Mom sues New York, DOE, claiming boy beaten in ‘anti-Semitic’ attack at Staten Island school

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – A mother has filed a lawsuit against the City of New York and the New York City Department of Education (DOE), alleging assault by a boy in an anti-Semitic attack at a Staten Island public school.

The lawsuit filed on the boy’s behalf disputes the claim that the city and the Department of Justice were negligent in their duties at the time of the assault.

As for damages, the plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages for his alleged failure to respond to a beating suffered during recess at Egbert Intermediate School (IS 2) in Midland Beach, according to court documents.

Alleged robbery

The victim of this attack was a middle school student from September 2022 to October 2023, according to the lawsuit.

This took place on October 25, 2023, just over two weeks after terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023Records show that the boy was attacked by a group of students.

According to the complaint, the child, who was a 7th-grade student at the time, was out for recess around noon when a group of students began chasing him around the school playground.

Despite efforts to escape and locate a teacher or security guard, the boy was unable to find anyone responsible because no school staff were present in the yard, the lawsuit alleges.

Eventually, the boy was surrounded and “one of the attackers knocked him to the ground and shouted anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli insults,” the court said. The complaint says one of the students kicked the boy three times, twice in the leg and once in the face

Although the boy managed to shield his groin, the complaint says he was unable to shield his face or leg.

The complaint states that when the attackers stopped beating, the boy was not approached by teachers, staff or security.

The boy, who is Jewish, believes he was targeted because he had previously mentioned that he wanted to join the Israel Defense Forces when asked in class about his future career, reported the New York Post..

The school’s alleged reaction

School staff were unaware of the situation until the boy told a teacher himself, who then notified the school’s principal, according to court documents.

Although they eventually learned of the assault, the complaint alleges that “school officials failed to seek medical attention for (the boy).” Records show that IS 2 employees also did not immediately call or notify the victim’s parents about the assault.

The complaint goes on to allege that an unnamed school official placed the child on a New York City Transit Authority bus without the parents’ consent or knowledge of the incident.

Court records show the boy “experienced extreme fear, nervousness, anxiety and severe emotional distress” while traveling on the bus.

Court documents state that after the incident, “(the boy) never returned to the middle school.” In fact, the trauma the family experienced led them to move to New Jersey, according to a New York Post report.

The lawsuit against the city and DOE was filed in state Supreme Court in St. George. Although it seeks unspecified damages, the complaint states that the damages sought “exceed the jurisdictional limits of all lower courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction.”

“Anti-Semitism in public schools has been a real problem since and after the events of October 7,” said Anna Livshits, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

“It’s very disturbing that not only has there been an incident where such a young boy was targeted because of his religion or ethnicity, but also a situation where school administrators, you know, based on the boy’s allegations, really he did not react appropriately after being attacked by other children,” Livshits added. “I think that while there are cases of bullying at school, I think what sets the situation apart is that there was no one on the school playground to help him escape from the kids who were chasing him. “And then, even when the school learned about the incident, all the administration did was put him on a city bus and tell him to go home on his own, and reportedly didn’t even notify his mother.”

“Hate has no place in New York public schools, and all students and staff deserve to be safe at school and in their communities,” said Jenna Lyle, a DOE spokeswoman. “We will review the lawsuit when we receive it.”