Brooklyn, NY – A midday attack that left a 52 year old Chasidic Crown Heights man bleeding and gasping for breath is being investigated by the NYPD as a hate crime.

Menachem Moskowitz told VIN News that he was on his way home from Shabbos morning davening at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center when he said hello to a man that he passed at the corner of Schenectady and Rutland avenues who began an angry tirade against him.

“He said, ‘why are you saying hello to me, you fake Jew,’” Moskowitz told VIN News.

The man continued the angry barrage of words, telling Moskowitz not to talk to him.

“He said ‘I hate Jews. You stole my mortgage, you stole my house.’ He kept on ranting so I just went down the block.”

Moments later Moskowitz said he heard the man coming up behind him on Rutland Avenue near E 46th Street, asking him why he was running away.

“I turned around and he jumped me,” recalled Moskowitz. “He was holding me in a headlock trying to choke me, saying ‘I hate Jews. You are going to have to die. I going to have to kill you.”

Moskowitz said he tried screaming for help but there was no one around. His attacker taunted him saying “What do you need help for? I am killing you now.”

The two men continued their struggle on the street, with Moskowitz holding onto a gate, trying to maneuver his way out of the headlock while his attacker punched his face and neck and tried to pull him down to the ground.

Two Kingsbrook employees still dressed in their white coats came upon the scene and began to break up the scuffle.

“He said to them, ‘why are you interfering? Do you also like Jews?’” reported Moskowitz.

Once freed from his attacker by the man and woman from Kingsbrook, Moskowitz ran to his home located a short distance away. Both Hatzolah and the NYPD were called to Moskowitz’s house and Moskowitz, who sustained injuries to his face and neck and a broken rib, was treated at Kings County Hospital.

Moskowitz said that he feels lucky to be alive.

“While we were struggling I felt the air in my head was going and I said Shema,” said Moskowitz. “I didn’t know if this guy was strong enough to kill me. I just wanted to get home alive.”

Police said that the suspect is a six foot tall male black weighing approximately 230 pounds.

Just one week earlier, a 42 year old Orthodox Jewish man was assaulted at 3:30 AM on Shabbos morning in front of 668 Eastern Parkway, a block away from Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters. Police said that he was punched in the face repeatedly by a man who asked him “do you want to fight?” and struck by four other individuals who were with the attacker.

Noting that this is the second attack against obviously Jewish victims in Crown Heights in just eight days, the Anti-Defamation League has announced a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the incidents. Police said that they are looking into the possibility that the two attacks may be connected.

“We unequivocally condemn these senseless assaults,” said ADL New York regional director Evan R. Bernstein. “We appreciate the leadership of the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force who are investigating these assaults as hate crimes. Hopefully these rewards will encourage anyone who may have seen something to come forward.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Crime Stoppers Hotline by phone at 800-577-TIPS, by text at 247637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577 or online at www.NYPDCrimeStoppers.com.