N.Y. JEWS FACE HATE

New York Post

N.Y. JEWS FACE HATE
By ANDY SOLTIS
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April 5, 2005 -- Anti-Semitic incidents in Manhattan nearly tripled last year, due to a jump in swastikas being painted and scrawled in apartments and public buildings, a new report has found.
There were 105 anti-Semitic incidents in Manhattan during 2004, compared with only 38 in 2003, the Anti-Defamation League said.

"It's due to a tremendous increase in the numbers of swastikas painted in apartment buildings, in lobbies and elevators, as well as on synagogues, on shops and other buildings," said Joel Levy, the ADL's New York regional director.

Anti-Semitic incidents declined in the four other boroughs, and were sharply down on Long Island, according to the audit, which is based on police information and reports to the ADL.

The jump in Manhattan includes a huge 100-square-foot swastika that was painted on the front of the Upper West Side's Temple Shaare Zedek last December.

But, unlike a wave of swastika scrawlings in Brooklyn and Queens in October — attributed to a woman involved in a domestic dispute — there is no explanation for the Manhattan increase.

"It appears to be random in terms of location and time of occurrence and location," Levy said.



"It's not clear if this is organized, if it's a group. My speculation is that it could be a group of teenagers. But we don't know."

The Manhattan incidents account for nearly half of the 227 reported throughout the city last year.

That's an increase from 192 incidents reported in 2003, the ADL said yesterday in its annual audit of anti-Semitic activity.

In all, there was a decline in the state, from 364 to 350, in all kinds of hateful incidents — and a sharp decline, from 246 to 179, in cases of vandalism, such as cemetery desecration, property damage or anti-Semitic graffiti.

"It's a step in the right direction that figures have dropped slightly, but disturbing that New York still has the greatest number of anti-Semitic acts in the nation," said Levy.