Dr. Prabhjot Singh, a Columbia University professor, had just dropped his wife and his 1-year-old son off at home on Saturday night when he went for a short walk with his friend to the north of Central Park in Harlem, he explains. They were walking past a group of 25 to 30 young men, many of whom had bikes, when he heard, "Get him!" as well as "Osama" and "terrorist" being yelled.

Someone grabbed his beard and he was hit on the chin. All of the bikes began to mobilize and he started to run. The assailants on bikes started taking swipes at his head and a couple hit him in the chest. He was punched in the face repeatedly and he fell. That's when the group converged on him, hitting him in the head over and over again.

There wasn't much going through his mind at the time. He tried to protect himself while the punches rained down on his head as his body lay on the sidewalk. That's when bystanders came to his aid.

In his first comments since the brutal attack, Singh tells BuzzFeed that he doesn't remember much about the suspects — except that most were African-American — yet he says the police investigation and catching the attackers is not foremost on his mind.

"This is my community, I live in Harlem, I see patients here," he says. "It's not the side of Harlem I've come to know and not how I've been embraced."

The New York Police Department says the attack is being investigated by the Hate Crimes Task Force.

Singh "was assaulted by a group of approximately 15 to 20 males who were all on bicycles," according to police. "He sustained a lacerated lip and an injured jaw and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital."