Woman Arrested for Syringe Attack on Rabbi, Second Assault Revealed

Anna Mochalova, 32, has been arrested and charged with hate crimes for allegedly stabbing a rabbi with a syringe in Manhattan's Diamond District and assaulting another Jewish man hours earlier. The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating both incidents as antisemitic attacks.

Mochalova was apprehended on Saturday, according to police. The first incident occurred around 6 p.m. last week when she allegedly stalked and stabbed Yosef, a 26-year-old rabbi, in the back with a needle near West 47th Street and Fifth Avenue. Surveillance footage shared by Manhattan Shomrim shows the suspect approaching Yosef, who was wearing traditional Orthodox attire, as he attempted to avoid her.

Two hours prior to the rabbi's assault, Mochalova allegedly bumped into a 37-year-old Jewish man on West 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. When he confronted her, she reportedly spoke Russian and then stabbed him in the arm with a sharp object.

Yosef told The Post that he believes he was targeted because he is "visibly Jewish." He was in the Diamond District, a location where he regularly engages in Jewish outreach, when he was attacked. Despite this being his first experience with antisemitism personally in America, he returned to the scene the following day to continue his outreach work.

The assaults occurred amid a reported rise in hate crimes. In the first nine months of the year, hate crimes in New York City increased by nearly 13% compared to the same period last year, with anti-Jewish incidents constituting more than half of these cases.

Mochalova, who is from Brooklyn, faces charges including assault, assault as a hate crime, menacing, aggravated harassment, and criminal possession of a weapon. She was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.