Jewish School Buses Targeted With Swastikas, Anti-Israel Hate in Mamdani’s NYC

Photos from the scene showed swastikas and messages including “F— Israel,” “Free Palestine” and “USA First” spray-painted across yellow school buses bearing Hebrew lettering.

By United with Israel Staff

Four school buses used to transport Jewish children in Brooklyn were defaced with swastikas and anti-Israel graffiti Monday morning, fueling renewed criticism of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as antisemitic incidents continue to plague the city.

The buses were discovered vandalized near Bedford Avenue and Williamsburg Street West in South Williamsburg, home to one of New York’s largest Orthodox Jewish communities.

Photos from the scene showed swastikas and messages including “F— Israel,” “Free Palestine” and “USA First” spray-painted across yellow school buses bearing Hebrew lettering. The vehicles served local Jewish schools.

The NYPD Hate Crime Task Force launched an investigation together with officers from the 90th Precinct and the Williamsburg Shomrim community patrol. No arrests had been announced as of Monday evening.

Mamdani condemned the attack Monday, calling the vandalism “abhorrent.”

“The antisemitic vandalism targeting school buses in South Williamsburg is abhorrent. Every New Yorker – especially our children – deserves to live free of such hatred,” Mamdani said.

“My team is in contact with the NYPD and community leaders. We will continue to use every tool at our disposal to confront antisemitism, hold those responsible accountable and ensure that hatred has no place in our city,” he added.

But Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers, said the attack demonstrated that stronger action was needed from City Hall, directly invoking Mamdani’s leadership.

“In Mayor Mamdani’s New York City, Jewish schools, synagogues and now even the buses that carry our children are being targeted with hate,” Spern told JNS. “Antisemitism continues to rear its ugly head and Jewish children should never have to board buses covered in Nazi symbols and anti-Israel hatred.”

“City leadership must finally take a clear stand against this rising tide of hate,” Spern added.

Spern is not alone in directing criticism at the mayor.

Israeli officials and Jewish leaders have repeatedly accused Mamdani of helping create a hostile atmosphere through his anti-Israel rhetoric and policies.

Israel’s consul general in New York, Ofir Akunis, has been among the most outspoken, directly blaming Mamdani’s leadership for rising antisemitism and accusing the mayor of fueling hostility toward Jews.

“It is an atmosphere. The atmosphere is negative,” Akunis said in September, accusing Mamdani of “spreading lies about the State of Israel and our soldiers.”

In an earlier official statement, Akunis went even further.

“Mayor Mamdani is inciting violence against Jews in New York,” he said, arguing that the mayor’s rhetoric was “fueling physical attacks.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his own extraordinary rebuke during his address to the United Nations in September.

“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of the city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” Netanyahu said. “They talk to me. They tell me, ‘This is not the city we remember.'”

“Shame on you,” Netanyahu added.

Mamdani has rejected allegations that his criticism of Israel promotes antisemitism and has insisted that New York has no room for anti-Jewish hatred.

Nevertheless, his record on Israel has remained a source of deep concern for many Jewish and pro-Israel leaders.

During his 2025 mayoral campaign, Mamdani refused to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada.” After taking office in January, he revoked several Israel-related executive orders issued by his predecessor, Eric Adams, including measures addressing anti-Israel boycotts and the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

The latest vandalism comes amid persistently high levels of anti-Jewish crime in New York. More than half of the city’s confirmed hate crimes through September were anti-Jewish, according to NYPD figures.

It also follows a bomb threat against the United Talmudical Academy in Williamsburg on October 9, which forced an evacuation before police determined there was no danger.

Mamdani says his administration will use every tool available to confront antisemitism.

But as swastikas and anti-Israel slogans appeared on buses carrying Jewish children, his critics again pointed to the disturbing reality they say City Hall has failed to reverse.