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It is the latest in a series of anti-Asian incidents across the country.
The New York City Police Department is asking the public for help in identifying a man who has been repeatedly filmed kicking a 65-year-old Asian American woman as witnesses seemed to be standing.
Police described the incident as a “hate crime assault.”
The attack happened at around 11:40 a.m. local time on Monday outside an apartment building in Midtown Manhattan. Police released surveillance footage showing the unidentified man approaching the woman on the sidewalk and kicking her in the stomach, causing her to fall to the ground. The suspect then kicked her in the face several times while making “anti-Asian statements about her” before casually walking away, police said.
The video also shows people inside the building’s lobby appearing to stop whatever they are doing to watch the attack unfold. One of them then closes the door as the suspect walks away and the woman is left on the ground.
The Brodsky Organization, the company that owns the building, said in a statement Monday that “staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union.” The company said it was “also working to identify a third-party delivery provider present during the incident so that appropriate action can be taken.”
“The Brodsky Organization condemns all forms of discrimination, racism, xenophobia and violence against the Asian American community,” the company added.
The woman suffered “serious physical injuries” and was hospitalized in stable condition, police said.
The New York Police Department’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.
Also on Monday, another person captured on cell phone video violently hit and suffocate an Asian man in a subway train in Brooklyn. The New York City Police Department said it “was aware of this video and was investigating.”
Anyone with information regarding either incident is urged to call the New York Police Department Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.
It is the latest in a series of attacks targeting Asian Americans in New York City and across the country. The coronavirus pandemic and its presumed origins in the Chinese city of Wuahn is cited as having led to a new wave of anti-Asian discrimination in the United States that has lasted for more than a year.
From March 19, 2020 to February 28, 2021, there were over 3,795 incidents of hate, including verbal harassment and physical assault, against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States reported to Stop AAPI Hate, a nonprofit organization that tracks these incidents.
On March 16, a gunman killed eight people, including six Asian women, in three separate shootings at Atlanta-area spas. Rallies have been held in dozens of American cities in recent weeks to demand an end to anti-Asian violence.
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