NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani took to X to express his concern and anger towards the ongoing vandalism targeting multiple synagogues and private homes in Queens, New York.
“There is no place for antisemitism in Queens or anywhere in our city,” Mamdani wrote in the social post.
On May 4, various Jewish prayer houses and private homes, including Congregation Machane Chodosh in Forest Hills and the Rego Park Jewish Center, were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, spray-painted “Hitler” slogans, and “swastikas” or the Nazi symbol Hakenkreuz in black and red paint, causing widespread outrage and concern among the people of New York, leading to a hate crimes investigation.
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Considering the timing of the vandalism, which occurred overnight just before the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer, local residents as well as Jewish community leaders believe it is a direct attempt to intimidate residents. Mamdani also addressed the acts as “a deliberate act of antisemitic hatred meant to instil fear” in his recent social media post.
According to the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, surveillance footage shows multiple people going up to one of the residential locations and vandalizing it. As of May 5, no arrests have been made, but the police are in search of at least four individuals, possibly teenagers, throughout the 112th Precinct in Queens since Monday morning.
Yosef Mendelson, a Rabbi with the Congregation Machane Chodosh, expressed his sadness and said that “he wasn’t surprised” that the five locations in particular were vandalized. “Especially because our synagogue was built by refugees from Germany,” he explained.
A “swastika” or Hakenkreuz found painted over a plaque honoring Holocaust survivors at Congregation Machane Chodosh substantiated the vandalization as a hate crime. “The swastika actually lands right over a plaque dedicated to Jews murdered in Germany because they were Jewish,” noted Rabbi Yosef Mendelson.
Many Hindu advocacy groups based in the U.S. called out NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani following his social media post for using the word “swastika” instead of “Hakenkreuz” to describe the symbols. While Mamdani is appreciated for his quick response to the issue, showing his support to his people, the dearth of awareness in using the term “swastika” in this context, when in truth the symbol is sacred and means peace in the Hindu community, has angered the people.
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The Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) called out the mayor “to use the correct terminology and call these symbols of hate by the right name—the Hakenkreuz and not Swastika!” on X.
The NYPD investigation remains active as authorities review additional footage from different Precincts to identify the four individuals involved. Community leaders across various faiths have called for increased security and solidarity, emphasizing that the targeting of religious institutions undermines the safety of all New Yorkers.
While the mayor’s office has not yet issued a formal response to the terminology concerns raised by CoHNA, the incident has sparked a broader conversation regarding the importance of distinguishing between historical symbols of faith and modern emblems of extremism. Police urge anyone with information to contact the NYPD Crime Stoppers hotline as the search for the suspects continues.