SUNSET PARK — A Staten Island man has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with robbery and assault as hate crimes and related offenses in connection with an unprovoked attack against a Muslim woman at the Ninth Avenue subway station in Brooklyn.
According to the investigation, on March 17, 2026, at approximately 10:40 a.m., on the platform at the Ninth Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, Christopher Nastasa, 39, allegedly stated to the victim, “I wonder how many Iranians we kill today, I think about 500.”
Nastasa reportedly followed the victim and further stated, “I think it’s funny how a terrorist can walk around now, not even your mayor can save you.”
The victim started to record Nastasa with her cell phone, and Nastasa grabbed the victim’s hands and shook the victim, causing the victim to fall to the ground.
Nastasa then grabbed the victim’s phone and slammed it on the ground before picking it up and throwing it across the train tracks and into a wooded area.
Nastasa fled the scene on foot. The victim notified MTA staff about the incident and reported the incident to NYPD officers, who were able to recover the victim’s phone from the brush. Nastasa was arrested following an investigation.
“This defendant is accused of a vicious, Islamophobic hate crime against an innocent victim going about her daily life,” District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. “No one should have to fear violence due to their religious or ethnic background. The impact of these hate-fueled crimes reverberates throughout entire communities and has no place in our society.”
Nastasa was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on a 16-count indictment in which he is charged with second-degree robbery as a hate crime, second-degree robbery, third-degree robbery as a hate crime, third-degree robbery, fourth-degree grand larceny as a hate crime, fourth-degree grand larceny, third-degree assault as a hate crime, third-degree assault, fourth-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, fourth-degree criminal mischief, petit larceny as a hate crime and related charges.
He is being held on bail of $25,000 cash or $50,000 bond and was ordered to return to court on June 3, 2026.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Prabhalya Pulim of the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kelli M. Muse, chief of the Hate Crimes Bureau.
