YORKTOWN, N.Y. — The Yorktown Police Department is investigating a series of vandalism incidents—including anti-Semitic, racist, homophobic, and obscene graffiti—discovered on Mother’s Day at two public locations: Patriot Skate Park behind Town Hall and Jack DeVito Veterans Memorial Track & Field on Veterans Road.
The graffiti was reported by residents Sunday and included hate speech at the skate park and profane images and words at the track.
“The vile hate speech discovered in our town is utterly unacceptable and stands in direct opposition to everything Yorktown represents,” Supervisor Ed Lachterman said in a press release. “We are a community that cherishes all diversity, a sentiment clearly demonstrated through events like our recent Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony and our annual Pride Festival. This incident serves as a stark reminder that our work to foster understanding and respect is far from over. These hateful acts will not be tolerated in Yorktown. We must continue to actively practice understanding and reject these divisive acts.”
Yorktown Police Chief Robert Noble asked for the public’s help in the investigation.
“A major component of our investigation is asking the public to help us help you,” Noble said. “All of us at the Yorktown Police Department are eager to apprehend those behind the vile, ignorant, and hateful graffiti at the skate park, as well as the profane graffiti made at the track.”
At a Monday press conference at the skate park, the graffiti was largely covered, though remnants of a swastika—modified to look like four squares—were still visible. Lachterman and Noble were joined by religious leaders and other town officials who condemned the hateful messages and urged the community to come together.
“This is proof positive that our education of people has a long way to go,” Lachterman said. “We are a very inclusive community. Just a week and a half ago we had a Holocaust remembrance event, and it’s very distressing to find anti-Semitic graffiti on Mother’s Day at one of our parks. We take this extremely seriously.”
Noble said the department was first alerted Sunday morning about “anti-Semitic, racist, and homophobic” graffiti at the skate park. Later that day, obscene graffiti was reported on the walking track at the DeVito field, including graphic drawings and obscene language.
“The comments that were left on the skate ramps and on the park benches—just vile, ignorant, and hateful,” Noble said, noting the department’s past success solving similar cases with community help.
“We have no greater success in the town of Yorktown than when calling on the members of our community,” he said. “As a police department, we're at our best when we have the partnership of our community, and we're asking them for any assistance they can give us.”
Noble said it was too early to draw conclusions, but the graffiti appeared to be the work of young people.
“In 30-plus years of law enforcement experience... while we're not ruling anything out, it appears to be the act of juveniles once again—those less than 18 years of age—or a very low-functioning adult, based upon the spelling and the writing,” he said. “We shouldn't see these things happening—certainly not in 2025, certainly not anywhere, least of all in Yorktown. We're all committed to work together in spreading the word that ignorance really doesn't have a place in Yorktown. It doesn't have a place anywhere.”
Noble said investigators were reviewing video, including footage from local businesses, and searching the area for evidence—such as discarded paint cans—that may have been left behind by the vandals. He said Yorktown police also alerted other local agencies and are monitoring whether similar vandalism has occurred in nearby communities along the bike path, though no incidents outside of Yorktown had been reported as of the press conference. In the meantime, police are focusing on the local area.
“We've knocked on a lot of doors and we'll continue to do so,” Noble said. “If anybody saw anything suspicious—for the parents at home, if your kids have black, white or yellow spray paint on their fingers, you may want to talk to them and have them talk to us.”
Lachterman praised the police and Yorktown Parks Department for acting quickly.
“I don't think you could have been any more thorough,” Lachterman said.
Speaking at the press conference, Rabbi Robert Weiner of Temple Beth Am praised the town’s swift response and pointed to teachings from the Torah.
“Last week in the Five Books of Moses and the Torah, I talked about this very, very powerful verse: ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself,’” Weiner said. “This is a universal message for all of us. You see the images or you hear the story—I ask everyone: ‘Is that an expression of love?’”
He continued, “We have ‘love thy neighbor’ and ‘love the stranger’—teaching us that we're not always going to look alike. We're not always going to act alike. But it's those of us that are ‘other’ we're not supposed to hate. I hope this community can go forward actualizing those verses, putting them not just into words, but into action.”
Monsignor Joseph Giandurco of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church noted that newly appointed Pope Leo XIV began his leadership with a message of peace.
“There can be no peace without respect for others,” Giandurco said. “We do hope and pray that respect will grow within not only our community, but every community here in the United States and around the world.”
Councilman Sergio Esposito called hateful messages “disgusting.”
“I’m not going to pull any punches on it,” Esposito said. “What we need to do is figure out where it starts—and it starts at home. It starts at the schools. We need to speak to our kids, let them understand that we need to be more accepting in this world... There are different people in every type of community and every nationality. Most are very good, and we need to explain this to our children.”
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Jim Martorano Jr. said the graffiti was both upsetting and costly.
“This is just so disheartening,” Martorano said. “We just did a refurbishing project on this very skate park about two years ago. Thousands of dollars spent, a lot of hard work and effort that went into this. To see this hatred just be displayed here in our own park—it’s really a shame. Hate has no home here in Yorktown and it won't be tolerated.”
Lachterman encouraged anyone with information—or even the perpetrators—to come forward by calling Yorktown Police at 914-962-4141.
“Because they will find out who did this,” he said. “Do yourself a favor, and let’s learn how to coexist the right way.”
The Yorktown Police Department urges anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity or has any information to contact the department at 914-962-4141 or info@yorktownpd.org.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here