Arsonist Torches Lower East Side Hatzalah Truck; Jewish Hate Crime Suspected
The startling attack on an ambulance occurred on Grand St., near Madison St, following Sabbath’s end on the night of July 6. Cops are seeking the public’s help as they search for the suspect.
| 15 Jul 2024 | 03:02
Police say this is a photo of an arsonist walking on Grand St. on July 6. (
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Having spread flammable liquid on the Hatzalah truck’s right rear wheel, the arsonist prepares to set it ablaze. (
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The glow an NYC Link tower screen, and a Hatzalah truck on fire, July 6. (
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The Hatzalah truck on Madison Street, facing Grand Street, July 12. (
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A brazen but sub-competent firebug tried to set a Jewish emergency medical service vehicle aflame on Saturday evening July 6. The white and red Chevrolet Tahoe, which belongs to Lower East Side Hatzalah, was seared in its right rear wheel well, but was otherwise largely undamaged.
The incident occurred at approximately 11 p.m. outside 557 Grand St., where the then unoccupied vehicle was parked. Surveillance photos show the suspected perpetrator to be a tall, thin, light skinned male, likely in his 20s or 30s, with buzzcut dark hair and a shiny bald spot. He was wearing a blue short-sleeve Polo-style shirt, khaki shorts and retro-style gray-ish Saucony running sneakers.
While one is tempted to view any act of anti-Jewish vandalism through the lens of the many protests over the Israel–Gaza War, a lone vandal taking his version of “direct action” against a life-saving EMS truck is relatively off-brand for pro-Palestinian activists. That the arsonist acted without a mask or any other form of disguise or concealment also suggests he was operating alone.
Whatever his motivation, anyone with leads is urged to contact the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers online or at 1-800-577-TIPS.
Unlike the many high-rise buildings surrounding it, 557 Grand St. and its adjacent addresses occupy a two-story building that serves as home to multiple businesses, including Wang Lu Kitchen, a popular Chinese restaurant; Frank’s Bike Shop; Kates-Ferri Projects, an art gallery; and the Paul Taylor Dance Company.
If this sounds like an unusual location for the Hatzalah truck to be parked, it shouldn’t. Though no longer the once overwhelmingly Jewish neighborhood it once was, many Jews still reside in such surrounding developments as the East River Cooperative, Hillman Houses and the Bialystoker Nursing Home.
Though few, if any, Jews live there, the nearby NYCHA project, Vladeck Houses—named for Baruch Charney Vladeck (1886-1938), the Minsk-born Yiddish editor, writer and well-liked Socialist member of the New York City Council also reflects the neighborhood’s heavily Jewish heritage.
Founded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, by Rabbi Hershel Weber in 1965, Hatzalah is an all- volunteer Emergency Medical Service organization with personnel and vehicles in many of New York’s Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish neighborhoods, though their services are available to any person who needs them. Unlike their devout brethren, Hatzalah members are allowed to work on the Sabbath.
In a statement to Yeshiva World News, CEO of Chevra Hatzalah, Rabbie Yehiel Kalish said, “We save lives every day, and our vehicles are well-marked and purposely stationed in public locations to provide a sense of security to the community. New Yorkers know we are there for them...This was a hate crime and once the perpetrator is caught, we will prosecute him to the full extent of the law.”
Visiting the crime scene on July 12, Straus News found the Hatzalah truck parked in a highly visible spot on Madison St., near the intersection of Grand St.
Reads an inscription on the truck’s left rear side panel dated Tevet 5783 / January 2023: “Dedicated by dear friends. May the healing enabled by this vehicle be a revealed blessing for us and our families.”