Vandals attack heart of Roosevelt community
FDR monument pedestal may need to be replaced
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer

JENNIFER KOHLHEPP The borough of Roosevelt covered the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial pedestal after vandals defaced it with spray-painted graffiti including the words "Ted is better."

ROOSEVELT- The Franklin D. RooseveltMemorial in the center of town was defaced with spray paint last week.

The New Jersey State Police continue to investigate the vandalism, which also occurred on two Farm Lane traffic signs and near the loading area of the town's post office.Authorities also have reason to believe that graffiti discovered on a traffic sign on Etra Road near Etra Lake in East Windsor and on a fountain/monument at the intersection of South Main Street and Mercer Street in Hightstown may be related to the Roosevelt incidents.

The vandalism incidents in all three towns along Route 571 occurred between 10 p.m. Jan. 8 and 6 a.m. Jan. 9.

Acting Postmaster Rochelle Shipman discovered the graffiti on the post office when she arrived for work prior to 7 a.m. Jan. 9, and crossing guard Kelly Mitchell discovered the graffiti on the monument shortly after, according to Roosevelt Mayor Elsbeth "Beth" Battel.

The mayor said seeing the vandalism made her feel sick.

"To destroy our monument, our memorial to Roosevelt." she said. "That's the symbol of our whole town."

The Roosevelt memorial, created by resident Jonathan Shahn, consists of a 5-foot tall bronze bust of the president, which stands atop an approximately 8 1/2- foot pedestal. The monument is located off Route 571 on the grounds of Roosevelt Public School as part of the community park and amphitheater the town created to honor its namesake. Eleanor Roosevelt had attended the dedication of the memorial.

The vandals spray-painted "Ted is better," a hammer and a sickle, "Commie," disparaging comments about gays and a reference to the Depression - in addition to what officials believe was initially a swastika that was later altered into a box with a plus sign - on all four sides of the pedestal of the memorial, which on the front contains the words "Franklin Delano Roosevelt in homage" in gold gilding.

When asked for an estimated cost of the damage, Battel said, "It's hard to project.

"I've been told the paint cannot be easily removed or removed at all from the monument because of the granite surface of the pedestal," she said. "The surface absorbs the paint, which may retain the graffiti's image in the stone."

Battel said that the borough's Department of Public Works (DPW) covered the pedestal of the monument with a tarp so passers-by and schoolchildren do not have to look at the graffiti. She said the DPW will also further look into how it could remove the spray paint.

"It's not just a matter of washing the paint off," she said. "It's going to require some treatment or replacement of the granite. We have to get an estimate."

Battel said that the Roosevelt post office has already painted over the graffiti on its wall facing Farm Lane. Just traces of the graffiti that was spray-painted on the ramp of the post office's loading area can still be seen stating "[expletive] GWB."

Battel said at least four different colors of spray-paint were used and that the subject matter of some of the graffiti

hearkens back to the type of things people used to say about Roosevelt 70 years ago when the town was established as Jersey Homesteads.

"There were references to the Great Depression and references to FDR," she said. "There were references to communism, the Star of David, references to gays including the word - I don't want to say it, but I'll spell it out - f-a-g-g-o-t."

She continued, "There's a lot of dispensed hatred such as 'I hate this, that and the other thing.' There's a hammer and sickle as well, which all lead me to believe that it's someone older and not children involved."

Roosevelt was developed during the Depression as one of the 99 New Deal communities established in the 1930s. The federal government created the town as an experiment in community and economic planning that helped relieve industrial unemployment and overcrowding in urban areas through the relocation of workers, who were mostly Jewish garment workers, to the rural area.

Battel said the vandal or vandals expressed such hatred for the town "that whether or not they live in town, I cannot say."

"I can say that they have no respect for the finer things, for the things so important to this town, or for the people of this town or the values of this town," she said.

Battel said that if the police do identify the vandals, the town would "absolutely" recoup the costs of the damage.

"I certainly hope that the police find the perpetrator(s) soon and that this sort of thing does not continue to go on," she said.

In a town that has numerous venues including a public bulletin board where people are allowed to vent their frustrations on all sorts of topics, Roosevelt Public School Principal Shari Payson found it hard to believe that someone would vandalize the town monument to express their opinions.

"Whether people agree or disagree with the town, a belief, a religion or a group of people, I hope that they can find other venues to express their disagreement and certainly not deface property," Payson said.

Payson said the memorial is borough property and the vandalism is therefore not a Board of Education issue. She said the school would assist the borough in any way that it could.

The state police remain uncertain as to how many people were involved in the vandalism incidents. The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office is treating the vandalism as an overt bias crime, which carries more severe penalties than vandalism.

Battel said that anyone with information regarding the incidents is encouraged to call her at (609) 448-7701 or the New Jersey State Police, Hamilton Station, at (609) 584-5015.