Police Investigating Statue Desecration

Following the recent theft of a religious statue from a Catholic spiritual center in the Jamaica Hill section of Queens, City Councilmember James Gennaro was joined by religious leaders in calling for increased police vigilance in the area.

Gennaro said the NYPD Hate Crimes Unit and detectives from the 107th Precinct are investigating the incident that occurred on May 5 in which a statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila, the first Filipino Catholic martyr and saint, was chopped off at the ankles and stolen from a spiritual center named after the saint.

Gennaro called for the police investigation when informed of the theft.

"There is no place in this or any other community for any kind of religious intolerance and hatred," Gennaro (D- Fresh Meadows) declared.

"This entire community is standing united against vandalism and hate. We look forward to the Hate Crimes Unit and the District Attorney's office solving this case and bringing the perpetrators to justice."

Assemblymember Rory Lancman (D- Fresh Meadows) issued a statement saying, "We completely reject intolerance or hatred toward any Queens community and we know we can count on the NYPD and the Queens District Attorney to vigorously investigate and prosecute the perpetrators. The only thing this otherwise senseless act accomplished is to unite the entire Queens community in support of those who cherish the sacred statue of San Lorenzo Ruiz."

San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila died in 1637 during a missionary expedition in which anti- Christian authorities hanged him by his ankles and let him bleed to death from his temples. At the spiritual center in Jamaica Hill all that remains of the statue is its feet and the stumps of its ankles.

Nick Libramonte, executive director of the center, said, "We feel that this area is sacred because we are the devotees of San Lorenzo Ruiz and we are all saddened by this incident."

Libramonte thanked Gennaro for taking immediate action to investigate the incident.

- John Toscano