Jewish man stabbed in N.Y.C. by attacker who yelled ‘Allahu akbar,’ according to witnesses

File photo of a New York Police Department vehicle in Manhattan. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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Nava Silton, youth director at the Jewish Center, was packing up and readying to leave the Modern Orthodox synagogue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan after running a program for the Jewish fast of Tisha B’Av on Thursday. She chatted with a friend, a 50-year-old man, who was leaving after praying the afternoon service of Mincha. Soon thereafter, she heard that someone had been stabbed outside the synagogue.

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After running down the stairs and asking security what happened, she learned that it was the man with whom she had been talking and that he had just been taken to the hospital, Silton told JNS.

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A man sitting on the stairs of a nearby church, who was eating his lunch, told her that he heard someone yell Allahu Akbar, and when he looked up, he saw someone stab someone else in the right side of the chest with a screwdriver.

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“Then the guy had the gall to walk by him, sitting there on the steps, and say something like, ‘Someone should probably call 911. Someone on the street is hurt,’” Silton told JNS. “Like he was trying to pretend that someone else did it. Like he was trying not to look culpable.”

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Silton told JNS that she visited her friend in the hospital. “I was a little shocked, because I thought that the attack was more superficial and not as deep,” she said.

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The victim told Silton that after he was stabbed, he pulled the screwdriver out of his chest, fearing that he might fall on it and worsen his injury.

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Jessica Tisch, commissioner of the New York City Police Department, stated that “this afternoon, two people were stabbed in separate attacks on the Upper West Side. Both victims, an Asian male and a Jewish male, were removed to Mount Sinai-St. Luke’s Hospital, and both are expected to survive.”

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“The NYPD has arrested 51-year-old Raul Morales in connection with both assaults, and no other people are being sought,” she said. “Detectives are continuing to work the case and determine motive, but according to victim and witness statements, Morales yelled Allahu Akbar during both attacks. The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime.”

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“While the perpetrator has no known mental-health history with the NYPD, the initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor,” she stated. “At this time there is no known link between Morales and either of the victims, nor between the victims and each other.”

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Five hours after the attack, Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, stated that he was briefed on “today’s horrifying stabbings on the Upper West Side, where an Asian man and a Jewish man were attacked.”

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“According to witness and victim statements, the perpetrator yelled Allahu Akbar during both attacks,” he said. “I am relieved that both victims are in stable condition. The NYPD responded immediately and arrested Raul Morales in connection with both assaults, and I am grateful to the officers for their swift response.”

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“The NYPD’s initial investigation suggests that mental health may have been a factor,” he said. “They are also evaluating these stabbings as potential hate crimes. These hateful and despicable attacks have no place in our city.”

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Good Samaritan

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Tisch thanked “the bravery of a good Samaritan, who led our officers to the location where the perpetrator was hiding, as well as our NYPD cops who brought an end to the incident without further injuries.”

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The Anti-Defamation League’s New York and New Jersey office stated that “this horrific incident took place just after a prayer service on the somber Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av and follows on the heels of another violent assault of a visibly Jewish person in New York City earlier this week.”