Cracking down on hate crimes
Forest Hills’ Jewish community calls on police to toughen stance on anti-Semitism in the area
BY MARK HALLUM
Members of Forest Hills’
Bukharian community stood
together Feb. 3 to condemn
anti-Semitic violence and
called on the NYPD to stand
with them by charging
hate crimes where they
claim it is evident after a
November attack on a local
Yeshiva student.
David Paltielov, 16, made an
appearance at the Bukharian
Jewish Community Center
rally, but stood quietly on the
sidelines as elected officials
and community leaders
spoke regarding the rise of
race hate across the borough
and praised the woman who
leapt to his defense during
the attack wielding nothing
but a broom. Paltielov was in
Elmhurst Hospital for up to a
week following the attack.
Although there were
two arrests, the NYPD did
not charge the two with a
hate crime.
City Councilman Rory
Lancman referred back to an
incident from 2016 in which
the police did not charge a
man with hate crimes after
storming into the Jamaica
Muslim Center and began
assaulting congregants.
“We’re confronting a
very, very serious problem in
this city — in this country.
An explosion in hate crimes
against Jews, African
Americans and Muslims,”
Lancman said. “Speaking
truthfully, we are having a
very, very difficult time getting
law enforcement to focus on
hate crimes. In my own district
two years ago, we had a man
enter a mosque during Friday
services, shouting ‘Allah,
Allah,’ attacking people. We
could not get law enforcement
to either charge or prosecute
him for a hate crime.”
A meeting at Beth Gavriel
David Paltielov and Waleska Mendez pose as she accepts a proclamation from state Assemblyman
David Weprin (c.) for intervening in the November attack. Photos by Mark Hallum
State Assemblyman Daniel Rosenthal speaks at the Bukharian Jewish Community Center in Forest
Hills.
Jewish Center on Dec. 3,
2018, was also a source of
frustration, according to
Lancman, as members of the
Jewish community attempted
to persuade law enforcement
to see the attack on Paltielov
as a hate crime since
Paltielov had no connection
to the assailants.
The Nov. 29, 2018, attack took
place near Masbia of Queens,
a kosher food pantry, where
Paltielov was ganged up on by
more than 20 students from
Forest Hills High School who
may have mistaken him for a
member of another group who
had previously attacked them.
Waleska Mendez, who
was volunteering at the soup
kitchen, saw the fracas and
stepped in, in an attempt to
disperse the crowd.
Jonathan Torres, 18, and
Victor Hidalgo, 17, were
taken into custody days later
and both were charged with
felony gang assault following
an investigation by NYPD’s
Hate Crimes Task Force that
determined that it was not a
case of bigotry.
City Councilman Rory Lancman
calls for law enforcement to
crack down on hate crimes,
which many at the rally said are
on the rise.
“I’m angry, because
intimidation and violence
for practicing and living
one’s faith – one of our most
basic American values – is
under attack, here in Queens,
throughout New York and
across the country,” U.S.
Rep. Grace Meng said. “So
what gives me hope? It is the
partnerships across faiths, like
this one between the Jamaica
Muslim Center, the Bukharian
Jewish Community Center,
and Abraham’s Children
Interfaith Program that serve
as proof that we will continue
to work shoulder to shoulder,
as a city and as one country,
to stand up for the right to
practice any faith freely
and proudly.”
NYPD stats show that
there were 31 anti-Semitic
hate crimes across the city in
October, which is an increase
from the 22 logged in the
same month the year prior
and includes vandalizations
depicting swastikas, even while
overall crime rates drop.
Reach reporter Mark
Hallum by e-mail at mhallum@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4564.
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Acts of Kindness...........................................8
Police Blotter................................................10
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