Residents on edge after swings burned at Queens playground

QUEENS - The burning of a swing set at a playground in Kew Gardens set a community on edge this weekend.

Police say a set of swings were intentionally set on fire at Queens Valley Playground early Saturday morning.

The playground is next to P.S. 164 and is used by children from the school and others from the surrounding neighborhood, which is predominantly Jewish.

That, in addition to the fact that the vandalism happened on the Sabbath, led to concerns that the incident was an act of anti-Semitism. However, Queens City Councilman Jim Gennaro says that that doesn't appear to be the case. 

The Parks Department removed and replaced the swings early Monday morning.

Councilman Gennaro says authorities told him the suspect appears to be an emotionally disturbed person who is known to the local precinct officers. 

"They have some suspicion of who it might be, and they're going to follow those leads down," Gennaro said.