A hate-spewing cyclist slugged an elderly man in Central Park and snarled, “F—king Jew” â as bias crimes targeting Jewish victims continue to rise in the Big Apple, authorities said.
The menace approached the 70-year-old victim from behind just after 6 p.m. July 13 along the West Drive near the 97th Street Transverse on the Upper West Side, cops said late Thursday.
He then punched the elderly victim in his upper body and seethed, “F—ing Jew!,” cops and sources said.
The still-at-large assailant is described as a man with a slim build and medium complexion, last seen wearing an orange baseball cap, white T-shirt, black pants, black sneakers and carrying a cross-body bookbag, cops said.
The victim suffered minor injuries and was not hospitalized.
The departmentâs Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident, cops said.
In July alone, the task force investigated 30 anti-Jewish offenses, compared to only 10 during the same period last year, according to data released earlier this week.
Antisemitic hate crimes made up the majority of the 52 bias offenses investigated by the department last month, the data shows.
The NYPD probed 48 hate crimes in July 2023.
