Two Orthodox Jewish men were pelted with objects by a passing car in New York City on Sunday night, according to Police and local authorities.
NYC council member Shan Abreu said on social media on Monday that two orthodox Jews were attacked in an antisemitic incident in the Upper West Side. The New York Police Department confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that two men were assaulted on the Upper West Side Sunday and that the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force was notified. Police also reportedly told the New York Post that the men were wearing “traditional garb including a headscarf and hat.”
The men, aged 19 and 65, were waiting to cross a street when they were struck “by multiple small objects” that came from a passing white vehicle, according to the NYPD.
Response to the crime
“Both victims complained of pain but refused medical treatment,” said the NYPD. “There are no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing.”
Jewish Community Relations Council New York CEO Mark Treyger on Monday responded to Abreu’s update, saying on X that “Hate must have no home in NYC.”
Abreu said that the Hate Crimes Unit was also investigating two vandalism incidents, including the graffiti in front of the kosher Effy’s Cafe.
“Form line here to support genocide” had been spray-painted in front of the store.
JCRC, United Jewish Appeal Federation New York, and a group of politicians visited Effy’s on Monday as a show of support against the vandalism.
“Targeting a small business because of who it’s owned by – Israeli, Palestinian or any other group – is not only wrong, it’s self-defeating,” Representative Jerry Nadler said on social media after visiting the restaurant. “The recent attack on Effy’s Cafe is a cowardly act of antisemitism that cannot, and will not, be tolerated in our community.”
NYPD hate crime statistics released on March 6 revealed that antisemitic crimes accounted for 60% of all recorded hate crimes in February. There were 17 anti-Jewish motivated crimes that month, an increase of 31% from last February.