An Asian woman was spat at in the vicinity of 186th Street and Peck Avenue on Tuesday. Congresswoman Grace Meng condemned the hateful attack (Grace Meng/Google Maps)
March 11, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
An Asian woman who was holding a baby in Fresh Meadows Tuesday was allegedly spat at by a man who also shouted out a racist remark, police said.
The hateful act, in what appears to be the latest anti-Asian incident to take place in the city, has been condemned by U.S. Congresswoman Grace Meng.
The 25-year-old woman was approached by the racist in the vicinity of 186th Street and Peck Avenue at around 10.30 a.m. before he allegedly spat in her direction and yelled “Chinese virus.”
The woman was spat at three times but the saliva did not make contact with her, police said.
Police said the incident, which took place near Kissena Corridor Park, is being investigated as an aggravated harassment case. The NYPD’s Asian Hate Crimes Task Force has been notified about the incident but has yet to officially classified it as a hate crime investigation, a police spokesperson said.
The NYPD said they do not have a description of the suspect and the investigation is ongoing.
The incident comes in the wake of a recent spike in attacks against Asian New Yorkers—with the bigotry tied in part to the outbreak of COVID-19. There have been a number of such incidents reported in Queens already this year.
Meng, who has been speaking about the ongoing racism, said that she was “appalled and furious” to learn of Tuesday’s alleged incident.
“This is the epitome of disgusting and cowardice behavior. My heart goes out to the mom and her baby,” Meng said in a statement Wednesday.
Meng, in condemning the alleged attack, urged witnesses to come forward to help the police investigate the incident and called on the community to unify against racism.
“We can only stop such incidents from happening in the future if we stand together and condemn anti-Asian hate and sentiment.”
The incident Tuesday comes just three days after a rally was held in Sunnyside to express outrage about the spike in Anti-Asian violence.
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