A menorah erected in Travers Park was vandalized early Sunday morning in an apparent antisemitic attack one day before a scheduled public Hanukkah lighting ceremony in the park.
The menorah, erected by the Jackson Heights Chabad on 76th Street between Northern Boulevard and 34th Avenue, was spray painted with foam during the incident, with vandals targeting the menorah’s center support beam.
Local residents cleaned the menorah in time for the Dec. 14 public lighting ceremony on the first day of Hanukkah. However, Rabbi Meir Pape of the Jackson Heights Chabad told the New York Post that the act of vandalizing a menorah stands as a “statement.”
The NYPD said officers from the 115th Precinct responded to a report of post criminal mischief at the location shortly after midnight on Sunday.
“Upon arrival, officers were informed by a 33-year-old male victim that a menorah that was placed within the park was damaged after being sprayed with a foam spray by an unidentified individual.” a police spokesperson said, adding that there have been no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.
The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is currently investigating the incident as a hate crime.
The incident is the latest in a string of antisemitic incidents to take place in the area since the Oct. 7 attacks, with local Jewish residents pointing to several swastikas and other anti-Jewish graffiti that had been painted in Travers Park and the nearby Paseo Park.
Hiram Monserrate, a disgraced former elected official who now represents the area as a district leader, said the vandalizing of the menorah was “not a trivial matter.”
Monserrate, who attended Sunday’s lighting ceremony, has organized a rally in Travers Park for 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday to call on the Civil rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the recurring antisemitic incidents as a series of civil rights violations.
“Antisemitism must be denounced strongly at every turn,” Monserrate said in a statement. “Our clear and strong message must be sent to the culprits that their hate has no room in our community. We are united. We know who you are. You will be caught.”
