Southern BK pols condemn ‘vile’ act
Pols denounce anti-Semitism following vandalism at Gravesend cafe
BY JESSICA PARKS
A cadre of southern Brooklyn
pols on Oct. 28 gathered
outside a Gravesend cafe that
had been vandalized with anti-
Semitism graffi ti to denounce
the “vile” act of hate.
“We are here collectively as
a community to condemn this
vile, hateful act and to condemn
the vile, hateful rhetoric
that we have tragically seen
on the rise,” said state Sen.
Andrew Gounardes, who represents
a large swath of southern
Brooklyn from Gerritsen
Beach to Bay Ridge.
The owner of Very Juice
on Avenue P found the anti-
Jewish message reading “Syrian
Jew Wh—- F—- You” emblazoned
on the front window
of her shop while opening on
Tuesday morning — the same
day as mourners commemorated
the second anniversary
of the Tree of Life synagogue
attack in Pittsburgh.
“Yesterday morning as we
opened up Very Juice, it was
very sad and unpleasant to see
the hateful words that somebody
COURIER L 18 IFE, NOV. 6-12, 2020
left in our window,” said
Sharon Elkin.
The politicians at Wednesday’s
gathering laid blame for
a rise in anti-Semitism on city
and state offi cials who, they
claim, have unfairly singled
out Jewish communities as
spreaders of COVID-19.
“I can’t help but think this
incident would not have happened
were it not for the increase
in very concerning
rhetoric we’ve seen from those
in government who have singled
out and targeted people
in the Jewish community,”
Gounardes said. “This is not a
Jewish virus, this is not a Chinese
virus, this is not a Black
virus, this is not a Greek virus.”
The Gravesend neighborhood
where the attack occurred
hosts large numbers
of Syrian Jewish residents
and business owners, who the
elected offi cials commended
for building up the area into
the strong commercial district
it is today.
State Sen. Simcha Felder
further blamed the perceived
increase in hate crimes
against the city’s Jewish community
on the city government
allegedly blocking the
NYPD from performing their
duties.
“The issue is not allowing
the police department to do
what they have to do,” he said.
“This is a culmination of the
policy in the city of curtailing
the ability of our cops to do
what they have to do.”
Jewish community members
used the occasion to plead
with politicians to ramp up police
presence and surveillance
in the area in response to anti-
Semitic acts.
“We need increased police
presence… we need cameras
on all the commercial strips
whether it be Avenue V, Avenue
U, Kings Highways, this
must happen now,” said Ronald
Tawil, co-chair of the Sephardic
Community Federation.
Congressman Max Rose,
who represents Bay Ridge,
Dyker Heights and parts of
Gravesend, said he will advocate
for more federal money to
fi ght anti-Semitism — specifi -
cally calling for an increase
in spending on the president’s
anti-Semitism czar and more
funding for Jewish places of
worship.
“This is a local problem,
this is a domestic problem and
this is a global problem,” Rose
said. “We have to increase
funds for Donald Trump’s anti
Semitism czar… we have
to increase — triple — funding
for our synagogues and
our shuls so they can protect
themselves.”
The NYPD is investigating
the incident, pols said Wednesday.
Very Juice owner Sharon Elkin was joined by southern Brooklyn politicians
to denounce anti-Semitism. Photo by Jessica Parks
Bill de Blasio
Mayor
Dave A. Chokshi, MD, MSc
Commissioner