ANTI-SEMITIC VANDALS CAUSE $100,000 DAMAGE TO LANSKY’S DELI

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A Jewish deli was ransacked by vandals who spray-painted ugly messages on the walls. It happened right during the High Holy days. They papered over the windows Thursday to hide the damage inside Lansky’s Deli on Columbus Avenue. “It was devastating. We put our heart into this restaurant,” owner David Ruggerio told CBS 2′s Tony Aiello. Ruggerio found the mess Wednesday morning. Computers, televisions and light fixtures were all smashed, and leather seats were slashed and a trophy case was trashed. Cell phone video shows broken dishes and the espresso machine thrown to the ground. Chunks of the ceiling were torn down and littered the floor. Most upsetting were messages sprayed on the walls, including anti-Jewish slurs that Ruggerio quickly ordered painted over. 

“The vandalism was one thing, defamation was different. It was very, very hideous things written on the wall. There was urination all over the restaurant,” Ruggerio said. Ruggerio is not Jewish but his 94-year-old partner is. The vandals struck Tuesday night, just after the end of Rosh Hashanah.

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