Police are investigating complaints of assault and harassment lodged by seven Hasidic Jews following what the police described as “a snowball confrontation” between Jews and blacks in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn early Sunday morning.
According to Officer Joe Gallagher of the New York City Police Public Information Bureau, the incident occurred at about 1:50 a.m. in the vicinity of Eastern Parkway and Kingston Ave.
Gallagher’s information, received from the 71st Precinct, which covers the area, stated that approximately 40 blacks coming from a party observed approximately 10 Hasidic Jews. “A snowball confrontation ensued, escalating to rock and bottle-throwing. There were no injuries and no arrest,” the police report said.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency also learned of the incident from Rabbi Yakov Lloyd, who identified himself as a leader of the Jewish Defense Group, a splinter group of the Jewish Defense League.
Lloyd claims he was instrumental in organizing armed neighborhood patrols in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, following the fatal stabbing on Dec. 25 of a Hasidic Jew, Eli Wald.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.