A flag with two swastikas was raised at New York University during a graduation-week event on Thursday night, an incident reported as a hate crime and now under investigation by the NYPD.
The banner, apparently modeled on the flag of Israel with a Star of David and two horizontal stripes, appeared after 5 p.m. on the roof of a NYU building, police said. The building was identified by the student newspaper Washington Square News as Steinhardt, which houses NYU’s education programs and is named after Jewish philanthropists Michael and Judy Steinhardt.
Michael Steinhardt is the co-founder of Birthright Israel, which sends Jewish college students on free trips to Israel. The trips have increasingly become a target for pro-Palestinian protests for young people.
“We are shocked and deeply troubled that this hateful symbol expressing antisemitism was raised on a flagpole overlooking Washington Square Park,” NYU spokesman Wiley Norvell said in a statement. “Campus safety responded immediately to remove it and we are working closely with the NYPD to identify whoever is responsible.”
“We are one community. We protect each other. And we will not let hate and division find a foothold on our campus.”
Cops were called Thursday night to an administrative building on West 4th Street where an adult man reported someone tampered with a NYU flag and added the two swastikas and Star of David.
NYU filed a harassment complaint as a hate crime, NYPD said. There have been no arrests, and the investigation remains ongoing as cops review surveillance footage of who went to the roof of the building.
It was not immediately clear how long the flag had been there before people called 911, though Washington Square News estimated it was about 15 minutes.
The student newspaper reported that hundreds of graduates and their friends and family were on the scene for NYU’s annual “Grad Alley” event, an outdoor street fair around Washington Square the day before commencement with food, school merchandise, games and live music.
Elected officials condemned the antisemitic flag and demanded accountability.
“Vandalizing a flag with a Nazi symbol that represents the genocide of millions of Jews is an abhorrent act of antisemitism,” Gov. Hochul said in a statement. “Graduation should be a time of celebration, not hate and division. These disgusting attacks will never be tolerated by New York State.”
“Swastikas displayed over the NYU campus during graduation week is sickening and unacceptable,” City Council Speaker Julie Menin said on X. “At a moment that should be joyful for students and families, Jewish students were instead confronted with one of history’s most hateful symbols. Antisemitism cannot be normalized, and those responsible must be held accountable.”
