A pair of Orthodox synagogues in Queens were vandalized last week when a perpetrator hurled motor oil and feces at their entrances, according to police and a community safety group. Worshippers discovered the mess Friday morning at the Young Israel of Holliswood and the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates.
Surveillance footage captured an individual emptying a bag of feces and motor oil onto the entrance of the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates around 11:45 p.m. Thursday, Steven Saphirstein, community outreach coordinator for Queens Shmira, told the New York Post. The suspect fled the scene after the incident.
The same suspect targeted the Young Israel of Holliswood approximately 45 minutes earlier, according to the NYPD. Photos shared with the Post show the substance smeared outside the synagogues.
"They're obviously disturbed. To take excrement and throw a bag and empty stuff like that out, you're attacking the people who are coming there, who are praying," Saphirstein said. "You're making them feel like filth. It doesn't get lower than that."
This is not the first time the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates has been targeted. About a month prior to this incident, a bag of feces was found in a Jewish newspaper box near the synagogue, according to Saphirstein.
No arrests have been made as of Sunday, police said. The NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating both incidents.