Three businesses in Hewlett were vandalized overnight on June 9 in what some community members are calling a string of antisemitic attacks.
At 2:57 a.m., police responded to a report of a tow truck on fire at Avi’s Auto Center on West Broadway. The fire later spread to the building’s office.
At 5:32 a.m., officers were called to ASAP Restoration, also on West Broadway, where the business’s front window had been smashed.
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 local residents, the Nassau County Police Department said the three incidents do not appear to be connected and are not currently being investigated as hate crimes, according to the department’s Public Information Office.
Moshe Bodner, co-founder of the Israel Chesed Center, said the community must remain vigilant.
“We got a call this morning from someone in the community who drove by and saw this banner,” Bodner said. “I found out later that 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.”
An expanded story will appear in next week’s edition of the Herald.
