Mom sues NYC and DOE over boy beaten in ‘anti-Semitic’ attack at Staten Island school

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

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of a boy, disputes that the city and the DOE were negligent in their duties at the time of the attack.

In terms of compensation, the plaintiff is seeking unspecified damages arising from the alleged lack of response to the abuse he suffered during recess at Egbert Intermediate School (IS 2) in Midland Beach, court documents show.

The alleged attack

The victim of this attack was a student at the high school from September 2022 through October 2023, as stated in the lawsuits.

It was on October 25, 2023, just over two weeks after the terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023that the boy was attacked by a group of students, the filing alleges.

The child, in seventh grade at the time, went outside for recess around noon when a group of students began chasing him across the schoolyard, the complaint said.

Despite attempts to flee and locate a teacher or security guard, the boy was unable to find an authority figure because there were no school staff in the courtyard, the lawsuit alleges.

Eventually, the boy was surrounded and “an attacker pushed him to the ground and shouted anti-Semitic and anti-Israel slurs,” court documents allege. One of the students also kicked the boy three times, twice in the leg and once in the face, the complaint alleges

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

After his attackers stopped assaulting him, the boy was not contacted by teachers, staff or security, according to the complaint.

The boy, who is Jewish, believes he was targeted because he had previously said he wanted to join the Israeli army when questioned in class about future careers. The New York Post reports this.

The school’s alleged response

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

Despite eventually becoming aware of the attack, the complaint alleges that “school officials failed to seek medical attention for (the boy).” IS 2 employees also failed to immediately call the victim’s parents or inform them of the attack, the complaint shows.

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

During that time on board the bus, the court suggests the boy experienced ‘extreme fear, nervousness, anxiety and severe emotional distress’.

Court documents state that after the incident, “(the boy) never returned to the high school.” The trauma suffered by the family even led to them moving to New Jersey, as shared in the New York Post report.

The lawsuit against the city and DOE was filed in State Supreme Court, St. George. Although unspecified damages are sought, the complaint indicates that the damages sought “exceed the jurisdictional limits of any lower courts that would otherwise have jurisdiction.”

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

“It’s just very disturbing that not only do you have an incident where such a young boy was targeted based on his religion or his ethnicity, but you also had a situation where the school administrators, based on the boy’s allegations , really didn’t react appropriately after being attacked by other children,” Livshits added. “I think while there are schoolyard bullying incidents, I think what makes the situation different is that there was no one in the schoolyard at all to help him escape the kids who were chasing him. And even when the school learned of the incident, the administration merely put him on a city bus and let him go home alone, without even informing the mother, according to reports.”

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