Tabari sought to block letter Opposed criticism before election

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Niloufar Tabari, a candidate in the Great Neck School District’s recent Board of Education election, demanded that the Great Neck News remove a readers-write letter from its website and offer a retraction prior to the election.

Tabari claimed an opinion piece submitted by a Great Neck resident in the May 5 edition of the Great Neck News that was also posted on the theisland360.com website included “false defamatory statements” about her.

Blank Slate Media Publisher Steven Blank denied Tabari’s request, saying her claims about the letter were factually inaccurate.

The paper has not published a story about the letter until receiving confirmation that Tabari wrote the email. The email was signed by Tabari showed that it had been sent by an “Adam Zadeh.”

Tabari, who was defeated by incumbent Rebecca Sassouni in the May 16 trustee race, referenced an opinion piece written by Great Neck resident Wendy Wisner in an email to Blank Slate Media on May 13.

A fire in Williston Park at a five-bedroom split-level home on Lafayette Street killed one woman and injured seven others the morning of May 23.

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Three fire hydrants were unable to be used before first responders found one to provide a water supply during a fatal house fire in Williston Park last week, a Garden City Park Water District official said.

Kashmira Patel, 60, died and seven family members were taken to area hospitals for smoke inhalation after a fire destroyed a five-bedroom, split-level home in Williston Park Tuesday morning, Nassau County Fire Marshal Michael Uttaro said.

Kashmira’s niece, Bhumi Patel, said some of the family members were in town to attend her grandfather’s funeral.

Garden City Park Water District

Superintendent Mike Levy said two hydrants– which were closest to 252 Lafayette St.—were inoperable due to the proximity of a downed power line on the front lawn that blocked the entryway. A third hydrant was found to be inoperable due to mechanical issues.

“The use of these two hydrants near the downed power line would have created an immediate risk and danger to firefighters and residents,” Levy said in a statement to Blank Slate Media. “Firefighters then moved to the next closest hydrant. This hydrant experienced an unpredictable mechanical failure during the operation.”

Levy said the district is cooperating with authorities in the investigation, which is currently ongoing.

“The Garden City Park Water and Fire District is committed to the highest standards of safety, and we place the utmost importance in maintaining and testing our hydrants to ensure a sufficient water supply is available to fight fires and address emergency situations,” Levy said.

Maintenance for the faulty hydrant falls under the jurisdiction of the district, which was last inspected and serviced the faulty hydrant on Oct. 26, 2022, Levy said.

National Fire Protection Association standards require hydrants to be inspected annually.

The district covers parts of Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, parts of New Hyde Park, parts of Mineola, parts of North Hills, parts of Roslyn, parts of Williston Park, parts of Albertson and parts of Garden City.

Over $14,500 that was raised in a GoFundMe page created for the family will be returned to donors, a family representative said Friday.

“Thank you to all that showed

Continued on Page 66

Wisner’s letter supported Sassouni and newly elected Trustee Joanne Chan in the district’s Tuesday election.

Wisner’s submission included critical comments made by Tabari in 2021 to the Great Neck school board during a public meeting regarding a book entitled “If You Come Softly.”

A passage in the book about an interracial teenage couple depicts an older white couple staring at the couple and prompts them to ask the younger white girl if she was in any danger.

“Why teach children that all white people are racist,” Tabari asked the board. “Instead of teaching children about commonalities, it divides children along racial and religious lines and pits them against one another.”

Wisner, in her submission to Blank Slate Media, said Tabari’s claims about the book had no merit, saying the book “shows kindness from white characters, and an effort on the part of the main white characters to understand the struggles of the characters who are Black.”

She questioned if Tabari had “even read [the book] at all” and said book bannings across the nation are fueled by the “rhetoric Tabari displayed at the school board meeting in 2021.”

Tabari, in her email to Blank Slate Media, said that the “false statements” in Wisner’s submission have caused her “significant harm” and called for a retraction of the letter and an apology from Publisher Steven Blank.

Tabari threatened “to take legal action” and sue Blank Slate Media if the submission was not retracted and an apology was not issued.

Continued on Page 66

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Sue Tabakin 516-307-1045 x206 stabakin@theisland360.com

DISPLAY ADVERTISING: Steven Blank 516-307-1045 x201 sblank@theisland360.com

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: Deborah Flynn 516-307-1045 x218 dflynn@theisland360.com

EDITORIAL:

New Hyde Park Herald Courier: Brandon Duffy 516-307-1045 x215 • bduffy@theisland360.com

Manhasset Times: Robert Pelaez 516-307-1045 x203 • rpelaez@theisland360.com

Roslyn Times: Cameryn Oakes 516-307-1045 x214 • coakes@theisland360.com

Williston Times: Brandon Duffy 516-307-1045 x215 • bduffy@theisland360.com

Port Washington Times: Cameryn Oakes 516-307-1045 x214 • coakes@theisland360.com