A hateful vandal carved a swastika onto the hood of a parked car on the Upper East Side this week – a disturbing act being investigated as a hate crime, potentially linked to an Israeli flag displayed in the back seat.
The owner of the car, a 56-year-old woman, discovered the antisemitic vandalism on Friday morning – three days after parking on East 85th Street near First Avenue, cops said.
The driver had an Israeli flag inside the car, which may be connected to the vile attack, the Daily News reported.
Elected officials, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, condemned the vandalism.
“The swastika carved into a car on the Upper East Side is a despicable act of antisemitism,” Mamdani wrote on X. “It is a hateful attack of intimidation on our Jewish neighbors and on the values that make our city what it is.
“To every Jewish New Yorker: your city stands with you,” the mayor said. “We will confront acts of antisemitism wherever they appear with urgency and without exception.”
City Council Speaker Julie Menin also weighed in.
“This horrific, antisemitic symbol continues to appear across our city,” Menin wrote in her own X post.
“Sadly, this isn’t the first time it’s been discovered in my district.” Menin added that the council is in communication with the NYPD, which is currently investigating the incident, adding that Jewish New Yorkers “refuse to let antisemitism be normalized.”
The incident comes amid a troubling trend of rising hate crimes in the city.
In May alone, hate crimes skyrocketed by 74.4 % – from 39 to 68 – compared to the same month last year, according to the NYPD.
More than 60% of the attacks last month were classified as anti-Jewish.
Some community critics have expressed frustration with the current administration’s approach to these issues.
Moshe Spern, president of the United Jewish Teachers, told The Post, “There isn’t any shock in the Jewish community that antisemitic hate crimes have risen against our community by 70%.”
Spern further criticized the mayor’s rhetoric and administration’s policies as failing to adequately address rising intolerance.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Unit is investigating the incident.
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