ASTORIA — The vandal who's been tagging anti-gay slurs — often about President Barack Obama — more than a dozen times on buildings around the neighborhood struck again, spray painting the same set of garages for the third time in recent weeks, police say.
The words "Obama f----t" were written in two spots on the garages along 23rd Street between 28th and 29th avenues sometime Monday night or early Tuesday morning, after similar graffiti was cleaned off the same garages just a week ago.
It's the third time this location has been hit with the homophobic tags, and police believe it's part of a pattern of 16 different vandalism incidents using anti-gay slurs committed by the same man since early December, including a lawmakers' office building that was hit three times during the month of March.
The messages have included the words "Obama f----t" several times, as well as "kill f-gs and d-kes" and "f-gs f-gs," according to police.
"It’s the same handwriting," said 114th Precinct commander Deputy Inspector Peter Fortune, who says the NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating the spree and looking at surveillance video from nearby buildings.
In the most recent incident, the suspect was caught on camera spray painting the word "F-gs" on the glass door of a building at on 18th Street and 27th Avenue shortly after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, according to police. He wore a black hooded jacket and gloves, the video shows.
Police also released video last month of the man during another incident on March 20, in which he vandalized the outside of Pistilli Towers at 31-19 Newtown Ave., which houses the offices of State Sen. Michael Gianaris and Assembly Member Aravella Simotas.
The suspect is described as around 6 feet tall and 200 pounds, according to police.
"Hopefully someone recognizes him and can call in," Fortune said. "Anything the community can do to help us out with a name."
Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
