Swastikas Scrawled On Sign Highlighting Wildlife Of E River Park

LOWER EAST SIDE — Swastika symbols and "KKK" lettering was scratched all over a sign highlighting the wildlife that can be found in the East River Park, police confirmed.

The markings were first spotted around 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 15 north of the park's amphitheater, according to the Friends of Corlears Hook Park founder, Michael Marino.

The Lower East Side Ecology Center sign was covered in swastika symbols, "KKK" lettering, and other lewd drawings.

"I couldn't really believe that something like that would occur in our neighborhood," said Lee Berman, a Downtown district leader. He suspected the vandalism could've been done by kids but believed the sign still needed to be removed immediately.

"These signs of hatred don't belong down here," he said. "We have no tolerance for bigotry or anti-semitism or any kind of bigotry or hatred in our community."

The racists symbols were printed on a wildlife sign which points out the types of birds, butterflies and insects that can be seen in the area.

The founder and executive director of the Lower East Side Ecology Center, Christine Datz-Romero, said hate speech shouldn't be tolerated in public space.

"It's just really unfortunate," Datz-Romero said. "It's something that clearly [should] not be tolerated in any public space. I'm hoping that it won't happen again. I'm also hoping that we'll find the person that has done this."

Just in the past few months, swastikas have been found in Greenpoint, on an elderly woman's door in Midwood, a Queens schoolyard, among others.

Hate crimes so far in 2019 have seen an 81 percent jump compared to the first several weeks of 2018, NYPD Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison said earlier this month.

In 2017, hate speech was scrawled onto a Lower East Side synagogue and an Upper West Side Methodist church.

Police confirmed the incident to Patch and said the Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident.

By that Friday afternoon on Feb. 15, the sign had mostly been cleaned off by staff, according to Parks and the Ecology Center. But the despite those efforts, the hateful markings were still visible since they had been engraved into the sign, according to some in the neighborhood.

Berman was "incensed" the sign wasn't removed quicker, he said.

"If it had happened anywhere else, people would've been on top of it, whether Parks or [police] or someone else," argued Berman, saying he believes instances in Tribeca, Chinatown, the Upper East Side or Harlem would have received more serious attention.

He and Marino said they later removed the sign from its post in the ground. The Parks Department said they later removed the sign from the area.

"We take bias graffiti very seriously," said Parks spokesperson Crystal Howard. "This incident was addressed swiftly, as we do with all matters of this nature."

Datz-Romero, who's organization manages that area of the park by gardening native plants, also said the graffiti was handled quickly. She said the center is working with some in the community to determine how to replace the sign.