– NEW YORK

A New York City cab driver who was stabbed after a passenger allegedly learned he was Muslim, addressed the media on Aug. 26 at a news conference on the steps of City Hall after a meeting with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

According to a report in the New York Daily News, Mayor Bloomberg invited Sharif, his wife and their four children  to City Hall. He gave the kids pencils and T-shirts that said “I’m An Official New Yorker” and “NYPD.”

“No matter how wonderful this city is, there is always somebody who acts disgracefully,” Bloomberg is quoted saying. “Fortunately, these things are rare, but one time is one time too many.”

“I feel very sad,” Sharif, said in a statement released by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA). “I have been here more than 25 years. I have been driving a taxi more than 15 years. All my four kids were born here. I never felt this hopeless and insecure before.”

 At the news conference, Sharif called for an end to anti-Muslim sentiments that have followed the proposed construction of an Islamic cultural center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero.

 “Right now, the public sentiment is very serious because of the ground zero mosque debate,” Sharif said.

 Sharif, 44, a practicing Muslim originally from Bangladesh, was slashed across the neck, face, shoulder and hand in the attack. Police have identified the suspect as Michael Enright, 21.

 According to a press release issued by the NYTWA, when Enright first got into Sharif’s cab Aug. 24 night, the conversation was cordial at first.

“The man, 21, started out friendly, asking Mr. Sharif about where he was from, how long he had been in America, if he was Muslim and if he was observing fast during Ramadan,” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the alliance was quoted in the release as saying.

 “Then, after a few minutes of silence, Enright started cursing at Sharif and shouted ‘Assalamu Alaikum,’ (peace be upon you). Though gushing blood, Sharif was able to escape and flag a police officer. Sharif received stab wounds to his arms, throat and face.

 Police said the suspect was highly intoxicated. According to New York Police Detective Mark Nell  Enright has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree as a hate crime, assault in the second degree as a hate crime, aggravated harassment in the second degree as a hate crime, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree.

 A student of the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, Enright, recently returned from Afghanistan where he was making a film on the U.S. Marines.

“While a minority of has-been politicians spew ignorance and fear, it’s the working person on the street who has to face the consequences,” Desai said.  “This kind of bigotry only breeds more violence and makes taxi drivers all the more vulnerable on the streets where there are no bully pulpits or podiums to hide behind.” 

According to a U.S. Department of Labor report, taxi drivers are thirty times more likely to be killed on the job than other workers.