New York City and state political leaders condemned antisemitic graffiti found scrawled on a sidewalk in Brooklyn Friday night.
The words “F*ck Jews” appeared along Atlantic Avenue near Smith Street. The New York City Department of Sanitation removed the graffiti overnight.
New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani called the incident “another horrific act of antisemitism on our streets,” in an X post, sharing visual documentation by District 33 NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler before and after it was removed and thanking Restler and the Sanitation Department “for your quick response.”
Last night, a neighbor shared images of hateful, anti-Semitic graffiti on Atlantic Ave near Smith St.
— Lincoln Restler (@LincolnRestler) November 15, 2025
Terrific team at @NYCSanitation cleaned it up overnight.
Anti-Semitic incidents are a majority of the hate crimes in NYC. All NYers - including Jewish NYers - must feel safe. pic.twitter.com/vVq7c8T3ot
Restler also thanked the Sanitation Department for cleaning up the graffiti along with pictures he said were shared by a neighbor.
“Anti-Semitic incidents are a majority of the hate crimes in NYC. All NYers—including Jewish NYers—must feel safe,” Restler wrote. In another X post, he added: “There is no space or tolerance for hate in our community. I will continue to do whatever I can to condemn and combat anti-Semitism in every possible way.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called it “a disgusting, cowardly act of antisemitism that has no place in New York. We stand with our Jewish communities today and always.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) said that it was “another vile act of antisemitism in New York. The criminal cowards responsible must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The StopAntisemitism organization warned of an increase in these types once Mandami is sworn in to office as the city’s 111th mayor just after midnight on Jan. 1, 2026.
“Now imagine how much worse this is going to get once Mamdani takes office,” the non-profit advocacy group wrote on X.
November’s election of the Democratic Socialist Muslim who holds strongly critical and anti-Zionist views on Israel and supports the BDS movement against the Jewish state has sparked deep concern in the city’s Jewish population, which is the largest outside of Israel.
Nearly half of Israelis plan to avoid travel to New York in the wake of Mamdani‘s election, whom they overwhelmingly perceive as antisemitic, according to recent polling.
Stefanik filed to run for governor on Nov. 7 in next year’s elections, blasting Hochul for backing Mamdani.
“When New Yorkers were looking for leadership the most, Kathy Hochul bent the knee to the raging defund-the-police, tax-hiking, antisemite communist who will destroy New York,” she said.
