Suspect Gets Hate Crime Rap for Assault of Jewish Woman at Subway Stop
The NYPD arrested 28 year-old suspect Christopher D’Aguiar on October 24, hitting him with hate crime and aggravated harassment charges. He had allegedly punched a fellow 7 train passenger in the face ten days earlier at the Grand Central-42nd St. subway station, telling her afterwards that he had assaulted her for being Jewish.
| 10 Nov 2023 | 12:29
Christopher D’Aguiar has been arrested and hit with a rash of charges, after allegedly punching a woman in the face at the Grand Central-42nd St. subway station. He reportedly told his victim that he targeted her for being Jewish. (
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A man who reportedly assaulted a woman for being Jewish was arrested on October 24, ten days after the alleged assault, the NYPD confirmed.
Christoper D’Aguiar, 28, was hit with “hate crime assault” and aggravated harassment charges for the incident. He had allegedly been waiting for a 7 train at the Grand-Central-42 St. subway station, before approaching the woman and punching her in the face. When the stunned woman asked why she had been hit, D’Aguiar reportedly told her: “you are Jewish.” He fled the scene. According to the police, the woman suffered minor injuries. She has not been identified.
A Muslim teenager was also recently assaulted on the 5 train, near the Union Square stop. She was reportedly told that she was a “terrorist” that didn’t “belong here.” Her assailant yanked on her hijab. No arrests have been made for that incident.
Last week, the FBI notified the public that it has seen an increase in threats against Jewish and Muslim communities since October 7, when the Islamist militant group Hamas attacked Israel and killed around 1,400 people. Israel has retaliated by besieging the Gaza Strip and killing around 7,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health. Tensions between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters in New York City have remained heightened since.
The NYPD has reportedly seen an overall jump in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes in the past week. However, Gothamist has reported that incidents are still down in these categories on a year-over-year basis.