The NYPD is delving into the events surrounding an alarming encounter on a Brooklyn subway that has cast a somber shadow over the recent Hanukkah festivities. According to ABC7 New York, the dispute unfolded late Monday when two individuals targeted a group of Orthodox Jews on a southbound No. 3 train, leading to an investigation by the NYPD and the Justice Department Civil Rights Division into the potential hate crime. Authorities say the perpetrators reportedly made threats and one went so far as to grab a victim by the jacket and make a "gun" gesture with his hand while declaring, "I'll kill you."
Caught by the digital eye on the subway, the disturbing video shows the assailants accosting the young men. As told to the New York Post by one of the victims, Mendy Asraf, the group of eight was returning from a Hanukkah celebration when they were confronted and verbally assaulted with cries of "F--k the Jews" from what appeared to be a father and son. Asraf recounted the fear that gripped him as he was threatened, saying, "When he made his fingers the sign of a gun towards me, I was really afraid. I didn't know what he had in his pockets."
While other passengers attempted to defuse the tense situation, the group, intimidated and fearing for their lives, chose to quickly debark at the Nostrand Avenue station and to immediately report the incident to the police. The Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, took to social media to express his concern, quoting him, "This is a deeply disturbing hate crime targeting young Chabad men on a train in New York, whose only act was sharing the light of Hanukkah. Such acts of hatred must be unequivocally condemned, and those responsible must be held accountable," as per the statement obtained by ABC7 New York.
The implications of this confrontation extend beyond fear; it strikes a chord with a larger trend of antisemitism as pointed out by Asraf, who remarked, "We look like religious Jews." The visible markers of their faith, coupled with the recent horror of a terror attack during Hanukkah in Australia, only serve to underscore the gravity of their experience. Asraf also shared to the New York Post his prior apprehensions about studying in New York due to his mother's warnings of antisemitic dangers, "It's going to be dangerous—keep your eyes open." Expressing his shock at the unbridled hate he encountered, he stated, "I felt a little antisemitism, but nothing like this."
With the chilling event captured on video, the NYPD alongside MTA officials are putting forth concerted efforts to identify and apprehend the individuals responsible for the attack. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber issued a statement affirming that such behavior is unacceptable both in the subway and across the city. "This kind of hateful behavior has no place on the subway or anywhere, and is deeply offensive to New Yorkers," and added, "The NYPD has access to video from train cars and stations to identify and apprehend the perpetrators, who should face maximum consequences from the justice system," Lieber expressed in a sentiment echoed by ABC7 New York.
