A stranger slapped a yarmulke off a 39-year-old man's head just after he entered a Duane Reade on Whitehall Street near State Street in Lower Manhattan, sending it to the ground without a word, before walking off south along Whitehall Street. The man told police he had never met his attacker before. No injuries were reported, but the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is now investigating the incident as a possible antisemitic bias crime.
The NYPD has released surveillance images of the suspect and is asking the public for help identifying him, according to the New York Daily News. Police did not immediately disclose whether the suspect said anything else or what, if any, motive statements accompanied the shove — the paper reported only that the suspect said nothing during the attack itself. Anyone with information is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, and tipsters' identities are kept confidential.
A Citywide Surge in Anti-Jewish Incidents
The Lower Manhattan case lands amid a documented rise in bias crimes across the five boroughs. Per police, hate crimes citywide increased 15% by the end of August compared to the same stretch last year, with August alone tallying 45 confirmed hate crime cases, 19 of them antisemitic incidents, the Daily News reported. That tracks with broader NYPD figures reported by CBS New York, which found citywide hate crimes up 15.8% through August even as overall major index crime fell 6.6% that same month. According to the NYPD, anti-Jewish hate crimes increased 8.5% during the first seven months of 2026, rising to 205 incidents from 189 during the same period a year earlier.
Anti-Jewish incidents made up more than half of all confirmed hate crimes in the city during the first eight months of 2026, despite Jewish residents comprising roughly 10% of New York's population, per the same outlet. Confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes did fall 13.6% in August compared with a year earlier, but they remained the largest single bias category by far. The five boroughs also logged 58 more confirmed hate crime incidents this year than over the same period last year, according to police figures cited by the Daily News.
NYPD year-end figures show that hate crimes decreased by 12% in 2025, to 576 from 657 in 2024, while antisemitic incidents still accounted for 57% of all hate crimes. A report from the Mayor's Office to Combat Antisemitism said antisemitic incidents comprised 62% of all hate crimes in the first quarter of 2025.
Stark Contrast With Falling Violent Crime
The bias-crime spike stands in sharp contrast to overall violence, which hit historic lows over the summer. CBS New York reported that shootings (195) and murders (66) both set recorded lows between June and August, and city officials noted zero shootings or homicides occurred in the subway system during August. The divergence has persisted much of the year — Hoodline reported in a record drop in shootings that January hate crime investigations jumped 152% year-over-year, driven by a 182% surge in anti-Jewish incidents, even as homicides and shootings fell sharply that same month.
The pattern of antisemitic harassment has taken multiple forms this year. In May, overnight swastika graffiti defaced Congregation Machane Chodosh and several private homes in Forest Hills, Queens, triggering a Hate Crimes Task Force investigation, as Hoodline reported at the time. A Jewish man was punched and had his hat stolen near 47th Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan's Diamond District, another suspected antisemitic attack now under NYPD investigation.
Separately, a Bus Stop Swastika and an Indictment
In an unrelated case in Richmond Hill, Queens, someone drew a swastika and wrote anti-jewish remarks with a marker on a bus stop at the corner of Lefferts Boulevard and Hillside Avenue at about 4:30 a.m. on August 27, according to the Daily News. The NYPD has released images of suspects in that incident as well as the Lower Manhattan yarmulke case, though the two remain separate investigations.
The most severe recent case, however, is the one that produced a formal indictment. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced a 10-count Supreme Court indictment against 51-year-old Raul Morales, charging him with four counts of second-degree attempted murder as a hate crime tied to July 23 stabbing attacks on two strangers near Upper West Side synagogues, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Prosecutors say they unsealed the indictment after finding antisemitic sentiments in text messages on Morales's cell phone. Morales was also charged with two counts of attempted assault as a hate crime and two counts of assault as a hate crime; the full slate of charges carries up to 40 years in prison. He pleaded not guilty at his Manhattan Supreme Court arraignment, which Bragg attended in person. Bragg said his office would vigorously litigate the heinous antisemitic incident in court but declined to comment on the specific content of the text messages.
Enhanced Penalties Under State Law
Under New York Penal Law § 485.05, a hate crime designation elevates the underlying statutory offense level by one full category, significantly increasing minimum and maximum prison sentences upon conviction, according to a summary from Brooklyn College. The law covers 53 specified offenses ranging from criminal mischief to murder. The Manhattan DA's Office has plans to expand its Hate Crimes Unit, backed by funding support.
The wave of incidents arrives as Jews across New York City prepare to celebrate the High Holy Days, which begin at sundown Friday with Rosh Hashanah and continue through Yom Kippur on September 20 and 21. It remains unclear whether the NYPD is directing additional patrols toward synagogues and Jewish commercial corridors during that period, and police have not said whether the Lower Manhattan yarmulke case and the Richmond Hill bus stop vandalism are being treated with the same investigative urgency as violent attacks like the Morales stabbings. For now, detectives are still trying to identify the man seen walking away from the Duane Reade on Whitehall Street.
