Cops want to question a man who knocked a yarmulke off a 39-year-old man’s head in a potential antisemitic hate crime at a lower Manhattan pharmacy, police said Tuesday.
The victim had just entered a Duane Reade on Whitehall St. near State St. in lower Manhattan at about 1 p.m. on May 5 when the stranger approached and slapped the yarmulke off his head, causing it to fall to the ground.
The suspect said nothing as he attacked the victim and walked off. The victim said he had never met the man who hit him before.
No injuries were reported.
Police said the suspect was last seen walking south along Whitehall St.
Cops on Tuesday released surveillance images of the suspect in the hopes that someone recognizes him. The incident is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force.
At the same time, cops are asking for help in their search for a man they said drew a swastika on a bus stop at the corner of Lefferts Blvd. and Hillside Ave. in Richmond Hill, Queens, on Aug. 27.
The vandalism took place at about 4:30 a.m., cops said. The vandal used a marker to draw the swastika, as well as some anti-Jewish remarks. The content of the remarks wasn’t immediately disclosed.
Police released images of suspects in these two separate incidents as Jews across the city prepare to celebrate the High Holy Days later this week. It also came the same day Manhattan prosecutors indicted Raul Morales, 51, on hate crime charges for back-to-back stabbings on the Upper West Side that included plunging a knife into an Asian man’s back and a screwdriver into a Jewish man’s chest
Wearing beige prison garb over a white T-shirt to his Manhattan Supreme Court arraignment, Raul Morales, 51, pleaded not guilty to four counts of attempted murder as a hate crime, two counts of assault as a hate crime, two counts of attempted assault as a hate crime, and related charges. The charges carry up to 40 years in prison.
Prosecutors at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said that, through search warrants, they had uncovered antisemitic sentiments in text messages on Morales’ cell phone.
When asked for details, DA Bragg, who attended the hearing, declined to comment on what the text messages said, saying only that his office would vigorously litigate the “heinous antisemitic incident” in court
By the end of August, the number of hate crimes in the five boroughs was up for the year — by 15%, with 58 additional confirmed incidents this year compared to last, cops said.
Of the 45 confirmed hate crimes in August, close to half, 19 cases, were antisemitic incidents, cops said.
Anyone with information regarding these two incidents is urged to call NYPD CrimeStoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.