Police, Jewish neighborhood flummoxed by serial arsonist

NEW YORK -- Somebody has been burning down new homes in a New York City neighborhood populated by Bukharian Jews, and police aren't sure whether the victims are being targeted for their religion, their architectural taste or no reason at all.

Over the past six weeks, an arsonist has torched six buildings in the same tight-knit section of eastern Queens, police say. Four of the fires hit new homes that still were under construction, including one house that was burned twice.

The arsonist's motive remains a mystery. One theory is he is targeting opulent, oversized homes that have been replacing the neighborhood's modest dwellings. Another holds that the person behind the fires is simply disturbed.

At one fire scene, someone left behind an encrypted note apparently intended to throw off investigators.

Police say they don't have evidence suggesting the arsons are hate crimes, but the fact most of the victims have been Bukharian Jews, a group that fled persecution in Central Asia, has the neighborhood on edge.

"I don't know what to think," said Rabbi Zalman Zvulonov, whose future home, still under construction, was torched early Monday morning -- the second time it was targeted in three weeks. "There are only Jewish houses burning, so that tells you something. But I couldn't point a finger. I don't know."

Police held a community meeting Tuesday to solicit information and calm fears.

"The motives are -- I wish we knew," New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton told reporters Monday. "At this time, we do not think it is a terrorist act or a hate crime."