The escalating antisemitic climate in New York took an even darker turn last week when the Park Avenue Synagogue was defaced by antisemitic vandals.

On Friday around noon, synagogue officials reportedly discovered the hateful graffiti marring an exterior wall with the word “Palestine” crudely written under the phrase “How great are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel.”

Synagogue staff rushed to remove the antisemitic graffiti before Shabbat services, but the damage had unfortunately already been done.

The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force has opened an investigation into the incident, however no arrests have been made yet.

“As a former member of this congregation, I am disgusted by this vile antisemitic act,” City Council member Julie Menin told the New York Post. “A house of worship is a sanctuary. Defacing it is an attack on all of us.”

Park Avenue Synagogue’s clergy has been an outspoken voice amidst Israel’s defense war against Hamas. Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove reportedly traveled to Israel in December to bear witness to damage from the October 7 Hamas massacre. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff also visited in May to address Jewish pride and combating rising antisemitism.

Sadly, New York’s resurgence of undisguised Jew-hatred poses a clear and present danger to the city’s Jewish population. Just days prior, red paint was splattered on the home belonging to  a Jewish curator at the Brooklyn Museum. Last Monday, hundreds rallied in Midtown waving the terror flags of Hamas and Hezbollah.