Upper East Side neighborhood rallies around street vendor after Islamophobic video goes viral

Upper East Side residents rallied in support of a halal food cart vendor Wednesday, after viral videos captured a man hurling Islamophic insults at the worker over several nights.

The man — who has been identified by his former employer as Stuart Seldowitz, a former State Department staffer who worked at the White House — was seen in videos posted online calling the vendor a “terrorist.” Mohamed Hussein, 24, was working alone at the “Adam Halal Food Cart” on 83rd Street and 2nd Avenue when he was subjected to the repeated harassment and taped Seldowitz’s numerous diatribes.

“He first asked me where I’m from. I told him ‘I’m from Egypt.’ He then said ‘You support Hamas, you’re a terrorist, you want to kill Jews and you want to kill kids’” Hussein told Gothamist in Arabic. “That’s the first thing he said.”

Hussein then started filming Seldowitz and sent the video to his friend before it was shared to social media.

Videos posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, show Seldowitz saying that killing 4,000 Palestinian children “wasn’t enough” and asked the vendor if he “raped [his] daughter like Muhammad,” referring to the prophet of Islam.

Seldowitz also interrogated Hussein asking him what language he spoke.

“You speak Arabic? The language of the Quran, the Holy Quran that some people use as a toilet?” Seldowitz said, before laughing repeatedly.

In another video, Seldowitz asked the vendor if he was in the country legally.

“He cursed my religion,” Hussein said. “I wouldn’t like to speak to him again — enough.”

The NYPD said Seldowitz was arrested on Wednesday in connection to the incident and charged with a hate crime along with aggravated harassment and stalking. Attorney information for Seldowitz was not immediately available.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tension and near daily protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Roughly 1,200 Israelis died in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to the Israeli government and the Gaza Ministry of Health. Police data shows a significant spike in antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes since the October attack.

During the Wednesday lunch rush, neighbors showed up to offer their support in response to the video. Yasser Nawar, one of the owners of the cart, handed out free falafel to supporters.

Pamela Wyznitzer, 38, who lives in the building right in front of the cart, set up a table with chairs for people to “break bread” and come together in solidarity with Hussein, Nawar, and the other men behind the cart.

“These men are our friends. They look out for me, I look out for them, especially in the heightened times in the past few months,” Wyznitzer said. “I’m a very proud Jewish woman. They are wonderful Egyptian men … hate has no place on our street corners.”

“We’ve been here for so many years helping the community and we have no problem with nobody,” Nawar said, adding they planned to file a complaint with police.

Councilmember Julie Menin said on X, that police from the 19th precinct and the Hate Crime Task Force are currently investigating the incident. The NYPD only said they’re monitoring the situation.

“It was appalling. It is very clear that this individual is engaged in aggravated harassment, which is absolutely unacceptable,” Menin told Gothamist Wednesday. “It is very clear from observing the videos that this has been repeated harassment. This is not an isolated incident where an individual came and said hateful things.”

Gotham Government Relations, Seldowitz’s now-former employer, released a statement that said it has severed all affiliations with him and described his actions in the video as “vile” and “racist.” The statement also said he hasn’t contributed work for them in “years” but a November 2022 press release announced his hiring with the lobbying firm as their “Foreign Affairs Chair."

The lobbying firm described Seldowitz as a longtime diplomat and a national security adviser to former President Barack Obama.

Seldowitz did not respond to phone messages or to a reporter seeking comment at his home. The New York Times reported that Seldowitz said the vendor told him he supported Hamas.

Mayor Eric Adams released a statement on X Tuesday night saying “Islamophobia is hate” and that “vile, disrespectful rhetoric has no home in our city.”

This story has been updated with new information.