Man with ‘anarchy' button scrawls antisemitic graffiti on NYC Jewish art museum
A man sporting an 'anarchy' button is being sought for scrawling the word 'Gaza' on a Greenwich Village Jewish art museum, police said Friday.
The vandalism comes amid continued strife in the Middle East and a jump in antisemitic attacks throughout the country.
Workers at the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum on W. 4th St. near Broadway found the graffiti written on their door sometime after 10 p.m. on May 26.
The art museum explores Jewish history and culture, sharing space with the Hebrew Union College, officials said.
Building officials reviewed surveillance footage and found a disheveled man sporting a button with what appears to be the anarchy symbol — an 'A' within an 'O.'
No arrests have been made. Cops released an image of the graffiti vandal Friday in the hopes someone recognizes him.
Members of the NYPD Hate Crime Task Force are investigating.
If he's arrested, the vandal could be facing a charge of criminal mischief as a hate crime.
The vandalism comes as the NYPD ramps up patrols at Jewish sites throughout the city following violent antisemitic attacks at a Jewish museum in Washington D.C. that left two Jewish embassy workers dead and a flamethrower attack on Jewish marchers in Boulder, Colorado.
'We're witnessing a global campaign of intimidation and terror deliberately directed against the Jewish people,' Anti Defamation League CEO and National Director Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement following Sunday's flamethrower attack. 'Sadly, none of this is surprising. In fact, it's entirely predictable. This is precisely where anti-Jewish incitement leads. This is exactly what vicious anti-Zionism enables. Elected officials, community groups, media platforms, faith leaders — they all need to commit to taking action before this crisis escalates even further.'
The NYPD has seen an uptick in antisemitic crimes in the city since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War on Oct. 7, 2023.
Mayor Adams last month said that displays of antisemitism in New York City since the Hamas war have been 'constant.'
While the NYPD saw a 54% drop in anti-Jewish hate crimes in May compared to the same month last year, from 52 to 24, the number of antisemitic incidents amounted to nearly 60% of all hate crimes investigated that month, officials said.
Anyone with information regarding the vandalism at the Heller Museum is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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