An antisemitic vandal this week struck at a New York City subway station, spray-painting a swastika on the wall at the Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall stop.
?WANTED for CRIMINAL MISCHIEF PATTERN: Have you seen this person? On four separate occasions, between 12/3 and 12/14, the suspect drew swastikas in the Lower Manhattan area. Have any info? DM or anonymously call them at 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/EAcq7iEEP3
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews)
Footage from a surveillance video showed the man scrawling a swastika Monday night on a pillar at the City Hall subway station. The next night he was seen painting a swastika on Wall Street’s iconic Charging Bull statue.
The suspect, also accused of drawing three swastikas on the wall of a construction site in the city earlier in the month, is described as having a light complexion and was last seen wearing a black and gray poncho, black backpack, black jeans and multi-colored sports shoes.
The New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of New York and New Jersey expressed “extreme concern” that multiple swastikas and racist graffiti were found throughout Lower Manhattan, as well as at the subway station.
“We must all speak out against this antisemitism and racism to ensure that New York is #NoPlaceForHate,” the ADL said in a statement posted to Twitter.
The national ADL reported earlier a rise in antisemitism earlier this year throughout the United States.
A similar rise in hate crimes was reported by the NYPD.
Last month, a swastika was seen on a sign at an anti-vaccine mandate protest in New York.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul slammed the subway incident, saying in a tweet that she is “appalled and disgusted” by the vandalism.
“An attack on a Jewish New Yorker is an attack on all of us,” she wrote. “If you commit a hate crime, you are picking a fight with 20 million New Yorkers.”
The governor has instructed state police to assist in the investigation.