Cops: Jewish Shop Owner Assaulted In Apparent Upper West Side Hate Crime
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Jewish shop owner on the Upper West Side was assaulted Monday by a man shouting anti-semitic slurs, police said.
The suspect identified himself as a Muslim and threatened to kill the 52-year-old owner of West Side Judaica before punching him in the right eye, police told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond.
The owner did not want to speak about the incident. The store, located on Broadway between West 88th and West 89th streets, has been in the neighborhood for more than 80 years.
Upper West Siders shopping Tuesday were stunned and saddened by the attack.
"You never expect things like this happen in Upper West Side," one man said. "A lot of nice people, intellectuals."
"Here you always felt was a safe haven," a woman said. "And now, a few blocks from our home, there's an assault, so it's unsettling."
The suspect, who's in his 20s, was seen on surveillance video fleeing the scene on a Razor scooter, police said.