NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – The NYPD released images Thursday of a group of suspects wanted in Wednesday's antisemitic vandalism at the home of the Brooklyn Museum's director.
The Brooklyn Heights apartment building where museum director Anne Pasternak lives was targeted around 2:25 a.m. Wednesday. Surveillance video from police shows five masked suspects walking down a sidewalk near the building around the time of the hate-fueled attack.
Photos posted by Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday show the entrance to the building splattered with red paint and marked with red inverted triangles, a symbol used by Hamas in Gaza as a way to identify Israeli military targets, according to the Anti-Defamation League. A banner was also strung up that included Pasternak's name and the message, "white supremacist Zionist." Her name was also stenciled onto the ground with messages like "blood on your hands."
Photos show the museum leader's home splattered with red paint and hateful messages.@NYCMayor/Twitter
The Brooklyn Museum confirmed several museum officials' homes were targeted, saying in a statement, "We are deeply troubled by these horrible acts. A police report was filed."
The alarming incident, which is being investigated by the NYPD as a case of "hate crime criminal mischief," received widespread condemnation from elected leaders like the mayor and Gov. Kathy Hochul.
"This is not peaceful protest or free speech. This is a crime, and it's overt, unacceptable antisemitism," Adams wrote in part on X, saying he had spoken with Pasternak.
"This is an abhorrent act of antisemitism and it has no place in New York or anywhere else," Hochul wrote on X. "We stand with the Jewish community in the face of hate and will continue to fight antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head."
Sen. Chuck Schumer, who has a home in Park Slope, said on the Senate floor Wednesday that he was "sick to my stomach," calling the vandalism "vile" and "nasty."
"It is un-American and, sadly, this kind of evil is something every Jew on Earth can recognize in an instant," the senator said.
The incident is part of a disturbing rise in antisemitic crimes in the city amid Israel's war with Hamas, sparked by the Oct. 7 terror attack. The latest NYPD data shows a 150% increase in anti-Jewish crimes in May compared to May 2023. More than 170 such incidents have been reported to police so far this year, with many likely going unreported.
