NHP considering options for controversial street fair date

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The Village of New Hyde Park is discussing other options on when to host the village’s street fair, which is currently scheduled to take place on the frst day of Rosh Hashanah, Mayor Christopher Devane said in a letter to residents.

The fair is now planned for Sept. 16, the Saturday of Rosh Hashanah, which marks the Jewish new year and starts at sundown the day before. The fair’s rainout date is currently set for Sat., Sept. 23.

A letter was sent to both Blank Slate Media and Newsday from Donald Panetta, a trustee on the Great Neck Library Board of Trustees since 2022, expressing his frustration with the date. Panetta said the village is the culprit of “blatant antisemitism.”

“Holding the street fair on one of the holiest days of the Jewish year is an insult and a slap in the face,” Panetta wrote.

Devane said the decision to host the street fair on Sept. 16 was solely his, adding it was his understanding that any conficts between the fair, which ends at 4 p.m., and the holiday would begin on sundown Saturday and the fair would be done by then.

“It has come to my attention that some are trying to use this as a wedge is- sue for their own purposes,” Devane said in a statement. “Rather than discuss this issue, which is two months away, they are choosing to intentionally embarrass the Village.”