A rabbi on his approach to a Queens synagogue was punched within the face by a stranger yelling antisemitic slurs — as Jews all over the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, officers mentioned Wednesday.
The 30-year-old sufferer was strolling in Forest Hills whent the stranger stormed as much as him close to Queens Blvd. and 71st Ave. about 3 p.m. Tuesday, cops mentioned. The attacker screamed “F—ing Jew” and punched the rabbi within the face and chest earlier than working off.
The rabbi was handled on the scene for minor accidents, cops mentioned.
Cops arrested Eric Zafra-Grosso, additionally 32, at a close-by subway station. He lives in Corona, in keeping with cops, and has no felony historical past.
He was charged with assault and aggravated harassment as hate crimes, officers mentioned. His arraignment in Queens Prison Court docket was pending Wednesday.
“New Yorkers had been confronted with a painful reality: antisemitism shouldn’t be a factor of the previous — it’s a current hazard that calls for motion from all of us,” Mayor Mamdani posted on X. “There is no such thing as a place for antisemitism in our metropolis. I stand in solidarity with Jewish New Yorkers and my administration is dedicated to rooting out this hatred.”
The assault befell on Worldwide Holocaust Remembrance Day, which honors the reminiscence of the six million Jews killed within the Holocaust in addition to the hundreds of thousands of different victims of Nazi persecution. The day marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau focus camp.
Different elected officers voicing outrage included Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Comptroller Mark Levine, who known as the assault “but one other sickening reminder of the size of the hatred we’re confronting.”
“We want everybody on this metropolis united in combatting this,” Levine mentioned on X.
Final Thursday, cops arrested a pair of youngster vandals accused of desecrating a Brooklyn playground in a Jewish neighborhood with greater than 50 swastikas throughout a two-day spree, police and metropolis officers mentioned.
The swastikas had been drawn with pink, yellow and blue paint on slides, playground tools and the handball court docket at Gravesend Park at 56th St. and 18th Ave. in Borough Park, officers mentioned.
Final yr, hate crimes case citywide decreased by 12%, from 657 incidents in 2024 to 576 final yr, officers mentioned.
Antisemitic incidents dropped by 3% however nonetheless accounted for 57% of all hate crimes reported in 2025, cops mentioned, including that Jewish New Yorkers characterize about 10% of town’s inhabitants.
