Youths Knock Shtreimels Off Jews in Williamsburg

A group of youths knocked the shtreimels off two Jews in Williamsburg Friday night, the latest in a recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents in New York City.

According to the NYPD and the WILLIAMSBURG NEWS Twitter feed (@WMSBG), which posted video of the assault, the incident occurred at the corner of South 10 Street and Wythe Avenue, around 9:00 p.m. Video shows the two Jewish men standing on the corner, when a group of seven young males, who appear to be teen-aged, walk up to them and knocking their shtreimels off their heads.

The two men, aged 28 and 29, were not injured.

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.

Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted Sunday night, “We won’t accept hate in this city. We DON’T accept hate in this city. Not on our watch. The NYPD will find those responsible and we will hold every single one of them accountable.”

There has been a surge of crimes against Jews in late 2018 and 2019.

At an annual pre-High Holidays briefing at NYPD headquarters last week, Deputy Inspector Mark Molinari said there had been 301 hate crimes reported in the city through mid-September, compared to 217 in the same period of 2018. Of those crimes, 155 have been against Jews, compared with 97 in the comparable period last year.

Over 80% of the anti-Semitic incidents have been property crimes, the vast majority of which included the scrawling of swastikas.

A large number of assaults on Jews have occurred in the Williamsburg and Crown Heights neighborhoods.

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rborchardt@hamodia.com