Headstones at a local Jewish cemetery were recently knocked over.
The headstones were knocked over at the Stone Road Cemetery, located on Stonewood Avenue.
The manager of the cemetery says they’re not considering the vandalism a hate crime, but they’re also not ruling it out. Whatever happened there, they say it’s unconscionable.
“There’s no evidence of desecration, which leads us to believe that it was just a random act of violence, random act of vandalism,” says Michael Phillips, president of Britton Road Association. “The only thing we saw was someone’s glove on the ground that may have been one of the perpetrators that lost a glove.”
Sixteen headstones were toppled over at the Stone Road cemetery. The manager of the property says it happened sometime Tuesday night and was discovered on Wednesday.
“It’s almost not even a hate crime,” says Phillips. “It’s almost just an act that’s unconscionable when you’re a younger person and you think about your parents, and would you like them doing that to you, I don’t even think that goes through their mind.”
Governor Cuomo however announced Thursday he’s launching a full investigation into what happened: “New York has zero tolerance for bias or discrimination of any kind, and we will always stand united in the face of anti-Semitism and divisiveness. It is repugnant to everything we believe as New Yorkers, and we will continue to do everything in our power to bring to justice those responsible for these cowardly attacks on the values we hold dear.”