Bloomberg slams vicious slashing of Queens cabbie

Visibly in pain, Queens cabbie Ahmed H. Sharif stood quietly at City Hall Thursday as Mayor Michael Bloomberg slammed the vicious slashing attack that left the driver with 45 stitches.

"Violence and being disrespectful to each other is not why America was born," said Bloomberg of the assault allegedly carried out by Michael Enright. Bloomberg said he gave each of Sharif's four children and wife various items such as "I Love New York" T-shirts and NYPD caps.

Police said Enright, 21, a visual arts student who recently returned from Afghanistan where he was making a film, entered Sharif's cab on Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan late Tuesday and then attacked the driver after asking him if he was Muslim and then blurting out "this is a checkpoint."

Sharif, 43, was slashed on the throat, arms, hand and lip. He was released after being treated at a hospital. Enright, of Brewster, N.Y., was charged with attempted murder and assault as hate crimes. He is being held without bail.

Supporters of Sharif said the attack was an example of fear-mongering about Muslims in the face of the recent controversy over the Islamic community center planned near Ground Zero.

However, Bloomberg wouldn't say what prompted the attack.

"I can't tell you if it was related to anything or not," said Bloomberg, referring to the current controversy.

Outside City Hall, Sharif walked slowly to a stand of news media microphones to thank Bloomberg and the city.

"After I see the mayor and all his support and award this city must [be] safe for everyone and respect for all these religion ... now I feel a little better than before," Sharif said. "I feel a lot safer and better than before."

The cabbie said he thought his Muslim religion sparked the attack. But he didn't think the current Islamic center controversy had anything to do with it.

"No, we didn't talk about this, the mosque," said Sharif, about his incident with Enright.

Later, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said cops were getting a search warrant to examine six notebooks Enright had in a backpack. A cursory look didn't reveal any anti-Muslim rants, Kelly said.

Enright, Kelly said, told detectives he started drinking about four hours before the incident. A bottle of scotch was found in the backpack, Kelly said.