The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in ascertaining the whereabouts of the unidentified man who is seen in the above video and is sought by the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force in connection with grand larceny within the confines of the 90th Precinct.
On Friday, March 12, at 6:15 PM, on the corner of Wallabout Street and Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn, the victim, a 27-year-old male wearing an $8,000 shtreimel, was approached from behind by an unidentified man who snatched his Shtreimel from his head and fled on foot.
The man is 5’07” to 5’10”, weighs approximately 125 lbs, and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. Needless to say, he would stand out should he walk the streets in his new shtreimel.
The shtreimel is a fur hat worn by mostly Chassidic Jewish men on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and other festive occasions. The shtreimel is generally worn by married men. Different theories hold that the shtreimel is of Polish, Tatar, Turkish or Russian origin. It most likely followed the tradition of Eastern European nobility. Its construction is comparable to the fur hats worn by gentile nobles gentiles across Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia.
According to the Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, the shtreimel could come from a period in the 17th century when Oriental costumes were considered fashionable by the nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
