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Richard Landman and representatives from the Roma community unveiled the new stone honoring Roma and Sinti victims at a May 5 ceremony.

Salgado (Source: Erick Salgado for Mayor)

Long-shot mayoral candidate Erick Salgado is entering the fray over Sheepshead Bay’s Holocaust Memorial Park, blasting the Parks Department for allowing the addition of stones memorializing non-Jewish victims.

A press release issued last week to Russian and Jewish news outlets but obtained by Sheepshead Bites quotes Salgado calling the installation of five new stones for non-Jewish victims “a betrayal of the community and even worse, disrespectful to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.”

The stones, which honor groups including the disabled, Roma, homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses, were dedicated during a May 5 ceremony marred by a protest led by City Council candidate and Holocaust Memorial Committee member Ari Kagan. The protesters claimed that the group of activists who successfully pushed the new stones through had pulled an end-run around the committee, by going through the Parks Department.

Richard Landman, the gay son of Holocaust survivors who spearheaded the initiative for the stones, said that those allegations are phony, and that he had attempted to go through the committee and was repeatedly denied – with no explanation – over the course of 15 years. Landman, an attorney, complained to the city that the committee’s decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” and in violation of the state constitution. The Parks Department established an appeals process for the memorial as a result, and created a Blue Ribbon advisory panel to review Landman’s request – ultimately greenlighting it.

The stones were installed in June 2012, and dedicated on May 5, 2013.

But Salgado, a conservative reverend from Staten Island, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor, sided with Kagan and the committee, claiming that the Parks Department should have ceded the decision on the stones to the local committee, in accordance with their Memorandum of Understanding.

“It is of great concern that a bureaucracy such as the Parks Department would take action that is counter to the community’s wishes, especially when it involves the memory of the six million who perished in the Holocaust and the thousands of Holocaust survivors and their families who visit the memorial each year,” Salgado said. “Was the proper decision pushed to the side by political concerns?”

Here’s the press release in full:

May 8, 2013

Mayoral Candidate Erick Salgado Blasts Parks Department’s Action

Controversial Memorial Stones Installed in Holocaust Memorial Park Without Community’s Approval

Mayoral Candidate Erick Salgado has termed the New York City Parks Department’s move to install five controversial memorial stones in Sheepshead Bay’s Holocaust Memorial Park, “a betrayal of the community and even worse, disrespectful to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.”

Salgado was referring to the Parks Department’s installation of large stones with inscriptions memorializing such groups as asocial elements (alcoholics and lesbians), political prisoners, Jehovah’s Witnesses and homosexuals. The inclusion of these stones was contrary to the wishes of the Board of the Holocaust Memorial Committee, which under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Parks Department has been administering the memorial since its dedication in 1997.

The five stones were installed unceremoniously last July, but an unveiling ceremony was held Sunday by several organizations from outside the community.

“It is of great concern that a bureaucracy such as the Parks Department would take action that is counter to the community’s wishes, especially when it involves the memory of the six million who perished in the Holocaust and the thousands of Holocaust survivors and their families who visit the memorial each year. Was the proper decision pushed to the side by political concerns?” Salgado asked.

A group of activists unveiled five new stones memorializing non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust at Sheepshead Bay’s Holocaust Memorial Park this weekend, capping off nearly two decades of fighting for the right against a local committee opposed to the installation.

The stones, dispersed throughout the public park, remember the persecution of homosexual victims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the disabled, Roma and Sinti, and “asocials.” The unveiling ended nearly 20 years of struggle for broader recognition within the park. Members of the Holocaust Memorial Committee, charged with reviewing and approving the placement of new names and markers, held a protest led by City Council candidate Ari Kagan, who complained that the group of “outsiders” went over the committee’s head in getting approval to place the stone, and represented a threat to the memory of Jewish victims.

Keep reading, and view photos of the event and the new stones.

Local elected officials representing Southern Brooklyn communities, joined by former Mayor Ed Koch, stood before the Museum of Jewish Heritage yesterday morning to denounce Brooklyn City Councilmember Charles Barron as an anti-Semite, and urged voters to ensure defeat for Barron’s attempt to become a congressman.

Barron is competing against Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in a June 26 primary. The winner will be the Democratic candidate in the November election for the congressional seat currently occupied by Ed Towns, who is retiring.

Because of redistricting, the current 10th Congressional District will become the 8th District and move further south, covering neighborhoods including parts of Sheepshead Bay, Marine Park, Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach. With an area so densely populated by Jewish residents, Koch end the local elected are urging voters to show up on June 26 and stop a candidate they say has pushed an extreme anti-Semitic and anti-Israel agenda.

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Source: Simone Weichselbaum via Twitter

Investigators from the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Unit are busy following up on yet another anti-Semitic incident in Midwood, after homeowners found their garage had been spray-painted with the words “Die Jews” and several swastikas.

The graffiti was found Sunday morning on the East 5th Street home’s garage, and two more swastikas were found on the door of an apartment building across the street.

It’s the latest in a rash of anti-Semitic incidents plaguing Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. The vandalism occurred less than a week after pro-Hitler graffiti was uncovered in Borough Park, and just two months after several cars were found torched in Midwood with anti-Semitic messages scrawled nearby.

“Almost every day, there seems to be another incident reported,” Assemblyman Dov Hikind said in a statement. ”The police have hardly made an arrest in any of these cases. I am calling on the NYPD to use every resource available to apprehend the person(s) responsible for these heinous acts so that people in the community can once again have peace of mind.”

UPDATE (10:34 a.m.): According to a statement put out by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, graffiti was also found on a yeshiva around the corner. Here’s Cymbrowitz’s statement:

“I am appalled that our community has, once again, been subjected to another depraved act of anti-Semitic vandalism, this time defacing the Yeshiva of Brooklyn Boys School on Ocean Parkway as well as a garage around the corner on East Fifth Street. This pestilence of anti-Jewish graffiti plaguing our city — home to the nation’s largest population of Holocaust survivors — is unacceptable, and must be strongly condemned not only by the Jewish community, but by all people everywhere. It is imperative that we never stop speaking out against these sickening crimes, and show the individuals who commit these acts that there is no place for them or their hate-filled messages in civilized society.”

Vandals hit up the Avenue J train station early Wednesday morning, spray painting an “ew” onto the station’s sign to read Avenue Jew. Now representatives of the heavily Orthodox Jewish area are condemning the graffiti and locals are wondering if it’s connected to last week’s hate-crime-related torching of three cars, which was accompanied by spray-painted “KKK” and swastikas nearby.

Police are investigating the latest spray painting as a possible bias crime, and the Transit Police have removed the sign.

“I am deeply disturbed by the graffiti incident at the Avenue J station on the Q line today,” Councilman Lew Fidler said in a statement yesterday. “Coming as quickly as it does on the heels of last week’s horrible acts on Ocean Parkway, it is particularly chilling. We cannot and will not stand by and watch haters and hooligans demonize the entire Jewish community with impunity. Whether this is the work of one deranged person, a group of drunken idiots or some organized effort, it must be met with an immediate outcry. I am calling today on Police Commissioner Kelly to move some of those police officers that have been stationed at or near Zuccotti Park to our neighborhoods until those culpable are caught and brought to justice. People of good conscience can never be silent in the face of hate. Now is not the time to turn the other cheek or to look away. Now is the time to act.”

Assemblyman Dov Hikind expressed similar outrage and demanded action.

“Education and vigilance are our only weapons in fighting against this blatant hatred,” Hikind told ABC News. “We must send a message to those who perpetrate these vile acts that we will not tolerate their behavior. These cowards need to know that we will find them wherever they lurk, and when we do, we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.”

UPDATE (11:17 a.m.): Congressman Jerrold Nadler just issued the following statement. We’re not entirely sure if it’s in reference to the Avenue Jew vandalism, since he only referred to “another anti-Semitic act.”

“News of yet another anti-Semitic act in Brooklyn sends an unequivocal message that our communities are under attack by deeply ignorant and destructive bigots.  NYPD must increase its surveillance and enforcement, with more officers on the ground and more contact with community leaders and elected officials.  Residents of Midwood and other areas targeted must be vigilant and ready to report incidents and help their neighbors.  As we join together to beat back the scourge of prejudice and hate, Shomrim and neighborhood institutions which already have infrastructure in place to protect residents are instrumental.  We must continue to speak out in the strongest possible terms whenever anyone is singled out for anti-Semitic or racist hatred.  The hate-filled few don’t stand a chance against us when we stick together and fight back.”

Photo courtesy of bettybl via Flickr

A month-long survey of 10 Brooklyn post offices found some surprising horror stories, with long waits, rude agents, and “chaotic” atmospheres.

The survey was conducted by Assemblyman Dov Hikind spurred on by constituent complaints. The sample included Bay Ridge, Blythbourne, Cadman Plaza, Dyker Heights, Kensington, Kings Highway, Midwood, Parkville, Sunset Park, and Van Brunt post offices.

Among the observations Hikind’s staff noted are:

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