GREENWICH VILLAGE — Swastikas were discovered in gay state Sen. Brad Hoylman's apartment building Tuesday evening, and the senator said it is just one of many hate crimes occurring around the country, and even in Greenwich Village, since last week's election.
"Since last Tuesday, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crimes, has shown a spike across the country," Hoylman said Wednesday.
"Greenwich Village isn't immune," he added. "At least two others have been reported since the election."
► READ MORE: Hate Crimes Jump 30 Percent in 2016, NYPD Stats Show
Hoylman was referring to swastikas found on New School dorms housing female students, and said he was also told of graffiti at a retail establishment in the neighborhood.
"I think what you have to ask yourself is: What has the election unleashed in terms of a sentiment that up to now had been anathema to our society?" he said.
Hoylman, who is Jewish and openly gay, tweeted a photo of one of the swastikas Tuesday night.
Swastika found in my apartment building this evening in Greenwich Village. Anti-Semite named to #Trump White House post. Connect the dots. pic.twitter.com/3OlD8hewyF
— Senator Brad Hoylman (@bradhoylman) November 16, 2016
Hoylman's tweet referred to Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of the politically conservative news site Breitbart who guided Trump's campaign and who was appointed as the president-elect's chief strategist last week, to widespread backlash due to Bannon's appeal among white supremacists.
"Every other presidency, Bannon's background would have disqualified him," Hoylman said.
"This is the proverbial five-alarm fire," Hoylman added. "Every citizen who cares about pluralism needs to make certain that we don't normalize Trump's appointment of Bannon to a senior White House position."
Hoylman said the swastikas were discovered by one of his neighbors on the service door on one of the elevator banks, not on his floor.
The neighbor called the NYPD and reported it as a hate crime "and the Hate Crimes Task Force was there in short order," Hoylman said.
The NYPD said a 70-year-old woman spotted the swastikas carved into the service elevator door about 4:40 p.m. Tuesday while taking out her trash.
One measured about three inches, and the other was two inches, the NYPD said.
The NYPD is investigating it as a possible bias crime, a spokesman said.
"I think we all have to speak up and be alarmed about hate crimes like this," Hoylman said.
