BROOKLYN — The director of a Jewish nonprofit was punched out at the Barclays Center after attending a Nets exhibition game with his family Tuesday night in what police are investigating as a hate crime, authorities said.
Kings Bay Y director Leonard Petlakh suffered a broken nose and cuts requiring eight stitches about 8 p.m. when a fight broke out after someone pulled the hijab off a woman's head following a game between the Brooklyn basketball team and the Maccabi Tel Aviv team from Israel, an NYPD spokesman said.
“Leonard suffered a broken nose and lacerations requiring eight stitches. He is safe and home recovering,” Park Slope synagogue Congregation Beth Shalom Rabbi Andy Bachman and President Jonathan Fried said in a joint statement. “Hate and violence have no place in our diverse city. This attack is totally deplorable and we demand that the NYPD will do all in its power to apprehend and prosecute those responsible for this crime.”
Police described the man who threw the punch as 5 feet, 8 inches tall and 160 pounds. He was wearing a V-neck t-shirt with the word “Nets” on the front and “BK” spray-painted on the back.
Petlakh attended the game with his family, a spokeswoman for New York State Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz told DNAinfo.
A spokeswoman for Jewish Voice for Peace said the group helped organize a rally outside of Barclays to protest a fundraiser held by Friends of the IDF at the stadium before the game, but no members or supporters of their organization were involved in the incident.
“We send our sympathies to Leonard Petlakh, who was assaulted at the end of the game and suffered a broken nose and lacerations requiring stitches,” Jewish Voice said in a statement. “The details remain unclear and we support a full investigation into this incident to determine what happened.”
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.
