Jewish man harassed by anti-Israel mob on NYC subway recalls masked protester’s cruel taunt: ‘Bro, if you only knew who I was’
A Jewish straphanger who said a masked protester harassed him on a New York City subway train believes the creep was emboldened by having his face shielded — going so far as to taunt: “Bro, if you only knew who I was.”
“It took every ounce of restraint to not say, ‘You’re wearing a mask, no one knows who you are,'” Josh Savitt, the straphanger, recalled in an interview Friday.
Savitt, 35, exclusively spoke to The Post about the hateful run-in, which unfolded Monday as he came face-to-masked-face with a mob of anti-Israel protesters who swarmed a downtown Manhattan exhibit memorializing the victims of the Oct. 7 Nova Music Festival terror attack.
He felt the experience showed what a revived mask ban could do to curtail growing harassment by antisemitic protesters.
“I’m in favor of reimposing that, because I’ve seen firsthand the things people feel comfortable with,” he said.
“As long as he had his mask on and his anonymity he felt free to talk tough.”
Savitt, a Jewish lawyer who grew up in the city, said he exited the Nova exhibit Monday and jumped into a No. 4 or 5 train at Fulton Street, which was filled with hundreds of protesters, whom he documented in a series of viral tweets.
The mob’s hateful antics — including chanting “Long live the Intifada” — were among a spate of widely condemned antisemitic incidents that prompted Gov. Kathy Hochul and Jewish leaders to call for the return of a protest mask ban, particularly on the subway.
But Savitt said any feeling of safety outside the demonstrations — where there were police and security guards — dissolved as exhibit-goers like himself and protesters spilled onto the subways together.
Protesters in another subway train, seemingly a No. 5, were captured on video demanding that “Zionists” raise their hands and warned “this is your chance to get out.”
Savitt said he actually stopped wearing his kippah, or religious head-covering, on the subways after Oct. 7 to avoid antisemitic confrontations, but was inspired to do so again after the Nova Exhibit.
Being visibly Jewish drew the attention of a masked protester, who wore a t-shirt emblazoned with the flag of the Hezbollah terror group, who said, according to Savitt: “Yo, we’ve got a Zionist here.”
The hateful hooligan got angry when Savitt held up his phone, adjusting his mask to hide more of his face and intimidatingly trying to close the distance between them, Savitt recalled.
He also demanded that Savitt hand over his phone and delete photos of him.
“He said something to the effect of ‘we’re going to find you, we’re going to get you,'” Savitt said.
Savitt was heartened that other straphangers called out the protester and told him to stop.
“New York is one of those cities where people usually leave you alone, but in those moments where they stand up for what New York is and what it is not, that’s really awesome,” he said.
For Savitt’s part, he said — as a 6-foot-2-inch man who has had security training — the encounter was less intimidating and more profoundly sad.
He called the protester a “bully” who appeared to have fun intimidating and harassing people.
Savitt said he didn’t file a police report because, although the protester was threatening, it never got to the point of a physical assault.
“His purpose was to intimidate me and make me feel afraid,” Savitt said. “The reason I wasn’t is because he was a bully — and I’m not afraid of bullies.”
