Cops are looking for the vile vandal who on Tuesday night scrawled several swastikas on the exterior of four Brooklyn Heights buildings, and wrote a racist slur on the steps of separate residence nearby.
The creep used chalk to sketch several of the symbols adopted by Nazis as an icon of hate on the Garden Place buildings between Joralemon and State streets, and to spell out n—– on the front stoop of a fifth house down the block, Police Department spokeswoman Det. Sophia Mason told the Brooklyn Paper.
Someone called 911 to report sightings of the symbols and slurs around 9:30 pm, according to Mason, who said the department’s Hate Crime Task Force is now investigating the incident, but has yet to identify a suspect.
The chilling displays, photos of which were shared on social media, appeared days after a gunman opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday, killing 11 and injuring six in a bloodbath that federal prosecutors charged as a hate crime, according to a CNN report.
A Heights resident who lives on nearby Pineapple Street called the act a “sign of the times,” and noted the block is typically closed off on Halloween for youngsters to collect candy.
“It’s a super-party site for trick-or-treating kids,” said Andrew Porter.
And leaders of neighborhood civic group the Brooklyn Heights Association denounced the foul graffiti in a statement released Wednesday afternoon that praised authorities’ quick response, and urged people in Brooklyn and beyond to rise above such nefarious behavior.
“The BHA condemns in the strongest possible terms the desecration of buildings in our neighborhood,” the statement read. “We are grateful to the NYPD for its immediate response and ongoing investigation. We call upon all our leaders, and people everywhere of good faith, to resist the forces promoting messages and acts of hate in our city and nation.”
