Brooklyn Man Indicted for Hate Crime Assault and Robbery Targeting Jewish Victim on Subway

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Brooklyn Man Indicted for Hate Crime Assault and Robbery
Targeting Jewish Victim on Subway

Victim Repeatedly Punched on Subway in Unprovoked Attack

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a Brooklyn man has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with robbery and assault as hate crimes and related offenses in connection with an unprovoked attack against a Jewish man in the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station in Brooklyn. The victim was targeted while wearing religious attire when the incident occurred.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, "This defendant is accused of brutally assaulting a man in an unprovoked and senseless act of anti-Semitic hate. The impact of crimes like this radiates through entire communities and we will seek strong accountability because we have no tolerance for hate fueled violence in Brooklyn."

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Neil Hurlock, 20, of Brooklyn. He was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which he is charged with second-degree robbery as a hate crime, second-degree robbery, third-degree robbery as a hate crime, third-degree robbery, third-degree assault as a hate crime, , third-degree assault, petit larceny as a hate crime, petit larceny, third-degree menacing as a hate crime, third-degree menacing, and second-degree aggravated harassment. The defendant is on supervised release and was ordered to return to court on June 3, 2026.

The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on March 2, 2026, at approximately 10:45 a.m., in the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center subway station, the defendant, wearing a full-face black mask, allegedly followed the victim aboard a Coney Island-bound N train. The defendant allegedly stood by the train door and punched the victim in the face. He then allegedly entered the train car and punched the victim in the face again, before picking the victim up and continuing to punch the victim multiple times. The defendant allegedly threw the victim on the seats before once again punching the victim in the face multiple times. The defendant was captured on surveillance video from the moment he departed his residence to the moment he got off the Astoria-bound N train at Canal.

According to the investigation, the defendant allegedly called the victim a "F-ing Jew" during the attack. The victim was reading a religious text and wearing full religious clothing including a kippah and a gartel at the time of the alleged offense. The defendant allegedly removed this kippah from the victim's head before fleeing the scene on an Astoria-bound N train while still in possession of the kippah. The defendant's cell phone fell out of his pocket as he fled the scene and was recovered by the victim.

The victim remained on the Coney Island-bound N train until the 56th Street station, at which point he called 911 and was transported to SUNY Downstate Hospital, where he received medical attention for pain, bruising and swelling about the face and head, and cuts about the hands.

An NYPD detective interviewed the victim at the hospital and collected the defendant's phone as evidence. A search warrant executed on the phone revealed the phone number. The defendant was arrested following an investigation.

The District Attorney thanked Hate Crimes Paralegal Qetsiyah Hillaire for her assistance on the case.

The case was investigated by New York City Police Detective Steven Acevedo of the Hate Crimes Task Force.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Samantha Perlstein, of the District Attorney's Hate Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kelli M. Muse, Chief of the Hate Crimes Bureau.

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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant's guilt.