Queens religious leaders and locals are fuming Monday after four teenagers went on a rampage, spray-painting swastikas at five different locations earlier that morning.
According to police sources, the string of incidents that occurred in Forest Hills and Rego Park during the early hours of Monday is being investigated as a hate crime. The investigation remains ongoing, with the 112th Precinct and the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force involved.
Much of the extensive hate speech was scrawled outside of the Rego Park Jewish Center located at 97-30 Queens Blvd., at about 1:16 a.m. on May 4; the dastardly acts were caught on the building’s surveillance camera.
In the footage, the group of four teenagers wearing hoodies could be seen sidling up to the building before spraying the hateful Nazi symbol and the name “Hitler” beside it.
Rabbi Romiel Daniel explained that the center houses small children and seniors, leaving families extremely concerned.
“It’s going to leave the parents a little bit afraid. If something like this could happen at 1:15 in the morning, it could happen anytime, and we don’t want that happening,” Daniel said. “We are certainly concerned. Being, first of all, it’s a Jewish organization, and you know what’s happening country-wide, and especially in New York, we have to be a little more concerned. And we are more concerned because we are almost right on the main road.”
Daniel referred to the nationwide spike in antisemitism in recent years, to which New York has not been immune.
The vandals also struck at the Congregation Machane Chodosh, a synagogue located at 67-29 108th St. in Forest Hills, at some point overnight. A large black swastika could be seen covering the exterior of a building that also serves as a Holocaust Memorial.
The abhorrent symbol even covered a plaque on the front of the wall that honored those killed by the Nazis during Kristallnacht, the infamous November 1938 anti-Jewish pogrom in Germany.
Rabbi Yosef Mendelson spent the afternoon consoling the community, who were left distraught. Speaking with amNewYork, he stated he only wishes to put more positive energy into the world in response to the hate.
“It feels like history coming back, but at the same time, it’s a reminder that our actions matter and our words matter, and that’s for the negative and for the positive,” Rabbi Mendelson said. “We’ve seen it happening more and more, and I firmly believe that, just like we might point to negative rhetoric that’s leading to this, it also is a call to increase positive rhetoric, positive actions, and we have to believe and trust that’ll make a difference.”
Police believe the same group of vandals is responsible with leaving markers of hate at three other Forest Hills locations, including on the side of a car parked on 110th Street and 67th Drive; on the window of a house located at 67th Drive between 108th and 110th Streets; and on the garage door of a home on the 6700 block of 110th Street, which is owned by a Holocaust survivor. The senior could be seen standing outside his home on Monday afternoon, watching solemnly as it was washed away.
Local resident Tal Ronen told amNewYork that the vandalism is even more hurtful for him because his grandmother is a Holocaust survivor who made it out of the Auschwitz death camp.
“This is completely horrific. I mean, I live here. This is a Jewish neighborhood. Whoever came here and did this did so deliberately to antagonize and hurt the people. There is no two ways to look at it, it’s a hate crime,” Ronen said.
Tens of thousands of Jewish people live in Forest Hills and Rego Park, many of them Bukharian Jews who settled in the area from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the years following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ronen also laid blame at the feet of Mayor Zohran Mamdani for, in his opinion, not standing firm against antisemitism.
“He says he’s against antisemitism, but whenever something is put on his desk to actually combat it, he vetoes it,” Ronen said, referring to a bill that Mamdani said he would veto, Intro. 175-B, requiring the NYPD to establish protest buffer zones near schools. A similar bill, focused on setting up buffer zones near houses of worship became law last month, automatically more than 30 days after the City Council passed it; the mayor chose not to sign it.
Mayor Mamdani took to X on Monday afternoon to denounce the incident.
“I am horrified and angered by the swastikas painted on homes and a synagogue in Forest Hills, including on a plaque honoring survivors of Kristallnacht. This is not just vandalism – it is a deliberate act of antisemitic hatred meant to instill fear. There is no place for antisemitism in Queens or anywhere in our city. I stand in solidarity with our Jewish neighbors. Their safety, dignity, and belonging are non-negotiable,” part of his statement read.
In a joint statement, City Council Speaker Julie Menin and two of her colleagues from Queens, Council Members Lynn Schulman and Phil Wong, similarly condemned the rampage of hate.
“We are in contact with the NYPD, which is investigating and searching for at least four individuals responsible for the terrible incidents. The graffiti will be removed once the investigation is complete,” they wrote. “With antisemitism on the rise here and across the globe, we will always stand up for our Jewish community and fight back against hate.”
Police could be seen investigating at multiple locations throughout the day, dusting for prints and taking photographs.
Anyone with information about the hate crimes can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
