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Fog/Mist Swastikas drawn on Cedarhurst street
Police and Bias Unit are investigating
When Craig Smulevitz arrived at his Oxford Road home in Cedarhurst after a double shift as a paramedic and a Mount Sinai Hospital patient-transfer center employee in the early evening on March 7, he was shocked at what he saw drawn in chalk on the sidewalk in front of his house.
Initially Smukevitz thought it was an isolated incident. Then another house up the street had a similar swastika drawn outside of that home later that same night. “That’s bizarre and uncomfortable,” he said. “There is an anxiety because of Israel and what is happening there. My family elsewhere is very nervous.”
The police believe, according to Smulevitz, that teens are responsible for both incidents, and the incident was a crime of opportunity rather than planned bias attacks. Both swastikas were drawn backwards (resembling a Buddhist symbol rather than the infamous Nazi symbol) and the chalk that was used was taken from a nearby house.
The first thing Smulevitz did, he said, was report it. “There was a big response,” he said. “About six police cars came, along with the Shomrim (the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol). They all canvassed the area and asked everyone if they saw anything. I was really surprised when it happened again hours later up the street.”
NCPD Det. Michael Bitsko from the Public Information Office urges everyone to report any information they have associated with this incident. “There has been no arrests as of yet with this case,” he said. “We have Fourth Squad detectives still actively investigating this crime along with our Bias Crime coordinator.”
Sholem Klein of the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol (RNSP), a Far
Rockaway-based security patrol organization, is also working with Nassau County police from the 4th Precinct to investigate the incident.
“While the police continue to investigate these matters, RNSP will beef up patrols in and around the area,” Klein said. “We urge neighbors to review any surveillance footage that they may have and notify us or local law enforcement so that those responsible for this disgusting crime can be held accountable.”
