A confrontation over Israeli hostage posters led to a hate-crime attack at around 9:55 p.m. on Thursday night, police said.
A 41-year-old woman spotted two women removing Israeli hostage posters at the corner of Riverside Drive and West 82nd Street, police said. She verbally confronted the duo and began recording them with her cellphone, police added.
The two women then attacked the 41-year-old, ripping a Star of David chain off her neck and knocking her cellphone out of her hands, NYPD said.
The pair of women proceeded to run away in an unknown direction, police said. NYPD described the two women as roughly 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and 135 pounds with thin builds and black hair.
The 41-year-old woman suffered minor injuries to her face and neck, but refused medical attention at the scene, police said.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the incident, police said.
The confrontation over Israeli hostage posters comes after West Side Rag found 15 of the posters torn up on October 25 between West 72nd and 92nd streets.
Additionally, the attack happened four days after District Attorney Alvin Bragg, State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and Assemblymember Grace Lee announced new legislation to expand the list of hate-crime-eligible charges from 66 to 97, which would enhance charges and certain sentences.