(VIDEOS & PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE) 

As the Jewish community reels from the vicious anti-Semitic assault in Crown Heights this past Shabbos, elected officials gathered on Monday afternoon with Jewish community activists to denounce the recent hate attacks.

Elected officials led by Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council joined interfaith leaders and advocacy organizations such as the ADL and JCRC, in denouncing a pair of recent assaults against Orthodox Jewish men in the neighborhood.

Both incidents are both being investigated as possible hate crimes by the New York City Police Department.

Monday’s rally was held at the corner of Rutland Road and Schenectady Avenue, where a 52-year-old man walking home on Shabbos afternoon from Davening at a nearby Shul was viciously attacked by a man that beat and strangled him after screaming anti-Semitic threats at him.

A week earlier, police said a 42-year-old man, identified as Ari Ellis, was attacked on Eastern Parkway, punched in the face repeatedly. He suffered a broken nose and broken ribs.

Borough President Adams, the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council, and others asked for the public’s assistance in catching this assailant, as well as the assailants who allegedly assaulted a 42-year-old man on Eastern Parkway near Brooklyn Avenue in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 14th.

The NYPD has released surveillance footage and photos of the suspect:

Many Jewish leaders say this is happening too frequently to be a coincidence, CBS2’s Janelle Burrell reported.

“People are very, very nervous about what is going  on,” said Assemblyman Dov Hikind.

Jewish leaders including Hikind told Burrell they believe the recent attacks in Brooklyn aren’t isolated.

“They’re not anomalies?” Burrell asked.

“No, not at all. In between these two incidents, there are so many others. Many of them don’t get reported,” Hikind said.

“I don’t know if there’s a connection, but there’s a lot of concern there has been tremendous growth of anti-Semitism,” said Hikind.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, last year there were 11 anti-Semitic assaults in New York state. Seven of them were in Brooklyn.

Leaders of New York’s Jewish Leadership Council have written to the NYPD, questioning the timing of the attacks. Both happened on the Shabbos afternoon – when there are fewer Jewish volunteer safety officers on patrol.

“I am disgusted and saddened by the vicious attack that occurred on Saturday in Crown Heights, which is being investigated as a potential hate crime,” said City Council Speaker Corey Johnson. “This is not what our city is about, and my heart breaks that New Yorkers have endured this kind of abuse and violence. Hate has no place here, and I pray those responsible are quickly brought to justice.”

This city is a beacon of tolerance all over the world. Attacks on Jewish New Yorkers are deplorable, and the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating both incidents. Please contact police or call 1-800-577-TIPS if you have any information.https://t.co/pvbkLhX1lA

— Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 23, 2018

(Nat Golden – YWN)