New York City politicians denounced a Nazi swastika that was carved into a parked car on the Upper East Side of Manhattan—reportedly a vehicle in which an Israeli flag was visible.
Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City who has been accused of Jew-hatred frequently and whose wife has apologized for past social media activity, including apparently lauding the Oct. 7 attacks, stated that the “swastika carved into a car on the Upper East Side is a despicable act of antisemitism.”
“It is a hateful attack of intimidation on our Jewish neighbors and on the values that make our city what it is. I have full confidence the NYPD, which is investigating this as a hate crime, will do everything to ensure those responsible are held accountable,” he said of the New York City Police Department. “To every Jewish New Yorker: your city stands with you. We will confront acts of antisemitism wherever they appear with urgency and without exception.”
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, thanked Mamdani for “being clear and strong when the hate is a swastika.”
“If it’s ‘without exception,’ why can’t you do the same when there are Hamas and Hezbollah flags in front of synagogues or chants to ‘Globalize the Intifada’?” the ADL head stated. “By the way, this also means you shouldn’t invoke antisemitic tropes in speeches.”
The NYPD told JNS that officers responded at about 9:10 a.m. on Friday to a 911 call about criminal mischief in front of 31 East 85th Street.
“Upon arrival, officers were informed that on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at approximately 10:30 a.m. a 56-year-old woman parked her vehicle, a 2020 Tesla, in front of 310 East 85 Street,” the department told JNS. “When she returned to her vehicle on Friday, June 26, 2026, at 9:01 a.m., she observed a swastika carved onto the hood of the vehicle by an unknown individual.”
The NYPD added that its Hate Crime Task Force “has been notified and the investigation remains ongoing.”
Julie Menin, the first Jewish speaker of the New York City Council, stated on Friday that “around 10:30 a.m. today, a swastika was found carved into the hood of a car on the Upper East Side.”
“This horrific, antisemitic symbol continues to appear across our city. Sadly, this isn’t the first time it’s been discovered in my district,” she said. “Those responsible intend to cause fear among Jewish New Yorkers and division among all of us, but we refuse to let antisemitism be normalized.”
“The City Council is committed to investments in Holocaust education, protections for houses of worship and schools and improvements to hate crime reporting systems,” she added.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James decried the incident, as did Rebecca Seawright, a member of the New York state Assembly, who called it “a vile act of antisemitic hate that has no place in our community or our city.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler stated that “we are facing an unprecedented rise in antisemitism that must be condemned and stopped at every level.”
“The swastika carved into a car in the Upper East Side is an abhorrent act of hatred targeted at Jews in my district. Thank you to the NYPD for investigating this despicable crime and working to bring the perpetrators to justice,” he stated. “To my Jewish neighbors, I stand with you and will continue fighting to combat antisemitism in all its forms.”
Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated that it was a “clown show.”
“The mayor whose rhetoric and policies are driving Jews out of New York City, and whose wife praised Oct. 7, is now condemning antisemitism,” he stated. “The Nazis on the right concern him. The Nazis on the left, with whom he makes common cause, apparently do not.”
