Jewish Ambulance Worker Slashed in Brooklyn: NYPD

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, left, and New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, right, denounced the violence against Brooklyn Jews at a Wednesday presser. Photo courtesy of Dov Hikind’s Office

Two separate Tuesday night street attacks targeted members of Crown Height’s Orthodox Jewish community, according to police.

In the first attack, 34-year-old David Katz — a volunteer for the Jewish community’s ambulance service, ”Hatzalah” — was slashed in the back by an unknown assailant.

Police believe the attacker was wearing a mask.

“The victim was walking on Eastern Parkway near Rogers Avenue at 8:30 p.m.,” an NYPD spokeswoman told Patch. ”He felt pain in his upper right back and discovered he was slashed.”

Katz is now listed in stable condition at Kings County Hospital in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, police said.

Some hours later, around 5:45 a.m., the Jewish news outlet JP Updates reported that another Orthodox Jewish man, 49-year-old Bentzion Friedman, was attacked on his way to synagogue.

“A 46-year-old Hispanic male approached him in front of 645 Lefferts Avenue,” JP Updates reported — then ”knocked the phone out of his hand and punched him in the face.”

The suspect claimed in a video shot during his arrest that he knocked the phone from Friedman’s hand because he was ”tired of these motherf***ing Jews on this block.” (However, he also claimed that Friedman put him in a chokehold before the face-punching part.)

As of Wednesday evening, the NYPD had not publicly labeled either attack a hate crime.

However, New York State Assembyman Dov Hikind, who represents Borough Park (another of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods), was very vocal about his suspicions at a Wednesday press conference.

From Hikind’s speech:

“I am outraged over the recent attacks in Crown Heights. When you hear of a stabbing here in New York and you don’t have any information, you right away ask if this is related to events in Israel. While we don’t have a suspect or precise motive yet in last night’s attack, one thing is clear — given our heightened awareness over stabbings in Israel and this week’s International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries — it is critical to install surveillance cameras in strategic locations. Cameras are one of the most effective tools for law enforcement’s ability to solve and prevent crimes. I pledge to work with leaders in Crown Heights to make that happen.”

Assemblyman Walter Mosley, who represents Crown Heights, also released the following statement.

“In light of last night’s senseless act of violence my prayers are for a speedy recovery for the injured off duty Hatzolah ambulance worker. We as a community must come together and show that horrific acts of violence like this will not be tolerated in Crown Heights. I am confident that the NYPD will apprehend the perpetrator and that our neighborhood will heal together.”

The Crown Heights Jewish Community Council and the Anti-Defamation League have each pledged $5,000 rewards — $10,000 total — for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual responsible for the Eastern Parkway slashing, according to Hikind’s office.