The Daily Sigh

Jew've Gotta Be Kidding Me

Excuse the pun, it's about the only light thing I can say in regards to this story. Ahem.

An Orthodox Jewish woman and her mother were beaten up at a Queens subway station by a drunk man who mistook them for Muslims, police sources said Thursday.

The women, 37 and 57, had just gotten off the M train and were walking toward the exit of the 67th Av. station in Forest Hills around 2pm Wednesday when a man, who had been drinking, came up behind them, sources said.

The mother waved him along, at which point he allegedly derided her as a "dirty Muslim."

When the younger woman told the man to repeat what he had just said, he spit in her face and said, “Get out of my country you dirty Muslim.”

He then began punching both women in the face and body.

The daughter told the News her lupus was aggravated by the assault. She said she and her mother were likely mistaken for Muslims because her mother wears a headdress to adhere to her Orthodox faith.

“I never expected it would happen in this neighborhood,” she said.

The man, identified as Dimitrios Zias, was arrested at the scene and charged with multiple counts of assault as a hate crime, officials said. He was arraigned Thursday and ordered held on $50,000 bail. His lawyer could not be reached for comment.

In September 2015, Zias was also busted for using his cell phone camera to take a picture under a woman’s skirt at the Uniqlo clothing store in Midtown.

He pleaded guilty to felony unlawful surveillance and was sentenced to five years probation, authorities said.

A Muslim vendor was also the victim of a bias crime in Brooklyn on Wednesday.

The 53-year-old victim was punched in the back of the head and cursed at when he told three men he didn't have change for a $20.

It happened at 8:25 a.m. at Stockholm St. and Wyckoff Ave. in Bushwick, where the victim was tending to his food cart.

"Motherf----r, you Muslim," the suspects said. "Go back to your country."

He told police he didn't want the men arrested, but the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is still investigating.

Through Sept. 10, hate crimes in the city were up 33%, with 280 incidents, compared to 211 last year. Muslims were victims 31 times compared to 21 last year, a 48% increase.

Sigh.