Police are looking for two people they say attacked a man in the Bronx last month, in what officials have classified as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime.
Officials said the incident happened around 7:30 p.m. on June 25 at the intersection of Elliot Place and Jerome Avenue in Highbridge. They said a 43-year-old man was approached by two strangers who called him a homophobic slur and began to push, kick and punch him. The attackers then struck the victim in the head and body with a blunt object before fleeing the scene, police said.
The victim sustained serious injuries and was taken to NewYork Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, according to police. The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating.
The report comes as criminal charges are pending for another man who authorities say stabbed two people in a possible religious hate crime in Manhattan on Thursday.
In those incidents, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, 51-year-old Raul Morales is in custody after allegedly yelling “Allahu Akbar,” which means “God is the Greatest” in Arabic, before stabbing one man with a knife, then heading two blocks north and stabbing another man with a screwdriver. She said one of the victims is Asian and the other one is Jewish, and they were both taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
Police took Morales into custody after he barricaded himself inside a NYCHA apartment building at Amsterdam Avenue and West 88th Street, and officials said mental health may have been a factor in the attacks.
NYPD crime data shows hate crimes are up about 15% through March, compared with 2025. There were 128 hate crimes reported during the first three months of 2025, while there were 146 reported during the first three months of this year.
Police officials did not immediately answer an inquiry about the lag in reporting of hate crime data.
