Swastika Spray-Painted on Play Equipment at 18th Avenue Park

By Yehudit Garmaise

The NYPD, Boro Park Shomrim members, Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein, and District Leader David Schwartz, conferred today at 18th Ave. Park, after a resident reported the disturbing sighting of anti-Semitic graffiti at the 18th Ave Park.

The NYPD are investigating the perpetrators who spray-painted an orange swastika on the park’s equipment on which the neighborhood’s children regularly play.

A swastika represents humanity's darkest chapter in history," said District Leader David Schwartz. "It's outrageous that this is what we have to deal with in a neighborhood with so many Holocaust survivors."

While 251 hate crimes were perpetrated in New York City in November 2020: that number jumped to 494 in November 2021, and Jews, who were the targets of 179 of those hate crimes, were by far the most frequently attacked.

Although in his last weeks in office, Mayor Bill de Blasio has been celebrating what he sees as the “successes” of his “innovations in policing,” such Precision Policing and Neighborhood Policing, hate crimes in the city rose a startling 97% compared to this time last year.

“I was shocked and saddened to learn about this latest anti-Semitic incident,” said Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein. “I was literally just a few blocks away when I received the call while enjoying a peaceful afternoon with my family.

“Hate has no place in our state, but it’s especially painful when it happens in our own neighborhood.”