CITY HALL -- A milling machine and a member of its road crew displayed neo-Nazi symbolism while on the job for National Grid in Great Kills on Wednesday.

South Shore City Council candidate Dylan Schwartz saw the machine and crew working outside his campaign headquarters and informed the Advance.

National Grid later confirmed the symbolism was displayed by a contractor's crew and that the iconography and messages have been removed.

"This is not a southern, Charlottesville, 'Deep South' issue," Schwartz said. "There's flagrant and even covert anti-Semitism and racism proudly on display in our communities."

Schwartz said he staffers spotted the machine outside campaign headquarters, located at 55 Lindenwood Rd., around 11:50 a.m. before the crew moved to nearby Amboy Road and eventually left later in the afternoon.

Photos taken by Schwartz and provided to the Advance show the machine with an Iron Cross decal on the side next to another sticker reading, "DEAR ISIS, SEE YOU SOON! THE INFIDELS." Beneath that was a campaign sticker for President Donald Trump.

A hardhat worn by a worker had several stickers relating to German pride, according to Schwartz. Photos were too blurry for the Advance to read those stickers, but Schwartz said one clearly read, "white 88 German attitude." The worker appeared to be white.

The Iron Cross and the number 88 are both considered hate symbols by the Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, in certain contexts.

The WIRTGEN "W120 CFi" "compact milling machine" had a New York Paving logo.

Messages left with New York Paving, based in Long Island City in Queens, were unreturned on Thursday.

Permits for road milling and paving are routinely issued by the city so that cuts can be made in the street for utility and other work.

National Grid had an active permit for work on Amboy Road between Lindenwood Road and Nolan Avenue, according to the city Department of Transportation.

"Once this was brought to our attention, we immediately addressed the situation with our contractor, New York Paving, who has since removed the iconography and messages from the vehicle in question," National Grid spokesman Domenick Graziani said. "In addition, we inspected the crew's hard hats to ensure no other messages of this kind were on display. One of our company's core values is inclusion and diversity, and we do not tolerate hateful sentiment towards others -- it's against everything we stand for."

THE SYMBOLS

The Iron Cross is a German military medal from the 19th Century and, taken alone, may not be considered a hate symbol, according to the ADL. The cross is sometimes used in non-racist contexts in the United States, like by skateboarders. The medal was last revived by Adolf Hitler, but the badge at that time included a swastika. The machine's Iron Cross decal didn't have a swastika.

The ADL notes, "an Iron Cross in isolation (i.e., without a superimposed swastika or without other accompanying hate symbols) cannot be determined to be a hate symbol."

The number 88 is "one of the most common white supremacist symbols," according to the ADL. (In some cases, like NASCAR, the number is non-extremist.)

"88 is a white supremacist numerical code for 'Heil Hitler.' H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so 88 = HH = Heil Hitler," according to the ADL. "One of the most common white supremacist symbols, 88 is used throughout the entire white supremacist movement, not just neo-Nazis."

On Saturday, violence erupted after a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other extremists gathered in Charlottesville, Va. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Two state troopers were also killed in a helicopter crash while on patrol during the demonstrations.

'IT HAS NO PLACE HERE'

Schwartz said what he saw doesn't represent the South Shore he knows and wants to represent for in the Council.

"There's this perception that the community that we live in is racist, homophobic and intolerant, and that's never been the community I've known," he said. "The reason I'm calling this out is because it has no place here. That is not representative of the community I am seeking to represent."

Schwartz is running against incumbent Republican Councilman Joseph Borelli. His campaign headquarters opened July 30. The night before seeing the milling truck, he held a South Shore town hall with members of Local 3, which represents members Spectrum employees on strike.

Schwartz is gay and of both Jewish and Catholic descent. He said his grandfather -- who was German, Russian and Jewish -- fled to the United States in 1949 as a displaced person and survived the Holocaust.

"You're asking me if I'm afraid, what do I have to be afraid of?" Schwartz told the Advance after being asked if he is concerned of retaliation for calling out the symbolism.

"If there is extremism and hatred, it's here already. It's not going to be any less here because I found out about it. And if I become a target for it, then perhaps it's not going to get targeted at someone else," Schwartz continued. "Leadership is standing up to that. It's putting yourself in the path of that kind of danger or extremism so that other people can be safe. If it's targeted toward me, well then I know what I'm going to see is the community and compassionate folks that I've always known in this community standing up against it. This is not who we are. This has never been who we are. And that's, somewhat, the tale of the South Shore -- this presumption that everyone here is racist or homophobic and that has never been what I've lived."