Police Searching For Man Who Set Fire On Steps Of Park Slope Jewish Center

PARK SLOPE – The NYPD is requesting the public’s assistance in identifying the man seen in the video below in connection to an arson that took place early in the morning of Yom Kippur in front of a Jewish Center.

At approximately 12:50am on Wednesday, October 9, police responded to a report in front of the Park Slope Jewish Center at 1320 8th Avenue, near the corner of 14th Street.

An unidentified man “intentionally set the contents of a backpack on fire” on the steps of the building before  fleeing the scene, according to police. The fire was extinguished and no injuries were reported.

The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit has been notified of the incident but has not yet determined if the case will be investigated as a bias crime, according to a police representative.

On Tuesday, the NYPD announced that there would be increased police presence at the city’s synagogues for Yom Kippur, amid a spike in antisemitic hate crimes. According to the NYPD, antisemitic hate crimes are up by 53 percent citywide compared to last year.

Anyone with information in regard to the identity of the suspect is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips, or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.