For Coercion, that purpose is to, in the most general sense, control or manipulate another’s actions. For Extortion, that purpose of the speech is to acquire property or otherwise materially benefit at another’s expense. A thin distinction but a meaningful one: Coercion is typically charged as a misdemeanor in white collar cases whereas Extortion is charged, at minimum, as an E felony in New York.