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"Sickening Hate": Swastikas Spray-Painted on Boro Park Playground Slide
NYPD investigates after large swastikas were spray-painted on a slide in a popular Boro Park playground. ADL and community leaders condemn the "vile hate" as residents express alarm.
Residents of the heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Boro Park were greeted by a disturbing sight on Wednesday, as large red swastikas were discovered spray-painted across a slide in a popular children's playground.
The hate symbols were daubed in bright red paint on the playground equipment and the surrounding pavement at Gravesend Park. It appears the vandals took advantage of the recent snowfall and the emptiness of the park during the cold weather to carry out the antisemitic act undetected.
The Boro Park Shomrim patrol organization arrived at the scene alongside NYPD officers, who have launched a hate crime investigation.
Brooklyn Community Board 12 issued a sharp condemnation following the discovery: "These sick individuals need to discover that actions have consequences. We hope justice will be served quickly."
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) also weighed in, expressing horror that a space designed for children was targeted. "Parents should never have to fear that their children will encounter vile hate at a playground," the ADL stated. "We are revolted to see this display of antisemitism in Boro Park, home to tens of thousands of Jewish New Yorkers and thousands of Holocaust survivors."
Yakov Berman, a prominent Chabad community activist, took to X (formerly Twitter) to draw a chilling parallel between the vandalism and the current climate of antisemitism.
Berman noted that he had just attended a Jewish cultural event in New York that was kept secret until the last minute due to security risks. The event featured a play about Ze'ev Jabotinsky and his warnings to pre-WWII European Jewry that they were ignoring the gathering storm.
"When I returned home tonight, I saw these photos taken today... in the heart of Boro Park," Berman wrote. "I found myself asking: Are we really living in a time where Jewish cultural events need to be kept secret to protect attendees? Swastikas in parks? Are we ignoring the signs?"