By: Joshua Chaimowitz
More antisemitism – this time a threatening email and graffiti found at the Silver Gull private beach club in Breezy Point, Queens.
“Heil Hitler” was scrawled in large block letters. White walls were smeared with a red swastika and racial slurs targeting black people. The words “gas chamber” were painted on a door, according to picture that was shared with The New York Times.
“The graffiti at the club, which sits on federal seashore, was quickly painted over by the management, according to a club member, and the police were called,” the Times reported. “Investigators believe a group broke into a shed that the club uses for arts programs on Friday and vandalized the interior. The vandals then proceeded to “trash the room,” Sergeant Firrito said. He first said the incident appeared to have happened after the beach club had closed for the day, but later clarified that it apparently had occurred during opening hours.”
“The number of hate crimes reported to the New York Police Department this year is nearly double the number reported in 2018 during the same period – and most incidents are anti-Semitic,” JTA reported in June of this year.
The NYPD has received 176 hate crime complaints from Jan. 1 to May 19, constituting an 83 percent rise over the corresponding period last year, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday based on police data.
“Anti-Defamation League National Director Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted that 59 percent of the complaints were anti-Semitic hate crimes, to 103 from 50 reported incidents in the same period last year,” JTA added. “Troubling findings out of one of the country’s most diverse cities,” Greenblatt wrote.”
In early August, police said they were investigating the source of antisemitic flyers distributed around Queens. They were reportedly sound near the Halsey Street subway station in Ridgewood.
“The flyers depict the top of a person’s head wearing a Star of David kippah with bold wording that reads “Worthless F—-ing Cancer Filled Jew,” according to ny1.com. “According to investigators, a man came into the 104th precinct to report the flyer. They say a few dozen were scattered throughout the neighborhood.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo was quick to respond. “In New York, we have absolutely zero tolerance for such heinous acts; they are completely unacceptable and are repugnant to our values of diversity and inclusion,” he said in a statement. “I am directing the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to immediately provide the NYPD with any resources needed to assist in the investigation of this incident and to ensure those responsible are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Anti-Semitism is a growing cancer that has been injected into the nation’s body but in New York we will continue to stand united and with one voice condemn any and all acts of hatred and intolerance.”
