Hateful vandals attack Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s office —again — after anti-Israel protests rock NYC
Hateful vandals smashed the glass facade of Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s Upper Manhattan office and flung red paint at it early Tuesday, the day after anti-Israel protests rocked the city.
Photos show the paint dripping down the exterior of the office on West 181st Street near Bennett Avenue and pooling on the sidewalk — where the words “FREE GAZA” were scrawled in black.
The Democratic congressman has been vocal in backing security funding for Jewish sites and speaking out in support of Jewish students attacked at such schools as Columbia University.
“My name was on a flier of targeted sites that were going to be protested yesterday … but at night, folks came and got violent and vandalized the actual district office,” Espaillat told The Post on Tuesday.
“They splattered red paint all over the glass, signs, sidewalk and there was broken glass everywhere,” he said.
As many as four suspects used a hammer to bash the office’s front glass, according to police and the congressman.
The vandalism was reported at 4:15 a.m., but Espaillat said it happened around 3 a.m.
He and his staff worked to clean up the mess during the daylight hours Tuesday.
Espaillat said many of his staff, although not there at the time of the vandalism, have been left shaken — but won’t stop showing up for constituents.
“I will be there tomorrow, I was there today, and I will be back tomorrow,” the pol vowed.
The vandalism happened one year after Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel.
“It was very unfortunate and kind of abrasive that on the anniversary of Oct. 7, when more than 1,200 people lost their lives in gruesome ways — you know, women were raped, children were killed, seniors were shot and killed — that instead of appealing for peace that they resorted to violence and vandalism,” Espaillat said of the destructive criminals.
The early-morning crime also occurred fewer than two weeks after cops say a vandal spray-painted the windows and door of the same Espaillat office in a brazen Sept. 27 act.
In both cases, the NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force is investigating, cops said.
Multiple congressmembers condemned the vandalism.
“The latest outrageous vandalism occurred on a day of solemn reflection to mark one year since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, murdering 1,200 civilians, including over 40 American citizens, and taking 251 hostages, including 12 Americans,” said a joint statement by Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Hakeem Jeffries, Jamaal Bowman, Yvette Clarke, Dan Goldman, Tim Kennedy, Gregory Meeks, Grace Meng, Joe Morelle, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pat Ryan, Tom Suozzi, Paul Tonko, Ritchie Torres and Nydia Velázquez.
“Over the past month, the office of Congressman Adriano Espaillat has been attacked and vandalized several times,” they said. “This targeted vandalism puts constituents and congressional staffers alike in harm’s way, disrupting congressional operations and social services that constituents depend on.”
Throughout the day Monday, seven anti-Israel protesters were busted at Manhattan demonstrations — including a 23-year-old New Jersey man accused of kicking an NYPD captain in the chest.
Of the seven taken into custody, two were released with summonses, and five face charges that require court arraignments, cops said.
Additional reporting by Zoe Hussain
