A disturbing new video captures the moment a hateful arsonist unsuccessfully tried to set fire to American and Israeli flags in broad daylight outside a kosher eatery in Upper Manhattan.
Video released by the NYPD early Friday morning shows a man on a chair set up next to a small table outside Falafel Crunch on Amsterdam Avenue near West 186th Street in Fort George, about a block from Yeshiva University. A fire bug can be seen standing on the ground and spraying fire. At approximately 2:50 p.m. on February 24, an aerosol can was fired at two flags hoisted together outside Pita Spot.
He then stands on a table, but the New York Cars’ Apei flag causes him to lose his balance, ripping the flag from the pole, dropping it to the ground, and fleeing.
The suspect then jumped into a black sedan and took off north on Amsterdam Avenue.
Police said no one was injured in the attempted crime.
The suspect is described as a fair-skinned man, between 18 and 25 years old, with a thin build, dark hair, and approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall, who was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants, and white sneakers. .
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.
