Adam Yauch Park Defaced With Hateful Graffitti – Electeds Organize “Stand Up Against Hate” For This Sunday

Hate is on our doorstep, where our children play. On Friday afternoon a resident alerted Senator Daniel Squadron’s office that Adam Yauch Park playground had been defaced with swastikas and the message, “Go Trump.”  The Daily News reports The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating the incident and the Parks Department is in the process of removing the offensive graffiti.

AdamYauch_Defaced

Image courtesy Office of Daniel Squadron

In response, elected officials and community leaders immediately organized an event for this Sunday to “Stand Up Against Hate.” 

State Senator Daniel Squadron, Congresswoman Velázquez, Councilmembers Brad Lander & Stephen Levin, elected officials, community and faith leaders invite the community to denounce hate in our neighborhood and across the country. 

The gathering  is scheduled for this Sunday at 11:30 am at Adam Yauch Park, located on State Street between Columbia and Willow Place.

UPDATE: Per a press release on Sunday morning, the blog can confirm the attendance of Beastie Boys’ Adam Horovitz (Ad Rock), the Anti-Defamation League, Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Tish James and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

Numerous music industry publications have reported the incident including Billboard and Pitchfork. Adam Yauch, a.k.a MCA was a founding member of the seminal hip-hop group, The Beastie Boys.  Like his two surviving band mates, Adam Horovitz (Ad-Rock) and Michael Diamond (Mike D), Yauch was Jewish.  The park was posthumously renamed in Yauch’s honor in 2013 after his death from cancer in May 2012. Horovitz is scheduled to attend.

Officials announced the event via social media.  In one of several tweets, Daniel Squadron invited the President-Elect.

DanielSquadronTweet

Councilmember Brad Lander released a statement via his Facebook page, “Yet more hatred and anti-Semitism from Trump supporters. Swastikas on the playground equipment in Adam Yauch Park in Brooklyn Heights.

Adam Yauch is weeping for our country. His mom was Jewish. He was a practicing Buddhist. He spoke out against Islamophobia. And though some of the Beastie Boys early lyrics were homophobic and misogynist, they later apologized, in an open-heared and earnest way. “I want to say a little something that’s long overdue/The disrespect to women has got to be through.”

#NeverIsNow #WeveSeenThisBefore

*Cover photo Flickr Creative Commons/Sam Beebe

 

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  • CHASESGILBERT

    This is horrifying.

  • Andrew Porter

    This was reported on WNBC-TV news at 11pm tonight. There’s been a sharp uptick since the election in hate crimes. The haters are coming out of the woodwork, think it’s open season on what this country stands for.

    They are very wrong!

  • Doug Biviano

    This is absolutely disgusting. But I also
    find Brad Lander recklessly blaming this on Trump supporters without a
    shred of evidence to make such an accusation, equally as hateful,
    divisive and dangerous. People are already being attacked for who they
    voted for so his remark has no place whatsoever in civil discourse.
    Lander should apologize to us all for jumping on the hate train instead
    of trying to heal these divides. He should explain in his apology why
    his tweet was dangerous, divisive, hateful and just plain stupid.

    Before
    I am attacked for calling out Lander know that I wrote to the Brooklyn
    Eagle in 2007 when this happened once before not to divide but to
    heal. I looked to Martin Luther King for guidance and evoked him when I
    subsequently submitted a Peace and Non-violence Commission proposal to
    Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn. It turned out
    that the 2007 hate crimes were not quite what they seemed on their
    face.

  • Doug Biviano

    This is absolutely disgusting. But I also find Brad Lander recklessly blaming this on Trump supporters without a shred of evidence to make such an accusation, equally as hateful, divisive and dangerous. People are already being attacked for who they voted for so his remark has no place whatsoever in civil discourse. Lander should apologize to us all for jumping on the hate train instead of trying to heal these divides. He should explain in his apology why his tweet was dangerous, divisive, hateful and just plain stupid.

    Before I am attacked for calling out Lander know that I wrote to the Brooklyn Eagle in 2007 when this happened once before, not to divide but to heal. I looked to Martin Luther King for guidance and evoked him when I subsequently submitted a Peace and Non-violence Commission proposal to Mayor Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn. It turned out that the 2007 hate crimes were not quite what they seemed on their face.

  • Michael

    Geez. You Trump-bot bozos can’t even draw a swastika. Burn in hell you racist, cowardly morons. So we will all be there on sunday at 1130 come by and lets chat.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Agreed.

    However, I have a suspicion that some of the things we’re seeing (this included? maybe?) are not direct messages sent by Trump-supporting white supremacists but rather just the form “kids being stupid/trolling through acts of vandalism” has taken. At one point kids of a certain age seeking mischief might have spray-painted a drawing of a penis, and at another point they might have written a more timely obscenity. Now it’s mid-November 2016 so they attempt to draw swastikas and write something about Trump. “People in Brooklyn get freaked out about that, right?”

    I am not saying we shouldn’t respond seriously to the meaning of the symbols this person(s) was [attempting to] draw in our culturally, intellectually, and ethnically diverse neighborhood. But I’m offering my suspicion because it actually seems more plausible to me than some kind of dormant Neo-Nazi Brooklynite sleeper cell having been activated by Trump winning the presidency–much less could I imagine Jeff Smith in a balaclava sneaking around at 4am with a paint can–to botch a couple of swastikas in a playground on a quiet street where they’re unlikely to get caught.

  • HicksOnHicks

    Don’t jump to conclusions about the perps being Trump supporters. Without further evidence we have no idea. Trumps political adversaries have a reason to paint him as a Nazi sympathizer. For example, In the run up to Hitler’s rise to power in Germany, the Nazis burned the Parliament building and blamed the Communists. Trump and Breitbart publisher Steve Bannon are Zionists. Ivanka Trump converted to judaism. Trump has a Jewish grandchild. Let’s see what the investigation turns up on this heinous act.

  • AnonyMom

    “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
    Because I was not a Socialist.

    Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
    Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
    Because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”-Pastor Martin Niemöller

    Me thinks you doth protest too much, Doug. What part of “Go Trump” spray painted under swastikas did you not understand? But more importantly, your candidate ran a campaign from a bully pulpit and spewed divisive xenophobia, misogyny, intolerance and worse for 18 months. Whether the “perps” are Trump supporters or not is irrelevant. Idiot kids and real racists alike have been emboldened by his hate speech.

    Your righteous indignation is a tacit endorsement and gaslighting of Trump’s disgusting behavior and the dangerous people he has already chosen for his administration.

    This is NOT a normal I or anyone else with a shred of human decency should be willing to accept.

  • BHMommy

    You so you think Hillary Clinton took MetroNorth back down to Brooklyn and put up this “artwork” to discredit Trump? Too bad there’s no emoji for a tin foil hat.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    It at least strikes me that an actual white supremacist would have drawn the swastikas properly on the first try.

  • redlola

    zionists? smh

  • EMC

    Hysterical! Nazis that can’t draw a swastika!! Looks like it’s just some more false, trumped up fear mongerers playing to the leftie media to get some face time and besmirch the right wing. Long live the scaredy cats!!

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Yeah that didn’t seem like the right term to me either (are there even true Zionists anymore?)…Trump has gone on the record as pledging to protect [right-wing] Israeli interests, presumably from the perspective of someone cozying up to Christian evangelicals who seem to think of Jewish nationalists as their own mystical lapdogs…

  • Michael

    For those posting that there is no evidence that it was a trump supporter that did this… do the words ‘go trump’ under the badly drawn swastikas count as at least anecdotal evidence?

  • MaryT

    Went to the rally – the park was packed! Great turnout, lots of kids. Couldn’t hear the speakers from where I stood, though. Maybe they should have borrowed the amps used for BBP and Cadman. Those can be heard for miles! Curious if anyone reading this knows who spoke and what was said..

  • Doug Biviano

    Not one bit. Anyone could have done it for who knows what motivation. The problem is that when you blame a whole class of people (Trump supporters) you are fighting hate with hate and division. You undermine your own cause and polarize good people on both sides further. People have already been attacked over this election. We can stand together against hate, and today’s event was wonderful, but let’s not lose sight that many Trump supporters stand with you.

  • Michael

    My mistake, there is an equal possibility it was George Soros.

    Motivation seems clear right? Put a swastika in a public place and write ‘go trump’ under it to create a reaction. There may be problems with ‘blame’ but there are equal problems for being an apologist for inexcusable behavior.

    There was also no proof of the defacing of the children’s mural in Montclair until the eighty year old couple was caught doing it.

    Story here: /http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/11/18/make-america-love-again-mural-vandalized/

    Caught at 4am and defiantly unapologetic.

    So you stand with us all against this? Say it. This is act was an expression of divisive hatred, and you acknowledge that there is at least the possibility that this is a Trump supporter. If it is, then the perpetrator is disgracing fellow Trump supporters who by the way were noticeably absent today at Adam Yauch Park – an opportunity missed for them, agree?

    If you are implying that this is some ‘left wing conspirator’ for hillary or bernie supporters to incite a response, logic dictates that this event would have occurred prior to election day. Ever hear of occam’s razor? I will summarize: if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck… good chance its a duck.

    I could care less who you or anyone voted for. And I think it is extremely reckless to define Trump supporters as a ‘class’ of people – ours is supposed to be a class-free society, I will let that one pass as a rookie mistake.

    I was at Adam Yauch Park today. I so no ‘Make America Great Again’ hats. No signs saying ‘Trump supporters strand with you.’ No local Trump supporting local politician denouncing this – even if there is the slimmest possibility it was a Trump supporter who is responsible. Nothing. Zero.

    The danger of being in power and not openly denouncing these acts is that it implies tacit approval. A cause underminer if there ever was one.

  • Doug Biviano

    See now we’re having a conversation and I truly believe this is how we bridge this serious divide post-election, that is, unite and fight hate wherever it lurks or rears it’s venomous head. I agree with much of your concerns and perhaps the overwhelming majority of Trump supporters do as well. I know many and I can assure you they are anything but hateful people.

    So yes we should and must have events like today’s — absolutely — and politicians and citizens alike should condemn hate in no uncertain terms. Today all the politicians did that and I applaud them, including Brad Lander.

    However, that is not what Lander did in his tweet and on facebook. He pinned the swatikas, hate and anti-Semitism on Trump supporters in no uncertain terms despite there being no proof. If a politician attributed you or who you voted for with a swastika hate crime I think you’d be outraged and possibly scared as well. I would have wholeheartedly supported, liked, retweeted Lander’s tweet if he left out the Trump supporter accusation. I don’t believe any of the other participating politicians took that angle for obvious reasons. I hope they urge Lander to revisit his tweet because it does not help our cause in standing boldly against hate.

    As for there being no Trump supporters at the event, who knows. What we do know is that unless they read the Brooklyn Heights Blog they may not have gotten the memo. But even if they did, I bet many of them would not utter a word that they were out of fear and intimidation. We on the left as citizens — but most certainly the media and political elites — have stifled the conversation on this election and brought it to a shouting match and a near fist fight. Many Trump supporters are in hiding. They don’t want to lose their friends for how they voted. They don’t want to lose their job for how they voted. They don’t want to get attacked. And yes this is happening in the other direction too as so many on the left feel threatened in similar and worse ways. This is not healthy for anyone.

    But what’s bizarre about what I’m seeing from citizens on the left is that they are putting up open letters on social media and in person that they are judging others for their vote and in many cases no longer be friends with their long time friends. This is absolutely troubling. We need the exact opposite to happen. Like Jonathan Haidt argues (google him) we have to build bridges, trust and converse, certainly if we want to stand strong and united against hate. We must not withdraw and begin to hate each other. I love my friends no matter who they voted for.

    I hope a few things happen. I hope that Trump, Obama and HRC all condemn this hatred. I hope those with a national voice show some humility and responsibility in how they’ve brought us to this point in this election and long before. If you read MLK like me (read Beyond Vietnam), you’d swear that perhaps the hate needed to drive 26 years of war against Muslim nations (most unnecessary) brought us to this precipice. I believe it is a complete failure of leadership of both Republicans and Democrats. Never allow them to turn us against each other. I call it Trickle Down Hatred.

    I have written a PeaceNYC proposal that address this very issue by creating a Peace and Non-Violence Commission to legitimize these values. If our local political leaders wish to discuss this, I am very happy to. If this blog would like to post them, I would be more than happy to. The time is now.

    And for the record haha here’s the definition of class I was using: a number of persons or things regarded as forming a group by reason of common attributes, characteristics, qualities, or traits; kind; sort:

  • Michael

    A lot of words. Will keep this succinct.

    Paragraph 1: Look at and listen to the overwhelming body of hateful speech coming from Trump supporters, sad, dumb and predictable. I have no interest in building any bridges. From a policy perspective the things they want to do are wrong/bad for the country. Can people say and do hateful things without being hateful people? I am unsure. People voted for Trump because he over simplifies very complex things, a very dangerous trend.

    P3: You need to acknowledge that the ‘go trump’ part is at least circumstantial evidence. That would be like seeing a tweet from Trump that says something insulting or defamatory (there are a few of those), but since I didn’t see him type it, I have no proof.

    P4: The event was being announced on NY1, NBC and elsewhere. It is nothing short of cowardice for not a single Trump supporter to show up and denounce this. If they are too afraid to openly defend their choice, that says a lot. Jonathan Haidt can think what he likes.

    P5: What brought us to this precipice is a trend towards retrograde, toxically ignorant, nationalistic, biased anti-intellectualism and a willful ignorance of the world. Evidence of this conservative trend goes back to the late 70s and the early 80s.

    P6: For the record, the war of civilizations goes back a lot longer than 26 years. Necessary or unnecessary is a different conversation.

  • Doug Biviano

    I will say succinctly that if you don’t want to build bridges you are out of luck for at least the next two years because Trump wields an awful lot of power — more than any president in my time controlling the House, Senate, executive and soon to be Supreme Court. The mid terms depend on you making your case to a lot of people the left is attacking monolithically as a bunch of racist xenophobic haters instead of showing some humility and common cause. Again you undermine your cause. The left has to come to grips with this and sell their platform on the merits.

  • Doug Biviano

    Oh the “Go Trump” is not circumstantial evidence. It places no one at the crime scene. It just creates a condition for scapegoating. There are a lot of crazy and hateful people out there. Anyone could have done this, pro-Trump, pro-Hillary or neither. There are agitators who live to tear communities apart.

  • Michael

    And he is off to a stellar start: Steve Bannon – a shocking body of work, speaks for itself. Myron Ebell – an unapologetic denier of climate change who once tried to keep the tobacco industry from being regulated, now running the EPA. This what he is doing with his power. Oh, and his brilliant son in law’s father was convicted of illegal tampering with elections and elected officials. He isn’t even building bridges within the conservative community.

    Luck is a myth, like common ground is a myth.

    I have no cause.

    The left or the progressives or whatever need to get their act together or they will get spanked again. Notes for them should include that the glossing over of actual policy positions, a complete lack of relevant experience, and no interest in bridge building worked well for Trump during the election. He treated the left as a monolith and defeated them. Learn from what works.

    Did you see or hear anything that he said during the campaign?

  • Michael

    A thought experiment: is it possible that this was a Trump supporter, yes or no?

  • Doug Biviano

    It sure is. When we have facts to this end, only then we can condemn that individual and ask fellow Trump supporters to join us in condemning them.

  • Doug Biviano

    “The left or the progressives or whatever need to get their act together or they will get spanked again.” Totally agree. I was a huge Bernie supporter. He had his act together and excited a lot of people. I sent him about $300. Did you put your money where your mouth is? Very important. Unfortunately, the press, the DNC, our beloved NYS Dems in a bizarrely unified voice did everything they could for their presumptive nominee HRC. They totally misread the mood of so many out of shear arrogance, incompetence, and inability to connect with their constituents. Wake up Democratic Party. Condemning hatred (and Trump supporters) is not enough.

    But regardless of who won or wins in the future, presidents and congress need to be pushed by the people and held accountable by voters. They almost never are.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Just want to say that I’m enjoying reading your and Michael’s back and forth. Thanks for keeping it intelligent and civil.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Oh Jeeeffeeereeey????

  • Michael

    Feel like we got off topic right? Some clowns put swastikas up in a park where little kids play. That is not some abstraction called ‘hate’ that is a person doing something awful. Sadly, one act in a long and growing list of hateful anti-semitic, anti-immigrant and frankly anti-intelligent acts. Voting or not doesn’t help this. First thing I would like to see is a definitive statement from the Trump administration… Not going to hold my breath. Passivity is tacit approval.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Yeah sure, there is a very very very small chance someone was playing a “false flag” but realistically it was the work of some bored teenagers. Regardless, it is the fallout from the Trump election and it is not to be tolerated. Your long winded rebuttals are not necessary. Now go mop the lobby.

  • Robert Johnson.

    YOU are who’s Wrong Andy….

    God reached out and Saved this country. He so loved his unworthy child that he saved this country.

    THAT is what is happening here. Much to the outrage of the various shades of Marxists. And since this is the work of God, it’s irreversible.