By Daniela Silva
Muslim residents of the Town of North Hempstead called on board members to condemn a social media post by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman on Sept. 8 during a regular Town Board meeting.
Blakeman shared a photo on X of Gov. Kathy Hochul wearing a hijab during a mosque visit, with the caption, “Hijab Hochul. Kathy’s Latest Costume: Whatever the Audience Wants.” In the same post, Blakeman also wrote, “Less than two weeks before the anniversary of 9/11, this kind of political pandering is especially tone-deaf.”
Muslim speakers at the meeting said the post demeaned a religious garment and contributed to Islamophobia. They asked Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and council members Edward Scott, Dennis Walsh and Yaron Levy to join council members Robert Troiano Jr., Christine Liu and Mariann Dalimonte in signing a letter condemning the remarks.
Zaid Khan, a Hempstead resident, said the Muslim community’s faith had been turned into a punchline.
“So we ask you to say plainly that reducing a woman’s headscarf to a costume and dragging 9/11 into it is not acceptable,” Khan said. “We ask you to sign the letter or tell us on the record why you won’t. Silence certainly sends a message, and we came here tonight respectfully to ask that all of you send a better one.”
In response to residents’ safety concerns, DeSena said she had contacted Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. DeSena said Ryder reviewed the situation but found no credible threats, though he remains in contact with imams in Nassau County.
Troiano, who wrote the letter, said he hoped it would denounce the “county executive’s inflammatory, bigoted statement.”
“My hope is that with bipartisan condemnation, it would tamp down some of the heat from people who are guilty of hatred towards Muslims and other groups,” Troiano said. “But it takes everybody standing up and saying, ‘Not in my town, not in our town.’”
As residents continued asking whether DeSena would sign the letter, Troiano demanded a direct answer. DeSena said speakers could express their views during public comment but maintained that the board was at Town Hall to conduct town business.
“We are not here to talk politics,” DeSena said, after describing Troiano’s letter as political and outside the board’s jurisdiction.
Habib Ahmed, a longtime Syosset resident, said the letter was not simply a political issue because it affected whether local Muslim residents felt safe and respected.
Imran Pasha of Westbury argued that Hochul’s decision to cover her head inside a mosque demonstrated respect for the sacred space. “Showing respect inside a house of worship is not political theater,” Pasha said. “It is basic human decency.”
The disagreement continued as the board attempted to begin voting on its consent calendar. Residents repeatedly asked why the board members had previously condemned anti-Semitism but considered condemning Islamophobia political.
Walsh explicitly said he would not sign the letter, but that his decision did not reflect his views of the Muslim community.
“I have nothing against the Islamic people, but I have no intention of signing this political joke,” Walsh said.
Dr. Zakaria Sabri, a Manhasset Hills resident, invited anyone unfamiliar with the Muslim community to visit a local mosque and have a conversation with its members.
“If you don’t say something about it, people will think that you agree with those statements,” Sabri said. “And what I’d like you to really understand, supervisor, is that it hits at the core of some of us who are on the other side.”
