A disturbing string of attacks against Asian Americans over the weekend has many New Yorkers on edge.
News 12 is told the latest attack happened in Manhattan on Sunday and another attack happened at a Bed-Stuy subway station on Saturday.
Police say they were called to West 42nd Street on Sunday night and found a 31-year-old Asian woman with injuries to her head. They say a woman approached the victim and demanded that she take off her mask--before hitting her in the head with a hammer and running away.
According to police, the other incident reportedly happened on Saturday on Myrtle Avenue and the Broadway subway station.
Police say a 52-year-old Asian woman was pushed while she waited for a train, nearly throwing her on the tracks.
She is expected to be OK. Police say that same day, around the same time in Flushing, a 15-year-old boy was approached by a group of teens who insulted him and one of them punched him in the head.
Police say three people were arrested.
"A lot of these cases are happening, but district attorneys are not labeling them as hate crimes. we are outsiders, not in this profession but we see clearly they are hate crimes. so the problem behind this is that district attorneys and elected officials are not labeling them as hate crimes so they are not being punished as they deserve,” said Yu Lin, President of Asian American Community Empowerment (BRACE).
Lin says this can be prevented by starting with the criminal justice system. He says enforcing stricter penalties for hate crime attacks is needed.