The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating a string of reported antisemitic incidents at the homes of Jewish board members of the Brooklyn Museum.
According to reports from sources including CNN, five homes were vandalized, with three located in Manhattan and two in Brooklyn. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine says one of the homes targeted was on the Upper East Side.
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Police are also responding to vandalism targeting the Palestinian Authority (at 115 East 65th Street) on Wednesday morning. Leaflets dispersed throughout the area accused the PA of being an ally to Israel and the United States and read, “Long live the intifada,” an Arabic word meaning “uprising” but which has been used in two major terrorism campaigns initiated by Hamas in the past. Red paint was also splattered onto the street, and multiple reports state that there were about fifteen protestors who were traveling in a U-Haul truck.
“We are deeply troubled by these horrible acts,” Taylor Maatman, Brooklyn Museum’s spokesperson, told CNN.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn the acts, as well.
This is not peaceful protest or free speech. This is a crime, and it’s overt, unacceptable antisemitism.
These actions will never be tolerated in New York City for any reason. I’m sorry to Anne Pasternak and members of @brooklynmuseum‘s board who woke up to hatred like this.
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) June 12, 2024
The red triangle is considered, by some, a link to the Al-Qassam brigade, one of the divisions of Hamas, according to congressional testimony by Joe. J Gindi, a student who experienced antisemitism at Rutgers University earlier this year. The Anti-Defamation League says that “in certain cases [it] can signify support for violent Palestinian resistance against Israel.”
NYC Comptroller Brad Lander also posted photos to X, saying, “The cowards who did this are way over the line into antisemitism, harming the cause they claim to care about, and making everyone less safe.”
