The New York Police Department is investigating a sukkah that was vandalized with “Free Gaza” graffiti as a possible hate crime, according to the New York Daily News.
The sukkah, which was erected at Carl Schurz Park in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, was vandalized on Sept. 30 with “Free Gaza” spray-painted in three places. The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) New York chapter condemned the graffiti in a tweet.
“Targeting a premises used for religious purposes during the #Jewish holiday of Sukkot is simply beyond the pale,” the ADL New York chapter tweeted. “Thankful to @NYPDnews for swiftly being on the scene & investigating.”
Appalled by images of a vandalized Sukkah in Carl Schurz Park in #NYC this morning. Targeting a premises used for religious purposes during the #Jewish holiday of Sukkot is simply beyond the pale. Thankful to @NYPDnews for swiftly being on the scene & investigating. pic.twitter.com/w9V3ROF9vB
— ADL New York / New Jersey (@ADL_NYNJ) September 30, 2018
Rabbi Ben Tzion Krasnianski, who heads the local Chabad chapter, told the New York Post, “To come this morning and see this vicious act, insult, there is just no room for this hatred in New York City. Especially on the Upper East Side, which is a beautiful community, especially at the door steps of Gracie Mansion.”
The “Free Gaza” graffiti was eventually overwritten by messages of “Shalom” and “Sukkah of Unity” on the sukkah.
In October 2017, a sukkah on the Upper East Side was damaged by with what appeared to be a knife.
