Vandals scrawled swastikas and Hitler graffiti on multiple homes and religious sites across Queens in an antisemitic spree on Monday \u2013 including a synagogue started by refugees fleeing the Holocaust.<\/p>\n
At least four people spray painted swastikas in red and black on the sides of at least five locations across the world\u2019s borough, according to city leaders and law enforcement sources.<\/p>\n
The rabbi for Congregation Machane Chodosh in Forest Hills, which was hit by the hateful graffiti, called it \u201cvery upsetting\u201d and noted the synagogue was actually formed by German-Jewish refugees who reached the Big Apple to escape Nazism.<\/p>\n
A photo shared by New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin shows Congregation Machane Chodosh, in Forest Hills Queens vandalized with antisemitic graffiti<\/p>\n
\u201cThe rabbi who founded our synagogue was himself a German refugee and dedicated the synagogue to the memory of the synagogues that were destroyed in Germany and the Jews who were murdered for being Jewish,\u201d Rabbi Yossi Mendelson told The Post. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe street is named Holocaust Memorial Corners so it feels so much more significant that this happened, it brings up our history and reminds us that we have to stick together and we have no choice but to lean into our identity and celebrate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The swastika at Congregation Machane Chodosh was etched on its street-facing fa\u00e7ade and partially over a plaque memorializing the Jewish communities who were killed during the Holocaust, said Mendelson.<\/p>\n
The vandals also targeted the Rego Park Jewish Center, with two homes and a car damaged by the graffiti, law enforcement sources said. The NYPD only confirmed multiple locations were hit.<\/p>\n
City Council Speaker Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker in Big Apple history, said police were seeking at least four suspects.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen rabbis and congregants arrived to pray this morning, they expected to be met with their usual loving community,\u201d Menin wrote on X.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWhen a family woke up, they were prepared to begin an otherwise normal week. Instead, they were met with terrifying signals of hatred and threats of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n Two homes were also targeted. <\/p>\n Photos released by her office showed black swastikas spray painted on a garage door and window with red circles around them.<\/p>\n Menin visited Congregation Machane Chodosh with Council members Phil Wong and Lynn Schulman.<\/p>\n A slew of other elected officials \u2014 including Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul \u2014 condemned the antisemitic graffiti.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not just vandalism \u2014 it is a deliberate act of antisemitic hatred meant to instill fear,\u201d Mamdani said on X. <\/a><\/p>\n