Family of Jewish man killed in Flushing seeks answers
/
Posters in Kissena Park asking for the community’s help in finding Albert Itzkowitz’s killer. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
The family of Albert Itzkowitz, a beloved Queens community member who was found murdered in Kissena Park, is still searching for answers about why their beloved family member was killed last month.
Itzkowitz’s family, neighbors and local elected officials gathered at the park on Thursday and pleaded with the public to come forward with information that could help lead to an arrest.
The NYPD has raised the reward for information about Itzkowitz’s murder to $10,000. His family is matching the reward, bringing the total to $20,000.
“We are desperate for answers,” said Tzvi Yonie Itzkowitz, the victim’s youngest son. “We find ourselves in emotional limbo.”
“We're asking anyone who may have heard something, seen something, know anything at all to please, please come forward,” he added.
Albert Itzkowitz, a local rabbi, baker and well-known member of the Queens Jewish community, often visited Kissena Park when he had a free moment.
It was during one of these trips that he met his demise.
On May 18, police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing responded to a 911 call of an unconscious man along the Kissena Lake shoreline.
There, they found the 75-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the neck and back. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators have yet to find the murder weapon, or identify a motive in the killing.
“I have no words, it's just it's unspeakable, it's senseless, it's evil, there’s nothing else to say,” his son told reporters. “For my dad's sake, for our family's sake, we want that person brought to justice as quickly as possible.”
The family also called for the NYPD to treat the murder as a potential hate crime.
The family of Albert Itzkowitz, a beloved Queens community member, said during a press conference on Thursday that they want the NYPD to investigate the rabbi and baker’s death as a hate crime. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
A practicing Orthodox Jew, his family said he would have been wearing traditional dress and had a long beard at the time of his murder.
However, the NYPD said no clothes that one might associate with Judaism were found when his body was recovered.
“The circumstances demand answers in a city where antisemitic incidents have surged,” said his daughter, Leah Livshitz. “Daddy was visibly Jewish. He was targeted in broad daylight. He was killed in a public park where he should have been safe. His family deserves answers. The Jewish community deserves answers.”
Queens elected officials echoed the family’s calls on Thursday.
“They deserve justice, and our community deserves accountability,” said local Assemblymember Nily Rozic.
“We know it happened in a heavily used public park, so we know there were individuals in areas who may have seen something, heard something, and possessed some information that could help connect the remaining pieces of this investigation,” she added.
His children, who had lost their mother – Itzkowitz’s wife of 53 years – just three weeks before his murder, are mourning a man they called a “devoted husband,” and the “greatest father and grandfather we could have asked for.”
“He never missed a school function, he never missed a family milestone, and he treated every grandchild as if they were the most important person in the world, that is why it's so impossible to comprehend that a man who spent his entire life caring for others could be taken from us in such a violent and senseless way,” said Livshitz.
A volunteer EMT who was known for helping his community, Itzkowitz had just visited two other grieving community members hours before his death.
“That speaks to the kind of person my dad was, and how loving and caring he was,” said his son. “He's still grieving the loss of my mom, his wife, and he's paying his respects to community members in our area.”
The NYPD said they are “diligently investigating” the case.
