Anti-Semitic vandals scrawl swastika at Rego Park synagogue
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A vandal scrawled anti-Semitic graffiti at the steps of the Rego Park Jewish Center on Feb. 17. Photo via Avi Cyperstein/Twitter
By Rachel Vick
NYPD officers and New York’s State Police Hate Crimes Task Force are searching for anti-Semitic vandals who scrawled a swastika outside a synagogue in Rego Park Wednesday.
The swastika was found on a sign near the front steps of the Rego Park Jewish Center while “the paint was still fresh,” said City Council candidate Avi Cyperstein. Community members reported the hateful graffiti to Queens Shmira, a neighborhood watch group, who referred the incident to the police
“There is absolutely no room for this kind of hatred in our community,” said U.S. Rep Grace Meng, State Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi, and Councilmember Karen Koslowitz in a joint statement.
Thank you very much to @NYPD112Pct for your prompt response. Hate Crime Unit has gathered their evidence and now that the scene has been cleared-together with the help of @QBSPshmira we are cleaning the graffiti and clearing up the hate. There is no room for hate in our community pic.twitter.com/hIv3LQ7Ual
— Avi Cyperstein / 阿威 西伯斯坦 (@avi_cyperstein) February 17, 2021
Gov. Andrew Cuomo condemned the “work of a coward” and ordered the state police to assist the NYPD’s 112th precinct with the hate crime investigation Thursday.
This anti-Semitic graffiti came a day after a man in Flushing shoved an Asian woman to the ground, sending her to hospital and fueling outcry over rising anti-Asian bias crimes.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards on Friday organized a forum to hate crimes in the borough. The event will take place Monday morning at 9:30 a.m.
“Racism and anti-Semitism are never acceptable, especially here in the World’s Borough where we take pride in our great diversity,” Richards said.
