The synagogue’s front window was vandalized early Saturday morning. (Chabad of Bushwick)
Feb. 18, 2019 By Laura Hanrahan
Police are still searching for the vandals responsible for smashing the front window of a Bushwick synagogue on Saturday.
Vandals threw an unidentified object through the front window of The Chabad of Bushwick, located at 1087 Flushing Ave., during the early hours of Feb. 16, police said.
The incident has sent shock waves throughout the Jewish community and Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for a greater NYPD presence in the area.
Rabbi Menachem Heller was in the synagogue with his family and fellow worshipers at around 2 a.m. when the building’s front window shattered.
Heller noted on Facebook yesterday that his children were playing just feet away from the window at the time of the incident.
“Thank G-d no one was injured but we easily could have been,” Heller wrote.
Mayor de Blasio responded to the incident in a tweet on Sunday, saying that the NYPD will be “adding security to this synagogue and others nearby.”
“New York City stands for tolerance and we will arrest anyone involved in anti-Semitic crimes,” the mayor wrote. “Attacks like this must stop.”
Heller said that the incident– and the many other bias crimes that have plaguing Brooklyn recently– will not discourage his members from openly practicing their faith and sharing their heritage.
“Despite the intentions of this attack to divide and intimidate, our doors will remain as open as ever, welcoming visitors to join our growing Bushwick family,” Heller wrote. “We are determined, G-d willing, to share many years of celebrations and achievements together with the wider Bushwick community.”
Dozens of community members responded to the post, offering their sympathy and support for the synagogue—one of the few Jewish places of worship in the Bushwick area.
An investigation of the attack is still underway by police, with the incident being classified as a possible bias crime.
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