Gandhi statue in Richmond Hill vandalized for second time
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A statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside of Shri Tulsi Mandir in Richmond Hill was destroyed by vandals this week. It was the second time the statue had been vandalized this month. Photo via Richard David
By Jacob Kaye
For the second time this month, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi outside of a Hindu temple in Richmond Hill was vandalized. While it suffered damage after the first attack, this time it was destroyed.
Local leaders say the statue of the civil rights leader that has for years stood watch in front of Shri Tulsi Mandir on 111th Street in Richmond Hill was knocked over, spray painted and battered with a sledge hammer in the early hours of Tuesday, Aug. 16. The perpetrators of the attack also spray painted the grounds of the mandir and the sidewalk in front of it.
The vandalism of the statue came only days after it was placed back in front of the mandir, having been knocked over by several unidentified men earlier in the month.
“It was terrible the first time and it's terrible the second time,” said Richard David, a district leader in the area and a member of the mandir’s community. “This is just really horrendous.”
In a statement, Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar said that her office had been in communication with the NYPD, and that police were investigating the incidents as a possible hate crime.
Rajkumar, the first Hindu American elected to the state legislature in New York history, said that groups across the globe have reached out following the attacks.
“Since the targeting of the Gandhi statue and the Hindu Temple, I have received an outpouring of support not just in Queens, but from people all around the world,” Rajkumar said. “I have spoken with government leaders across the country. All are committed to re-doubling our efforts to combat anti-Hindu hate.”
“We always knew that defeating hate would not be accomplished in one day, one week, or even one year,” she added. “We are committed to this fight for the long term, and will use the Hindu principles of ahimsa (non-violence) and satyagraha (soul force) that guided Gandhi himself and later the great American civil rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr.”
Last week, elected officials, including Rajkumar, Rep. Gregory Meeks, Assemblymember David Weprin and State Senator Joe Addabbo, joined community members in front of the Hindu temple to condemn the first attack.
“Whenever places of worship are defaced, vandalized or attacked we must ask why the perpetrators did it and address the situation,” Addabbo said last week.
While the vandalisms have not yet been classified as hate crimes by the NYPD, hate crimes across the city have seen an increase this year.
In 2022, there have been over 330 confirmed hate incidents, a 127 percent increase when compared to the same period in 2020, according to NYPD data. There were around the same number of hate crime incidents in 2021 through August as there have been this year, NYPD data shows.
Included among those were several high profile hate incidents against Sikh men in Rajkumar’s district in the past year.
Police say that six unidentified men were spotted on surveillance video breaking the religious statue with a sledge hammer around 1:30 a.m., on Tuesday.
They then fled the scene toward Liberty Avenue, where they got into two separate cars, a white Mercedes Benz and a dark Toyota Camry with a possible livery sticker on the back passenger window, according to the NYPD.
Police believe all of the men are between the ages of 25 and 30.
“The last time it was damaged, this time, it's destroyed, so they came with an intent,” David said.
Services and prayers continued at the mandir throughout the week following the second attack. Despite the vandalisms – and despite a number of other high profile alleged hate crimes in the neighborhood in recent months – David said that residents haven’t allowed them to interfere with their everyday lives.
“It would be really unfortunate if we're forced to take a position of retreat and go back into the basements and in the shadows,” David said. “We have these opportunities to share information about our culture, our customs, our beliefs and our practices, and to learn about our neighbors who have the same and sometimes different values and beliefs.”
“That's actually what the Gandhi statue is about and it's a shame that it was targeted in that way,” he added.
Shri Tulsi Mandir has served as a place of refuge for Richmond Hill residents during several recent crises.
At the start of and during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the leaders at the Hindu temple handed out food to those in need, according to David. Once a week, lines would form outside of the mandir and “thousands of families” would be fed “indiscriminately.”
After a fire on Liberty Avenue broke out and damaged and destroyed a number of buildings in the neighborhood several years ago, the mandir offered aid, David said.
“This mandir opened its doors to allow the victims to be there and to be a central meeting point for families to come and get food, and to get clothing,” he said. “We worked really carefully to create a space that is community centered like that.”
