Six Jewish Kids Threatened With Sword, Knife and Crowbar in Latest New York City Antisemitic Attack
An NYPD car on patrol. Photo: Reuters / Lucas Jackson.
Six Jewish boys were the target of antisemitic intimidation last week on New York’s Upper West Side, by three other teens bearing a knife, sword, and crowbar who threatened to attack them because of their faith.
According to the NYPD, the incident occurred on April 2 at 7:20pm at West End Avenue and West 86 Street.
The six victims, reported as between the ages of 12-16, were approached by three male teenagers who were carrying a knife, sword, and crowbar.
The three then said they wanted get the Jewish pre-teens and teens because they were Jews, and followed the group home before fleeing the area.
The NYPD said that there were no reported injuries, and that its Hate Crimes Task Force is now investigating.
Gale A. Brewer, a former Manhattan borough president and now an Upper West Side Council Member, tweeted on Sunday, “My office was informed of a horrible antisemitic attack targeting 8th & 9th grade boys at 85th & West End Ave yesterday evening, 4/2. Yes, on children.”
“Antisemitism is abhorrent & an attack on us all,” Brewer continued.
The incident came as police were searching for a group of teenage suspects in an assault against a Hasidic man in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood. The attack drew outrage from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, and from community leaders who noted the continued rise in antisemitic hate crimes in the city this year.