Swastikas Defile Classic Locomotive in Riverside Park; Anti-Republican Slur in 72nd Street Subway Station
By Carol Tannenhauser
A mother and her 12-year-old son were walking home from a Bat Mitzvah party on Sunday afternoon through Riverside Park around 62nd Street, when they came upon an authentic 1946 locomotive placed there for children to climb on and explore.
“We were on the bike path along the Hudson across from the Trump building when we passed the train car,” the mother emailed WSR. “Mathieu loves trains and wanted to go and check it out. So he went up the ramp to access the train while I stayed outside — trying to take some photos. At some point, Mathieu suggested that I come check out the inside of the control booth. Because he was excited by the old control room, he warned me that I ‘need to ignore the Nazi symbols that are all over the place.’”
Swastikas were spray painted in black on the engineer’s seat and the walls, the latest symbols of hate to appear in the neighborhood.
Captain Timothy Malin of the 20th precinct reported:
The inside of the train in Riverside Park at 62nd St. has been graffitied twice in the last four days. This one is a little more difficult, because there is no camera coverage over there. An unknown perpetrator drew multiple swastikas and a racial slur. The NYPD is doing the following:
-The 20th Precinct will be doing additional directed patrols at this location.
-The Manhattan North Evidence Collection team responded to take evidence photos and try and get fingerprints.
-The case will be investigated by the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force.
We welcome the public’s assistance in this matter. If they see anything suspicious in the vicinity, we encourage people to call 911. Whoever did this belongs in handcuffs.
Another hateful message was found on Sunday at the north end of the 72nd Street subway station. A tipster shared the following photograph.
Police Commissioner James O’Neill blames the “current atmosphere” for the rise in hate crimes in the city, Gothamist reported. “The NYPD says there have been 309 hate crimes reported so far this year (up from 297 over the same period in 2017), and about half of those reported incidents have been anti-Semitic in nature.”
One more thing I should note… we have an excellent working relationship with our counterparts in NYC Parks Department Enforcement. We conferred with them today, and they are also stepping up directed patrols in the vicinity.
As of 5pm, Tuesday, a Transit Authority employee is out cleaning the graffiti on 73rd St side of subway station. Thank you.
Thanks to the Parks Dept for cleaning up the graffiti. We are going to show the bigots and haters that NYC will not stand for such terrible behavior.
More people should stand up for civility and kindness not HATE.