Anti-Semitic Graffiti Scrawled On Home For Sale Appears To Be Aimed At Jewish Buyers
HAVERSTRAW, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An investigation is underway in Rockland County after anti-Semitic graffiti was apparently aimed at would-be home buyers.
The vandalized house on Woodbridge Road in Haverstraw is vacant and for sale. As CBS2's Lou Young reported, someone seems to be concerned about who might move in.
"On the wall was spray painted in large lettering, 'No Jews,'" home inspector Baruch Weiner said.
The vandal, or vandals, came from the wooded area in the backyard, marked up the back of the house with spray paint and entered through the basement, where you can see a broken window. The message they left was meant for a serious buyer, Young reported.
"It's despicable. I don't want that, especially next door," neighbor Jim Randt said.
Randt lives next door and is appalled at the apparent hate crime, but is mindful of the fear that might have motivated it.
"In all of North Rockland, they're worried about what's going on with the culture group coming in," he said.
Ulta-Orthodox Jewish communities to the south have had issues with underfunded public education and building and fire inspections. Weiner was inspecting the home Tuesday for an Orthodox Jewish buyer when he discovered the graffiti.
"It was probably done by a young kind that didn't think what he's doing," he said.
The town supervisor and head of Rockland's United Jewish Federation are far less charitable.
"Hate speech is hate speech. And if it's aimed at one population today, it'll be aimed at another population tomorrow," Haverstraw Town Supervisor Howard Phillips said. "Here we are on Memorial Day weekend and we're talking about somebody who really discriminating against a race, when we had a whole generation of men that went out and fought a war against this type of fascist attitude."
The Anti-Defamation League released a statement, which read, "We condemn this brazen anti-Semitic crime in Rockland County which was designed to send a message of fear and intimidation not just to the victim, but also to the broader community."