Teaneck Steps Up Patrol After Rockland Stabbing

TEANECK, NJ – In the wake of a stabbing at a Hanukkah celebration Saturday evening at a rabbi’s home in Rockland County, NY, Teaneck officials say law enforcement will step up patrols around houses of worship.

The stabbing occurred in Monsey, a community just over the border from New Jersey and one of several towns in the Hudson Valley that has seen an increase in its Hasidic Jewish population in recent years.

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Around 10 p.m., Grafton Thomas, a 37-year-old from Greenwood Lake, NY, entered the Forshay Road home and stabbed five people, authorities said. Around 100 people were celebrating the second-to-last night of Hanukkah when a man walked in and started stabbing people with what, officials say, was either a machete or other long knife.

He was apprehended Sunday morning in New York City and was charged with was charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of burglary. Authorities have not provided a motive for the attack.

See More: Rockland Attack Latest In Series Of Hate Crimes Around Region

Teaneck Township Manager Dean Kazinci said the local police department "remains in constant contact with County, State and Federal law enforcement agencies for updated intelligence information and threat assessments."

He also urged residents to immediately report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.

Teaneck is home to a thriving Jewish community of about 15,000 out of a total population of about 37,000 residents. There's also more than a dozen synagogues, several private Jewish schools, kosher supermarkets and Jewish delis in the township.

Bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton said his officers "will continue to be diligent with increased patrol of all houses of worship in Bergen County - as we have done over the course of this year."

Attempts to dismantle our comfort zones is unacceptable and I am sure that the concerted effort of law enforcement and the community at large will change that dichotomy," the sheriff said on Sunday. "...It is our job to protect all residents. Hate has no place here and we stand against any attack in our community."

The stabbing was the latest in a series of hate crimes in the New York City area over the past few weeks. On Dec. 10, a shooting rampage at a Jersey City kosher market left six people - three people inside the deli, a police officer and the two killers - dead.

See More:'Hate' Note Reportedly Left By Killer In Jersey City Killings

There have also been several anti-Semitic attacks reported in New York City the first days of the Jewish holidays.

Related: String Of Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes Prompts Cop Surge

Kazinci also said,"The Township strongly condemns the latest anti-Semitic incident" and that Teaneck stands by the residents of Monsey and all of our neighboring cities who have recently fallen victim to anti-Semitic attacks."

"Anti-Semitism and bigotry of any kind are unacceptable to our values of diversity and will not be accepted. We stand united in stating that there is zero tolerance for such acts of hate in our community. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their families in this senseless attack which impacts all of us," Kazinci said.