A Brooklyn Heights playground named after late hip hop group Beastie Boys’ star Adam Yauch was vandalized with swastikas and the words “Go Trump!” on Friday. Yauch, who was Jewish, died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 47.
Tweeted photos show the swastika and slogan that were spray-painted on the playground equipment. Parents reported the vandalism to Democratic State Senator Daniel Squadron on Friday, and his staff notified the Parks Department and police, according to a Squadron spokesman, who said that Parks Dept. employees scrubbed the equipment on Friday night.
Two police officers were stationed in the park on the night between Thursday and Friday, but, apparently, were not aware of the vandalism.
Adam Nathaniel Yauch (1964 – 2012) was an American rapper, musician, film director, and human rights activist. He was best known as a founding member of the Beastie Boys. He was also known by his stage name, MCA, and the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér. His father had been raised a Catholic and his mother was Jewish. Yauch was a practicing Buddhist.
State Senator Squadron sent out an email inviting New Yorkers and the media to join him on Sunday at the Adam Yauch park on State Street (between Columbia & Willow Place), at 11:30 AM, “to stand against hate in our backyard, our city, and our country.”
Squadron will be joined by Beastie Boys member Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Public Advocate Letitia James, City Councilmembers Stephen Levin and Brad Lander, elected officials, community and faith leaders.
