Story perspectives

Mayor Announces Hate-Crime Charges Against Stabber of Asian, Jewish Victims

7/25/2026

Summary

Story summary

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said 51-year-old Raul Morales will be charged for stabbing a 57-year-old Asian man and a 50-year-old Jewish man on the Upper West Side Thursday.
Attacks occurred at 1:30 p.m. near West 84th and West 86th Streets; victims were taken to Saint Luke’s Hospital and are in stable condition.
Eric Goldstein and Mark Treyger blamed Mayor Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric and urged hate-crime charges, while the NYPD called the incident a hate crime.

History

Historical Context

New York’s 2000 Hate Crimes Prevention Act, signed by Governor George Pataki, set up to 25 years prison and a $5,000 fine for bias assaults. It follows a line from the 1871 Civil Rights Act, the 1968 federal hate-crime law, and California’s 1978 statute. The Upper West Side stabbing now tests whether this legacy, echoed by the 2009 Matthew Shepard Act, still deters hate-driven violence.

1 of 2

Story summary

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said 51-year-old Raul Morales will be charged for stabbing a 57-year-old Asian man and a 50-year-old Jewish man on the Upper West Side Thursday.
Attacks occurred at 1:30 p.m. near West 84th and West 86th Streets; victims were taken to Saint Luke’s Hospital and are in stable condition.
Eric Goldstein and Mark Treyger blamed Mayor Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric and urged hate-crime charges, while the NYPD called the incident a hate crime.

1 / 2