New York – Rockland Legislator Slams Elected Officials For Culture Of Anti-Semitism After Explosions Occur At Homes Of Two New City Rabbis

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    A series of small explosions erupted around 10:30 p.m. in New City outside two rabbis' homes near Chabad Lubavitch of Rockland, located in New City. Two of the explosions happened outside of Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky's home on Tarry Hill Drive, that led to a large shrub catching fire, pictured here. (Photo: Courtesy)Spring Valley, NY – A pair of Rockland County rabbis found themselves the victims of criminal mischief Tuesday night as a group of unidentified individuals lobbed firecrackers outside their homes.

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    Clarkstown police said that the incidents took place in New City, approximately 7 miles northeast of Monsey, at approximately 10:45 PM last night.

    A resident at the home of Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky, located at the corner of Tarry Hill Road and Phillips Hill Road, heard a loud noise coming from the east side of the family’s property and looking outside, saw four unidentified white males, possibly teenagers, heading westward. As the group was fleeing, one member turned around and threw an incendiary device at a tree located in front of the Kotlarsky home. The tree caught fire and was later extinguished by the New City Fire Department.

    Police who were investigating the attack were informed that a similar incident had taken place next door at the home of Rabbi Simcha Morgenstern, located east of the Kotlarsky residence on Phillips Hill Road.

    Several people were at the home when they heard an explosion coming from the driveway and discovered a firework that had been thrown between three parked cars in the driveway. None of the cars sustained any damage and no one observed any of the perpetrators involved. During the course of their investigation, police recovered a fragment and a partial label of the exploded firework.

    Both Rabbi Kotlarsky and Rabbi Morgenstern are affiliated with Chabad Lubavitch of New City, based out of the Hebrew Academy which is adjacent to both properties. Clarkstown police have been canvassing the neighborhood looking for eyewitnesses and home surveillance footage that can help them identify the perpetrators.

    Rockland County Executive Ed Day called on the Clarkstown Police Department to investigate the incident aggressively to determine if it was an actual hate crime.

    “There is no place in our community for hate,” said Day. “We condemn this apparent hate crime in the strongest terms possible.”

    Penny Jennings, Rockland County’s commissioner of human rights, said that she will arrange a meeting of the county’s Interfaith Council with a goal of fostering better relationships between the many diverse groups that live in the area.

    Alden Wolfe, chaiman of the Rockland County Legislature, acknowledged a culture of anti-Semitism in the county.

    “Legitimate policy issues are continually being mixed in with anti-Semitic rhetoric,” said Wolfe. “I’ve been saying for months that such words eventually turn into hateful, violent actions.”

    Wolfe took local politicians to task, both for their own divisive words, as well as their lethargic attitude towards the anti-Semitic actions of others.

    “Elected officials should examine their own behaviors and take the appropriate steps to squash the use of hateful language and to quell any hateful and potentially deadly behavior,” said Wolfe.


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    12 Comments
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    7 years ago

    What a hypocrite This Ed Day is, He created this climate of hate in Rockland County.

    7 years ago

    What can you expect after the east Ramapo school board cut teachers, sports, after school activities, foreign language and a host of other things? Now they kicked off the black woman from the board who was elected by the people and replaced her with one if our landlords who may be in legal trouble.

    allmark
    allmark
    7 years ago

    The headline is totally misleading. Explosions implies something big like a bomb, not firecrackers.

    MayerAlter
    MayerAlter
    7 years ago

    #2 – we did what we needed to do to ensure that Rockland County is a place we can live in and educate our children in.

    mr613
    mr613
    7 years ago

    Anyone who states this type of behavior is caused by any sort of political climate is ligitimising these abhorrent acts!

    Anyone who’s come in contact with anyone associated with the Chabbad of New City knows they have an unwavering love for and towards their fellow human beings !
    I’ve personally experienced the openness and welcoming atmosphere at Chabbad and trust me their attitudes or expansion or activities in no way shape or for can ever be attributed to the cause of these acts!

    Antisemitism is the cause !
    Jealously is the cause !

    MayerAlter
    MayerAlter
    7 years ago

    #5 – we need ruchnius and chinuch to live. That is what the East Ramapo School board is all about. That is why so many heimishe families live in Rockland county. Families with many children, keil yirbu bli ayin hara, make places more crowded and congested and lots of little kids create more garbage. Whose kids do you want banished so that you can live in a clean, uncrowded and non congested environment? Our yingelach are tehorim and kedoshim, not drug addicts and drug pushers. Enough with your gashmius yearnings, one who escapes the net of gashmius has a chance to swim freely in the waters of Torah. Isn’t that what we all want?

    kenyaninwhitehouse
    kenyaninwhitehouse
    7 years ago

    I wish Ed Day ran for governor, he is nostalgic for the times when Monsey was clean, not overcrowded, no crime etc. it is not anti-Semitic to enforce building codes.

    Century21
    Century21
    7 years ago

    Outright hatred of Jews has openly become fashionable again . The Church has done a great job in promoting this hatred for 2000 years in brain-washing people to hate Jews with its hate literature and discrimination against Jews.

    yosher
    yosher
    7 years ago

    Maybe they”re angry that Chabad stole their “second coming” nonsense.