Halsey St. Station at Wyckoff Avenue and Norman Street (Photo: Google)
Aug. 15, 2019 By Shane O’Brien
Police are investigating an incident of anti-Semitism in Ridgewood after residents discovered hundreds of obscene flyers bearing anti-Semitic language near an entrance to the Halsey Street L station on Wednesday evening.
The flyers were littered across Norman Street, close to Wyckoff Avenue, and featured an aerial image of a Jewish man wearing a Kippah with a Star of David on top. The image was accompanied by the words “worthless f**king cancer filled Jew.”
The flyers were first discovered by a local Ridgewood resident named Drew, who asked that his full name be omitted out of fear of retaliation.
Drew found the flyers at approximately 6 p.m. on Wednesday Aug. 14 and said that he was so horrified by what he saw that he didn’t even think of calling the police.
“I didn’t even think of calling the police, I was just absolutely horrified. I’m a Jewish individual and I was just horrified to see a flyer with what was written on it in that area. I didn’t think there were people that would print that sort of stuff about somebody’s religion,” Drew said.
The Ridgewood resident said that he tried his best to pick up the flyers, but that rain earlier in the day had made that task more difficult. He said that it was troubling how much effort had gone into the design of the flyers.
“Based off the flyer, it was somebody with the sophistication and knowledge of editing software who made the flyer. It wasn’t amateur, it took effort and creativity to put that together. It was someone who spent an hour or two on a computer making it.”
Flyer Found in Ridgewood (edited)
When Drew returned to Norman Street at around 7:30 p.m., he said that members of the NYPD were investigating.
Police confirmed that a complaint had been filed regarding the incident and said that the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit had been notified. Many residents learned of the hate-filled message when it was posted to a local Facebook group last night.
Council Member Robert Holden condemned the flyers, stating that it was sickening to see anti-Semitism of any kind.
“It was absolutely sickening to see such a display of hatred,” said Holden. “Anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination are not tolerated in this city, and I trust the NYPD to make that clear by finding the perpetrator.”
The incident occurred just two days after three Jewish men were attacked in nearby Williamsburg in the early hours of Monday morning, with NYPD Hate Crimes Unit also investigating that incident as a potential hate crime.
