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The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is investigating two stabbings as possible hate crimes, police said Thursday.
An Asian man and a Jewish man were injured in separate attacks, which occurred midday Thursday in the Upper West Side. Both men were transported to Mount Sinai-St. Luke’s Hospital to receive treatment for their injuries and are expected to recover, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
She said in a statement shared on social media Thursday that 51-year-old Raul Morales has been arrested for suspected connection to these stabbings and that Morales allegedly yelled “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks.
A spokesperson with the NYPD’s public information office said that police responded to these attacks around 1:30 p.m. and that the victims were found “conscious and alert.” A 57-year-old man sustained a stab wound to his back, and a 50-year-old man was found with a wound on his chest, according to the spokesperson.
Tisch said the police department is investigating whether this was a potential hate crime or if mental health issues played a role in these attacks. The commissioner said there is no known connection between Morales and either of the victims.
“I want to commend the bravery of a good Samaritan who led our officers to the location where the perpetrator was hiding, as well as our NYPD cops who brought an end to the incident without further injuries,” Tisch wrote.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) condemned the attacks, in a statement shared on social media, and commended the NYPD’s response to the incident.
“These hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city,” the mayor said.
Eric Goldstein, the CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, said he was “horrified and heartbroken” by the attacks but “no longer surprised” at a press conference on Friday morning.
He called on Mamdani to turn down the temperature on his criticism of Israel and its leadership, saying the mayor “contributes to a climate in which Jewish New Yorkers are increasingly targeted and unsafe.”
Mamdani has been critical of Israel’s military actions in Gaza and recently reupped his call for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of the foreign leader’s visit to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly this fall.
“Mayor Mamdani, stop fanning the flames of hatred and division,” Goldstein said. “The consequences are not abstract. They’re playing out on our streets.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) also spoke out against these acts of violence.
“Disgusted by what appears to be another senseless attack on New Yorkers simply because they’re Jewish,” she wrote in a Thursday social media post.
“The strength of New York has always been our ability to live together across every faith and background,” the governor continued. “Anyone who tries to tear that apart will be met with the full force of the law. New York will stand with our Jewish community today, tomorrow, and always.”
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