By Jorge I. Domínguez-López
Last night, minutes before actress Ilana Glazer was scheduled to start a political event at the Union Temple synagogue in Brooklyn, a custodian discovered anti-Semitic graffiti on the stairwells of the second and fifth floor of the building. On a door, the vandals had scrawled the words, “Kill all Jews.”
At about 8:30 p.m., the public was still waiting outside the building when Glazer came out to announce that the event had been cancelled for security reasons. Glazer was going to interview journalist Amy Goodman and New York State Senate candidates Andrew Gounardes and Jim Gaughran.
The Union Temple is a historical synagogue located in an 11-story building originally erected in 1929 as community house for two Jewish congregations. The building is across the street from the Brooklyn Public Library and the Brooklyn Museum in Prospect Heights, an area that is home to a large Jewish community.
According to press reports, the comedian and writer didn’t feel comfortable letting 200 people entering the building where the hateful messages were found.
In the aftermath of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue massacre last Saturday, when eight men and three women were killed by a racist mass murderer, security has been heightened in synagogues and Jewish communities around the nation. The gunman eventually surrendered and was taken in by the Pittsburgh police, but tensions remain high.
That is sad how like people vandalize those synagogues there. I passed by today and like saw the police activity I guess it would be on Eastern Pkwy shortly north of the Brooklyn Public Library HQ there. How sad. Brooklyn synagogues are very nice. I know when I went to Montessori School of NY Inc there we had gym in Park Slope, Brooklyn at the huge synagogue there on 8 av in Park Slope there. I wondered why I could not get anybody LIVE today when I phoned the 78th Precinct and left a message in Community Affairs about this odd non related incident in Cambria Heights, NYC there with the 113 Pct showing like how in other areas too how like the NYPD cars do not like have strong or loud enough sirens there and the NYPD car in front of August Martin HS there almost hit three kids crossing there. No, nobody phoned back. Was that your synagogue there with the NYPD all around it on Eastern Pkwy sort of like north of the Bklyn Public Library HQ there? How sad. I know the synagogue where we all did gym and swim at Montessori School of NY Inc when I was at the Queens school there, was nice and had very nice facilities there on 8 av there up there by the park there in Park Slope there. Besides that, wow, how sad. So that is what all of that was about up there.