NYC precinct council prez Robert Josman blasted for removing Israeli hostage posters: ‘Overt hatred'

Yahoo

29-03-2025

The head of a police community group in one of NYC's most Jewish neighborhoods tore down posters of missing Israeli hostages, disturbing footage shows.
Robert Josman, longtime president and treasurer of the 24th Precinct Community Council on the Upper West Side, was filmed cutting down the posters at least twice since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attacks.
Josman, 59, was filmed earlier this month ripping down the signs while walking a dog, video shows.
And in October, he was confronted by two people when he used a pair of scissors to cut the flyers off a pole, footage shows.
Without identifying himself, he argued it was illegal to post anything on NYC property and said he had consulted with the police precinct — but admitted he didn't work for the city, according to the video, which has been shared widely online.
Curiously, Josman hasn't removed any other signage that clutters poles across the neighborhood, critics noted.
A coalition of Upper West Siders is now calling for Josman be booted from his volunteer role as head the council, which primarily advises NYPD police precincts on local issues and makes recommendations for new commanders
'Mr. Josman — whose role is to foster community and police cooperation — has directly undermined his own role by demonstrating overt hatred toward an ethnic group within the city community,' the group wrote in a letter to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and the NYPD brass.
'This selective enforcement to address only the hostage posters while leaving other signage intact makes plain that Mr. Josman is not focused on protecting lampposts, but is instead determined to inflict hatred by spiting the Jewish and Israeli communities in his neighborhood.'
The group is also calling for mandatory anti-discrimination training for all public servants, such as precinct council members.
'Tearing down hostage posters is a despicable act — an attempt to erase awareness of the kidnappings and shield Hamas from public outrage over its violence,' Brooke Goldstein, founder of the #EndJewHatred movement, told The Post.
'Such behavior, especially while hostages, including Edan Alexander, an American from New Jersey, still remain in the clutches of Hamas terrorists and are being tortured and abused every day, reflects an alarming level of hostility toward Jewish people and contradicts fundamental moral values,' Goldstein added, calling on Josman to step down.
Last year, the 24th Precinct saw 21 hate crime incidents reported — the fifth highest total out of the city's 78 precincts, according to NYPD data. The same number of incidents were reported in 2023, a jump of 35% from the previous year, the data show.
Behind Brooklyn, Manhattan is home to the second highest population of Jewish people in Gotham, with 54,000 Jewish adults on the Upper West Side, second most in the borough after the Lower East Side's 57,000 according to studies.
Josman did not respond to an inquiry from The Post. The NYPD did not comment on the allegations and said it had no complaints related to Josman on file.