New York man charged with hate crime for antisemitic graffiti on synagogue
Lenny De La Rosa allegedly vandalized Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan; mayor hails arrest as a ‘clear message’
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — New York police arrested a man on Wednesday for vandalizing a synagogue with antisemitic graffiti.
Lenny De La Rosa was charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime and making graffiti, court filings showed.
De La Rosa was arraigned on Thursday and pleaded not guilty, and is set to appear in court again on October 3.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams hailed the arrest, saying, “The message is clear: antisemitism has no place in New York City.”
“You attack our Jewish brothers and sisters? You will face consequences,” Adams said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Adams has strong ties to US Jewish communities and is set to visit Israel this week. The trip will include discussions on combating antisemitism.
De La Rosa is accused of using a marker to scrawl antisemitic graffiti on a display screen at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan’s Upper East Side last week.
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force investigated the case and released images of De La Rosa allegedly committing the crime. Police did not say what he had written on the sign.
WANTED for a Crimianl Mischief the Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun Synagogue #Manhattan @NYPD19pct on 8/12/23 @ 7:00PM . . The individual then wrote anti-Semitic graffiti with a marker on a display screen attached to the Synagogue Reward up to $3500 Call 1-800-577-TIPS pic.twitter.com/95c1Hgeyz3
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPDTips) August 13, 2023
The congregation said it was working closely with the police investigation and that a Jewish security group, the Community Security Initiative, was also involved.
Jews in New York are targeted in hate crimes more than any other group, by far, year after year. Hate crimes convictions are relatively rare.
There have been at least 130 reported antisemitic incidents in the five boroughs since the start of the year, according to police data. The attacks range from antisemitic graffiti to verbal abuse and physical assaults.
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