A Jewish couple who left Manhattan for Roslyn Harbor, Long Island to get away from the big city life of New York City were harassed by their neighbour with anti-Semitic threats over a property line dispute.
Eric and Elina Goldman told NBC New York that 10 months after moving to Long Island, they suddenly faced anti-Semitic intimidation from their neighbor.
Thomas Cerna’s anti-Semitic rant was captured by a doorbell camera on Tuesday, police told NBC New York.
“He points in the window to me, went like this,” Eric Goldman said, making a finger across the throat motion.
Goldman added that Cerna looked him in the eye and said, “You’re dead!”
“It’s terrifying honestly. The fact that we now know this type of behavior is alive and well in 2021 and literally living next door,” Goldman said.
According to Newsday, the incident led to 61-year old Cerna’s arrest for aggravated harassment on Tuesday. He was also charged with second-degree aggravated harassment due to race, religion or other factors.
Court records indicate that Goldman is worried that Cerna might harm him and his family. An order of protection was also issued to prevent Cerna from coming into contact with the Goldmans.
The Goldmans told News12 that there had been no prior anti-Semitic incidents with Cerna. There had been an ongoing dispute between the couple and their neighbor over him cutting down trees that were on a shared property line.
"Eric is the grandson of Holocaust survivors, six concentration camps," said Elina Goldman in an interview with News12. "I came here when I was three-years old as a Jewish refuge from the Ukraine, and so our families literally built lives here so that we didn't have to face this type of harassment, persecution and prejudice. When we decided to move to Roslyn Harbor from the city, it was the last thing we ever thought we would face."