Police in Brooklyn responded to two incidents of aggravated harassment after dozens of swastikas were discovered defacing a children’s playground, JNS reported Wednesday, citing the New York City Police Department.
The NYPD said officers were first called to Gravesend Park on Jan. 19, where they found multiple swastikas drawn in red paint across the playground.
“Approximately 16 swastikas were drawn on slides, walls and floor of the playground. The paint bottles were found on scene," the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI) told JNS. The case is being investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force.
Two days later, on Jan. 21, police were again dispatched to the same location. “On Wednesday, at approximately 1050 hours, police responded to a 911 call of an aggravated harassment in the vicinity of 56 Street and 18 Avenue (Gravesend Park), within the confines of the 66 Precinct," DCPI said. Officers discovered “approximately 57 swastikas in the playground and handball court area written on the wall in red, blue and yellow colors." No arrests have been made.
Brooklyn Community Board 12 condemned the vandalism and noted the back‑to‑back incidents. “Same park, different day. A day later, and this is what happened," the board wrote. “We are requesting that NYPD Hate Crimes pull out all the stops to catch these vile Jew haters."
The Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey condemned the attacks. “Parents should never have to fear their children will encounter vile hatred at the playground," the ADL stated. “We are disgusted to see this display of antisemitism in Boro Park, home to tens of thousands of Jewish New Yorkers and thousands of Holocaust survivors."
The Consulate General of Israel in New York also condemned the vandalism as “antisemitic hatred." It added, “A playground meant for joy and innocence was deliberately turned into a place of fear and terror because the children who play there are Jews. We will not be silent. The Jewish community around the world will stand together and will not be intimidated."
New York has seen a sharp uptick in incidents of antisemitism since October 7, 2023. Data released by the New York City Police Department on the day before the mayoral election in November, won by Zohran Mamdani, revealed that Jews were the victims in 62% of all hate crimes reported last month, with 29 antisemitic incidents out of a total of 47.
On the very day that Mamdani was elected, swastikas were sprayed on the Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn.
Nearly two weeks after the election, antisemitic graffiti reading “F**k Jews" was found scrawled on a sidewalk in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.
In December, a Jewish man was stabbed in broad daylight in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in what police are investigating as a possible antisemitic attack.