Her life was ripped away from her loved ones on May 25, when she and her husband, Michael Trager, were walking home after spending the evening at a restaurant.

The Tragers, who had been married for decades, were still deeply in love, Michael Trager said, and had planned to head home and watch a movie together. Instead, tragedy occurred at the corner of Francis Lewis Boulevard near Union Turnpike in Fresh Meadows on the day in question when they were caught up in a chain reaction crash.

“A maniac was doing donuts on Francis Lewis Boulevard, and then accelerating to the speed of 75 miles an hour in a 35-mile-an-hour zone, and passed the light, hit two cars traveling normally on Union Turnpike, a car collides with another car, and that car sadly killed my wife and hurt me,” Michael Trager told amNewYork. “My glasses fly off, I’m in a daze. And then finally, some [good] Samaritan finds my glasses. I stand up. I compose myself and I say: ‘Where’s my wife? Where’s my wife?’ I walk over and I say: ‘Oh shit, she’s dead.’ It’s a horror beyond imagination.”

71-year-old Cara Trager.Courtesy of Trager family

Michael said the driver allegedly responsible for the chain-reaction crash, Dawood Faisal, attempted to flee his 2013 Toyota Prius on foot after the collision and allegedly tried to use a tree branch as a weapon against good Samaritans who tackled him until police arrived.

It was only later that the Trager family learned Faisal was also wanted in connection with an alleged hate crime outside a kosher bagel store in Fresh Meadows.

On May 15, Faisal is accused of going on a rampage outside Bagels & Co., smashing nine metal plant stands before hurling dirt from the wreckage at the store’s window, according to police. He allegedly returned to the store on May 23 — just two days before the fatal crash — and kicked 11 metal plant stands outside before ripping plants from their containers.

“This defendant repeatedly targeted a Jewish-owned business and destroyed property in a vile act of antisemitism. Incidents such as this extend beyond one target and spread fear to an entire community,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

According to Trager’s daughter, Rachel Sales, the alleged bias incidents had been a topic of conversation in the family before her mother was killed.

“What’s crazy is we spoke about the hate crimes before she was killed. These hate crimes were on everyone’s radar in the neighborhood; everyone knows this restaurant. Everyone goes there all the time — it’s a kosher, Jewish-owned restaurant that everybody knows. So, it’s beyond horrifying and astounding,” Sales said. “She had seen the video of the guy who ended up killing her.”

The family’s concerns come as NYPD statistics show hate crimes have increased this year, with antisemitic incidents accounting for more than half of all reported hate crimes during the first seven months of the year, according to department data, even though Jewish New Yorkers make up an estimated 10% of the city’s population.

In May, at least five swastikas were also found scrawled around Forest Hills and Rego Park, according to police.
Rabbi Yosef Mendelson points to a swastika scrawled over the Congregation Machane Chodosh, located at 67-29 108 Street.Photo by Dean Moses

Now, two months after Cara’s death, the Trager family is living with what Michael described as unimaginable heartache while urging the public and local elected officials to take every hate crime more seriously than ever.

They argue that unchecked acts of hate can create an environment in which more serious violence can occur.

“I’d like to see elected leaders come out and talk about it. You know, not only what happened to my poor wife, but what happened in general, that is unacceptable. This behavior is unacceptable, and to come up with some game plan to try to deal with it. Now, what that is, I don’t know, but we have to stop the hate,” Michael Trager said.

Sales said she wants to see the strongest possible prosecution of Faisal and hopes her mother’s death can serve as a warning about the dangers of antisemitism and other forms of hate.

“She was very committed to combating antisemitism, and this is something we talked about a lot, the rise in antisemitism, how concerning it was, how worried we all were about it, and she would be beyond horrified to know that she was one of the latest victims,” Sales said.

Sales said her mother’s death has also changed the way she moves through her own community.

“I feel unsafe. I feel if I, you know, am wearing my Jewish star, if I’m going into a kosher restaurant, I feel like I’m a target,” she said.
Michael Trager and Cara Trager.Courtesy of Trager family