By Mike Schnitzel
State Assemblyman Thomas Alfano (R - North Valley Stream) announced on Monday that Governor George E. Pataki had signed into law a bill making it a Class E felony to commit a hate crime.
"I'm proud that this bipartisan effort made this bill law," said Alfano. "Hate crime has no place in our communities."
The bill, which was co-sponsored by Assemblyman William Colton (D-Brooklyn) , makes it a hate crime to put a swastika on public property or to burn a cross on public property or a private building in public view without the owner's permission. The maximum penalty for such crimes under the new law would be one to three years in prison or five years probation.
Prior to passage of the bill, a hate crime such as graffiti on a garage door would have been classified as intentional damage of property - a Class A misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of a $250 fine, said Scott Cushing, Alfano's chief of staff.
Alfano helped to introduce the legislation into the State Assembly after an incident in which a North Valley Stream family had swastikas and racially offensive graffiti spray painted onto the garage door of their Frances Drive home prior to their moving in.
"I definitely support this move," said Lee Burke in an interview with the Herald when the bill was proposed. "I think it deserves more than the old penalty because [such racial discrimination] upsets the apple cart of society."
Burke and her family were the victims of the act that inspired Alfano to co-sponsor the hate crime bill. Burke's home was vandalized on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, before her family had moved in. According to police, the racially offensive graffiti had been sprayed on the garage door some time between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Burke said that personnel from Nassau County Building Maintenance arrived at her house the next day and removed the graffiti. The Burke family has since moved into the home.
Carlton Thomas was the recipient of similar treatment on Frances Drive about two-and-a-half years ago. A native of Jamaica, Thomas had just moved to North Valley Stream from Rosedale with his wife and two young children. When a contractor who had arrived to do minor work on his house arrived at the home on Nov. 18, 2003, he saw swastikas and racially charged graffiti spray-painted on the garage door.
Comments about this story? FSeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 240.
