Eli Irby from Long Island was arrested months after he directed an antisemitic slur at a teenager in Bayside and threatened to shoot him, police said.
Irby, 23, was arrested on Thursday after he threatened to shoot a 19-year-old at Bay Terrace Shopping Center and made an anti-Jewish statement on Oct. 20, 2022, at about 9 p.m., the NYPD said.
Irby, from Deer Park, faces hate crime and aggravated harassment charges, authorities said.
The incident came amid a rise in antisemitic hate crimes in New York City. In October 2022, when the incident happened, anti-Jewish hate crimes were up 11 percent compared to the same period in 2021. Antisemitic hate crimes were up six percent last month compared to January 2022.