Council Member Robert Holden outside the house on 63rd Street in Woodside that was targeted with graffiti Tuesday night (Photo: Robert Holden via Twitter @BobHoldenNYC)
May 21, 2021 By Michael Dorgan
The home of a Woodside senior was spray-painted with the “anarchy” symbol Tuesday night and the tires of a nearby vehicle were slashed.
In another incident on Wednesday night, nearly 20 vehicles in Astoria were targeted with a similar type of graffiti. It is unclear if both incidents are related, police said.
The vandalism in Woodside took place on 63rd Street. The owner informed Council Member Bob Holden of the crimes who subsequently told police.
Holden and members of the NYPD visited the scene and the lawmaker posted images of the destructive scrawl to Twitter.
The front garden wall of the building was spray-painted three times with a capital letter “A” inside a circle. The pattern symbolizes anarchy.
The building’s façade was hit four times with the symbol. The vandal used white spray paint.
All four tires on a 2013 Hyundai Elantra were also slashed Tuesday night. It was also spray-painted with the anarchy symbol. The car was parked around the corner from the house on 64th Street.
“These people are serious about intimidation and they obviously have some hate for that person,” said Holden, who condemned the attack.
“We’ve got to catch them because they might come back and do it again.”
Holden believes the vehicle and the house were mistakenly hit. He said the suspects are targeting the owner of a red Hyundai living in the neighborhood.
He said that around two weeks ago a similar-looking car parked in the area had four of its tires slashed. It was also spray-painted with the anarchy symbol, he said.
Holden believes the suspects came back on Tuesday night and vandalized the senior’s house thinking their target lives there.
“They are causing thousands of dollars worth of damage,” said Holden, who emphasized that the NYPD is taking the matter very seriously.
“We think they will be caught because there are a lot of cameras around the house and in the area where the car was targeted,” he said.
Holden said he called on members of the non-profit Ace New York to clean up the graffiti. The organization provides work and job experience to homeless people and former inmates.
However, Holden said the two car owners will have to cover the cost of paying for new tires.
When my staff and I were notified of a disturbing incident of vandalism, in which both a house and car were defiled in Woodside, we called the @NYPD and met them at the scene. The house and car were spray painted with anarchism symbols and the tires of the car were slashed. pic.twitter.com/ZN4k7gqFCk
— Robert Holden (@BobHoldenNYC) May 20, 2021
The NYPD said it is also investigating an incident in Astoria Wednesday night where 19 vehicles were targeted with spray paint.
The vehicles were parked along 33rd Street between Ditmars Boulevard and 23rd Avenue and had either the “anarchy” symbol or the letter “A” sprayed painted across them, police said.
A mix of white and red-colored spray paint was used in the incident
The NYPD said it is looking into the possibility that the incidents on Tuesday night and Wednesday night are related.
A vehicle parked on 33rd Street between Ditmars and 23rd Avenue was vandalized (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
Some of the vehicles parked on 33rd Street between Ditmars and 23rd Avenue that were vandalized (Michael Dorgan, Queens Post)
