NYPD Traffic Cop Called Midtown Driver 'Stupid Jew,' Report Says

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — An NYPD traffic cop is under internal investigation for allegedly calling a Midtown motorist a "stupid Jew," according to the department and reports.

The police officer is accused of yelling the insult at a driver who was attempting to make a right turn on East 57th Street and Park Avenue Tuesday evening, Orthodox Jewish website Yeshiva World News first reported. The driver had been unable to get in the correct lane, but attempted to make the turn anyway, according to the report. That's when the traffic cop walked over to the car and said "you can't might a right turn, you stupid Jew."

Video given to Yeshiva World News by a man in the car showed the officer refuse to disclose his badge number and then apologize.

"I didn't mean what I said, I apologized to the other gentleman," the officer says in the video. The video does not include the initial insult.

"There is no room for intolerance in the NYPD, or anywhere. Transportation Investigations Unit is reviewing this incident," the NYPD said in a statement.

New York City's Jewish population has been disproportionately targeted as hate crimes occur more frequently in the city. Jews were the targets of more than half the 352 hate crimes reported in 2018 as of late December.