Adam Yauch Park, in Brooklyn Heights, was named after a member of the Beastie Boys, the famous hip-hop rock group whose three members were all Jewish.
Yauch was the founder of the group and passed away four years ago. The park was vandalized in the last few days with swastikas and graffiti that read “Go Trump.”
There has been a sharp spike in racist and anti-Semitic incidents, both in New York and around the country in the last two weeks, since Donald Trump’s election victory. A swastika was painted on the door of a dormitory for Jewish students in a New York university, a swastika was painted on the entrance to a building where a Jewish senator lives, and in the village of Wellsville, a softball field was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti, a swastika, and the words “Make America Great Again,” mirroring Trump’s campaign slogan.
Racist and anti-Semitic incidents have spiked all around the country. “Since the election, we’ve seen a big uptick in incidents of vandalism, threats, intimidation spurred by the rhetoric surrounding Mr. Trump’s election,” Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center told USA Today.
“The white supremacists out there are celebrating his victory and many are feeling their oats.”
In addition to New York, incidents were reported in California, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.