The coronavirus pandemic has made it open season on Chinese Americans in the Big Apple, according to a Queens dad who was the victim this week of a possible hate crime.
“I hoped the virus will go away in a month, but this thing is still going,” the shaken 47-year-old told The Post Saturday during an exclusive interview from the lobby of his Forest Hills home.
“The Chinese will be the ones to pay.”
The victim, who grew up in Hong Kong but has lived in the US for 35 years, was walking his 10-year-old son to a bus stop near 70th Avenue and Queens Boulevard at around 6:50 a.m. Thursday, when an angry stranger decked out in camouflage approached them, police said.
“The guy walked past us. That triggered him. He was screaming at us and said, ‘Where the f–k is your mask?!'” said the victim, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation.
“I turned around to look at this guy — I’ve lived in New York [for] a long time, I’ve seen all kinds of crazy people around — usually, we just ignore them, but he was cursing and yelling.”
“You f–king Chinese!” the unhinged aggressor shouted, police sources said. The deadly bug originated in Wuhan, China, possibly as early as mid-November, infecting some 135,400 people across the globe, killing at least 5,043 to date.
“He kept yelling, and I was afraid he was going to touch my son,” the victim said.
The man followed the victim and his 10-year-old son to the packed bus stop, where he suddenly hit him over the head.
“He kept yelling in front of all the kids. He wasn’t drunk. He came after me because I was Chinese, but I’m American.”
As he recalled the frightening incident, his voice quieted to a whisper, his lips quivered.
“With the mask, they attack you, and without the mask they attack you, so what are they doing?” the shaken dad said. “I don’t know what I can do.”
He first decided against filing a police report, worried the pictures he took of the man would not be enough for cops to find his assailant, the victim first told Patch.
Yet, the harrowing incident is one of a spate of recent attacks against Asian Americans in the Big Apple.
The dad is now trying to teach his son to be hyper-aware of his surroundings.
“I told my son to avoid this kind of situation first but if there’s no other choice, then be strong and stand up for yourself,” he said.
“He’s a very quiet kid. I asked him if he was scared this morning he said ‘a little bit.’ When he came back from school, he didn’t talk to me. He doesn’t know how to react.”
“I don’t know why he’s attacking us with my kid in front of me,” he added. “I lived here so long. This is the first time it has happened to me.”