A Lubavitcher man from Crown Heights was attacked from behind in Manhattan's Diamond District on Wednesday evening, in an incident being investigated as a possible antisemitic hate crime.
The attack took place shortly before 6 p.m. near 15 West 47th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. CrownHeights.info and COLlive reported that the man was stabbed. The Yeshiva World reported that the weapon appeared to be a needle or syringe.
Hatzalah volunteers treated the victim at the scene and took him to Bellevue Hospital, where he was reported in stable condition. His identity has not been released.
The suspect is described as a white woman in her 30s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, wearing a shirt, blue jeans and white sneakers, with a dark sweater tied around her waist. She fled west toward Sixth Avenue. No arrest has been reported.
Manhattan Shomrim said it is working with the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force on the investigation, according to COLlive.
Sources cited by The Yeshiva World said the victim was not the first Jewish person the woman tried to attack, and that she walked past numerous pedestrians who were not visibly Jewish without targeting them. The outlet also reported that the suspect may be emotionally disturbed. Police have not commented publicly on a motive.
The attack is the latest in a series of assaults on Jews in Manhattan this year. In August, a Hasidic man was punched and robbed by an attacker shouting antisemitic slurs near 47th Street and Sixth Avenue, a few hundred feet from Wednesday's attack. That suspect was charged with hate crimes but released without bail. In July, a Jewish man leaving a Tisha B'Av service on the Upper West Side was stabbed in an attack that left two victims wounded. Suspect Raul Morales was charged with attempted murder as a hate crime.
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
