Jewish NYC deli scrubs swastika graffiti

The owner of the iconic Jewish New York City deli that was vandalized with a swastika after expressing support for Israel was outraged to learn Wednesday about more hateful symbols found nearby.

Jeremy Lebewohl, owner of 2nd Ave Deli, scrubbed off the anti-Semitic graffiti on his Upper East Side storefront a day after a tenant alerted him the eatery was defaced with the hate symbol.

But Lebewohl told The Post he couldn’t believe even more swastikas were discovered on the corner of 75th Street and Second Avenue by a reporter.

“I can’t believe there’s more swastikas across the street. I just hope the city realizes that when you hear people doing something wrong, saying something wrong, people can’t be quiet.” Lebewohl said.

“It’s horrible that anybody feels like it’s OK to say that they hate anybody at any time,” the outraged deli-owner added.

“It’s horribly triggering for people, for holocaust survivors, their families – anybody who has ever been scared to walk the streets and say who they are.”

Swastikas, plus a pentagram and a Star of David were found scrawled faintly on several advertisements.

Lebewohl – whose uncle started the kosher restaurant in the 1950s in the East Village – said the NYPD was “so busy” dealing with other incidents like his own and suspected the hateful gesture is “not a one-off incident.”

The swastika on his storefront was found Tuesday after the eatery featured pro-Israel content on its social media pages, including an image of the Jewish nation’s flag, in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.

On Wednesday, a woman named Peggy, who declined to give her last name, was spotted hanging up posters with pictures of Israeli people kidnapped by Hamas around the neighborhood.

“It’s unfortunate that we live in America and we have people still putting up swastikas in New York City.  It’s disgusting,” she told The Post.

Hundreds such posters have popped up around the Big Apple since the Hamas attack on Israel.

This week, New York University students were seen tearing down the posters on the downtown campus, and two schoolgirls in the Upper East Side were also seen ripping them off poles on Madison Avenue.

“It doesn’t make sense anybody in America – Harvard UPenn, NYU… you guys are fighting for pro-Palestinian people. Go there! Call me. I’ll pay for your one-way freaking ticket,” Peggy said.

Her companion, who only gave her name as Shaine, agreed, saying people need to “get educated” before ripping down posters and plastering swastikas around town.

“It’s a symbol of Hitler. It’s a symbol of hatred and it’s ISIS, and it’s Hamas, and it’s Nazi. It’s an absolute thing of hatred,” she said.

After The Post showed Peggy and Shaine the graffiti on Second Avenue, the two women covered up the symbols with posters of the kidnapping victims and drew Stars of David and peace signs along the ad space in blue chalk.

Others in the neighborhood also said they “condemn” the disturbing graffiti.

“It’s despicable. It’s hateful. People don’t understand. They obviously don’t know a lot of Jewish people and their contribution to society,” Joel K, 77, who has lived in the neighborhood for 50 years, told The Post.

“It’s terrible what’s going on in this right now. It’s very bad,” business owner Lisa Zigelstein, who left Israel 42 years ago with her husband, agreed. “We are not supposed to do stuff like that in America or nowhere. You don’t wanna go to go back to what happened in Germany.

“As a Jew I condemn it.”