Further Antisemitic Assaults in Brooklyn Reported as Jewish Community Readies for Solidarity March on Sunday
by Algemeiner Staff
Police in New York City have been dealing with rash of hate crimes targeting Jews during the 2019 holiday season. Photo: Reuters / Mike Segar.
A Jewish teenager wearing a kippah was identified as the latest victim of the spate of antisemitic attacks in New York over the holiday season.
Zachary Hershkovich, 15, was riding the B83 bus in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn on Tuesday when he was set upon by two strangers who taunted him with antisemitic barbs. They then flashed a knife and snatched his kippah and earbuds.
The New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident — the 11th antisemitic attack in New York in recent weeks. Other incidents have included a spate of physical assaults on Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as the knife attack on a Hanukkah celebration in the town of Monsey in which five people were wounded.
Commenting on Tuesday’s attack on the Jewish teen, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo condemned “this repugnant act.”
Said Cuomo on Twitter: “It’s exactly why I am increasing State Police presence in Jewish neighborhoods around the state and why I visited Williamsburg to show solidarity and love for our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
Other incidents this week included an attack on a 21-year-old Jewish man who recorded two women verbally harassing him with antisemitic slurs in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon. One of the woman allegedly grabbed the man’s phone, threw it to the ground and punched the man in the throat. Both women were later arrested and charged.
The latest attacks on Jews were reported as community leaders geared up for a rally in New York City on Sunday that is expected to attract a crowd of thousands.
The “No Hate, No Fear” march — sponsored by the UJA Federation of New York along with several Jewish advocacy organizations — will begin in Lower Manhattan before moving to Brooklyn.
Participants will gather in Foley Square at 11 a.m. on Jan. 5 and then cross the Brooklyn Bridge to a rally at Cadman Plaza.
