New York city hall, Charging Bull statue vandalized with swastikas

Antisemitic hate crimes in New York have risen by nearly 50% this year.

By World Israel News staff

A suspect has vandalized multiple sites with swastikas in New York City, including city hall and the infamous Charging Bull statue, NYPD’s official Hate Crime Taskforce has stated.

In the most recent of three incidents, the suspect tagged the infamous Charging Bull statue on front of 25 Broadway before fleeing. A surveillance photo was obtained by police, FOX News reported.

A day prior, the suspect spray painted a swastika on a pillar of city hall on Monday, while two weeks prior he tagged a construction site in the lower Manhattan area before fleeing the area.

NYPD Hate Crimes said that the police department is looking for the man, who was caught on camera in multiple instances, and described him as last being seen wearing a black/gray poncho, black backpack, black jeans and multi-colored sneakers.

Last week, the state’s police department said that antisemitic hate crimes had increased by almost 50% in the last year. In 2020 New York had a reported 121 hate crimes, while this year has seen 179.

Earlier this month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul instructed the hate crime taskforce to investigate a large public menorah being knocked down in Queens.

The incident took place shortly after three Jewish youth, including two young children and a teenager were assaulted in the streets of Brooklyn. Meanwhile last month, a customer threatened to burn down a bagel store if the store didn’t remove Israeli flags.