More than a month after a Jewish baker who also served as a rabbi was found shot to death near a lake in a Queens park, investigators are still trying to solve the troubling case.
Albert Itzkowitz, 75, was killed in broad daylight on May 18 along the shoreline of Kissena Lake, where police said he suffered gunshot wounds to his neck and back.
His body was discovered shortly before 5 p.m., setting off an investigation that has left his family and community searching for answers.
NYPD officials have said investigators are looking into “all motives” and have not ruled anything out, including the possibility that Itzkowitz was targeted in an antisemitic hate crime.
“He didn’t have any enemies. You can write that down,” his grieving son, Moshe Oelbaum, told The Post in the days after the killing.
Police have pieced together what appear to have been the ordinary final hours of Itzkowitz’s life, up until the deadly encounter with an unknown attacker or attackers.
Itzkowitz, an observant Jew who worked as a rabbi at a nursing home, left his Kew Gardens Hills home shortly before 6:15 a.m., according to police.
He spent about two hours at a synagogue before heading to a Capital One bank, where investigators said he made a withdrawal around 9 a.m.
Shortly after 10 a.m., Itzkowitz returned home and briefly went outside around 10:55 a.m. for a minute before going back indoors, police said.
He left his home for a final time at 11 a.m. and walked over to a Walgreens, where he made a purchase.
Video footage shows Izkowitz’s car approaching Kissena Park – a forested haven with a picturesque lake – a few minutes before 11:30 a.m., cops said.
His daughter, Leah Livshitz, said during a press conference Thursday that the park was a quiet place her dad “regularly visited during his lunch break.”
Police said Izkowitz was in the park to sunbathe, as he was found with a beach chair, a baseball cap and sunglasses with a crossword puzzle.
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Whatever happened between Izkowitz’s arrival and the discovery of his body roughly five hours later remains unknown.
Police seemingly have no motive or suspects — and their queries about whether anyone had personal issues with Itzkowitz have only baffled his family.
“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 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.
His family on Thursday gathered at the park with local elected officials to announce a new reward, as they raised the potential that he was the target of antisemitic hate.
“Daddy was visibly Jewish,” an emotional Livshitz said.
But police have noted Itzkowitz was found in attire with “no distinguishing religious factors” that would identify him as Jewish.
The NYPD has not deemed the case a hate crime, but officials said they haven’t ruled it out.
Until then, police are still searching for leads.
Tzvi Yonie Itzkowitz, 34, the victim’s youngest son, said the family was 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.”
– Additional reporting by Georgett Roberts, Kevin Sheehan and Amanda Woods
