New York (AFP) – Antisemitic graffiti including swastikas has been spray-painted onto Jewish homes, synagogues, and a memorial commemorating Kristallnacht, New York police and city officials confirmed Monday, with the incidents being investigated as possible hate crimes. The graffiti is the latest instance of antisemitic vandalism against the city’s Jewish community, with previous targets including playgrounds, places of worship, and the subway.
A wall outside the Rego Park Jewish Center in the borough of Queens was tagged with a swastika and the words “heil Hitler,” images on social media showed. A police spokeswoman confirmed to AFP that “multiple locations had swastikas drawn with spray paint” and that no arrests had been made but the investigation was ongoing.
Leftist New York mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on social media he was “horrified and angered by the swastikas painted on homes and a synagogue in Forest Hills, including on a plaque honoring survivors of Kristallnacht.” Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany in 1938 that saw followers of Adolf Hitler target Jewish homes and businesses.
“This is not just vandalism — it is a deliberate act of antisemitic hatred meant to instill fear,” Mamdani added, saying that the city police’s Hate Crimes Task Force was investigating. Julie Menin, speaker of the New York City Council, wrote on social media that “multiple synagogues and private homes in Queens were vandalized overnight with swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti.”
“The graffiti will be removed once the investigation is complete. With antisemitism on the rise here and across the globe, we will always stand up for our Jewish community and fight back against hate.” Mamdani, who has called Israel an “apartheid regime,” has been accused by some Jews of fueling a sharp rise in antisemitism through his politics, a charge he denies.
Antisemitic incidents jumped 182 percent between January 2025 and January 2026, according to recent figures from police in New York, home to the largest Jewish community outside Israel. Some 82 percent of Jewish voters — including two-thirds who voted for Mamdani — signaled concern over the “rise of antisemitism in New York City,” according to a new poll by the Jewish Majority group.
© 2024 AFP
