By Elizabeth Keogh
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A crazed driver passing a Hasidic Jewish school in Brooklyn verbally assaulted a group of Jewish people before getting up on the sidewalk and trying to run them down Wednesday, police said, noting none were injured.
The 58-year-old driver was zipping past Mesivta Nachlas Yakov School, a private school known as a yeshiva, on Glenwood Road in East Flatbush around 11:25 a.m. when he made antisemitic statements to people outside, according to cops.
The man, behind the wheel of a white Ford Crown Victoria, then turned onto E. 55th St. and mounted the sidewalk, attempting to run the group over.
Cops were called to the intersection and later took the driver into custody. Charges against him were pending late Wednesday afternoon.
No one was injured during the attack.
The incident came amid an alarming uptick in antisemitic incidents in the city since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked a fierce war in Gaza.
As of May 21, antisemitic crimes were up 55% compared to the same time frame last year, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said last week. Overall, hate crimes were up 31%.
There had been 143 anti-Jewish crimes — 51 more than the same time last year — Kenny said.
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