On an otherwise harmonious afternoon in the middle of March, a shocking act of vandalism defaced a monument at one of Brooklyn’s most beloved institutions. The place: the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Celebrity Path, a little-known walkway by the Japanese Garden whose stones bear the names of artists, athletes, and other notable people with ties to the borough. The target: the stone honoring the notorious lawyer and self-described "good Brooklyn boy" Alan Dershowitz.
Hell Gate learned of the unexpected attack on Dershowitz's stone via an anonymous email tip. "I write to inform you of an ongoing incident at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which I think may be of interest to your team and readers," the tipster began, alerting us to what he described as "a vile presence" on the path. "In March, another resident of Brooklyn quietly took action to try to remove this small monument from public view," they continued, attaching two evidentiary images. In the first photo, Dershowitz's stone is seen smeared with a grainy gray substance that completely obscures his name. In the second, his name is restored, the plaque marred by a green tint that suggests damage from the use of corrosive chemicals in the removal.
A recent visit to the garden by a Hell Gate reporter confirmed the continued presence of the restored stone, and its slight difference from its uncontroversial neighbors—children's author Maurice Sendak, basketball legend Connie Hawkins, and actor Joe Bologna. (A marker notes that the people honored on the Celebrity Path are meant to "encourage all Brooklynites to follow in their path of excellence.")
Until 1995, Dershowitz was known as a bestselling author and professor (now emeritus) at Harvard Law School. That year, he began a climb to notoriety by providing legal support to a series of famous men accused of extreme violence against women: O.J. Simpson, Mike Tyson, Jeffrey Epstein, and Harvey Weinstein. He also defended Donald Trump in the former president's first impeachment trial, having previously won or influenced clemency petitions from the administration for clients convicted of bank fraud, illegal campaign contributions, and child sex trafficking.
Who had the chutzpah to carry out this act of vigilante justice? We replied to the tipster and learned, shockingly, that he and the vandal are one and the same. In exchange for anonymity, he told all.
The tipster/vigilante, whom we're calling Paul, is a frequent visitor to the Garden who found the Celebrity Path several years ago on one of his many rambles. Initially, he was "pleasantly surprised by the curatorial quality" of the selections, particularly Max Roach and Betty Carter. "And then I came across the Dershowitz stone, and I thought, well, this is kind of insane," he said. "I was displeased and vexed that the garden would honor someone with a history of aiding and abetting extremely powerful people who commit huge acts of violence against women."
Paul, like most botanic garden appreciators, had no idea the path existed until he stumbled upon it. Maps of the garden do not include it, and it is not a particularly intuitive or picturesque way to travel through the grounds. It arrived in 1985 at the behest of then-Borough President Howard Golden, arguably the originator of Brooklyn-as-brand, and the path has since grown to include 151 names, most of which were added through the years on the now-defunct Brooklyn-Queens Day celebration.
(Zoë Beery / Hell Gate)
Dershowitz's stone now appears to be a vestigial monument that no one wants to take responsibility for. Elizabeth Reina-Longoria, a Brooklyn Botanic Garden spokesperson, told Hell Gate that the garden has no record of when or why Dershowitz's name was added to the path, and referred a reporter to the office of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. Reynoso's office said that procuring those records would take four months.
"In recent times, certain path designees have come under scrutiny by members of the garden's public who have requested their removal," said Reina-Longoria. Upon further questioning, she confirmed that "certain" really means "two"—Dershowitz and Woody Allen. She also referred questions about who had the power to take names off the path to the borough president's office. Isabel Shepherd, a Reynoso spokesperson, countered that the office "has no formal role in the management of the Celebrity Path, and Borough President Antonio Reynoso has had no involvement in the project." Prior coverage of the path by Brooklyn Paper suggests the selection process was a direct collaboration between the botanic garden and the borough president's office. Both spokespeople rejected that description.
Once Paul joined the small circle of garden patrons aware of the path, the Dershowitz stone, which he began calling the "Dershstone," became a prickling nuisance during his otherwise serene visits to the garden, poking at the recesses of Paul's consciousness even on days when he didn't walk the path.
But he was not compelled to act until Dershowitz, who for decades has been an omnipresent cheerleader for Israel's apartheid regime, began commenting on Israel's bombardment of Gaza. Since October 7, when Dershowitz is not evangelizing on podcasts and TV interviews about Israel's campaign, he's posting about it almost daily on his Substack. Essay topics have included his equation of Palestinian civilians slaughtered by Israel with everyday Germans complicit in the Holocaust; calling the IDF's well-documented targeting of aid workers a "conspiracy theory"; and arguing that Israel has done more than any other entity, including pro-Palestine activists and the United Nations's agency for Palestinian refugees, to support and protect Palestinians. Through it all, he has diligently conflated anti-Zionism with antisemitism. "His frothing, fervent support for Israel's genocidal offensive was the final straw," Paul said. "Something had to be done to restore peace to the garden."
With no background in property damage techniques, Paul consulted with an art conservationist friend about how best to deface the Dershstone. Corrosive chemicals risked injuring Paul and unwitting visitors; opaque epoxy would require onsite mixing, a process too protracted and obvious for Paul's purposes, and plus, the epoxy would take too long to harden. Paint would likely pool around the letters instead of covering them. Eventually, Paul settled on quick-set concrete, which requires no mixing, takes about 30 minutes to set to the touch, and would blend in with the surrounding stone if Paul applied it artfully. His method determined, he simply had to wait for a day with favorable conditions: a high of at least 50 degrees, with no rain in the coming forecast that would disrupt the concrete hardening process.
One day in late March, Paul woke up to a promising forecast, and decided to pull the trigger. He rode his bike to a Home Depot and picked up the concrete and a trowel. He dropped them into his bag, on top of a stencil and spray paint he'd brought in case he decided to execute a newly developed, second part of the plan. "I'd had the thought, if I had time the same day or the vandalism stuck around for a while, that the ultimate act of justice would be to replace Alan Dershowitz's name with Norman Finkelstein's name," he said. Finkelstein, a Brooklyn-born, anti-Zionist academic, has feuded with Dershowitz over Israel for more than 20 years, with the two publishing competing books and Dershowitz pressuring DePaul University to deny Finkelstein tenure in 2007.
Supplies gathered, Paul rode to the garden, locked his bike nearby, put on a hat and sunglasses, and paid for his ticket in cash. It was 5 p.m. The garden would close in an hour. He wasted no time in reaching his target, but discovered upon arrival that other visitors occupied a nearby bench. He spent the next 30 minutes half-paying attention to a book, waiting for the bystanders to leave. Once the coast was clear, he pried off the plastic lid of the concrete tub, stabbed in the trowel, and got to work. "I did it as quickly as I could, but also taking care to make sure it was relatively nice and looked purposeful, which took about a minute and a half," he said. With time slipping away and the threat of being discovered ever-present, Paul chose not to apply the Finkelstein stencil. The deed complete, he took a different exit out of the garden, ditched his supplies in a sidewalk trash can, and rode home.
Despite the temptation to check in on his work, he chose not to return to the scene. "I had too much heat on me," he said. Friends to whom he'd divulged his plan occasionally texted congratulatory photos of the concrete still intact. Then, one day in April, a friend's photo showed Dershowitz’s stone restored. "I kind of expected it, but I was devastated," he said.
When reached by phone, Dershowitz remembered being elated when the garden invited him to his stone-setting ceremony at the path. "I was very honored by having my name in a place that I respect," he said. He was annoyed but philosophical about the defacement, of which he was unaware until a Hell Gate reporter informed him of the incident. "It must have been about Israel," he said of the timing. "People have a right to step on me. They don't have the right to paint over me. But they have the right to step on me. And, you know, that's part of being a public figure who advocates controversial positions."
Reina-Longoria, the Garden spokesperson, told Hell Gate that the garden dealt with the vandalism as a maintenance issue and does not plan to investigate it further. "We are reevaluating the management of the path, as well as the criteria by which notable Brooklynites are selected, honored, and retained," she added, a process she said was already underway when Paul made his visit.
Paul said that he would theoretically do it again, but has no plans for another hit. "I have a hard time imagining what I could do that would be more permanent," he said. "Set in stone is a real thing, especially bronze set in stone. But I'm glad that the garden knows there's at least one member of the public who's unhappy with this."
It’s not clear whether the alleged “apartheid” and “slaughter” (by Israel) are the article’s writer statements or she is quoting “ Paul”, which she didn’t make clear. Words matter. Those terms are defamatory. There’s no apartheid whatsoever in Israel and slaughter is what Hamas did on 10/7 and what it plans for its citizens. Israel never intended to harm Gazans and didn’t start the war.
It’s not clear whether the alleged “apartheid” and “slaughter” (by Israel) are the article’s writer statements or she is quoting “ Paul”, which she didn’t make clear. Words matter. Those terms are defamatory. There’s no apartheid whatsoever in Israel and slaughter is what Hamas did on 10/7 and what it plans for its citizens. Israel never intended to harm Gazans and didn’t start the war.
So sorry these hate filled pretentious people continue to mock and harass you