Hate Crime at Hebrew Union College; Migrant Ticket Seller Stabbed near Battery Park

The New York City Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in discovering the identity and whereabouts of a male suspect wanted in connection with a hate crime and criminal mischief that occurred within the confines of the 6th Precinct in Greenwich Village. Details are as follows:

On May 26, 2024, at approximately 9:54pm in front of 1 W. 4th St., an unidentified male vandalized a door by writing anti-Semitic graffiti.

The vandal’s target was in front of Hebrew Union College.

The Jewish seminary, which first opened a New York campus in 1950, moved into its current building, at West 4th and Mercer streets, in 1979. Formally known as Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, the seminary is the leading educator of Reform Judaism, including rabbis and cantors.

The suspect is described as a light-skinned male, likely in his 20s or 30s, with black hair, including at least one braid secured with rubber bands and three buttons, one of which shows the circle “A” of anarchy.

Ticket Seller from Togo Stabbed near Battery Park

The often-lawless land of Battery Park tourist scammers claimed another victim—this time one of its own.

According to police, on June 7, at approximately 11:19am, cops responded to a 911 call for a male stabbed at 17 State St.

Upon arrival, police said a 26-year-old male victim was involved in a dispute with two unidentified individuals. A fight ensued, and the victim was stabbed in the torso and shoulder.

EMS transported the 26-year-old male victim to NYC Health and Hospitals/Bellevue in stable condition. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.

The Daily News subsequently reported that the victim was from Togo, in West Africa, and that he sold tickets for a company that offers cruises around, but not to, the Statue of Liberty. “I’m back from the hospital! Thanks God, I feel better,” he told reporters.

That this incident follows Straus News’s late-March exposé, Beware! Battery Park Tourist Scammers Persist Despite Years of Complaints & Warnings, isn’t at all suprising.

Both the park and its surrounding plaza have been taken over by a variety of tourist scammers, counterfeit-goods hustlers, and illegal vendors that recent proposals to “crack down” on ticket scammers alone will only partially address.

Mayor Adams, only days earlier at his weekly press conference on June 3, acknowledged he had visited in early April, but said he did not notice the scammers in action when he accompanied editor Keith J. Kelly to the site. “I spoke with the PC [police commissioner] and when we went down there, as you were, you were with me, we didn’t see it. And so we need to identify what the hours [are]. . . . And so we’re going to try to go back down there.”

Anyone with information in regard to these incidents is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.All calls are strictly confidential.