Home of Brooklyn Museum Director Vandalized

The Brooklyn residence of Anne Pasternak, director of theBrooklyn Museum, was defaced by vandals on the evening of June 11. Strung across the entrance to the apartment building was a banner reading “Anne Pasternak Brooklyn Museum White Supremacist Zionist” in large letters; repeated three times below, in a smaller font, were the words “Funds Genocide.” Spray-painted on her front door was an inverted red triangle. The symbol has historically been employed by Hamas to mark military targets and was recently spotted at university demonstrations calling for Israel to cease its sustained retaliatory attack on Gaza. More red paint splashed the entranceway, and the phrase “Blood on Your Hands” was stenciled in red on the ground nearby. The homes of several other Jewish museum board members were targeted as well.

The defacement prompted an outcry from New York City officials, with Mayor Eric Adams posting onX, “This is not peaceful protest or free speech. This is a crime, and it’s overt, unacceptable anti-Semitism. These actions will never be tolerated in New York City for any reason.” Adams promised an investigation by the NYPD. The Association of Art Museum Directors, of which Pasternak is a member, acknowledged the “emotion and anger the Israel-Hamas war has wrought” and condemned the act as “inexcusable.”

“We are deeply troubled by these horrible acts targeting leaders connected to the museum,” said the Brooklyn Museum in a statement. “For two centuries, the Brooklyn Museum has worked to foster mutual understanding through art and culture, and we have always supported peaceful protest and open, respectful dialogue. Violence, vandalism, and intimidation have no place in that discourse.”

The vandalism comes less than two weeks after a massive pro-Palestine march that terminated at the Brooklyn Museum. The May 31 demonstration culminated with protesters calling for the museum to publicly denounce Israel’s hammering of Gaza and to disclose and divest its financial ties from Israel.