Suspect (NYPD)
Feb. 21, 2021 By Christina Santucci
The NYPD released a surveillance image Sunday of a man suspected of scrawling a swastika on a Rego Park synagogue last week.
Police said the man went up to the front of the Rego Park Jewish Center, located at 97-30 Queens Blvd. at about 10:50 a.m. Feb. 17 and drew the hateful symbol with a marker. He then fled, cops said.
Photos tweeted by the group Queens Schmira showed the swastika had been on a “public property” sign affixed to steps leading up to the synagogue, and volunteers from the group removed it.
The vandalism is being investigated as a bias incident, an NYPD spokesperson said Sunday.
Elected officials including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Governor Andrew Cuomo have denounced the anti-Semitic graffiti.
“None of us should ever be made to feel unsafe or unwelcome in our own communities,” Richards said in a statement.
Cuomo also directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist with the investigation into the swastika.
“There is no place for hate in New York State – not now, not ever – and we will continue to condemn these hateful acts whenever and wherever we see them,” the governor said in a statement.
The suspect was described as approximately 20 to 30 years old, and the NYPD asked anyone with information about the man’s identity to get in touch through the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or its website.
The swastika scrawled outside the Rego Park Jewish Center (Queens Shmira)
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