Rockville Centre warned: 5 Towns is comin’

A Rockville Centre woman is facing backlash from religious leaders and elected officials after she told the village board that it should prohibit new houses of worship in residential zones, in what was interpreted by many as an anti-Semitic request.

The woman, who identified herself as Michelle Zangari, said she was inspired to speak after she saw a large menorah on the front lawn of a Rockville Centre home.

Having grown up in Cedarhurst before the Five Towns transitioned into predominantly Orthodox communities, Zangari said that a menorah being displayed months after Chanukah suggested the presence of a residential synagogue. The menorah is outside the home of Rabbi Mendel Gurkov and his wife Rivka, a Chabad couple who moved to the village last October and began operating Chabad of Rockville Centre. Rockville Centre has two synagogues, neither of them Orthodox. 

Zangari said the transformation of Cedarhurst took place when Orthodox families moved in and residential homes were converted into synagogues. She shared with the board, during its public comment period on April 4, her worries that a large Orthodox community might be coming to Rockville Centre.

She said she feared that if that were to happen, new residents might request that businesses close on Saturdays. They might fill school board seats and redirect funds away from the public schools, selling school facilities “to the highest bidder,” she said.

“You may think it could never happen here, but trust me, none of us living in the Five Towns thought it could happen there, either,” Zangari said.

Because of the changes in the Five Towns, she wasn’t able to raise her family there, which was “heartbreaking,” she said.

Several days after the meeting, Zangari’s opinions — including an eight-minute video of her remarks — were covered on social media and later in the press, attracting negative responses.

Bruce Blakeman, the first Jewish Nassau County executive, said in a statement that “freedom to practice religion and freedom to live where one chooses are rights guaranteed by the constitution.”

“The remarks … were offensive and un-American,” Blakeman said. “It is the duty of the responsive public officials to condemn the type of anti-Semitic hate speech that was in evidence at the Rockville Centre village board meeting.”

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, whose office is around the corner from Rockville Centre Village Hall, condemned the comments on his Twitter account. 

“This was anti-Semitism, full-stop,” he wrote. “The trope of ‘Jews taking over’ has been a hallmark of white supremacy for ages. RVC has a history of tolerance that welcomes all. Stand up for what’s right and call this out loudly. No place for hate.”

Other officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, gubernatorial candidate Tom Suozzi and Rep. Kathleen Rice, criticized Zangari’s statements via their Twitter accounts.

“Everyone is welcome in New York,” Hochul wrote. “The despicable and antisemitic rhetoric used at a Rockville Centre board of trustees meeting has no place in our state. “Regardless of the intent of the speaker, the remarks are antisemitic and must be called out,” Suozzi wrote.

Rice said she was “appalled by the antisemitism on display” at the board meeting. “I denounce the thinkly veiled attempt to use local zoning laws to exclude Orthodox Jews from our community.”

Zangari wrote a letter of apology to Rabbi Gurkov and his wife.

“I think that what was said was misinformation, it was unfortunate, but I think we’re moving past it,” Rabbi Gurkov said in response. 

Rabbi Gurkov said, however, that the views voiced publicly by Zangari were unsettling. 

“It caused a lot of distress and grief, because it is a private residence and not a synagogue,” Rabbi Gurkov said.

After their address was revealed, residents started showing up to the home, many with supportive messages for the Gurkovs, but it was still a lot for the family to deal with, he said.

Rabbi Gurkov stressed the need for better communication in the future, noting  that if Zangari had contacted his family, they could have explained their situation before things escalated.

Rockville Centre Mayor Francis Murray and the board released a statement on Monday morning in response to the controversy.

“Rockville Centre remains a welcoming, caring and inclusive community that embraces all members of our village,” the statement read. “We are home to people who have come from all different paths in life, but what binds us together is the kindness, respect and compassion we have for our fellow neighbors.”

Rabbi Gurkov said he was disappointed with the village’s statement, which he called “disconcerting.”

“I don’t think it addresses all the facts, and I think it’s a very weak statement and not recognizing enough.” He said he hoped that a day of unity would be scheduled to help better inform residents and prevent controversy in the future.

“If you ask your village board to deny any petitions for new houses of worship with the explicit purpose of preventing Orthodox Jews from potentially purchasing homes in a free market, you’re an anti-Semite,” commented Dr. Asher Mansdorf, vice president of the Lawrence Board of Education in the Five Towns.

“The remarks … were offensive and un-American,” Mansdorf said.

The Jewish Star contributed to this report.