NYPD Investigating 9th Anti-Semitic Attack Reported This Week
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New information was released Saturday morning about another anti-Semitic incident in Brooklyn.
It follows a series of anti-Semitic attacks this week and an increase in overall hate crimes around the city.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said that acts of hate shouldn't be belittled or explained away when he toured the Chabad World Headquarters in Brooklyn on Friday.
"We see exactly what's happening, and we will not accept it," he said.
He toured the location on the same day a man reportedly walked in and threatened to shoot the place up. No one has been arrested.
"It's something that's very alarming. We treat them very seriously, and we make sure that our investigators do their best to do what we can to bring these individuals to justice that commit these crimes," NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said.
Friday's incident was the latest in at least nine anti-Semitic attacks in New York City, all of them within less than a week.
"We can't live under siege like that, our communities all over the city. This has to stop, and it's not getting better, it's actually getting worse," Jewish activist Devorah Halberstram said.
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Also on Friday, the same day as the Chabad incident, police arrested a 30-year-old woman for slapping three young Jewish women in Crown Heights while she yelled anti-Semitic slurs.
On Thursday, police arrested a 42-year-old homeless woman in Gravesend. She was accused of hitting a mother who was walking her 3-year-old child, also while yelling anti-Semitic slurs. Witnesses were able to follow the suspect until police made the arrest.
"Once I seen the kid go to the ground, I ran over and had to make sure that I stopped it," witness Sean Lennon said.
Police released details Saturday about an incident that happened early Wednesday morning. They say a 40-year-old man dressed in traditional Jewish clothing was walking home in Borough Park when an unknown individual approached him and blocked his path. When the victim tried to walk around the man, the man allegedly punched the victim in the face then ran off.
Three anti-Semitic incidents were reported on Tuesday.
In one incident, an unknown individual struck the male victim in the face. The suspect was later apprehended.
In Crown Heights, a 56-year-old man was walking on Union Street when a group approached him and one person in the group punched him. No one was arrested.
That same day, a 25-year-old man was walking along Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights when a group of people allegedly began yelling anti-Semitic slurs at him. They also allegedly threw a beverage at the victim.
Two anti-Semitic incidents were reported on Monday. In Williamsburg, a group of teenagers allegedly attacked a 6-year-old boy and a 7-year-old boy in the lobby of a residential building. In Midtown, a 65-year-old man was allegedly punched and kicked by a man who also made anti-Semitic slurs. A Florida man was arrested in connection to that incident.
The NYPD is putting up more patrols around Hasidic neighborhoods in response. Also starting Sunday, the Guardian Angels, a non-profit volunteer organization aimed to prevent crime, will be starting patrols in Crown Heights to protect the community.
"The Guardian Angels will be there as long as necessary. Remember, even though we've had a spate of attacks recently, there's been a steady series of attacks that have gone unaddressed," Curtis Sliwa said.
Governor Cuomo sent out a statement Saturday, saying "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."
The new Guardian Angels patrols will begin Sunday at noon and will also spread to Williamsburg and Borough Park.