The NYPD has announced that an arrest has been made for the October incident in which a man vandalized a sukkah at Chabad Israel Center at 1766 Second Ave (at East 92nd Street).
A 37-year-old firefighter named Marty Party (real name) was arrested on December 20 on charges of criminal mischief.
The incident was originally being investigated as a possible hate crime, but that is no longer the case. An NYPD official told East Side Feed that Party was intoxicated at the time and he is now just facing charges of criminal mischief.
A sukkah is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot, and the incident took place on October 8, one day before the holiday began. It happened at a bit past 1:00 a.m., when Party kicked the structure and urinated inside of it.
Just this week, there was another anti-Semitic act of vandalism at Chabad Israel Center, when an ice menorah was destroyed. This happened on Wednesday, one day after Party’s reported arrest. But to be sure, we asked the NYPD if there was any connection between the two incidents. They said no.
We reached out to the FDNY about Party’s status. They informed us that he is “suspended for 4 weeks, which is the maximum allowable” and that “Following his suspension, there is potential he will remain offline while criminal proceedings take place.”
Regrettable journalism, falling for the name MARTY PARTY based a fake LinkedIn account for which East Side Feed provided the link. Another publication referred to the firefighter as Marty P. Party – a man accused of public urination named P. Party? Cmon, who gave you a quote Captain Jim Morrison?
Seems there is a cover up by the FDNY and the Party man’s friends at the firehouse. Disappointing no comment on the name from the Mayor’s office or the FD Commissioner. Is Eric Adam’s even in NYC?
“Marty Party” was the name provided in the report the NYPD shared with media. That means that when they arrested and ID’d him, this was the actual name on his drivers license. For the FDNY to create a “cover up” for the benefit of a single firefighter (who does not appear to be top brass) would be extremely unlikely, and it’s even less likely that the NYPD would go along with it. The most reasonable explanation? Here’s a guy who’s clearly a bit off and decided at some point to legally change his name. However, we do not have a credible source to back this up and verify it (or determine what his original name was). We stand by our reporting.
Thank you for your prompt response. Sincerely appreciate it. I would take, respectfully, issue though with two of your comments. Do we know how NYPD positively ID’d Marty Party? He would not be required to carry a driver’s license in NY and officer’s could use other means which may confirm his story- perhaps such as LinkedIn for a class a / misdemeanor, I don’t claim to be an expert . Did the police report demonstrate his license was on his person? To your point, maybe he is a bit off and provided a fake ID, who knows? . I presume we do not know from the FD’s reporting and your comment his real legal name – just the name given to police – IMO this salient fact deserved further reporting and investigation because if he is bit off , why’s he able to remain on the City payroll , prior to his arrest. I look forward to reading your publication and thank you for serving the community. Thanks again for your time and all the best in the new year.
More than a pleasure. It is indeed a strange story.
We didn’t specifically ask how the police obtained the name Marty Party, but when you get arrested, they take your drivers license or state identification (or passport — definitely not a social media profile though). The reports that I’m referring to — those which the NYPD forward to members of the press — include brief incident descriptions, an arrest date, the arrested’s name, charges, and sometimes surveillance footage. They don’t include the means by which the arrested was identified.
For what it’s worth, we did spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out the situation with “Marty Party.” However, what we found did not strike us as credible enough to include. But in any event, here’s a forum from 2016 in which an unnamed source claims Party’s original name was Martin P. Lydon: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theerant/ff-s-official-name-change-on-fd-orders-t86042.html This forum entry then links to an NYC.gov PDF which is either broken or expired.
The Post also writes that “[Party] was also identified in records as Martin Lydon,” though I can’t say if the record they’re referring to is the forum above or something more credible.
If there were a cover up in this story, I believe it would be the fact that the incident is no longer being investigated as a hate crime simply because ‘Party’ was intoxicated.