NEW YORK (PIX11) — Hate is spreading from the war in the Middle East to New York City.
Thursday night, more posters of victims kidnapped by Hamas terrorists were torn down on the Upper West Side. Allegedly by two women, police say then assaulted a Jewish woman who confronted them.
Her Star of David pendant was then ripped from her necklace.
“That was an unusual scream at that time, I said something is wrong,” doorman Faton Zogejani recalled.
NYPD detectives are finding bias crimes have no boundaries as incidents have skyrocketed 88% since the Israel-Hamas conflict started on Oct. 7.
Earlier this week in Fort Greene, a woman who identified herself as Jewish allegedly spewed hate, hot coffee, and her phone.
Hurling them at a Punjabi man, Ashish Prashar, and his toddler playing at Eldridge Park.
“She asked me, ‘you know Hamas are terrorists? You and your son are terrorists'”.
Prashar, who’s South Asian, told us he was proudly wearing this keffiyeh scarf given to him by a Palestinian friend.
His 18-month-old was watching with wonder, the woman’s son playing basketball and that is when she blew up, allegedly saying, “Do you know your people burn your babies?’ And ‘I hope someone burns your baby in an oven.'”
Despite the vitriol and violence, Prashar is relieved it was not worse.
“When she left, I was holding my son and saying, ‘you’re ok, you’re going to be ok, you’re loved’ because that’s what he needed to hear,” he said.
Governor Kathy Hochul’s office contacted the Brooklyn dad, Friday night to check in.
She condemned the attacks on X formerly known as Twitter stating “these are beyond reprehensible. This cannot be how New Yorkers treat each other. My message: Knock It Off.”
