One day after vandals hit their playground at Brooklyn's Adam Yauch Park, kids took it back Saturday, adorning a make-believe train with hearts and flowers and replacing a message of hate with one of love.
News that the park named in honor of Yauch had been vandalized caused outrage and heartbreak on social media Friday, with photos shared on social media by New York Councilman Brad Lander and others showing children playing on equipment that had been defaced by spray-painted swastikas and a "Go Trump" message.
City workers removed the graffiti last night, and police are investigating the crime at the Brooklyn Heights park that in 2013 was renamed to honor Yauch, who was known as MCA in his role as a founding member of the Beastie Boys. Yauch had played in the park as a child; he died of cancer in 2012.
Images from Saturday show the park's rightful occupiers — kids — playing on the equipment. Residents brought flowers and notes. A new message was chalked onto the playground's rubber mat: "Love Trumps Hate." Another said that the playground's train is a machine that stops fascists.
A "Stand Up Against Hate" rally will take place in the park at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, with Lander and other elected officials, including Rep. Nydia Velazquez, attending alongside religious leaders and at least one of Yauch's former bandmates.
"The Beastie Boys and Kathleen Hanna shared the rally information on social media," Pitchfork reports, adding, "Ad-Rock will be in attendance."
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