NEW YORK — A Jewish man says he was harassed and randomly sucker-punched on the Upper East Side. Police are investigating the attack as a hate crime.
Jewish man spat on, harassed outside Manhattan market
Stephen Zeffren had just left Ouri’s Market on Third Avenue near 67th Street on Wednesday afternoon when he says a strange man started harassing him.
“Someone just comes over to me and spits in my face and says, ‘You dirty Jew,'” Zeffren told CBS News New York’s Lori Bordonaro in an exclusive interview.
Zeffren was wearing his yarmulke at the time.
“He said, ‘Oh, you want to come chase after me?’ And I just continued looking down, just trying to mind my own business,” he said.
The father of three from Teaneck, New Jersey didn’t expect what happened next.
“Before I know it he sucker punches me in the face,” Zeffren said.
“I’m proud of who I am”
Zeffren says his ear was bleeding, but he feels lucky his injuries weren’t worse.