Brooklyn Israeli restaurant vandalized with antisemitic graffiti
BROOKLYN - A long-standing Israeli restaurant in a Brooklyn neighborhood was vandalized and defaced with anti-Israel messages on Sunday, police said.
What happened?
What we know:
On Sunday, vandals spray-painted antisemitic graffiti on the outside of the Miriam restaurant in Park Slope.
The vandalism happened around 3 a.m., police said. When police arrived at the scene, they were informed that red paint had been thrown on the windows, with a statement made in red spray paint.

The two messages stenciled with red paint on multiple windows read "Genocide cuisine" and "Israel steals culture" before being removed from the restaurant. (Credit: NYC Mayor's Office)
Surveillance footage showed what appeared to be three individuals involved in the act where one person was seen as if he or she was painting the windows— as the other two people stood guard and watched.
No arrests have been made at this time.
The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is currently investigating.
What we don't know:
Right now, we don't know who spray-painted these messages outside the restaurant.
What they're saying:
"Miriam Brooklyn Restaurant was sadly vandalized with messages of hate. But we refuse to let this darken our spirit. Miriam stands for inclusivity and unity and bringing people together through the shared love of delicious food and warm hospitality," the restaurant said in an Instagram post.
FOX 5 NY also spoke with the owner of the restaurant.
"It's sad that people have to express themselves this way - a neighborhood small business and I don't understand that's their approach to change things," said Rafael Hasid, the owner of Miriam.
Hasid is from Israel and his mother Miriam, the restaurant’s namesake, still lives in Israel.
This isn’t the first time it’s happened. The first was on the Upper West Side.
"We had the same type of incident, different graffiti on the same front and sides of the restaurant even then we were pretty new on the Upper West side," Hasid said.
The vandalism, this time, serves as a teachable moment for this father and daughter visiting the restaurant, hopeful that their presence less than 24 hours later, sends a message of resilience following the act.
"They put out a message of love, a message of unity. And we looked at that together with my other daughter," Adam Polluck, a frequent guest, said.
"I wanted to show that we are here to support and to love and this is what this city is about," his daughter Madeline added.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams said he will not tolerate hateful acts.
"As mayor of the city with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, I am particularly heartbroken by this evil act. Make no mistake, the NYPD is investigating and will find those responsible," Adams said in a post on X.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul condemned the incident as "outrageous and despicable," stressing that "antisemitism in Brooklyn is an attack on every New Yorker and contradicts our core values."
"To the owners and staff of Miriam: your state stands with you. And the perpetrators will be brought to justice," Hochul said in a post on X.
"To vandalize a restaurant because the owner is Jewish is outright antisemitism, plain and simple. It's outrageous and despicable," New York Congressman, Chuck Schumer said to FOX 5.
The Source: This article uses information from government officials' social media accounts and the NYPD.