On the evening of January 24, 2024, an act of vandalism was committed at Scoop Shop, an ice cream store, and Cheryl’s Closet, a clothing store, in the Golden Horseshoe, a shopping center on the New Rochelle-Scarsdale border. Both of these businesses had a sign on their window that said “We support Israel” with an Israeli flag. At night, the words “genocide supporters” were spray-painted on the windows in large letters.
In light of the incident, many leaders within the community issued statements condemning the vandalism. State Senator Shelley Mayer and State Assemblymember Amy Paulin, among others, shared statements denouncing the acts of vandalism as antisemitic and urging law enforcement to hold the vandals accountable.
Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest also shared a statement, saying, “Such behavior is not only unacceptable, it also goes against the core values of our community…. [This incident] is a grave reminder of the persistent issue of antisemitism rearing its head anew in our society.”
In the age of social media, acts of vandalism related to the current conflict in the Middle East are prevalent. Members of the community, however, were shocked to see it happen in their backyard.
“It was a horrific disrespect to the Jewish community of Scarsdale,” Alexa Handel ’25 stated.
“You hear that it happens all over the place, but you don’t think it’s gonna happen in the Golden Horseshoe, you know, at the Scoop Shop. That’s still kind of hard to believe,” Scoop Shop owner Adam Deutsch shared.
“It makes me more scared because everything that has happened has been far away… but this happened at a store that I have been a customer there very often,” Josh Kosson ’25 said.
Consequently, the people of Scarsdale decided to take immediate action. On the afternoon of January 25, 2024, less than 24 hours after the vandalism, the Westchester Reform Temple (WRT) held an ‘Ice Cream and Meet-Up’ for residents of Scarsdale and New Rochelle to show their support. The event had a great turnout and showed the strong Jewish community that exists within Scarsdale and the surrounding area.
“To have so many hundreds of people showing up shows that this matters to this community, and not just Jews, but our allies as well,” WRT Senior Rabbi Jonathan Blake expressed.
The event consisted of speeches by several prominent politicians in the area, such as County Executive George Latimer, and other members of the community, including local rabbis. After the speeches, people were encouraged to buy ice cream from Scoop Shop in solidarity.
“In these divisive times, it’s very important for us to come together as human beings and we need to stand up for each other. Everybody is interconnected. We need to stand up and say as human beings ‘we reject hate of all kinds,’” Minister Mark McLean, President of the NAACP of New Rochelle, said.
“We still support Israel, we’re proud to be Jewish, and we’re not going anywhere. A little graffiti is not going to stop us from being proud of who we are… a little graffiti is not going to scare us,” Deutsche explained.
