A rabbi on his way to a Queens synagogue was punched in the face by a stranger yelling antisemitic slurs — as Jews around the world marked Holocaust Remembrance Day, officials said Wednesday.
The 32-year-old victim was walking in Forest Hills whent the stranger stormed up to him near Queens Blvd. and 71st Ave. about 3 p.m. Tuesday, cops said. The attacker screamed “F—ing Jew” and punched the rabbi in the face and chest before running off.
The rabbi was treated at the scene for minor injuries, cops said.
Cops arrested Eric Zafra-Grosso, also 32, at a nearby subway station. He lives in Corona, according to cops, and has no criminal history.
He was charged with assault and aggravated harassment as hate crimes, officials said. His arraignment in Queens Criminal Court was pending Wednesday.
“New Yorkers were confronted with a painful truth: antisemitism is not a thing of the past — it is a present danger that demands action from all of us,” Mayor Mamdani posted on X. “There is no place for antisemitism in our city. I stand in solidarity with Jewish New Yorkers and my administration is committed to rooting out this hatred.”
The attack took place on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which honors the memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust as well as the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution. The day marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Other elected officials voicing outrage included Gov. Kathy Hochul, Sen. Chuck Schumer and Comptroller Mark Levine, who called the attack “yet another sickening reminder of the scale of the hatred we are confronting.”
“We need everyone in this city united in combatting this,” Levine said on X.
Last Thursday, cops arrested a pair of teen vandals accused of desecrating a Brooklyn playground in a Jewish neighborhood with more than 50 swastikas during a two-day spree, police and city officials said.
The swastikas were drawn with red, yellow and blue paint on slides, playground equipment and the handball court at Gravesend Park at 56th St. and 18th Ave. in Borough Park, officials said.
Last year, hate crimes case citywide decreased by 12%, from 657 incidents in 2024 to 576 last year, officials said.
Antisemitic incidents dropped by 3% but still accounted for 57% of all hate crimes reported in 2025, cops said, adding that Jewish New Yorkers represent about 10% of the city’s population.
