US Jewish men attacked in 2 fresh Brooklyn incidents

JTA — US Jewish men were attacked in two incidents in Brooklyn neighborhoods in recent days.

The New York borough has seen a number of assaults against identifiable Jews in the past several months.

On Monday, a man walking to morning prayers in the Gravesend neighborhood was verbally assaulted before the assailant attempted to punch him several times. The attack was first reported by New York City Councilman Chaim Deutsch in a tweet. He said the New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Unit is investigating the incident.

On Friday, a group of seven youths knocked the shtreimels — the fur hats often worn by some married ultra-Orthodox men on Shabbat and Jewish festivals — off the heads of two Hasidic Jews in the Williamsburg neighborhood in an incident caught on surveillance video.

On Sunday, dozens of people gathered in City Hall Park for a rally condemning the increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks taking place throughout the city. They condemned city officials for not taking more action to stop the attacks from happening.

There have been 152 anti-Semitic hate crimes so far this year in the city, according to the NYPD, compared with 93 in 2018.