A Queens man discovered a swastika keyed into his car Wednesday stemming from what authorities believe was a road-rage incident that occurred in Forest Hills earlier in the day.
The victim allegedly got into a dispute with a fellow motorist prior to parking his vehicle at 96-01 Metropolitan Ave., police said. When he returned to his car sometime later the vehicle had been vandalized with the hate-filled symbol etched into the front hood.
While details of the incident are still unclear, elected officials condemned the incident, noting that it comes at a time when there has been a surge in antisemitism.
“Let us be clear: we will not stand for antisemitism or hatred in any forms in our communities,” said U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, State Sens. Joseph Addabbo Jr. and Leroy Comrie, Assembly Members Andrew Hevesi and Sam Berger, and Council Member Lynn Schulman in a joint statement.
“Law enforcement will use every resource at its disposal to investigate this reprehensible and cowardly act, and we are confident that the perpetrator will be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law — as has happened time and time again,” the electeds said.
The incident is being investigated by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.
“We stand strong behind our neighbors and will not tolerate for anyone to be targeted or made afraid in our communities,” the officials added.
The NYPD reported earlier this month that there were 96 hate crimes across the city in November, with 62 targeting Jews. In November 2022, there were 72 hate crimes, with anti-Jewish incidents accounting for 47 of them.
