Antisemitic hate slogans and swastikas were spray-painted on four buses used to transport Jewish students to yeshivas in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Among the slogans painted on the buses were “F**k Israel,” “Free Palestine,” and “America First.”
The hateful graffiti was spray-painted on a bus belonging to the Satmar, Tiferet Yisrael and Klausenburg Hasidic communities, according to the local news site Williamsburg 365. The New York City Police Department has opened an investigation into the incident, which was classified as a hate crime.
No suspects have yet been arrested.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X in response to the incident: “The antisemitic vandalism targeting school buses in South Williamsburg is abhorrent. Every New Yorker — especially our children — deserves to live free of such hatred. My team is in contact with the NYPD and community leaders. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to confront antisemitism, hold those responsible accountable, and ensure that hatred has no place in our city.”
Youth DSA group accuses New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani of Zionism
New York State Attorney General Letitia James called the act “despicable” and said that “antisemitism and hate have no place in New York.” According to the New York Post, the incident occurred less than a month after one of the yeshivas whose bus was spray-painted received a bomb threat by phone.
It was recently reported that many Jewish families have begun leaving New York due to rising antisemitism in the city. Last month, the New York Police Department revealed that hate crimes rose by nearly 13% during the first nine months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, with antisemitic incidents accounting for more than half of those cases.