Elderly Jewish man attacked in New York in possible hate crime

"Has it become too dangerous for openly religious Jewish men to walk the streets of NY City?" asked City Councilman Chaim Deutsch.

By TZVI JOFFRE
A man walks past the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, the scene of a stabbing at the Brooklyn synagogue in New York City December 9, 2014. New York police shot and killed a man armed with a knife early Tuesday after he stabbed a rabbinical student from Israel in the head in a Bro (photo credit: STEPHANIE KEITH/REUTERS)
A man walks past the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, the scene of a stabbing at the Brooklyn synagogue in New York City December 9, 2014. New York police shot and killed a man armed with a knife early Tuesday after he stabbed a rabbinical student from Israel in the head in a Bro
(photo credit: STEPHANIE KEITH/REUTERS)
An elderly Jewish man was violently attacked by a man with a brick in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn after a series of similar crimes against Jews in the city, according to The Forward. The incident is under investigation by the New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force.
 

Rabbi Avraham Gopin, who is in his mid-sixties, was reportedly exercising in Rochester Park - a largely Jewish neighborhood - when he was attacked by a man with a large brick, according to JTA. Gopin sustained a broken nose, lost some teeth and required stitches on his head, according to a tweet by his son-in-law, Jewish singer Benny Friedman.
An NYPD source told Yeshiva World News that the man and the attacker did not exchange words before the attack, adding that the police have footage of the incident.

 
"Has it become too dangerous for openly religious Jewish men to walk the streets of NY City?" asked City Councilman Chaim Deutsch on Twitter in response to the incident.
"This morning, as my father-in-law was walking in Rochester Park in Crown Heights, he was attacked with a deadly weapon," tweeted Benny Friedman "This is absolutely frightening, and obviously something that a civilization should never tolerate."
According to Friedman, his father-in-law said that "there was no question this man had murder on his mind." 
"The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating this despicable act of violence, and we will find the attacker." tweeted NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio. "This city will stop at nothing to protect our communities from hate and violence."

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"Thank you Mr. Mayor for looking into this," replied Benny Friedman. "May G-d Al-mighty bless you with success in the holy task of keeping the people of this great city safe. Our family appreciates very much the support and concern."
"Where I come from in Minnesota, this would be front page headlines. But here in Brooklyn this is just the latest event," lamented Friedman.
A video released earlier this month by pro-Israel NGO StandWithUS reported an 82% increase in antisemitic hate crimes in New York City, according to the NYPD.
 
“Jews are being attacked on the streets of New York City,” read the video. “Antisemitic attacks are being reported frequently. From antisemitic graffiti found in New York parks to a Jewish man being punched and attacked in Williamsburg.
“Two Jewish men were attacked with pepper spray in Crown Heights,” the video says. “Jewish children were bullied at a Brownsville charter school.” It also shows a clip of a Jewish man who was violently assaulted in Brooklyn.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.