The Philadelphia Jewish Voice September 2005 > Community > Crown Heights

HEARD AGAIN IN CROWN HEIGHTS: "GET THE JEW"

An African-American man reportedly employed the same phrase - "Get the Jew" - in attacking a 50-year-old Chasidic man on Monday, August 1, that was used when a group of black youths assaulted Yankel Rosenbaum on Aug. 19, 1991, in the same community, Crown Heights.

The victim, Arie Grudka, told police one of three black men who attacked him on Schenectady Avenue punched him in the face, and one of them reportedly said, "Get the Jew." The assailants fled when other Chasidic men came to Grudka's aid, according to reports in New York Jewish Week and The New York Post.

On the previous Friday night, tires were slashed on two Hatzolah ambulances and eight cars that were identifiable as belonging to Jews. Jewish Week reported that volunteer medics secured another vehicle from Borough Park to respond to calls until after the Sabbath when the vehicles could be repaired. Among officials who denounced the vandalism, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said the acts showed "complete disregard for the value of human life."