Authorities say 72-year old Mira Harpazi was attacked as she returned to the Jewish Community Council of Canarsie on Pennsylvania Avenue at around noon Monday.
According to police, she had left the Jewish center to go to the drug store, and had almost made it back to the center when she was approached by an unidentified man. He walked past her, then turned around and struck her in an unknown manner on the right side of her head.
She managed to stay on her feet and returned to the Jewish center. She was taken to the hospital, where she was treated and released. She sustained no visible injuries and nothing was taken during the assault.
Harpazi is a Russian Jew, and detectives from the NYPD's hate crimes unit are investigating it as a possible bias crime. Police are canvassing the area searching for surveillance video.
The suspect was preliminarily described as a black male, in his late teens or early 20s, with a slim build. No arrests have been made, and it was not immediately believed to be part of a pattern.