NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – A Queens man was arraigned on Thursday, the charges accusing him of vandalizing the walls of his Sunnyside condo building with a slew of slurs and hateful messages last month, the Queens District Attorney's Office said.
Neal Milano, 76, was arraigned on an indictment charging him with one count of third-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime; one count of third-degree criminal mischief; and eight counts of making graffiti.
In the late afternoon on Nov. 2, Milano used black permanent marker to write hateful messages on four-stories of walls at 39th Place in Sunnyside, the condo building where he resides, the charges and video surveillance allege.
Included in the messages were homophobic and anti-women slurs, and one message that read "Kill Hamas Condo Board."
"Hateful and bias-motivated attacks have no place in our communities and this shameful aggression will not be tolerated. The defendant will be held accountable for the serious charges against him," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
Milano made headlines in 2018 after he dodged charges claiming that, as the property manager of a condo building on 39th Place, he repeatedly harassed and on a few occasions grabbed a 43-year-old female tenant. He was reportedly removed as property manager that same year.
If convicted, Milano faces up to seven years of prison and he was ordered to return to court on Jan. 30, the district attorney's office said.
