Jewish woman plans to leave swastika vandalism on her garage
Debra Calabrese of Staten Island says she wants people to see anti-Semitic messages painted on her home
A New York Jewish woman says she won’t be painting over the large swastika and anti-Semitic slur spray-painted on her garage.
“I just want people to see it,” Debra Calabrese of Staten Island told the Staten Island Advance. “The people driving by can’t believe it. Nobody can.”
The vandalism, which was discovered early Tuesday morning on Staten Island, also includes the misspelled slur “Kyke.”
“We don’t want this to be pushed aside,” she told the New York Post. “We’re not going to just take this down and pretend like nothing happened.”
Calabrese, who has lived in the house for 14 years, told the Advance that she was “devastated” by the attack.
“It’s disturbing. It’s a horrible thing,” she said.
She said police detectives collected evidence on Tuesday and then told her she could paint over the anti-Semitic messages.
Earlier this week, anti-Semitic graffiti was spray-painted on a Jewish nursery school in Mount Kisco, a New York City suburb in Westchester County. Two swastikas were discovered Sunday on the wall of the Bet Torah synagogue preschool.
The incident, which remains under investigation, is being treated as a hate crime by the Westchester County Police.
