January 5, 2020 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
Month xx–xx, 2019
LOCAL
CLASSIFIEDS
PAG E 11
A vandal tagged the memorial at Grand Army Plaza on Dec. 29. Photo by Todd Maisel
ARCH VILLAIN
Vandal steals cherry picker to tag Grand Army Plaza arch
BY GABE HERMAN
Police cuffed an alleged vandal
for hijacking a construction
vehicle and spraying graffi ti on
the arch at Grand Army Plaza
on Dec. 29, according to authorities.
The 36-year-old suspect allegedly
procured an ill-gotten
cherry picker in order to hoist
himself up to just below the
iconic Soldiers and Sailors Memorial
Arch’s lower cornice,
where he spray painted the
phrase “Bird God” at around
noon, cops said.
The vandal’s fun came to an
end after he fi nished defacing
the memorial and found himself
stuck in the crane, unable
to lower himself from dozens of
feet above ground level in broad
daylight, police said.
Authorities do not know how
the suspect gained access to the
crane, and the meaning behind
the vandal’s cryptic phrase reContinued
String of anti-
Semitic attacks
plague Brooklyn
during Hanukkah
BY BEN VERDE, KEVIN DUGGAN, AND
MARK HALLUM
The city is in a state of high
alert following a rash of violent attacks
against Jews during Hanukkah
in Brooklyn and upstate.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
Sunday he will increase
the Police Department’s presence
in Orthodox Jewish enclaves
around the fi ve boroughs and create
local watch groups to monitor
areas and protect residents from
more hate-fueled attacks.
“Fearing the next act of terror
will not become the new normal
for our Jewish neighbors. In
New York City, diversity is our
strength and we respect the traditions
of all who call New York
City home. Intolerance will never
take hold here,” de Blasio said in a
statement.
The Department will divert
more resources and patrols to precincts
in Borough Park, Midwood,
Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant,
and Williamsburg, in addition
to positioning cops at houses
of worship during local events and
installing new light towers and security
cameras in these areas.
Hizzoner’s local watch groups
— dubbed Neighborhood Safety
Coalitions and overseen by his
Offi ce for the Prevention of Hate
Crimes — will monitor Williamsburg,
Crown Heights, and Borough
Park, and work with local
community leaders, schools, and
religious institutions to combat
hate.
These multi-ethnic coalitions
are modeled after the mayor’s efforts
to reduce gun violence in
East Flatbush, Williamsburg and
Bushwick.
De Blasio’s announcement follows
a string of anti-Semitic attacks
in Brooklyn in recent weeks,
on page 10 mains unkown, cops said.
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