New York celebrity stylist Aleksander Janik was taken into custody Friday after he allegedly attacked a rabbi outside New York’s Chelsea Hotel. Police told The Daily Beast they arrested Janik at 10 a.m. and charged him with committing a hate crime, assault with injury, and assault with intent to cause injury. As The Daily Beast reported this week, Rabbi Chezky Wolff alleged that the confrontation kicked off when Janik’s dog ran toward the doors of the Chelsea Shul and Wolff requested Janik leash the dog. Wolff claimed that Janik then muttered “dirty Jews” so Wolff started recording and followed Janik down the street. That’s when Janik swung his tote bag, hitting Wolff in the face and knocking his yarmulke off his head. Janik told The Daily Beast a different story, claiming that his dog laid down in front of the shul to avoid the heat when Wolff opened the door to demand the two move. Janik added that Wolff called him a ‘Polack,’ before he started kicking Hudson. He adamantly denied using a slur, saying he’s Jewish himself. “I love Jews… my grandma died in Auschwitz,” he said.
