The NYPD and State Police are investigating an anti-Semitic message referencing Hitler that was found on a billboard outside of the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn, officials said.
Police were alerted to the message, which is being investigated as a hate crime, around 8 p.m. Thursday, an NYPD spokesman said. It was left among dozens of sticky notes on an interactive billboard that encourages people to leave messages on how they would "Transform the World."
The NYPD released a video Saturday of a person wanted in regard to the hate crime, asking that the public call in with tips.
Hate of any kind goes against everything NYC stands for. Help us apprehend those responsible for 2 separate anti-Semitic incidents — a message left at @JCMBrooklyn & graffiti at Yeshiva Zichron Paltiel School on Staten Island (suspect seen in this video). ☎️#800577TIPS with info. pic.twitter.com/LBBVXaBP8y
— Chief Terence Monahan (@NYPDChiefofDept) June 1, 2019
A request for comment from the museum was not returned, but Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo released a statement expressing disgust with the message. The governor directed the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist the NYPD in its investigation.
"We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism, discrimination or hate of any kind in New York, and no person should ever feel threatened because of their religious beliefs," Cuomo said in the statement Friday.
The museum was built in honor of Ari Halberstam, who was killed in an anti-Semitic attack on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994. "It’s all more distressing for this institution, built to bring together children of all faiths and backgrounds to foster tolerance, to be targeted," Cuomo said.
On May 23, Yeshiva Neshivos Hatalmid and Yeshiva Zichron Paltiel on Harold Street on Staten Island were also found with anti-Semitic messages spray-painted on them, according to the NYPD.
And this is not the first time the Jewish Children’s Museum has been the target of a hate crime. The building was evacuated in March 2017 after someone emailed a bomb threat.
The NYPD has recorded a 67 percent jump in the number of reported hate crimes this year, compared with the same time period in 2018, police said in April. Of the 145 hate crimes reported, as of April 30, 82 were anti-Semitic in nature, according to police.
The governor said this latest incident shows how it is "more important than ever" to stand together in condemning violence and hatred.
"Now and always, there is no place for hate in our state," Cuomo added.
So far, there are no arrests in the case and the investigation is ongoing, police said.
