Kin of kosher bakery owner, 75, found shot dead at NYC park demand answers in what they suspect was hate crime
Relatives of a 75-year-old kosher bakery owner found shot dead near a Queens park lake last month said they suspected the “visibly Jewish” man was targeted in a hate crime – as investigators and kin bumped the award for any leads on the slaying to $20,000.Albert Itzkowitz – who also served as a rabbi at a nursing home – was mysteriously found shot in the neck and back along the shoreline of Kissena Lake just before 5 p.m.May 18, and the city medical examiner’s office has since ruled the case a homicide. With no established motive or information on a suspect more than a month later, Itzkowitz’s loved ones are left wondering whether the killer was motivated by anti-Semitic hate. “Daddy was visibly Jewish,” Itzkowitz’s visibly emotional daughter, Leah Livshitz, told reporters gathered at the same park Thursday morning.
“He was targeted in broad daylight.”Livshitz described Kissena Park as “a quiet place” her dad “regularly visited during his lunch break.”“He was not involved in a dispute,” she said.“He was not committing any crime.
His wallet was still on him.He was simply sitting there, an Orthodox Jewish man, dressed as he was.
A rabbi going about his day.”“And 5 weeks later the NYPD has still announced no arrests.No suspects, no leads and no publicly stated motive,” the victim’s shaken daughter added.
“That is unacceptable.This is not some random crime in some random place.”The NYPD has not deemed the case a hate crime as of Thursday — adding that Itzkowitz was found in attire with “no distinguishing religious factors” that would identify him as Jewish.It appeared he was in the park to sunbathe, as he was found with a beach chair, a baseball cap and sunglasses with a crossword puzzle, according to police.Much earlier in the day, he made trips to and from his home, a synagogue, a Capitol One bank where he made a withdrawal, and a Walgreen’s, where he made a purchase, cops said. “All motives” are be...