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The window of an Upper East Side bank was smashed and the facade marred with graffiti early Monday in an apparent pro-Palestinian stunt that the NYPD is probing as a possible hate crime.
Police responded around 7:50 a.m. to reports of broken glass and red graffiti defacing a Capital One branch on East 86th Street near Second Avenue, authorities said.
Photos of the damage showed shattered glass surrounding a gaping hole in the glass windows, and what appeared to be red paint splattered across the front door, along with a message that seemed to read “PAL ACTION.”
The phrase is an apparent reference to Palestine Action, a UK-founded protest network that describes itself as “a direct action movement committed to ending global complicity with Israel’s genocidal apartheid regime.”
Responding officers were not immediately able to decipher the wording, police said.
The destruction could be the result of possible bias and criminal mischief, according to the NYPD.
The department’s Hate Crime Task Force was probing the incident.
City Council Speaker Julie Menin took to X to condemn the “deeply disturbing and unacceptable” incident.
“I have been in contact with the NYPD regarding this incident and have urged an immediate investigation, including whether this is a potential antisemitic hate crime,” the Manhattan Democrat said.
“There is no place for hate, intimidation or violence in New York City.”