The purple flag, which included "NYU" and the Star of David next to the Nazi symbol, was raised on a flagpole over the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development – a building that overlooks a park where a graduation ceremony was planned last week.
The Jewish family whose name adorns the building was reportedly "horrified" by the display of antisemitic hate and has called for justice.
NYU Hillel leadership called the display hateful and fear-inducing, arguing it reflects a broader normalization of antisemitism on campus and makes Jewish students feel unsafe.
Campus Reform's Zachary Marschall, who graduated from NYU, says the flag was a very visible statement for the intended audience.
"While the flag itself is despicable and hard to stomach, as a Jewish American, I have to give credit to NYU for responding appropriately and swiftly," he tells AFN. "They got it down in 15 minutes and are investigating it."
Considering where NYU was in 2024 with antisemitic protests, he thinks the university has taken a big step in the right direction.
"We have to see the silver lining in all this," Marschall submits. "This is something I don't think they would have done this well two years ago."
As for the responsible party's antisemitism, he recognizes "the ugly truth" is that such hate is "eternal."
"It is never going to be fully eradicated anywhere, so, we have to look at how it's squashed and combated for signs of hope," Marschall states.
He also cautions people against automatically assuming it was someone in the NYU community. New York City is very densely populated, and anyone with a will to do this heinous act could have found a way onto the top of that building.
"I think it's important to note that this happened after a professor at GW (George Washington University) saw antisemitic remarks, and we also saw some examples of antisemitic protests from students at graduation ceremonies across the country," Marschall adds.
The swastika was a positive, sacred symbol for centuries before being redefined by the Nazis in the 20th century. After appearing in early German nationalist circles following World War I, it was officially adopted by the Nazi Party in 1920 and incorporated into their flag design by Adolf Hitler as a black swastika on a red background.
Nazi ideologues falsely associated the symbol with an “Aryan” racial identity, despite its ancient origins in South Asia, where it remains sacred in religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. By appropriating and reinterpreting the symbol for their racial ideology, the Nazis transformed it into one of the world’s most controversial emblems for antisemitism, persecution and mass murder.
