The NYPD is investigating a possible hate crime at the Parks Department's Bronx headquarters, where a black baby doll was found hanging by a metal chain noose yesterday morning. Geoffrey Croft at NYC Park Advocates reports that the 15 inch doll was discovered by a sixty-year-old black male Parks Department employee who had just returned to work from being out sick. One Parks employee tells Croft the man was traumatized and "looked like he was going to have a stroke." Three KKKs were also found scratched in a unisex bathroom on the first floor, sources tell Croft.
(Courtesy: NYC Park Advocates)
The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force confirmed it was investigating the incident, and NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe issued a statement saying, "The Parks Department does not tolerate hateful acts such as this or any form of discrimination. We are committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for all staff. We immediately reported this incident to the NYPD and are fully cooperating in their investigation."
But police sources tell Croft the incident was not reported to police until after noon, three hours after the doll was first discovered. And one Parks worker concurs that the incident was not "immediately" reported: "That's BS, they waited for hours. They probably would have tried to sweep it under the rug if they could have."
The sickening incident is just one of many in a long line of nooses found in NYC. In 2007, Parks Dept. employees were appalled to find 10" nooses wrapped around the necks of their clothes when they opened their work lockers in Queens. And in this year alone, a black FDNY electrician found a noose in his locker, a black ASPCA worker in Queens found a noose hanging from a company garage, a noose was found hanging from a tree near a Queens school, and on Halloween the NYPD was called to cut down a black mannequin that was hanging from a tree in Brooklyn.
