Vandals Scrawl Swastika On Ossining Playground

OSSINING, NY — Volunteers cleaning up Nelson Park discovered graffiti damage to the playground including a swastika on a slide, Ossining's mayor told residents Monday.

"This discovery was made when a group of community members were cleaning the area as part of Stash the Trash," Mayor Rika Levin wrote in an email to the community. "I contacted the Chief of Police, who immediately sent officers to investigate, and I personally went to look at the slide and the graffiti. After taking the appropriate evidence and pictures, the police removed the graffiti."

Levin reminded residents the vandalism was not insignificant.

"The equilateral cross was the official emblem of the Nazi Party. It is recognized worldwide as a symbol of oppression, hatred, and the sadistic death of millions of people. I myself am the child of two Holocaust survivors, and this symbol hits me deeply in the most personal way. Regardless of when it was drawn, it was discovered yesterday by a group of people in our village, only a few weeks ahead of the most sacred of Jewish holidays," Levin wrote. "This type of graffiti is an embarrassment to our Village and wounds people of all faiths, and the fact that it was drawn in a children's playground makes it even more despicable."

Ossining police encourage community members to contact them if they know of anyone who has posted graffiti at Nelson Park playground, she said. "I have chosen not to post a picture of the graffiti so as to not give publicity or platform to this vile act and its creator. There is no place for hate in Ossining."