Police investigate vandalism at Jewish cemeteries in Upstate NY [Video]

By H. Rose Schneider | Times Union, Albany

Rotterdam, N.Y. — Police are investigating after dozens of headstones were found knocked over in a cluster of Jewish cemeteries off Schermerhorn Street.

The area is used by four congregations for interment, including Congregation Agudat Achim in Schenectady. Jeffrey Handelman, a fourth-generation member of the congregation and past president, said he saw over 50 overturned headstones in the cemetery Saturday morning. WNYT first reported on the story.

“With everything that’s going on in the world,” said Handelman, who is also board chairman of the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, “it seems like a manifestation of antisemitism.”

Police do not know whether the incident is connected to tensions over the ongoing war in Gaza.

The vandalism was first reported to Rotterdam police April 22, and may have occurred anytime between then and April 1, Lt. Patrick Farry said. Children between the ages of 10 and 16 often cut through the …