The crowd at a Yankee game. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

A Brooklyn politician called for the New York Yankees to issue a strong response to the harassment of an Orthodox Jew at a recent game, local blog COLlive.com reported Thursday.

In a letter to the baseball team’s president, Randy Levine, Democratic assemblyman Dov Hikind, himself a Jew, demanded action, after life-long fan Ben Lapin had his kippah removed by someone behind him in the stands at Yankee Stadium on September 12.

According to the report, the person grabbed the skull cap, and taunted Lapin for a sustained time before returning it.

“Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, and people and their families attend a game to enjoy themselves. Imagine the pain and degradation Mr. Lapin experienced as this incident unfolded,” Hikind wrote, calling the harasser’s behavior “abhorrent.”

Hikind continued, “I am appalled and dismayed that such behavior could have occurred and not be further pursued by the Yankee organization.” According to the report, the only response by the baseball club has been to offer Lapin free tickets to a future game, which Hikind referred to as “add[ing] insult to injury.”

Hikind wrote that Lapin was “distraught” after the incident, as “it continued to negatively affect him for several days afterward, to the point that he was not able to enjoy his anniversary.” According to Hikind, the fan “wants the Yankee organization to set an example by helping identify these perpetrators and aid him in pursuing harassment charges.”