Nassau County Leaders Concerned, Resolute After NJ Synagogue Threats

NASSAU COUNTY, NY — After the FBI issued a warning to New Jersey synagogues last week about possible threats of violence, Nassau County leaders expressed concern and reaffirmed their dedication to guarding against antisemitism.

"We will do everything we can to protect our Jewish institutions," County Executive Bruce Blakeman said on Friday afternoon in a briefing about the New Jersey threats.

On Friday, the FBI issued an update that the person responsible for the threats was "identified" and "no longer poses a danger to the community."

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A spokesperson from the FBI's New York office told Patch that there was no information about any threat targeting Long Island synagogues.

Blakeman pointed to what he said was a growing recent trend of antisemitism, referencing the artist formerly known as Kanye West's recent antisemitic remarks about Jewish people and Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving's suspension for sharing a link to a documentary considered antisemitic by civil rights groups.

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said on Friday that police have increased their presence in response to the threats.

"Our officers will visit with those in the congregations. The community will see we are out there."

Eric Post is the Long Island Director of the American Jewish Committee. He told Patch that the FBI's warning was "unnerving" but not surprising.

"Jews on Long Island know all too well the threat that antisemites present to our communal institutions and are grateful for the close partnerships we have with law enforcement. Whether it is a group disseminating antisemitic leaflets on the south shore of Nassau County or an ex-marine threatening to attack a Suffolk County Synagogue earlier this year, we know the threats are real."

Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview) also shared his concerns about the threats with Patch.

He said the county “stands with our neighbors in the Garden State and Jews around the world.”

Drucker said it’s another reminder “why we must never relent to eradicate antisemitism and all forms of hatred from our society.”

The threats come as South Lynbrook Junior High School received a “grotesque stain” of antisemitism, Drucker said, in the form of swastikas and racial slurs carved into a tree on Thursday.

Taken with the New Jersey threats, the legislator said “it is clear that we can not let our guard down.”