NYPD must investigate hate

To the editor:

(re: “A slow slide straight back into racism,” Feb. 17)

Under cover of darkness on the night of Friday, Feb. 11, or the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, Feb. 12, racist graffiti was scrawled across surfaces of the Spuyten Duyvil Playground west of P.S. 24 on West 236th Street.

The “N-word” appeared repeatedly on a climbing wall and slide, along with other words and symbols. In a playground. Where children play.

The appearance of the “N-word” anywhere — and in a playground, no less — is not just mischievous. It is not just an expression of hate of the vilest kind. It is a threat, and meant to be one.

In the past three or four years, there have been a slew of deeply disturbing threats to people of color in the north Bronx and north Manhattan. North Bronx Racial Justice is a community organization that, among other things, has worked on documenting these incidents and demanding action by elected officials, the New York Police Department, and the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.

The North Bronx Racial Justice organization sees this latest attack in the context of the other incidents, including but not limited to:

• The appearance of nooses hanging from trees in Van Cortlandt Park and Marcus Garvey Park in June 2020.

• The stashing of an AR-15 rifle in Van Cortlandt Park allegedly by an ex-Marine who was angry about Black Lives Matter protests during the summer of George Floyd’s murder in June 2020.

• A daylight march and banner drop by the white supremacist group Identity Europa in Fort Tryon Park in July 2018.

• The appearance of leaflets on trees and utility poles by another white supremacist group urging patrols in the Woodlawn neighborhood in November 2018.

Despite all this, when informed of the graffiti on Feb. 11, the 50th Precinct responded that it was probably done by a “Black gang” — “They used the ‘N-word,’ you know?’ And that the 50th was too busy to respond, to “call 911.”

One of the first 911 officers to arrive at the playground asserted that this wasn’t a hate crime. When pressed as to why, he said there was no image of a noose, no word such as “kill.”

“It’s just words,” he said. He conceded that the graffiti tag was familiar.

We demand a full investigation of this graffiti by the 50th Precinct, and that the 50th Precinct and the NYPD emergency response unit report the graffiti to the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.

We expect an accounting to the public, our elected representatives and the media of the findings of the investigation.

We call on our local elected officials to press the NYPD and its Hate Crimes Task Force to investigate, and to make a full accounting of findings to the public.

Too often, one is told by jaded authorities that racist threats in public places are just going to happen. It’s a little akin to the old adage, “Boys will be boys.”

We reject that dangerous complacency, and hope Riverdalians will join us in demanding appropriate action in response to anti-Black threats and hate crimes.

Jennifer Scarlott

The author represents North Bronx Racial Justice

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