Relatives of a 75-year-old kosher bakery owner found shot dead near a Queens park lake last month said they suspected the “visibly Jewish” man was targeted in a hate crime – as investigators and kin bumped the award for any leads on the slaying to $20,000.
Albert Itzkowitz – who also served as a rabbi at a nursing home – was mysteriously found shot in the neck and back along the shoreline of Kissena Lake just before 5 p.m. May 18, and the city medical examiner’s office has since ruled the case a homicide.
With no established motive or information on a suspect more than a month later, Itzkowitz’s loved ones are left wondering whether the killer was motivated by anti-Semitic hate.
“Daddy was visibly Jewish,” Itzkowitz’s visibly emotional daughter, Leah Livshitz, told reporters gathered at the same park Thursday morning. “He was targeted in broad daylight.”
Livshitz described Kissena Park as “a quiet place” her dad “regularly visited during his lunch break.”
“He was not involved in a dispute,” she said. “He was not committing any crime. His wallet was still on him. He was simply sitting there, an Orthodox Jewish man, dressed as he was. A rabbi going about his day.”
“And 5 weeks later the NYPD has still announced no arrests. No suspects, no leads and no publicly stated motive,” the victim’s shaken daughter added. “That is unacceptable. This is not some random crime in some random place.”
The NYPD has not deemed the case a hate crime as of Thursday — adding that Itzkowitz was found in attire with “no distinguishing religious factors” that would identify him as Jewish.
It appeared he was in the park to sunbathe, as he was found with a beach chair, a baseball cap and sunglasses with a crossword puzzle, according to police.
Much earlier in the day, he made trips to and from his home, a synagogue, a Capitol One bank where he made a withdrawal, and a Walgreen’s, where he made a purchase, cops said.
“All motives” are being explored during the investigation, police added, noting that Crime Stoppers has been handing out flyers for weeks, and the department’s scuba team has been scouring the lake.
Tzvi Yonie Itzkowitz, 34, the victim’s youngest son, said the family is matching Crime Stoppers’ award of $10,000 for any information leading to an arrest in the case – for a total of $20,000.
“The police estimate there could have been 200, 300 people here. It’s a very large park,” Itzkowitz said. “They’re asking that anyone who saw anything or knows anything to come forward.”
The family was baffled when investigators tried to piece together whether anyone may have had personal issues with Itzkowitz.
“When the police were asking us, ‘Does he have any enemies? Does he have any neighbors who he had troubles with?’, we all were crying,” his son said. “But at the same time we started laughing out loud and everyone started smiling, ‘Enemies?’ The thought is comical to us. He was the sweetest, kindest man. So nice and lovely to everyone.”
Itzkowitz, of Kew Gardens Hills, owned the G&I Kosher Bakery on Main Street, a neighborhood institution for several years before it shut down. He was also a volunteer EMT, according to his daughter.
Outside of work, Itzkowitz was deeply dedicated to his family, including his wife, who passed away April 30, a couple weeks before his murder, Livshitz said.
“Daddy was a family man. He was a devoted husband,” his daughter said. “And he was the greatest father and grandfather we could have asked for. He never missed a school function. He never missed a family milestone. And he treated every grandchild as if they were the most important person in the world.”
“That is why it is so impossible to comprehend that a man who spent his entire life caring for others could be taken from us in such a violent and senseless way.”
Local politicians issued passionate calls Thursday for the community to step in with any information on the slaying.
“Somebody must have seen and heard something,” said State Senator John Liu. “So I appreciate the family stepping up the reward money but members of our public. The members of our community here should be stepping up no matter what.”
“Number one there is a killer at large,” he added. “And it makes it dangerous for all of us and our families.”
A total of 41 confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes were reported in the Big Apple last month — more than a 70 percent jump from the 24 counted in May of 2025, NYPD data shows.
From January through May, 152 anti-Semitic crimes were reported, up from the 143 tallied during the same span last year.