Overnight Sunday, swastikas and the name Hitler were scrawled across five locations in Queens.
Homes and a synagogue were targeted while the neighborhood slept.
What You Need To Know
Victims say surveillance footage shows four people, faces covered, moving through the Queens community in the overnight hours
Newly released NYPD data shows antisemitic crimes this year are on pace with last year
So far, police have not announced any arrests
“It’s very appalling, very disturbing because these sign and these names should have been gone over 81 years ago,” Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov, the president of All My Children Day Care and Nursery School, said.
Victims say surveillance footage shows four people, faces covered, moving through the community during the overnight hours.
“This kind of thing is disgusting, and it shouldn’t be tolerated,” neighbor Ricki Thompson said.
At Rego Park Jewish Center, staff arrived to find the exterior marked with symbols their community has spent generations trying to leave behind.
“I don’t feel that we’re threatened per se, but I feel the escalation of what could be,” Jennifer Aronin, the director of All My Children Day Care and Nursery School, said.
Congregation Machane Chodosh was founded by refugees from Nazi Germany, people who came to the area to build something new, something safe.
The building itself was designed with that trauma in mind.
“Our synagogue has no glass facing the street because our founding members had experienced their synagogues being smashed and burned,” Rabbi Yosef Mendelson of Congregation Machane Chodosh said.
Newly released NYPD data shows antisemitic crimes this year are on pace with last year. This year, April saw a 30% drop compared to the previous April.
But inside the Queens community, the numbers don’t capture the fear.
“People are very scared. People do feel violated,” Mendelson said.
Mendelson says that if the vandals are ever caught, he has a message for them.
“I hope you can look into your heart and find a way to be a source of positivity, and ask yourself: ‘What do I have to offer the world rather than what do I stand against?’” Mendelson said.
Multiple elected officials came out on Monday in support of the community.
So far, police have not announced any arrests.