By LARRY CELONA and HASANI GITTENS

July 6, 2007 -- A knife-wielding man attacked a pregnant woman who had accepted a ride from him in Brooklyn, cops said yesterday.

The 21-year-old woman - who, like her attacker, is Hasidic - had been waiting at a bus stop on Kent Avenue at Wallabout Street in Williamsburg when the man pulled up in a gray minivan at 11 a.m. Tuesday and offered to take her to Borough Park.

She hopped in the back seat; hitchhiking is fairly common among Hasids in the two neighborhoods.

The driver was in his 20s, of medium build, and dressed in typical Hasidic clothes, hat and beard, and spoke fluent Yiddish, sources said.

As they were driving, he told her he was from out of town and had to get a GPS navigator in the back.

Cops said he pulled over at Adams and York streets, pulled out a knife and tried to attack the woman.

She fought him off, but was slashed on her right hand before she escaped, and the man drove off.

Isaac Abraham, a Hasidic community leader , said it's an "everyday thing" for Hasids to give rides to one another, and that the corner is a spot where people often wait for a lift.

"We are very concerned. It's hard to believe that this guy figured, 'Let me pick 11 o'clock in midday and try * one,' " said Abraham.

"There may be other victims that were too afraid to fight."

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07062007/news/regionalnews/hasidic_hitchhike_horror_in_bklyn_regionalnews_larry_celona_and_hasani_gittens.htm