Swastikas sprayed on Brooklyn playground used by Jewish children 2 days in a row
Dozens of hate symbols and ‘Adolf Hitler’ scrawled on slides, walls and pavement in park next to Orthodox community in Boro Park
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleLuke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.
NEW YORK — Swastikas were found on a children’s playground in a Jewish area of Brooklyn on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The local community board shared photos of blood-red swastikas on the playground’s slide and pavement on Tuesday, saying the area was “littered” with the hate symbols.
On Wednesday, the board shared more photos showing blue swastikas surrounding the name “Adolf Hitler” on a wall.
The Boro Park Shomrim, a Jewish neighborhood watch group, said 57 swastikas were found in the park on Wednesday.
The graffiti was in Gravesend Park, adjacent to the Boro Park neighborhood, which has a large Orthodox population.
The community board said the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force was investigating.
“Parents should never have to fear that their children will encounter vile hatred at the playground,” the Anti-Defamation League said. “We are disgusted to see this display of antisemitism in Boro Park, home to tens of thousands of Jewish New Yorkers and thousands of Holocaust survivors.”
Same park different day. A day later and this is what happened. We are requesting that @NYPDHateCrimes pull out all the stops to catch these vile Jew haters. https://t.co/Fpmad1Y0KJ pic.twitter.com/46EbLKu4hK
— Community Board 12 (@BrooklynCB12) January 21, 2026
“This horrific act of hatred in a park within a heavily Jewish community where many Orthodox children play is a vile attack on Jewish New Yorkers,” said Mark Treyger, the head of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also condemned the vandalism.
“I am sickened by this antisemitic vandalism in Borough Park. Antisemitism has no place in our city, and I stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jewish New Yorkers who were targeted,” Mamdani said in a statement. “My administration is working closely with the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force as well as our Parks Department, and those responsible will be investigated and held accountable.”
Mamdani, who has identified as an anti-Zionist, has consistently condemned classic anti-Jewish tropes as antisemitic, but has defended hardline anti-Zionist rhetoric, or refrained from calling anti-Zionism discriminatory toward Jews.
In November, a vandal scrawled swastikas on a Jewish school near Gravesend Park.
Jews are targeted in hate crimes more than all other groups combined in New York City.
The NYPD reported 330 suspected antisemitic incidents in the city in 2025, out of 576 total suspected hate crimes.
The antisemitic incidents amounted to 57 percent of the total hate crimes reported to police, and represented an anti-Jewish incident every 26 hours.
Jewish security officials have said many antisemitic incidents are likely not reported to police.
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