Swastika graffiti and racist rants rattle a New York high school

The images were disturbing: three large red swastikas. A menacing warning that reads: “I HATE BLACKS.” And a graphic threat of a school shooting.

The graffiti was found last week on a boys’ bathroom stall at a preparatory high school for an elite college in Manhattan. On Monday, authorities said the vandalism was being investigated as a potential hate crime. The police counter-terrorism unit is also working with the school and no arrests have been made.

The discovery has unnerved students and teachers at Beacon High School in Hell’s Kitchen. After the graffiti was found on Thursday, officers went through the building. Some teens left class to meet with counselors. Employees received a flood of concerned calls and emails.

The shocking episode is the latest in a series that has roiled New York City high schools in recent months in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas. A raucous demonstration at a Queens high school became a major flashpoint in the fall after officials said a pro-Israel teacher targeted students. And this month, several teachers in Brooklyn reported anti-Semitic And Islamophobic incidents at their high school.

Beacon Principal Johnny A. Ventura said in a series of emails to families that the school was working with authorities to ensure student safety. He called the screed in the bathroom “deplorable and unacceptable.”

“As a black Latino, my first emotions when I heard and saw this were anger, and then sadness that someone at our school would choose to write this,” Mr. Ventura wrote. “We embrace diversity and inclusion at Beacon. A threat to one of us is a threat to all of us.”

Beacon is one of the city’s larger high schools, with just under 1,500 students. The school has a significant Jewish population and about 15 percent of the students are black.

Outside the school, two police vehicles were stationed at the entrance Monday morning as teenagers arrived. Several students said in interviews that the graffiti was deeply disturbing.

“I was shocked,” said Ava Baranowski, 15, a sophomore.

Ava said she still felt “pretty safe” at school. To some students it seems like a joke. But it is really serious,” she says. “I think a lot of people were afraid to come to school on Friday.”

Despite rising friction at several schools in the city, several Beacon students said they had not seen major tensions among their peers. Some added that their history teachers had discussed the war in class. Madeline, 16, a sophomore from Beacon who declined to give her last name, said her classmates seemed united and had taken care of each other after the Oct. 7 attacks.

Responding to criticism that the Department of Education was doing too little to address the war, the city’s schools chancellor, David C. Banks, said in January that school principals would receive mandatory training in March on “navigating difficult conversations.” .

Nathaniel Styer, spokesperson for the Department of Education, said the chancellor has “repeatedly made it clear that all forms of prejudice and hatred – including anti-Semitism – have no place” in schools.

“Education and appropriate consequences must be central to addressing bigoted beliefs and misconceptions that students may bring to school,” he said.

As the graffiti investigation continues, Beacon will have an increasing police presence. Students were banned this week from wandering the school’s corridors and stairwells without the supervision of a staff member. Teachers and students will also have to use the toilets one by one.

Victor Rampen, 16, a sophomore at Beacon, heard about the graffiti Friday morning and said he expected a more visible response, such as metal detectors. He added that he wished more had been done in the immediate aftermath.

“I think that’s a little concerning,” Victor said.

“I don’t think it would ever actually happen,” he said of the threats. “But I still think necessary steps need to be taken.”

Mr. Ventura, the director, told families that “the bigger plan has to be some kind of campaign against hate,” which could include the creation of an anonymous reporting system.

Police said there were no security cameras in the bathroom where the graffiti was found, but officers were examining footage from cameras in the hallway. The principal asked any students who have information about what happened to come forward.

He also apologized to the parents. In his first message on Thursday afternoon, Mr. Ventura mentioned only that graffiti of a swastika had been found in the bathroom. He said staff immediately contacted police and worked to quickly remove the markings “because we knew it would be very traumatizing.”

But some families were left confused about the nature of the vandalism as they learned more from their children.

On Sunday, Mr. Ventura acknowledged that the graffiti’s mention of a school shooting — which included a pointed threat toward black students — was “sadly omitted” from his earlier emails.

“We understand the importance of transparency in these matters,” Mr. Ventura wrote.