By Mike Schnitzel
Lee Burke, 45, a vice president at a Manhattan financial firm, said that she, her husband Roy, 43, a mortgage broker who owns his own business in Brooklyn, and their three children, Chell, 12, Jonell, 10, and Chanell, 4, are almost done with their move. "We're hoping we can move in next week," said Burke. "We won't have furniture or anything, but we'll have our beds and carpets under our feet."
According to Burke, community members have been reaching out to the family since the incident occurred, offering their support and welcoming them. "We've gotten a lot of letters from well wishers, people saying we can move into their neighborhood anytime," Burke said.
Residents expressed sympathy and were disheartened that the incident occurred in their neighborhood. "That doesn't reflect the attitudes of this neighborhood," said Alex Mozdzer, a 54-year resident of North Valley Stream. "I think people are very embarrassed about it."
Michael Podhaskie, who lives across the street from the Burkes, wanted to let them know that the incident "is not representative of the neighborhood."
After introducing himself to Lee Burke, Podhaskie said, "It makes no sense - nobody around here really thinks like that."
Roy Burke got a call from next-door neighbor Dick Bunger on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, informing him that graffiti had been sprayed on the garage door of his Frances Drive home. It included swastikas, the letters "KKK" and the message "move out nigger." Police said that the incident occurred sometime between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. that night.
The next day, personnel from Nassau County Building Maintenance painted over the graffiti on the Burkes' garage door. "They did a thorough job from top to bottom," Lee said.
Initially, she was most concerned about how her daughters would react to the graffiti. But Burke said that her daughters took the incident in stride. "They didn't even think about it being racist," she said. "They just though it was stupid. My oldest said that it made no sense, and asked why they thought we would leave our new home."
According to police, there are no new developments in the case, and as the Herald went to press, officials said they had not made a concrete link between this incident and similar graffiti that was sprayed on the home of Carlton Thomas, who lives down the block with his wife and two children, in November 2003.
Both County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray called the family to offer their support, Burke said. Town Councilman James Darcy said he drove past the Burke house several times, hoping to welcome them, but he had not been able to catch them at home.
"[My office] sent them a letter voicing our support, to let them know that if they needed assistance, we'd do what we could," said Darcy. "I think this was an unfortunate event that doesn't reflect the character of the neighborhood."
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
