Residents of Ocean Parkway between Avenues I and J in Midwood woke up to an ugly scene this morning. Last night, sometime before 5:30 a.m. vandals torched three cars on the street, tried to burn a fourth and scrawled anti-semitic graffiti on a nearby van and benches. Making this particularly ugly is that today is the anniversary of the end of Kristallnacht. The 66th NYPD Police Precinct, along with with the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, are currently investigating the crimes, which Councilman Dov Hikind (who lives nearby) described to VIN News as "beyond anything of similar anti-semitic graffiti I have seen."
According to the NYPD, the graffiti written by the cars included swastikas and lines like "f the Jews." A van nearby had "KKK" written on it. A police inspector says that "every resource was being utilized to catch those responsible for this anti-Semitic attack," but no arrests have been made.
Councilman David Greenfield has already offered a $1000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. "We will not accept anti-Semitism in our community. There is zero tolerance for such acts of hatred and ignorance," he said in a statement. "I’m confident that these hateful people will be caught and punished to the full extent of the law."
Anyone with any information on the vandalism is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
