Vandalism Ruled Out In Fallen Headstones At Brooklyn Jewish Cemetery

By Dave Goldiner March 5, 2017

Fallen tombstones at a Jewish cemetery in Brooklyn were felled years ago — and not toppled by anti-Semitic vandals, police and cemetery officials said.

“It was old damage, years if not decades,” old, an NYPD spokesman told DNAinfo. The cemetery had structural issues with older tombstones in the past, the spokesman added.

Dov Hikind, a local assemblyman, tweeted that the damage at Washington Cemetery on Bay Parkway was believed to be anti-Semitic vandalism.

The incident came on the heels of the toppling of headstones at other Jewish cemeteries in Rochester, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis has stoked fears of a resurgence of anti-Semitism.

But a spokesman for the cemetery confirmed no crime had taken place there.

“There was not vandalism, it is wrong information,” he said.

It was unclear why the damaged headstones had not been repaired or uprighted over the years.

Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at goldiner@forward.com, or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner

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