A Jewish woman and her friends were attacked last Saturday night in what appears to have been an antisemitic hate crime.
The group was walking along Central Park West on 92nd Street when they became aware they were being followed by a car.
The stalking sudden transformed into an outright attack, with eggs hurled at members of the group who were visually identifiable as Jews. The men were wearing yarmulkas and all of the group was dressed in Shabbat clothing.
According to a report by the “I Love the Upper West Side” website, the woman in the group was hit in the head, hard, by an egg. She suffered a concussion as a result.
The woman told the website that although there were many people out and about at that hour, “they only targeted us.” She added that a doorman who witnessed the attack said the attackers were behind the group and “sought us out.”
NYPD refused to take a report “unless she called an ambulance.”
Perhaps that is one reason so many Jewish community leaders – and police officials themselves — contend that the number of antisemitic attacks is significantly greater than the statistics reported by New York’s Finest.
The woman, badly shaken, went straight home but when she began to feel ill she went to the hospital, where she learned the attack left her with a concussion.
Following her trip to the hospital, police officers took a report on the assault.
Numerous others in the neighborhood told the victim that they, too, have experienced threats of violence – and in some cases were physically assaulted – but due to fears of retribution they have not reported the incidents.
Antisemitism is Prompting American Jews to Hide – Even in New York
The federal government is aware the number of antisemitic attacks skyrocketed during and since Israel’s miniwar with Iranian-backed Hamas in Gaza last month.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined together with the NYPD to increase community outreach and open investigations into attacks as they happen. The two worked together on at least two hate crime investigations in May, law enforcement officials said.
According to the NYPD, there were 26 antisemitic hate crimes reported between May 2 and May 23 — more than one a day, every day. There were four such crimes during the same period a year ago.
Undoubtedly, however, there were many more.