Neil Hurlock, 20, of Glenwood Road in Flatlands, was taken into custody on Thursday night for allegedly carrying out the hate-fueled, unprovoked assault on board a Coney Island-bound N train at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station at about 10:45 a.m. on March 3.
Photo by Marc A. Hermann, MTA/Inset courtesy of NYPD
Hate crimes detectives arrested a Brooklyn man behind an antisemitic assault on board a subway train earlier this week, police announced Friday.
Neil Hurlock, 20, of Glenwood Road in Flatlands, was taken into custody on Thursday night for allegedly carrying out the hate-fueled, unprovoked assault on board a Coney Island-bound N train at the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station at about 10:45 a.m. on March 3.
Cops say the victim, a 54-year-old man, was riding the train when Hurlock allegedly approached him. Police said the suspect abruptly went on the attack, repeatedly punching the man across the face and body while spewing antisemitic remarks.
Authorities report that the two men had not met or interacted with each other prior to the attack.
Hurlock then allegedly grabbed the yarmulke off the victim’s head and fled on a Manhattan-bound N train. He was last seen that day at the Canal Street subway station in Chinatown.
The incident was reported to the 84th Precinct and NYPD Transit District 32. EMS rushed the victim to SUNY Downstate Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition.
The case was ultimately presented to the Hate Crimes Task Force for further investigation. Hurlock was picked up Thursday after being positively identified through video camera footage, police sources said.
The suspect has three prior arrests, each for assault, according to police sources; the most recent arrest occurred last August in Brooklyn.
For the March 3 incident, Hurlock was charged with two counts of robbery as a hate crime, as well as additional counts of robbery, assault as a hate crime, petit larceny as a hate crime, petit larceny, aggravated harassment, assault and criminal possession of stolen property.
The NYPD reported 38 hate crimes during February; 21 of them involved victims who were Jewish.
amNewYork reached out to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office for comment on the incident.
In response, Phylisa Wisdom, whom Mamdani appointed as the executive director of the Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism, said in a statement that the office is in contact with the NYPD about the attack.
“No one should be targeted for wearing a yarmulke — or for expressing their faith in any way,” Wisdom said on March 4. “The Mamdani administration is committed to confronting antisemitism head-on and building a New York where every person can live their beliefs openly and safely.”