A woman caught on camera shouting vile antisemitic slurs at a young Orthodox Jewish woman on a New York City subway before grabbing her by the throat, kicking her to the ground and ripping out a clump of her hair has been given a $10,000 bond — far below the $30,000 prosecutors sought — after appearing virtually from a hospital psychiatric ward.
Diana Smith, 45, from the Bronx, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of felony assault, harassment and criminal obstruction of breathing as a hate crime at Manhattan Supreme Court. She had at least six prior encounters with law enforcement before the attack, according to the New York Post, which first reported the details of her bail hearing.
The victim, a 23-year-old Orthodox Jewish woman from Montreal living on the Upper West Side, had been on the crowded subway car for just one stop on 31 May when Smith boarded and almost immediately began targeting her. Smith allegedly stared at the young woman with a “sinister grin” before saying “You could always see the reflection of a Jew” and then telling her “I smell it on you too.” When the victim stared back and refused to show fear, Smith escalated.
The 23-year-old began recording. Footage she captured shows Smith standing in the carriage shouting “Jews are eating kids!” before addressing the victim directly — nodding and saying “You’re a Jew, I smell the kids” while smiling. Other passengers tried to intervene but Smith continued shouting, telling the carriage “It’s ok for Jews to eat kids, but I can’t choke her now.” Smith then knocked the phone from the victim’s hand, ending the recording. What followed went unfilmed. Smith grabbed the young woman by the throat, kicked her, knocked her to the floor and pulled her hair so violently that a clump came loose. The victim suffered a concussion. She told the Post nobody intervened “until it was too late.”
The attack took place on the same day as the Israel Day Parade on Fifth Avenue — an event New York’s new Mayor Zohran Mamdani did not attend, making him the first mayor to skip the celebration since it was established more than 60 years ago. The victim said both facts troubled her deeply. “I don’t think New York is protecting Jews. I don’t think Mamdani not going to the Israel Day Parade is helping,” she told the Post.
“I kept just thinking, I’m not in Nazi Germany,” the 23-year-old said, describing the moment she had to identify her attacker while bystanders who had watched the assault asked if she was all right. “Of course I’m not OK.”
The incident forms part of a broader surge in antisemitic violence in New York City and across the United States that has accelerated since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.
