Anti-Gay & Swastikas Messages Found In Queens Park

Park employees found biased graffiti in Forest Park on Tuesday including messages of violence towards gay people. (Click on images to enlarge)

Queens

By Geoffrey Croft

Police are investigating a possible bias crime after Parks Department employees discovered numerous anti-gay statements and swastikas spray painted on rocks and trees in a Queens park NYC Park Advocates learned.

The disturbing graffiti was found in Forrest Park of the orange trail between Lark Lane South and the closed road by 112 street, near the Montauk rail line.

Several violent messages towards gays were found including, “ I Kill GAY PPL,“ and “KILL GAY ppl.”

Numerious hate filled messages towards gay people were found scrawled on trees and rocks.

Swastikas were also found scrawled on several trees.

The disturbing images were scrawled in several colors and were reported on Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m. in the park which is within the confines of the 102nd Pct.

The vandalism is also being investigated by authorities as a case of criminal mischief.

The area is littered with used condom wrappers.

Earlier this month a man reported being assaulted by a man spewing hate filled anti-gay statements in a playground in upper Manhattan.

“I hope all faggots die” and “I don’t want faggots in this park,” the assailant allegedly said before punching the victim twice in the face and fleeing.

Numerous hate filled messages towards gay people were found scrawled on trees and rocks.

Swastikas were found scrawled on several trees.

Read More: 

Swastikas and Anti-Gay Graffiti Found in Forest Park, Officials Say

DNAinfo - July 27, 2017 -  By Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

Swastikas and anti-gay graffiti found on trees and rocks inside of Queens’ Forest Park: report

Queens Chronicle - July 27, 2017 -  By Robert Pozarycki

Police Investigating Hate Crime Assault In Manhattan Playground

A Walk In The Park - July 17, 2017 -  By Geoffrey Croft

Anti-Semitic & Anti-Police Graffiti Found In Queens Playground

Queens

Anti-Jewish and anti-police graffiti were found scrawled in a Maspeth playground, NYC Park Advocates has learned.

A swastika in black spray paint and the phrase "F**k the Jew," in gold spray paint  were found written on the ground. 

"F**k the Police" and "shomoney,"  along with a money and heart symbol were found written in gold spray paint on the handball courts.

The offending messages were found in Reiff Playground by a park goer on Wednesday just after midnight. 

Hate graffiti has recently sprung up in several parks across the city perhaps most noteworthy in Adam Yauch Park in Brooklyn Heights named after the former Beastie Boy.

Pro-Trump Swastikas Painted On Playground Replaced With Peace Symbols

The Pro-Trump Swastikas spray painted on playground equiptment in Adam Yauch Park in Brooklyn Heights were quickly replaced with symbols of peace, love and tolerance (below). Council member Brad Lander tweeted out the image of "hatred & anti-Semitism from Trump supporters," on Friday.   

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

Hundreds turned out and rallied on Sunday to denounce “hate and intimidation,” after Pro-Trump racist images were spray painted on playground equipment in a park named for the late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch.

Local officials held a rally at the Adam Yauch Park in Brooklyn Heights to protest the spray painting of Swastikas on Friday. 

Fellow Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz,  aka “Ad-Rock,” Yauch’s freind and band mate for more than 30 years spoke to the large crowd.

“Keep your eyes open, stand up for each other. This is homegrown terrorism for real,” Horovitz said. 

“I reject Donald Trump's vision for America. New York City, I'm asking you to do the same.”

Actor Ben Stiller also attended. 

Yauch died in 2012 after battling throat cancer. 

Holly Epstein OjalvoVerified account @heoj · Nov 19

Ugly message of hate at Brooklyn park dedicated to @beastieboys Adam Yauch already replaced with messages of love.

Paper cut-outs of hearts and real flowers where the play equipment was vandalized on Friday.  

Huge crowd gathered here at the @beastieboys anti-racism rally in Adam Yauch Park, Brooklyn. Hate speech graffiti was found here this week tweeted Luck Tran.

Read/View More:

Hundreds Rally Against Hate at Beastie Boys' Adam Yauch Playground Vandalized with Swastikas 

NY 1 - November 20, 2016 - By Lyndsay Christian

Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock calls pro-Donald Trump swastikas at Adam Yauch Park 

‘homegrown terrorism’ at Brooklyn rally

New York Daily News - November 20, 2016 - By Adam Schrader Stephen Rex Brown

Woman, 24, Choked & Robbed In Central Park By Two Assailants

Manhattan 

A man and a woman assaulted and robbed a park-goer inside Central Park Wednesday night, putting the victim in a chokehold as they took her purse and then ran away, police say. 

The 24-year-old victim, Lisa Karanz, told NBC 4 New York she was taking her normal route home along the northernmost path of the park after getting off the subway at 110th Street near Lenox Avenue just before midnight.  

"I was grabbed, put in a chokehold, brought to my knees, brought to the ground," she said.

The man and woman took off with Karanz's handbag.

Police released grainy surveillance video of the suspects Thursday. 

Karanz said police told her the man and the woman had been following her along the well-lit path before ambushing her.  The purse was found along a subway platform later in the night, with everything intact, but the traumatic event has left Karanz shaken, and she said it's difficult to feel safe.

 "It's nerve-wracking to be here," she said at the park Thursday night. "Today I was walking in broad daylight and constantly looking over my shoulder." 

Karanz said it was a difficult lesson for her. 

"Don't let your guard down for a second because when you do, you never know what can happen in a city like this," she said. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. 

Read/View More

Woman Put in Chokehold, Robbed in Central Park: NYPD

WNBC - November 20, 2014 - By Brynn Gingras

Ex-Marine Arrested In Hate Assault Of Pakistani Family In Marine Park

 

Pregnant Shabana Chaudhry was walking to a playground in Marine Park with her two-year-old son ina stroller on Sept. 6, when they were attacked by Andrew Laina, 28, in the park's parking lot court papers charge.  He tried to grab their son and punched her husband. Laina is facing up to four years in prison for assault as a hate crime. (Photo: Jesse Ward/For New York Daily News) 

Brooklyn

A Pakistani family was allegedly attacked by a violent former Marine during an afternoon stroll to the park — at least the second anti-Muslim hate crime in Brooklyn in as many weeks, the Daily News has learned. 

Shabana Chaudhry, 29, who’s nine months pregnant, was walking to a playground with her two-year-old son in a stroller, not far from her Marine Park home on Sept. 6, when they were allegedly accosted by Andrew Laina. 

“What are you doing in my neighborhood? Get out, Arab,” he yelled at the woman, who was wearing traditional garb, court papers charge. He then decked her husband Muhammad Rizwan, 29, who immigrated to the U.S. just a month ago, and tried to grab their son, Talha. 

“It was really scary,” Chaudhry said, adding the offender was persistent and clearly intoxicated. 

“He wasn’t fighting with anyone else, but he wouldn’t leave us alone,” she said.

 “I didn’t expect something like this,” said Rizwan, who was thrown to the ground but escaped without injuries.

Former Marine Andrew Laina (pictured) allegedly yelled at Shabana Chaudhry to get out of the neighborhood as she walked to a Marin Park playground with here family and punched her husband Muhammad Rizwan.

“It was not my intention to fight.” 

Cops responded and cuffed Laina, a known nuisance with a lengthy rap sheet.

 “I am not the enemy. They are terrorists,” the criminal complaint quoted him as telling police. 

“I am a Marine. I was in Iraq. I killed 14 people.”

Laina, 28 is facing up to four years in prison for assault as a hate crime. His Facebook page shows him dozing off while wearing fatigues and crawling in muck. The disgraceful defendant had pleaded guilty to petty crimes at least five times over the past two years, doing a few weeks in jail at most, records show.  

“He should definitely not be out on the streets until he’s safe for the kids in the neighborhood,” Chaudhry said. 

Her experience was reminiscent of what happened to Arab activist Linda Sarsour, who was also wearing a hijab when a neighborhood boozer in Bay Ridge last week spouted expletives and allegedly threatened to behead her and a colleague. The accused attacker in that incident has also been slapped with bias crime charges. 

Chaudhry said she sometimes overhears a hateful racial remark, but never experienced any violence.

 “We’ve never had a problem before. It’s safe,” she said of the neighborhood where she has lived for the past five years. 

“At least we thought it was safe.”  

Read More:

EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Marine busted in hate assault of Pakistani family

New York Daily News - September 14, 2014 - BY Oren Yaniv

Central Park: Woman Shot In Head With BB Gun - NYPD Hate Crime Unit Investigating Attack

The police released surveillance video and a sketch of one of the female suspects wanted in a August 18th attack in Central Park. A 36-year-old  jogger was shot in the back of the head with a BB gun in Central Park by five people who shouted anti-white epithets. The incident occurred near 60th Street and West Drive just after midnight.  The suspects - three men and two women - are believed to be between 15 and 20 years old.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).  The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

Manhattan

The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force is investigating an assault that happened in Central Park last Monday, according to WCBS News.

According to police, a 36-year-old woman was assaulted while exiting the park near 60th Street and West Drive around midnight.

CBS 2’s Don Champion spoke exclusively with the victim, who didn’t want to show her face.

Detectives say she was shot in the back of the head with a BB gun.

“I immediately put my hand to the back of my head and there was blood everywhere and I turned around and I said, ‘What are you doing? What are you doing? What did you do to me?” she said.

What they said to her next, she says, was a mix of expletives, and “white people should die.”

She said she is still struggling to make sense of what happened to her.

“I didn’t make extreme eye contact. There was nothing said,” she said. “I don’t understand, I don’t understand at all.” 

The victim spent the night in the hospital where doctors told her it’s too dangerous to remove the BB that’s now lodged in the soft tissue of her head, Champion reported.

“They physically have marked me, if you will. It’s possible, maybe in the future that they’ll remove it,” she said. 

The victim says she’s now afraid of people coming up behind her and loud noises.  “I also have to pray for those people because where did they learn that kind of hatred?” she said.

Police described the suspects as between 15 and 20 years old and all wearing dark-colored clothing.  The attack has shocked some joggers and put some on high alert.  “It brings concerns. There should be more park rangers protecting runners,” jogger Sujeiry Corniel told CBS 2’s Don Champion.

Anyone with information regarding the attack is urged to  call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

Read/View More:

NYPD Hate Crime Unit Investigating Central Park Attack
WCBS - August 23, 2014

‘Anti-white statements’ made after jogger shot with pellet 
New York Post - August 23, 2014 -  By Natasha Velez

Prospect Park Anti-Gay Attack - Five People Charged In Hate Crime

Police arrested five males -  ranging in age from 16 to 21 - who they say screamed anti-gay slurs as they beat Kevin Kiadii, 25, outside Prospect Park in Brooklyn Wednesday night.

Brooklyn 

A gay man was brutally attacked in Brooklyn this week in what police are calling yet another hate crime.

Kevin Kiadii, 25 was kicked and punched repeatedly Wednesday night in Prospect Park by five men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him and a pal, sources said yesterday, according to the NY Post.

“I’ll kill you, faggot,” one of the men said, according to Kiadii.

“I said, ‘You’re disrespecting me,’ ” said Kiaddi, a professional makeup artist.

“He stood up and punched me in the face — straight sucker punch. It hurt.”

Kiadii reached into his bag and grabbed a bottle of perfume and used it like pepper spray on the man who punched him.

“If it wasn’t for my Dior bottle, I’d be in so much damage,” he told The Post.”

The violent gang injured Kiadii’s finger, scratched his arm and face, and bruised his shoulders and ribs before cops arrived.

The five men — ranging in age from 16 to 21 — were charged with gang assault, court records show.

According to the Daily News, Kiadii told police that he was on Empire Blvd. near Flatbush Ave. at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday when he spotted four drunken men carrying another man out of the park. When he offered the wobbly stranger his pineapple soda, the suspects pounced.  

“I don’t know why they did this,” Kiadii said. “When I offered (my soda) one of them started yelling, ‘Get the f--- out of here you f---ing f----t! I’ll f--- you up.’

Kiadii said he sprayed his assailants with perfume. Kiadii ended up wrestling with his attackers as he tried to fight them off, receiving a bruised finger and some scratches. The alleged assailants, who range in age from 16 to 21, were charged with assault as a hate crime.
    

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'Elmo' vic the latest gay-assault target

New York Post -  June 1, 2013 - By Lia Eustachewich, Rebecca Harshbarger and Antonio ntenucci 

Plaintiff in Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash sex scandal beaten in Brooklyn bias attack  

New York Daily News - June 1, 2013 - By Thomas H. Tracy and Jennifer H. Cunningham

Parks Worker Arrested In Black Doll Noose Hate Crime Incident In Bronx

$ 15 Million Dollar Lawsuit Filed

UPDATED

On December 20, Sixty-year-old African American Parks employee Anthony Crum discovered this doll hanging from a metal chain noose at Ranaqua, the Parks Department's Bronx headquarters. (Photos: NYC Park Advocates)

Bronx

By Geoffrey Croft

The NYPD arrested City Parks Department worker Fariz Ahmemulic, 28, yesterday afternoon arround 2:30 in connection with the December 20, 2011 hate crime incident involving the hanging of a black bay doll from a metal chain noose in the Parks Department's headquarters in the Bronx.

Mr. Ahmemulic is being charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime. He was arraigned this evening in Bronx Criminal Court where he pleaded not guilty.

His next scheduled court appearence will be at pretrail hearing on February 14, according to the Bronx DA's office.

Three witnesses, including Anthony Crum who found the doll gave testimoney which said that Mr. Ahmemulic admitted to hanging the doll according to sources.

"My client is glad the District Attorney did the right thing because hate crimes against African American's are not a joke," said Mr. Crum's attorney Eric Sanders this afternoon.

The incident, first reported by A Walk In The Park, attracted wide-spread attention.

On December 20 at around 8:30am, Sixty-year-old African American Parks employee Anthony Crum discovered an approximately 15 inches high doll hanging from its neck inside the garage at Ranaqua, the Parks Department's Bronx headquarters.

The employee - a grandfather of two - had just returned to work from being out sick - was described as looking " traumatized," by a parks employee at the scene.

According to a city source three KKKs were also found scratched in a unisex bathroom on the first floor.

Investigators from the NYPD's Hate Crime investigated the incident.

According to parks sources in 2010 Fariz failed the civil service maintenance worker test. As a maintenance worker he made $ 51, 980 but a week before the incident he was demoted to a City Parks Worker where is making $ 33,662.

Ahmemulic has been suspended without pay and was released without bail.

Delay in reporting it.

At the time Parks Commissinor Adrain Benepe said they had, "immediately reported this incident to the NYPD."

However according to the police and several park emplyees the incident was not reported until 12:03 pm, more than three hours after the doll was first discovered by the Parks Department.

Several parks sources strongly refuted the Commissioner's claim that the incident was "immediately reported" to the police.

"That's BS, they waited for hours," said a parks source at the scene. "They probably would have tried to sweep it under the rug if they could have."

In 2008 the city paid out $ 20 million dollars to settle a 2001 federal discrimination lawsuit brought by 11 then current and former employes that charged the former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern and Adrian Benepe fostered a racially hostile work environment for black and Hispanic employees.

The lawsuit contended that Mr. Stern made racially derogatory remarks and tolerated offensive symbols, like three hangman's nooses that were displayed over the last seven years on parks property.

Lawsuit

Last week Mr. Crum's attornery filed a Notice Of Claim with the city seeking $ fifteen million dollars.

The claim alleges that Mr. Fariz Ahmemulic admitted to Crum and other employees that

he hung the doll as a "joke." In a blatant attempt to cover up Mr. Ahmemulic’s racially offensive conduct, park supervisors told him to remove the doll and the chain from the garage. The claims that several high level parks management knew about Mr. Ahmemulic’s racially offensive conduct.

"The management woefully failed to protect Mr. Crum's Civil Rights by failing to take appropriate action to discipline offending employees or stop further discriminatory behavior in the workplace" said Eric Sanders, Esq., of The Sanders Firm, P.C..

“There actions are particularly egregious because the Parks Department and its employees apparently have not learned anything from its past acts of Civil Rights violations, that is unfortunate,” Sanders says.

The Notice of Claim was filed with the New York City’s Comptroller’s Office on January 4, 2012 and a Charge of Discrimination with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on January 5, 2012.

Read More:

Hate Crime Charge

The Wall Street Journal - January 13, 2012 - By Sumathi Reddy

NYC parks worker faces hate crime charge

Associated Press - January 13, 2012

NYPD Daily Blotter

New York Post - January 13, 2012 - By Lorena Mongelli, Andy Cambell, Doug Auer and John Saul

Parks Department worker busted for hanging doll from noose at agency’s Bronx office

Fariz Ahmemulic charged with aggravated harassment as a hate crime

New York Daily News - January 12 2012 - By Rocco Parascandola and John Marzulli

Parks Dept. Employee Arrested For Hanging Black Doll By Noose (Arraignment)

WPIX - January 12, 2012 - By Mike Sheehan

Parks Dept. Employee Arrested For Hanging Black Doll By Noose

WPIX - January 12, 2012 - By Greg Mocker

City Worker Pleads Not Guilty To Hate Crime Charges In Connection With Parks HQ Noose

NY1 News - January 12, 2012

Parks Department Worker Arrested for Baby Doll Hate Crime

NY Magazine - Daily Intel - By Joe Coscarelli

Worker Arrested After Noose Found At Bronx Parks Department Garage

CBS - January 12, 2012

Parks Worker Arrested, Charged With Hate Crime For Black Doll Noose "Joke"

gothamist - January 12, 2012 - By John Del Signore

Parks Department employee charged with hate crime

Metro NY - January 12, 2012 - By Emily Anne Epstein

Park Noose Victim Speaks

WPIX - December 22, 2011 - By Mary Murphy

Baby Doll In Noose Found Hanging In Bronx Park Headquarters-Hate Crime Being Investigated

A Walk In The Park - December 20, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Parks Worker Who Found Black Doll Hanging From Noose Claims Supervisors Tried To Cover It Up

A black doll was found hanging from a chain noose at the Parks Department's Bronx headquarterson December 20, 2011. The parks worker who found the doll hanging is claiming his supervisors tried to cover up the alleged hate crime before cops took over the probe. (Photo: NYC Park Advocates)

"We immediately reported this incident to the NYPD, " Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said.

Delay in reporting it.

As A Walk In The Park first reported in December, the incident was not reported until 12:03 pm, more than three hours after the doll was first discovered by the Parks Department.

Several parks sources also strongly refuted the Commissioner's claim that the incident was "immediately reported" to the police.

"That's BS, they waited for hours," said a parks source at the scene. "They probably would have tried to sweep it under the rug if they could have."

Bronx

A CITY WORKER who found a black doll hanging from a noose at the Parks Department’s Bronx headquarters is claiming his supervisors tried to cover up the alleged hate crime before cops took over the probe, the Daily News has learned.

Anthony Crum leveled the allegations in a notice to sue the city for emotional distress filed this week with the city controller’s office.

Crum, who is part Shinnecock and Blackfoot American Indian, made the discovery on Dec. 20 — a baby doll hanging by the neck from a chain fashioned into a noose — and immediately reported it.

The notice states that Crum’s co-worker Fariz Ahmemulic “admitted to him and other employees that he hung the doll as a ‘joke.’ ” Crum, 50, contends two Parks Department supervisors allegedly told Ahmemulic to remove the doll, which he did, then put it back in the spot in the garage.

The NYPD was not notified for several hours while Parks enforcement officers took photos and conducted interviews of employees.

Crum said he became alarmed when supervisor Steve Saccomano claimed the doll had been hanging there for a week without complaint.

“That was an out-and-out lie,” Crum said, prompting his hiring of civil rights lawyer Eric Sanders. Ahmemulic and Saccomano could not be reached for comment.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe has apologized to Crum and offered him counseling. A spokeswoman for the Parks Department declined to comment on the notice of claim.

Sanders said Parks officials are aware of Ahmemulic’s alleged involvement and should have suspended him.

Crum still has not been interviewed by detectives from the NYPD hate crimes task force, either, Sanders said.

“This was not a joke,” Crum said. “It represents racism. It’s malicious.”

Read More:

Say Parks Dept. tried to hide noose incident

New York Daily News - January 6, 2012 - By John Marzulli

Parks Worker Arrested In Black Doll Noose Hate Crime Incident In Bronx

A Walk In The Park - January 12, 2012

Baby Doll In Noose Found Hanging In Bronx Park Headquarters-Hate Crime Being Investigated

A Walk In The Park - December 20, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Park Noose Victim Speaks

When 60-year-old city park worker Anthony Crum came to work on Tuesday morning he discovered this doll hanging from a chain inside his workplace at Ranaqua, the Parks Departement headquarters in the Bronx. The Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. The incident has attracted a considerable amount of media attention. (Images: NYC Park Advocates)

Parks Commissioner Adrain Benepe had a meeting at Ranaqua on Thursday to discuss the issue.

In 2008 the paid out $ 20 million dollars to settle a 2001 federal discrimination lawsuit brought by 11 then current and former employes that charged the former and current Parks Commissioner fostered a racially hostile work environment for black and Hispanic employees.

- Geoffrey Croft

Bronx

In a PIX 11 News TV exclusive, the Parks Department employee who said he found a black, baby doll hanging from a chain noose in his Bronx shop said the discovery left him "kind of shocked...and confused."

60 year old Anthony Crum, who hands out equipment to maintenance personnel who fix benches and swings, told PIX 11 he found the 15-inch doll hanging from a metal chain about 8:30 Tuesday morning. When PIX 11 turned up at the Bronx Parks headquarters Wednesday, we arrived as NYPD officers were interviewing Crum at the spot where he said he noticed the doll.

The NYPD is investigating the incident as a hate crime. KKK writing was found in a bathroom, not far from the place where the doll was discovered hanging.

Crum, a grandfather of two who was raised here in New York City, told PIX he didn't think he had a problem with any fellow employees. He was only recently assigned to this indoor job, after returning from August sick leave, on December 9th. Crum--who's worked in the Bronx Parks division for eight years--said he's had heart trouble and other medical issues. "I don't like to be taken out of my 'comfort zone'," Crum said. "And now I'm being taken out of my comfort zone."

Crum said he dealt with racism a few times in high school. He told us he didn't know anything about the KKK scrawling found in a bathroom not far from his shop. "It seems like it's blown up too fast," he told PIX. "I feel like there are good people in the world and there are bad people. I prefer to be with the good people, regardless of their race, age, religion. I'm really a peaceful person."

The New York City Parks Department issued a statement late Tuesday that said it "does not tolerate hateful acts such as this or any form of discrimination." Supervisors told employees not to speak with the media, during the police investigation. "It's very upsetting, mam," one African-American employee said to me, as he jogged away from our camera.

Geoffrey Croft, president of NYC Park Advocates, reported the Bronx Parks division had recent trouble with theft of tools and a surveillance camera blackened out.

In 2008, the city paid out $20 million dollars to settle a lawsuit brought by black and Latino employees, who claimed the former Parks Commissioner fostered a racially-hostile work environment. The employees we encountered briefly on Wednesday said personnel at the Bronx Parks division got along.

When we last saw Anthony Crum on Wednesday, he was heading to a doctor's appointment. "I don't like to churn things up," he said.

Read More:

Parks Employee Who Found Black Doll Hanging From Noose: "It Left Me Shocked and Confused"

WPIX 11- December 21, 2011 - By Mary Murphy

Baby Doll In Noose Found Hanging In Bronx Park Headquarters -

Hate Crime Being Investigated

A Walk In The Park - December 20, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft