Lawmaker Calls For DA Probe Of Antisemitic Rant At Planning Board

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — County Legislators Michael Grant and Jay Hood Jr. called on the Rockland County District Attorney and the New York State Attorney General to investigate the comments made by a Haverstraw resident during a town planning board meeting Wednesday night.

Nick Collela started out asking whether the existing infrastructure in Haverstraw can support the property's conversion to a synagogue and escalated to an angry remark about members of a certain "sect" who walk in the street without regard for safety or drivers. His comments were caught on video and published by Yeshiva World, as were those of a woman who taunted and sneered at the videographer. SEE: Anti-Semitic Remarks At Rockland Meeting Shock Officials

Grant and Hood said the comments, made during a public hearing on a proposed synagogue in Haverstraw, were wrong and have no place in the community.

"I do not understand - and I do not accept - how someone can say they are going to hit a person with their car and then back over them because they are members of a group of people that they clearly don’t like," Grant said. "It is outrageous and disgraceful.”

Hood, who represents part of Haverstraw, noted that the Planning Board Chairman, Salvatore Corallo, and the Board Attorney, Christie Todd Addona, responded immediately.

“I am grateful that clear-thinking people acted so quickly to shut this guy down,” Hood said. “He crossed the line and I support a thorough review by the Haverstraw Police Department, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office and the State Attorney General’s Office to determine if his comments meet the legal threshold for terroristic threats.”

Grant, whose district includes the area where the synagogue is proposed, concurred.

“If charges are appropriate, I hope the proper legal authorities will file them,” he said said. “As a town, county and state we need to send a clear message that this behavior and this public espousing of hate is not right and will not go unchecked. Neighbors can and should participate in the process but there is no place for bigotry and hate."

Meanwhile, the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Rockland County issued a statement saying it appreciated "the immediate and unequivocal condemnation of these inflammatory, hateful and violent remarks by the participating Haverstraw board members" and thanked local, county and state representatives from across Rockland who joined the Jewish community saying that "hate has no place here."

The growth of ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Rockland County continues, and anti-Semitism continues as well, while many non-Hasidic residents have fallen into one or more categories: those opposed to development, those opposed to disregard for building and safety codes and zoning laws and those opposed to blockbusting.

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