Yesterday I saw first-hand how anger over the World Trade Center attack turns on Muslims who call New York home. At 4:30 p.m. on 116th St., five black teenagers stopped in front of the American Muslim Community of East Harlem site – a closet-sized candy store with a make-shift mosque in a back room. Tiny store owner Muhammad Chaudhry stood in the doorway. One of the teenage boys asked him, “Do you feel sorry for America?

“The kid then gave Chaudhry a knock-out punch in the face that sent him reeling backwards and onto the floor. Blood spurted all over his plaid shirt, the linoleum floor and a pair of sneakers left by a man who was praying. Chaudhry’s dentures cracked in two. As bystanders helped Chaudhry to a chair and got him some paper towels, the kids took off north across 116th Street. Despite an all-out effort to track down the puncher, cops and witnesses couldn’t find him. Chaudhry, who works seven days a week, has raised seven kids – one a doctor in Brooklyn treating this week’s wounded.