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By: Jessica Russak-Hoffman
Police are searching for four suspects accused of vandalizing several Jewish institutions and residences in Queens with Nazi symbols and other antisemitic graffiti early on Monday morning, the New York City Police Department told JNS.
“Multiple locations had been spray-painted with black and red paint with swastikas,” an NYPD spokesman told JNS.
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, visited Congregation Machane Chodosh, an Orthodox synagogue in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, which was one of the targeted sites.
“When rabbis and congregants arrived to pray this morning, they expected to be met with their usual loving community,” Menin stated. “When a family woke up, they were prepared to begin an otherwise normal week. Instead, they were met with terrifying signals of hatred and threats of violence.”
Menin visited the synagogue with fellow City Council members Phil Wong and Lynn Schulman, vice-chair of the council’s Jewish Caucus.
The Rego Park Jewish Center was also defaced, with a Nazi swastika and the word “Hitler” painted in red.
“I’ve seen the images of the hate crime outside the Rego Park Jewish Center, and it’s absolutely unacceptable,” Wong stated. “There is no place for this kind of hatred in our community.”
Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), whose district includes parts of Queens, also visited the site with Menin.
“Once again, hate has reared its ugly head in our community, and I am sickened by this vile act of antisemitism. I’ve said it many times and I will say it again, ‘Hate has no place in Queens or anywhere else in our society,’” Meng stated. “This despicable and disgusting graffiti is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our borough.”
“As antisemitism continues to rise, we must continue doing everything possible to counter antisemitism and hate whenever and wherever it occurs, and in any form that it takes,” she added.
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, stated that “these were not just synagogues, homes and Jewish centers.”
“One of the sites houses a pre-K program, where young children, their families and staff were greeted with swastikas and other hateful vandalism,” he stated. “This is not normal, and we need city leaders to act now.”
Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York, stated that he “unequivocally” denounces the antisemitic vandalism.
“As we warned, hateful language always turns into dangerous actions. I call upon all elected officials to not only speak, but act, against the rise of antisemitism now,” the Israeli envoy stated.
“The vandalism comes at a time when global antisemitism is steadily increasing,” the Israeli consulate stated. “Nazi symbols have no place anywhere, including New York City, home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.”
Antisemitic incidents have accounted for a significant share of reported hate crimes in New York City in recent years, with repeated cases of swastika graffiti in Queens and other boroughs.
