Man punched in the face in apparent bias attack

A Hasidic man walking home in Crown Heights from a friend’s house was punched in the face by at least two black men yelling, “Hey Jew, what are you doing here?” police sources and the victim said Tuesday.

The victim, 50, a kosher food inspector, was attacked at 10:45 p.m. as he walked along Schnectady Avenue between Crown and Carroll streets.

“I got attacked from the back and right away my glasses fell down,” the victim, who asked that his name not be printed, said Tuesday.

“They started punching me all over, especially in the face. I was dripping blood all over. I ran to the street and they tried to grab me. I was in the middle of the street, cars passing by and I was screaming,” he said.

Three Hasidic men eventually came to his aid as the suspects ran off, he said.

The victim was taken to Kings County Medical Center where he was treated for a cut lip and a bloody nose. His attackers were still being sought.

Rabbi Chanina Sperlin, head of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, said the Brooklyn neighborhood — still shaken by an incident Friday in which tires were slashed on 10 Jewish-owned vehicles, including two ambulances — was dismayed to hear of the assault.

“It’s outrageous,” he said. “We’re not going to stand for this.”

The assault victim said that in the 15 years he has lived in Crown Heights he never encountered a problem any worse than the occasional panhandler. In the Monday incident, however, the men appeared to have hate in their hearts, he said.

“‘What are you doing over her, — — Jew?'” he recalled them saying. “‘Get away from here.'”

Many nearby residents said they were surprised to hear of the incident.

“It’s very sad and I was hoping that we were behind that in our neighborhood,” said Tzvi Bronchtain, 23. “There hasn’t been much of that in the last few years. I hope people will work hard to keep tensions calm and remember that the heart of everyone is really good.”

Police said the assault is being investigated by the Hate Crime Unit and that it is clear it was motivated by bias.

The unit is also investigating Friday’s incident, in which two Hatzollah ambulances parked in front of the Lubavitch World Headquarters on Eastern Parkway were damaged