Residents sound off on Ocean Avenue protests and use of swastikas on public property at Village board meeting

The Village of Northport code 256-5 reads: “No person shall authorize or engage in any parade or exhibition upon any street or public place without a permit from the Mayor.” But sections such as this one appear to serve as a framework with no real punch, as anti-vax protestors and those opposed to New York State vaccine mandates have gathered on the sidewalk of Ocean Avenue numerous times since Monday of last week, in front of CEO and Northwell Health President Michael Dowling’s home.

Northwell Health is the state’s largest healthcare provider. Approximately 1,400 Northwell employees have lost their jobs for refusing the vaccine since a mandate requiring all New York State healthcare workers be vaccinated against Covid-19 took effect on September 27.

Last Saturday and Sunday, October 2 and 3, groups of about 20 protestors stood along the Ocean Avenue sidewalk in front of the Dowling residence, just adjacent to Steers Avenue. The gathering of protestors – many of whom parked their cars on the shoulders of the road – left little to no room for pedestrians on the Ocean Avenue sidewalk, or on the shoulder.

One Village resident out for an early Saturday morning jog reported being heckled by members of the crowd when she was forced to run through them. At last night’s Village Board of Trustees meeting, Northport resident Michael Bento took an opportunity to point out the safety hazards created on Ocean Avenue over the weekend, with obstructed sidewalks and blocked shoulders, next to the blind curve that leads to Steers Avenue.

Mayor Damon McMullen confirmed in an email to the Journal today that no permit was applied for nor given to the protestors.

At one point over the weekend, a crowd of demonstrators moved to the entrance of Joe Schramm’s house, who lives just three doors down from Mr. Dowling. Protest participant and “vaccine choice advocate” Rita Palma promoted the event on her Facebook page, suggesting to her 19,000-plus followers in an October 2 post that they “park in front of Joe Schramm’s house. It’s the one with all the campaign signs. He offered all of us to park in front and said he might bring refreshments! Knock on Joe’s door and say hi!” When contacted for comment, Mr. Schramm said that the post was clearly instigating in nature. He elaborated about what ensued at yesterday evening’s board meeting.

“On Saturday morning, I was surrounded by a menacing mob of about 20 people, in front of my home,” Joe said. He explained that he was going about his day, chatting with a neighbor, when a protest organizer and others gathered around him, yelling.

“I believe that I was purposely identified because I am a candidate for a local elected office and they chose to pick on me because they had a beef with the governor and beef with Mr. Dowling. But they weren’t available, so they picked on the gentleman who happens to be from the same party as the governor,” Joe explained.

“They just screamed and screamed, and I understand that this is a strategy that they have used elsewhere. And they got in my face and then proclaimed that I was about to hit them, and they all had their cameras out, ready to photograph it,” he said. Joe commended the quick response by the Village Police Department and noted that within two minutes, officers arrived at the scene and were able to disperse the crowd.

Another notable issue brought up at the board meeting was the seemingly acceptable display of swastika symbols by protestors on Village sidewalks, along a crowded street with families traveling to soccer games, the farmers’ market and, on that particular weekend, an Oktoberfest celebration.

This latest act of anti-Semitism – whether the protestors’ intention or not – follows several local incidents of hate toward the community’s Jewish residents. At last night’s board meeting, Mayor Damon McMullen addressed a recent incident of direct bigotry, when members of the East Northport Jewish Center were verbally harassed by a man while participating in a September 14 Rosh Hashanah ceremony at Village Park. A rabbi and his Hebrew school students were visibly shaken after the man yelled at them for “rejecting the Savior” and “not accepting the Christian Messiah.” Earlier in September, a swastika that had been etched into an Ocean Avenue Elementary School playground slide was sanded away just hours before children arrived for a welcome fair. A police report was filed and a statement was made by Superintendent of Schools Robert Banzer, but the incident was never addressed publicly by the Village mayor or board. Yesterday evening, the board acknowledged that Village police would provide protection for future events held by the East Northport congregation, as requested by the rabbi.

At the protest at Dowling’s residence this past weekend, a man wearing an American flag as a cape waved a sign with a swastika on it as he paraded up and down the sidewalk in front of the CEO’s home. In a public video posted on Instagram the same day, the man walked past the entry of Mr. Dowling’s driveway numerous times as protestors yelled, “Stop the mandate!”

Members of the local anti-hate group Not In Our Town (NIOT) Northport were present at last night’s meeting to address the blatant display of a hate symbol on Village property. Meghan Dolan Saporita, a litigator and former prosecutor at the Nassau County DA’s office, and a founding member of NIOT Northport, read to the board a personal account, originally posted on social media, made by the resident who was heckled as she jogged past the protest on Saturday morning. The resident requested not to be named at the meeting but gave Meghan permission to read her statement:

“I decided that on my way back home, I’d stop and ask our Village police officers parked on the opposite side of the road for some help in unblocking the sidewalk so that I could safely pass. I stopped and asked the officers if they’d please ask the protestors to spread out so people could walk and run by safely. It is the LAW to move marchers that are obstructing pedestrian traffic.

I was met with exasperated nods by the two officers. Treated as if I was a nuisance and left to feel totally unsupported by those that are here to serve and protect. I was shocked. These are not the Northport police officers I have known and respected in the 15 years I’ve lived in this town.

Once more I had to pass by the protestors. This time, I noticed a man carrying a sign with a huge swastika. I walked back and alerted the police officers. One officer’s response was, “Well, some people consider BLM signs a symbol of hate, so....?”

Meghan said that this incident highlighted two issues: the first being that the resident reported a public safety issue and was ignored, according to the jogger, and perhaps more importantly, said Meghan, that the officer “chose a personal and unsolicited reaction to a legally designated hate symbol – the swastika – in likening it to the Black Lives Matter social justice movement, when BLM was not mentioned, displayed or relevant in any way.”

In her statement, Meghan pointed out that the Village code prohibits signs that “contain or depict scandalous, indecent or immoral matters,” yet the use of a swastika was permitted and allegedly defended by an officer in uniform. She said, “When incidents like this occur we often hear ‘That is not representative of Northport’ or ‘It’s just a few bad apples’ or ‘Just some dumb kids.’” But when our leadership is silent, we have to wonder, Maybe this is Northport? Because if we are not proactively combatting this real problem we have, then we are morally complicit. There are plenty of actions that we can take as a community to do better.”

When Meghan asked the board to do more and make a public condemnation of incidents of hate, such as the display of a swastika, Trustee Tom Kehoe interrupted her mid-sentence and said, “You can’t come in here and say that. There have been protests in the Village and we’ve publicly spoken out against them. So for you to come here and say that nothing has been done is wrong.” Meghan replied that she was talking about the Dowling protest, the specific use of a swastika, and the previous anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred within the Village in the last month. To these, no public statements have been made on behalf of the board.

In regards to Meghan’s concerns surrounding the behavior of a Village police officer, Chief Chris Hughes said, “On Sunday, [the officers] told me their account of the story and I’m not in any way saying that what you portrayed today is a lie or an embellishment, but our perspective might help her in understanding the situation that we have to deal with also.”

Chief Hughes said it’s absolutely true that people are not permitted to block the sidewalk and in regards to the swastika display, he said, “It is very concerning to see this type of symbol being bantered about. Unfortunately, the use of the swastika in and of itself is not a crime in New York. So while we all may think that it’s disgusting and find it offensive, they do have the right to place it on a billboard or something...”

“We are certainly keeping our thumb on the pulse here, in terms of these events that are arising,” the chief added.

Mayor McMullen noted in his email after the meeting his condemnation of the recent display of swastikas. “As vile as I personally find the swastika and condemn the use of it in any matter of speech…,” he wrote, “political speech is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. The Village of Northport strongly discourages these types of protests and continues to weigh all of its legal options.”

Social media posts by prior protest participants indicate that another protest in front of Mr. Dowling’s house is being planned for this Sunday, October 10.

In an official statement released to the Journal today, Village Trustee Dave Weber assured residents that the board and Northport Police Department are working diligently to make sure that if additional protests occur, “they are done with the least amount of inconvenience to Village residents as legally possible.” Trustee Weber also condemned “in the strongest manner,” the use of the swastika symbol or any hate symbol whatsoever. He wrote, “Northport Village is and always will be a community that believes in respect, acceptance, tolerance and love for all people.”