Press Release
MAN CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME FOR DEFACING APARTMENT BUILDING WITH SLURS AND THREATS
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Neal Milano was arraigned today on an indictment charging him with defacing the Sunnyside apartment building where he lives with threats, including “Kill Hamas Condo Board,” and homophobic and anti-female slurs.
District Attorney Katz said: “Hateful and bias-motivated attacks have no place in our communities and this shameful aggression will not be tolerated. The defendant will be held accountable for the serious charges against him.”
Milano, 76, of 39th Place in Sunnyside, was charged in a 10-count indictment with one count of criminal mischief in the third degree as a hate crime; one count of criminal mischief in the third degree; and eight counts of making graffiti. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison. Supreme Court Justice Toni Cimino ordered Milano to return to court on January 30, 2024.
According to the charges and video surveillance:
- On November 2, at approximately 5:05 p.m. Milano used a black permanent marker to write graffiti messages on eight walls on four floors of the condo building where he resides.
- One message read “Kill Hamas Condo Board;” others used homophobic and anti-female slurs.
Assistant District Attorney William Acevedo-Hernandez of the Hate Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Michael E. Brovner, Bureau Chief, and Gabriel Mendoza, Deputy Assistant Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Major Crimes Division Shawn Clark.
**Criminal complaints and indictments are accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.