New York police investigate second round of swastikas discovered over the past three days



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Two swastikas were discovered between Sunday night and Monday morning at the Brighton Playground in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, according to the NYPD. The Nazi symbols were written in black marker under a slide.

The graffiti was discovered just two days after dozens of swastikas, a Nazi eagle and the words "Hail Hitler" (sic) were found on Friday morning, chalked up on the sidewalk of a courtyard. 39, Queens School.

According to the police, the NYPD Hate Crimes Working Group is investigating both incidents.

City councilor Chaim Deutsch, who represents Brighton Beach, asked on Twitter on Monday if anti-Semitic scribbles were "the new normality".

The office of the Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, did not immediately respond to Deutsch's call for the establishment of a hate crime prevention bureau.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo described graffiti as "despicable" in a written statement on Monday.

"Let's be very clear: in New York, we have a zero tolerance for anti-Semitism and all hatred, and no student should feel discriminated against or threatened because of his religion or ethnic background," Cuomo said.

"New York is a symbol of tolerance and hope for all," he added, "and we will do everything in our power to ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous acts are prosecuted in the limits of the law. "

The governor said he had asked New York State police to assist the NYPD in his investigations of both incidents.

Councilor Karen Koslowitz, who represents the Queens District in which the school yard was vandalized, told CNN Sunday that her office had received photographs of a resident of the building. next to the school and immediately informed the police. According to Koslowitz, the region is a predominantly Jewish neighborhood.

Koslowitz described the graffiti as "exceptionally scary" and called the images "dirty". "horrible, just horrible".

Koslowitz told CNN that she had heard stories from her mother, from Poland, about anti-Semitic incidents in Europe in the last century. Koslowitz, who grew up in New York City, said she had never thought that such an act could happen in the city.

"It really has to stop," she said. "There is no doubt that this is a hate crime."

On Feb. 17, 36 anti-Semitic crimes were reported in the city, up from 21 for the same period last year, according to a New York Times report, which quotes police reports.

"It has become totally out of control," Deutsch said in a statement.

Kristina Sgueglia from CNN contributed to this report.

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