A man brutally insults and beats an Asian woman in New York. Several people watch without intervening

By Wilson Wong - 

NBC News

A 65-year-old woman of Asian descent was attacked by a man who knocked her over and kicked her on the ground several times on Monday outside a luxurious apartment building in New York City,

as employees of the building witnessed the attack. without coming to their aid

, as seen in recordings of the incident.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the brutal assault, and employees who witnessed it have been suspended, authorities said.

The attack took place shortly before noon Monday on 43rd Street in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan.  

Police released video of the man kicking the victim in his stomach

, causing him to fall to the ground.

He then hits the woman on the head several times while yelling insults at the Asians, police said.

[Hate crimes against the Asian community on the rise in the United States]

The video appears to show that there were at least three people in the lobby of the building who saw the attack and did not move.

One of them closed the door when the attacker walked away, leaving the woman lying on the ground

, according to the images.

Hundreds of people demonstrate in Atlanta against racial hatred

March 21, 202100: 33

"The victim suffered serious physical injuries and was transferred by emergency services to the Langone Hospital of the University of New York," where he is stable, police said in a statement.

Authorities released photos of the alleged perpetrator, who remains on the run,

in the hope that someone can help identify him

.

The Brodsky Organization, the company that manages the luxury apartments, said in a statement Tuesday that it "condemns all forms of violence, racism, xenophobia and violence against the Asian-American community."

The company added that "the personnel who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union," and that it is working to identify an "external supplier who was in the incident so that appropriate measures can be taken. ”.

An "absolutely vile" attack

New York City Council Chairman Corey Johnson said on Twitter that the incident was "absolutely vile."

"These attacks on New Yorkers of Asian descent must end," he tweeted, "hate has no place here and we must always condemn it when we see it."

Scott Stringer, comptroller and mayoral candidate for New York, called the attack "absolutely disgusting."

"Asian Americans belong to New York and are an integral part of our city," Stringer tweeted, "we have to keep talking, we have to keep protecting our neighbors from AAPI and we have to act immediately for #StopAsianHate."

Congresswoman Grace Meng, a Democrat from New York, who spearheaded legislation to combat hate crimes related to the COVID-19 pandemic, said the video represented a lack of empathy for Asian Americans.

"We have gone from being invisible to being seen as subhuman," Meng tweeted, "we just want to be seen as Americans, like everyone else."

Another violent attack that was caught on video is being investigated as a hate crime

by the NYPD.

These are the latest instances in a series of crimes against people of Asian origin that have been reported around the country.

An analysis of statistics from various police departments in large cities prepared earlier this month reveals that

at least 16 cities in the country saw a significant increase in hate crimes against people of Asian descent

in 2020.

The analysis, published by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, concluded that hate crimes against Asians increased 150% in 2020, while in the same year hate attacks in general. decreased by 7%.

The largest increase occurred in New York, which went from three in 2019 to 28 in 2020: an 833% increase in hate crimes against Asians.

This rebound coincided with the coronavirus pandemic and with offensive comments from former President Donald Trump.