Albany community arts center hit with hate speech graffiti
Police describe suspect as unknown African-American woman
The Grand Street Community Arts Center was vandalized with a racial epithet directed at Black people and the term “Life is Horrible.”
Albany police said they learned that an unknown suspect described as an AfricanAmerican woman damaged the building sometime Friday afternoon. Their investigation is continuing.
Executive Director Ta-sean Murdock, speaking earlier in the day before police said they had an unknown suspect, said he felt dismayed when he first found out about the incident. The words were painted in blue.
“I think it’s unfortunate that someone would deface a building — and in an area where the majority of people of color and minorities live,” Murdock said while at the center Saturday morning. “It’s not appropriate, and it’s unfair to the community members in this neighborhood that someone would go out of their way to do that.”
Murdock says a cleanup effort will take place on Grand Street at 1 p.m Sunday.
As well as its arts functions, the center, located in a former church on 68 Grand St. near Madison Avenue, has hosted discussions about civic issues such as a “Know Your Rights” event last year. It was part of an effort to collect items for families burned out during a massive fire on Myrtle Avenue in the summer of 2019.
Murdock said this is the first time the building has experienced this type of explicitly hateful vandalism, but he hopes the cleanup on Sunday helps people unify. “We need to remember that our words matter,” he said.