Car Windows Smashed Along Multiple Streets In Far Rockaway, Queens
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- For the second time in as many days, neighbors along several streets in Far Rockaway, Queens awoke to the sound of broken glass.
As CBS2's Alice Gainer reported, some car windows were smashed in. But whoever did it did not steal anything from inside the vehicles.
Still, car after car was affected, and broken glass lined the pavement of Oak Drive.
"We came here to find about 10 to 12 cars broken into," said Elkanah Adelman of the Rockaway Nassau Safety Patrol, a citizens' group.
Adelman shared pictures of other vandalized cars and even a bus. Neighbors on Oak Drive said they heard glass breaking around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.
"So I had two cars bashed in," said Sharon Markowitz.
Markowitz spoke by phone, and many other neighbors were too afraid to go on camera for fear of retaliation. Markowitz told CBS2 nothing was taken from her two vandalized cars, but that wasn't the point for her.
"The real cost is the hurt, the invasion, and the magnitude," she said. "It's not just a car window. That's what bothers me. I don't really give a damn about the car window. They didn't touch a thing in it. There were things in it. There was identification. There were valuable things. So it was very obvious vandalism, and the question is, was there a motive? Why was this neighborhood targeted -- on Passover, our holiday?"
Three streets in a row were hit Tuesday morning – Oak Drive, Elvira Avenue, and Cedar Hill Road. The neighborhoods are predominantly Orthodox Jewish.
"This is actually the second night this has happened. It also happened overnight on Saturday night into Sunday morning not too far from here -- second time this has happened," Adelman said. "Somebody is really angry. About what, we don't know."
Large rocks were also found next to the vandalized cars, and one was also found on the passenger seat of a vehicle.
Adelman said his group is increasing patrols, and CBS2 noticed the NYPD driving by on Tuesday afternoon as well. Many homes have security cameras, so police were hoping that someone had a clear image of the people responsible.
The NYPD said seven vehicle windows were reported broken Tuesday morning and one on Saturday. They have stepped up both plainclothed and uniformed patrols in the area.
