Borough President Adams Calls For Vigilance As NYPD Releases New Footage In Crown Heights Stabbing
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is urging residents to be more vigilant in the face of several knife-related attacks.
"When you have people who randomly stab individuals -- either because of their ethnicity or what we have seen on the trains with these slashings and cuttings -- we have to really be more vigilant and watch what's taking place," Adams said.
The call comes following the stabbing of a 25-year-old Hasidic man on Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights Wednesday afternoon.
The victim was taken to Kings County Hospital with a collapsed lung.
Authorities are now looking into whether the attack was a hate crime.
"He was dressed in Hasidic garb. Right now we're looking at it as a possible hate crime because he's dressed in that fashion," Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.
Police said after the victim was stabbed, he turned around to see the suspect running on the street away from him.
Boyce said there were no words exchanged between the victim and the suspect before the attack.
But while the NYPD investigates the possibility of the stabbing as a hate crime, the Anti-Defamation League said there is no doubt and that there is a pattern of hate going on in Crown Heights, 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck reported.
The organization said there was also a slashing of a Hasidic man back in November.
"Brooklyn's Jewish community is once again suffering from apparent targeted acts of hate with this latest stabbing in Crown Heights," said ADL New York Regional Director Evan Bernstein. "Enough is enough."
Bernstein called on local government and community leaders to make it clear that violent acts of anti-Semitism will not be tolerated.
"We are committed to turning the tide on this latest distressing pattern of anti-Semitic incidents across the borough," he said.
"This is the second assault of this nature in the Crown Heights area and we're really asking people to, if they saw something, to let the police department know; but at the same time, be vigilant if you see someone armed with a weapon," Adams said.
The ADL is offering a $5,000 reward for an arrest in the case.
The suspect is described as a black man, between 20 and 30 years old, about 5'10", and 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing a dark colored jacket, blue hooded sweater, dark colored pants and black boots.
