A man was caught on video drawing dozens of swastikas into freshly poured cement in front of a Brooklyn building owned by Jewish people, police say.
The vandalism happened Saturday morning at the apartment building on Newkirk Avenue off Ocean Parkway in Kensington, according to police. The man carved nearly 30 swastikas into the still-wet cement in 35 minutes and now it’s being investigated as a hate crime.
Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind said it’s the ultimate sign of disrespect.
“For anyone in the Jewish community, in particular Holocaust survivors, when you see that Nazi emblem the pain that it causes is beyond description,” Hikind said.
The apartment building is under construction and the owners, who are Jewish, had just poured the cement for a new sidewalk before they left Friday evening. They said they came back Monday morning and saw all the damage.
“I was shocked. That’s disgusting,” Anat Bajtel of Midwood, Brooklyn said. “My mother-in-law is a Holocaust survivor and seeing something like that is unbelievable.”
Bajtel has lived in the neighborhood for 28 years and was one of many who stood by shaking their heads in disgust.
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Police and neighbors believe the suspect is a teenager, and they all agree he went too far with the swastikas.
If the suspect gets caught, police said he will likely face tougher penalties because it is being investigated as a hate crime.
Police are hoping somebody will recognize the suspect seen in the surveillance video and gives them a call with tips.
“We’re living in a society where there’s so much hate in people’s hearts,” Hikind said. “Some people just hold it in their hearts, some people say it at the dining room table and some people actually come out and draw swastikas.”
