In a sobering reminder of the persistent scourge of hate crimes in our city, Eric Zafra Grosso stands accused of assaulting a rabbi in what authorities are describing as an unprovoked hate-fueled attack; Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz has made clear that such acts of bigotry will meet the full force of the law. According to the Queens District Attorney's Office, Grosso was arraigned on charges including assault as a hate crime, their determination evidenced by statements from the DA.
On a day intended for reflection and remembrance, where the world looked back on the horrors of the Holocaust, this individual allegedly let loose a tirade of antisemitic slurs and proceeded to attack a man simply because he was wearing a yarmulke, Katz said the gravity of this alleged assault is compounded by the fact that it occurred on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Katz stated, "Anti-Jewish hate crimes account for far too many bias-motivated incidents across our city, and my office will use every tool at its disposal to hold perpetrators accountable," as per the Queens District Attorney's Office. Grosso, if convicted of the top charge, could face a prison sentence ranging from 1 1/3 to 4 years.
The confrontation took place on January 27 between the intersections of Queens Boulevard and Yellowstone Boulevard, within the Forest Hills area—it was here that the rabbi, a member of the Bukharian Jewish community, fell victim to the alleged assault. The reported aggression ended in his physical harm, the rabbi suffering punches to the face and chest that sent him to the ground, so the charges stated by Katz's office corroborated by the arrest made by NYPD's 112th Precinct.
With Grosso's case now before the courts, Queens Criminal Court Judge Sharifa Nasser-Cuellar has scheduled him to return on March 16 for the plotting of the next steps in the legal process, Assistant District Attorney Zebo Fattoyeva of the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau is leading the prosecution, her work under the watchful eyes of Bureau Chief Michael Brovner and Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.
