Stranger pummels Jewish man, calls him ‘dirty Jew’ on first night of Hanukkah in NYC

A stranger pummeled a Jewish man dressed in traditional religious garb and called him a “dirty Jew” before snatching his cellphone in Brooklyn late Thursday — on the first evening of Hanukkah, cops said. 

The 40-year-old victim was on his way home when he stopped to smoke a cigarette on Eastern Parkway near Albany Avenue in Crown Heights around 7:35 p.m. and got attacked by a hater in a flashy jacket and pants set, police said.

The suspect approached the man and snarled, “Dirty Jew” before repeatedly punching him in the head and swiping his phone, authorities said. 

The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where he was listed in stable condition.

His attacker fled into the No. 3 train station at Kingston Avenue and Eastern Parkway, police said. 

The suspect is shown in surveillance photos wearing a matching black jacket and pants set with multi-colored designs, a black du-rag, a purple scarf and brown boots, authorities said. 

The NYPD confirmed its Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident as an anti-Jewish attack. 

The department has seen a surge in antisemitic offenses since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in early October.

In one such incident, three teens — a 13-year-old boy and two 14-year-old boys — were nabbed for assaulting another teenager and two men in a recent string of antisemitic crimes in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, cops said. 

And Nov. 18, a suspect set fire to the outdoor area of a Jewish Japanese fusion restaurant in Williamsburg, authorities said. 

Surveillance video shows a still-at-large man walking up to the Shalom Japan eatery and torching two outside window tarps that cops said featured images of the Star of David.