De Blasio, Cuomo condemn Times Square attack and Israel-Palestinian melee
Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned the brutal attack on a Jewish man in Times Square — and the melee that erupted there between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who had gathered for dueling rallies over the violence in the Middle East.
“It’s absolutely disgusting and unacceptable,” de Blasio told WNYC host Brian Lehrer on Friday during his weekly appearance on the public radio station.
“We had a man viciously beaten simply because he appeared to some individuals to be Jewish. We had folks throwing very potent fireworks and creating harm to others and burning at least one person,” he continued. “This is unacceptable.”
Hizzoner told Lehrer there had already been arrests in the hours since the Thursday evening violence and added that more arrests were on the way.
Officers have nabbed 26 people so far for their roles in the brawls between the dueling protests and one arrest was pending for the hate-fueled attack on the unidentified Jewish man, a police spokesman told The Post.
Embattled Gov. Andrew Cuomo also condemned the attack and violence at the Crossroads of the World in a statement Friday.
“I unequivocally condemn these brutal attacks on visibly Jewish New Yorkers and we will not tolerate anti-Semitic violent gang harassment and intimidation,” he said. “Justice needs to be done.”
Additional reporting by Joe Marino and Bernadette Hogan
