Hunt for New York Asian-hate suspect

New York police are searching for a suspect who attacked a 61-year-old Chinese American man by kicking him repeatedly in the head in East Harlem.

The victim was collecting cans when he was attacked from behind, knocked to the ground and kicked in the head on Friday night. He was taken to hospital in critical but stable condition.

Surveillance video appears to show the attacker stomping on the victim's head. Police have not specified a motive.

Police did not release the victim's name, but multiple news outlets identified him as Yao Pan Ma, a former restaurant worker who lost his job because of the pandemic and was collecting cans to make ends meet.

The victim's wife, Chen Baozhen, 57, pleaded for police to find her husband's attacker. "Please capture him as soon as possible and make him pay,'' Chen said in putonghua.

The hate crimes task force is investigating the attack, the latest in a troubling rise in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York and around the country.

Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attack "outrageous'' He added: "Make no mistake, we will find the perpetrator and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The attack recalled last month's assault near Times Square in which a woman who immigrated from the Philippines was knocked to the ground and stomped on by an attacker who shouted anti-Asian slurs. A parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago was arrested in that attack.

"I'm sickened to learn of yet another bigoted act of violence against an Asian American man,'' governor Andrew Cuomo said. "This is not who we are as New Yorkers, and we will not let these cowardly acts of hate against members of our New York family intimidate us."