NY commuter who led cleanup of anti-Semitic graffiti receives ADL award

JTA – The New York commuter who led several others on a Manhattan subway to clean away anti-Semitic graffiti with hand sanitizer is being honored by the Anti-Defamation League.

Jared Nied, 37, will receive ADL’s Stand Up New Yorker Award, which recognizes city residents for taking immediate action to help those being singled out for bigotry, or initiating efforts to denounce hate. Evan Bernstein, director of the ADL New York region, will presented Nied with the award Feb. 15.

Nied’s actions went viral after one of the commuters described the scene from the night of Feb. 4 on Facebook.

“The train was silent as everyone stared at each other, uncomfortable and unsure what to do,” Gregory Locke wrote in his post. “One guy got up and said, ‘Hand sanitizer gets rid of Sharpie. We need alcohol.’ He found some tissues and got to work.”

Nied, who works as a sous chef in New York, also posted about the incident on Facebook that night.