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Hateful graffiti painted over walls of NYC Gurdwara
The incident has raised concern about the safety of the Sikh community in New York.
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Biplob Kumar Das - Thu, 01, Jan 2026
- 21:22 EST
- 32
Graffiti on walls of Sikh cultural centre and gurdwara in the Richmond Hills / Biplob Kumar Das
The walls of a Sikh cultural centre and gurdwara in the Richmond Hills neighborhood in Queens, New York, was painted with hateful graffiti by unknown individuals on December 27, in an act that community members said was a hate crime and raised safety concerns. The Gurdwara committee has filed a complaint in the local precinct and the New York Police Department is investigating the incident.
The Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Centre, that also has a gurdwara inside, is located on Punjab Avenue in a neighborhood that is commonly referred to as New York’s Little Punjab. The walls of the centre was spray painted with “EW” and “SMD”. It is unclear when exactly the incident took place.
“I found out about the incident when a young member of the committee sent me photos and flagged me that there were these hateful graffiti on the centre’s walls,” said Japneet Singh, who frequents the gurdwara and is a community organizer in Little Punjab. “My concern is if they could do this to our walls, what would stop them from coming in causing danger inside the gurdwara,” Japneet said.
Apart from the police complaint, the office of Zohran Mamdani, the incoming mayor who will be sworn in as the first South Asian to hold the office on January 1, has been informed about the incident. The office of New York governor Kathy Hochul has also been informed about the incident.
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“We are absolutely shocked by the incident. This is the first time anything like this has happened to the gurdwara since we built it in 1999,” said Daler Singh, the former president of the gurdwara committee who still serves as its member. He said that all members are deeply concerned and they are being extra vigilant about the incident.
“Since we did not have CCTV cameras on that side of the centre, we could not identify who the individuals are,” he said. The committee has requested NYPD to check CCTV footage of local residents near the centre to investigate the identity of the individuals who did this.
The centre is a prominent presence in the neighborhood that houses many Punjabi businesses and Sikh residents. “There is no way the people who did this do not know the religious importance of the centre and that the gurdwara is inside this. This was a pure act of racism and hate,” said Japneet.
For both Daler and Japneet, the incident is a sombre reminder of being a vulnerable minority at a time when hate crime is rising in the U.S. “Whenever there is an increase in hate crimes, be it Islamophobia or antisemitism, the Sikh community also faces the brunt of such acts just by the virtue of how visible we are in practicing our religion,” Japneet said.
However, they believe that the incoming administration will act on it swiftly and NYPD will address this incident as an act of hate.
In August this year, the Sikh community in California raised concerns after the killing of Harpal Singh, who is Sikh, in Los Angeles was investigated only as a homicide and not as a hate crime by the police.
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