Eight suspected anti-Semitic incidents are being investigated in Brooklyn neighborhoods.
What We Know:
Hate doesn’t have a home in our city.
In light of recent anti-Semitic attacks, the NYPD will increase their presence in Boro Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg.
Anyone who terrorizes our Jewish community WILL face justice.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) December 27, 2019
- Governor Andrew Cuomo released a statement in regards to the attacks. “The cowards responsible for these despicable attacks are trying to inject fear into our Jewish communities, but New Yorkers will always band together and categorically reject anti-Semitism whenever it rears its ugly head.”
- One alleged incident took place Wednesday on 13th Avenue in Brooklyn. An unknown person approached a 40-year-old man in traditional religious Jewish clothing. He blocked his path and punched him in the face. He had a cut on the lips but refused medical attention. The suspect is 5’8″ with dark hair and a light complexion. He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, and black sneakers, according to ABC.
- In a different incident, a man wearing a hoodie walked into Lubavitch World Headquarters and said he was going to shoot up the place at 7 a.m. on Friday.
- During another incident, three women allegedly were harassed and slapped on Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights on Friday and 30-year-old Tiffany Harris was charged with a hate crime.
- On West 6th Street and Avenue S, a 42-year-old female suspect allegedly beat a woman with her bag while saying anti-Semitic slurs.
- On Monday, 28-year-old Steven Jorge was charged with hate-crime assault after allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks while attacking a man in midtown Manhattan. The 65-year-old victim was wearing a yarmulke and was punched and kicked, suffering cuts. Jorge is being held without bail, and a judge ordered a psychiatric exam for him.
- Evan Bernstein of the Anti-Defamation League released this statement: “The overall Jewish community was reeling from what happened in Jersey City. Now to have to deal with this during the holiday season-during Hanukkah is so difficult, I’ve already been in contact with a lot of Jewish leaders in the region and they’re telling me just how fearful their constituents and congregants are.”
The NYPD will be increasing police presence in religious areas to combat this recent surge.
