Sunday, October 4, 2026
Over a week after three businesses along West Broadway and Peninsula Boulevard in Hewlett were vandalized, the Nassau County Police Department has not classified the incidents as hate crimes, but the community continues to feel their impact.
Police responded to a report of a tow truck on fire at Avi’s Auto Center on West Broadway just before 3 a.m. on June 9. The fire later spread to the building’s office.
According to the NCPD’s Public Information Office, the Hewlett Fire Department and neighboring departments responded, and no injuries were reported. The Nassau County fire marshal and the Arson Bomb Squad also answered the call.
At 5:32 a.m. the same day, officers were called to ASAP Restoration, also on West Broadway, where the front window had been smashed. And at 7 a.m., police responded to a report of a large banner hanging on the fence of the Israel Chesed Center, on Peninsula Boulevard. The banner read, “50,000 Dead Gazan Kids.”
Despite concern among residents in the predominantly Jewish communities, the NCPD said that the incidents did not appear to be connected, and were not being investigated as hate crimes.
Moshe Bodner, a co-founder of the Chesed Center, said later that day that residents must remain vigilant. “We got a call this morning from someone in the community who drove by and saw this banner,” Bodner recounted. “I found out later those two other incidents had happened in the middle of the night. Obviously, there are a lot of bad things going on around the country and even around New York state, but Nassau County, we believe, is a very safe place. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has made safety and security a top priority not only for the Jewish people, but for everybody. But I guess because the Jewish people are under attack, he’s made it his number one priority.”
The Chesed Center later took to social media, inviting residents to create lemahh cards, a personal prayer card, with messages of personal commitments to Israel, which they will put on the banner until the message is no longer visible.
“Our holy center was vandalized,” the center wrote on a Facebook story post. “The perpetrators thought they were sending a message — one of fear, one aligned with a global propaganda machine that dares to vilify a nation still mourning its murdered and still fighting for the return of its kidnapped — 614 days later.”
Local government officials weighed in on the incidents, clarifying their details. Blakeman posted a statement reiterating that they were unrelated, and commended the NCPD for its investigation.
“There has been a tremendous amount of conjecture about three events this past weekend in Hewlett,” Blakeman wrote. “First, the three events are not related. Second, the fire and broken window incidents do not appear to be hate or bias-related. Finally our Police Department does an outstanding job of protecting our community and will continue to devote every resource available to keep us safe.”
Assemblyman Ari Brown, who represents the area, also released a statement to the Herald, saying that the vandalism was still being actively investigated, and that he remained committed to fighting antisemitism.
“While investigators now confirm the fire and window-smashing were driven by personal grievances — and not bias crimes — the hateful banner remains under review for antisemitic intent,” Brown wrote. “As your state representative, I have authored nine bills to toughen hate-crime penalties, mandate bias-awareness training for law enforcement, expand Holocaust and anti-bias education, and require transparent statewide reporting of all bias incidents — but the Democrat majority leadership continues to stall every one. It’s time for Albany to stop talking and start acting: bring these bills to the floor, hold perpetrators fully accountable, and send a clear message that hatred has no home in New York.”
Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, who also represents the area, released a statement to the Herald emphasizing that public safety must remain a top priority in Nassau County and nationwide.
“From targeted hate crimes meant to intimidate our friends and neighbors to random acts of violence and vandalism, it is clear that criminals have felt emboldened by policies that have come out of Albany in recent years,” Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick said. “Elected officials across the state and the country need to make it clear that public safety is a top priority, and that all of our friends and neighbors have a right to feel safe, regardless of their religious beliefs and ethnic background. We are fortunate in Nassau County to know our local leaders take these issues seriously, and we will do everything we can to promote public safety in our communities.”
Young Israel of Woodmere, the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in the Five Towns, echoed Blakeman’s and Brown’s sentiments.
“Based on the best available information, the banner placed at the Chesed Center appears unrelated to the fire at 5 Towns Auto and the broken window at ASAP Restoration,” the synagogue wrote in a statement read. “Those two incidents are being investigated as criminal matters and not bias-related. We thank our Rabbi and security team for their immediate and thorough response.”
Young Israel added that residents should remain hopeful and united. “Our only hope for victory — locally and globally — is through unity,” the statement read. “No act of hatred will deter us.”
Have an opinion on the vandalism in Hewlett? Email mberman@liherald.com.
