Swastikas sprayed on NYC synagogue’s Kristallnacht memorial, other Jewish sites

Swastikas are sprayed on multiple synagogues and Jewish sites in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York City, home to a large population of Jews.

The Shmira neighborhood watch group says “multiple swastikas” were sprayed on Jewish targets overnight, including on a home garage and on the Congregation Machane Chodosh synagogue.

The swastika was sprayed on a cornerstone of the congregation’s building that is dedicated to survivors of Kristallnacht, the 1938 Nazi pogrom against German Jews that is regarded by some as the beginning of the Holocaust.

Other images circulating online show graffiti saying “Heil Hitler” sprayed on the nearby Rego Park Jewish Center, another synagogue.

Tagging a Jewish Center with a PreK with a swastika & “Hitler” is not normal vandalism — it’s a targeted “mark” against NYC Jews & their kids. Unfortunately, this is the reality under @NYCMayor Mamdani who refuses to take the spiking rate of antisemitism seriously. We need more… pic.twitter.com/4VBovAAVHj

— Jean (@queens_parents) May 4, 2026

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin visits the area, saying that multiple homes and synagogues were vandalized.

Multiple synagogues and private homes in Queens were vandalized overnight with swastikas and other antisemitic graffiti. @Lynn4NYC, @PhilWongNYC and I are at one of the sites, Congregation Machane Chodosh, in Forest Hills now.

When rabbis and congregants arrived to pray this… pic.twitter.com/s38TXvFHQt

— Speaker Julie Menin (@SpeakerMenin) May 4, 2026

“When rabbis and congregants arrived to pray this morning, they expected to be met with their usual loving community. When a family woke up, they were prepared to begin an otherwise normal week. Instead, they were met with terrifying signals of hatred and threats of violence,” Menin says in a statement.