Queens Man In Hitler Image Fracas Faces Fresh Hate Crime Charge

QUEENS, NY — A Queens man who once displayed images of Hitler in his building's lobby yet again faces accusations he terrorized neighbors with hateful messages, authorities said.

Neal Milano, 76, scrawled "Kill Hamas Condo Board," along with homophobic and anti-woman slurs, in graffiti that defaced walls on four floors of his Sunnyside condo building, prosecutors said.

The graffiti prompted an indictment against Milano, who was arraigned Thursday on 10 counts, including criminal mischief as a hate crime.

"Hateful and bias-motivated attacks have no place in our communities and this shameful aggression will not be tolerated," said Melinda Katz, district attorney for Queens, in a statement.

Milano is no stranger to accusations that he loves to hate.

Tenants inside the 39th Place building in 2017 alerted NY1 that Milano, who was then the property manager, had displayed pictures of Hitler, Mussolini, a swastika and a Confederate flag in the lobby. They also accused him of threatening tenants and imposing outlandish fees such as $200 for not properly folding cardboard headed to recycling, NY1 reported.

Milano maintained the imagery was part of a historical display, the New York Post reported.

The fracas escalated with Milano's arrest on accusations he harassed a tenant and concluded with a dismissal of charges, the Post reported.

The new case stems from a Nov. 2 incident in which Milano is accused of using a black permanent marker to write hateful graffiti on eight walls in the same building, prosecutors said.

He faces up to seven years in prison, if convicted.