Parks and wrecked.
Vandals scrawled antisemitic graffiti on no less than 4 public memorial benches this week in Prospect Park.
The hate-filled messages appeared on Thursday and included “F– k Israel,” “Stop Bombing Babies,” and “Israel = Terrorist State.”
A bench memorializing Lenore Sternlight, a retired Wayne State College economics professor who died in 2021 on the age of 97, was defaced with the phrases “F–k You Zionists, Kill Yourselves.”
“Seeing it defaced, it felt like their memory was being disrespected,” stated a member of the family who purchased a bench plaque — which might price between $5,000 and $10,000.
The benches have been periodically focused with antisemitic messages during the last two years, the particular person added.
“Hate has no place in our parks,” stated a metropolis Parks Division spokesperson. “When offensive hate speech is discovered, we work to remove it immediately.”
The NYPD was alerted to the vandalism, to allow them to try and determine these accountable, the spokesperson defined.
Antisemitic hate crimes spiked throughout the Massive Apple throughout 2024, with 345 anti-Jewish incidents reported to cops.
