A trio of subway riders allegedly attacked a middle-aged Asian man and his female companion after the pair refused to give up their seats on a New York City subway.
According to the New York Post, a man and two women approached a 42-year-old Asian man and a 41-year-old Asian woman on the train from Grand Central Station to Times Square around 8 p.m. Saturday. The suspects demanded that the victims give up their seats. When the victims did not give up their seats, the suspects allegedly punched and kicked the Asian man, calling him “Asian pig.”
The suspects fled the subway at Times Square. The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Unit is investigating the incident.
POLITICO reports that hate crimes against Asian New Yorkers have spiked over the last year. Many were concerned that the NYPD was failing to categorize certain incidents as hate crimes. NYC Mayor Eric Adams said in March that he would work on improving the response to hate incidents.
“When I sat down with the members of the community, they were very concerned on how we were designating these crimes as hate crimes,” he said, according to POLITICO. “We took immediate action. I had new leadership over at the hate crime unit to send the right message. We’re not going to try to cover this up.”
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