Michael D'Onofrio

mcdonofrio@lohud.com

NEW CITY - Three incendiary devices went off outside two rabbis’ homes Tuesday night and ignited a small fire.

The series of small explosions occurred around 10:30 p.m. near the Chabad Lubavitch of Rockland, at 315 N. Main St., Rabbi Avremel Kotlarsky said. Kotlarsky, the rabbi at the Chabad, said he found a firecracker wrapper in his yard, but wasn't sure exactly what caused the explosions.

Although no one was injured, Kotlarsky described the explosions as "coordinated" and a “premeditated hate crime.”

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“The intent seemed to be that it was clear, whether they were looking to frighten, or looking to terrorize, or intimidate,” Kotlarsky said.

That evening, a group of about 15 people was gathered in the quarters of associate Rabbi Simcha Morgenstern, located in a two-family structure at the Jewish religious center on Phillips Hill Road.

“All of a sudden, we heard an explosion outside,” Kotlarsky said.

Kotlarsky said he believed some sort of firecracker was thrown near Morgenstern's residence and exploded under one of the vehicles parked in the driveway.

“It sounded like a boom — like a sonic boom,” he said.

None of the congregants saw anyone fleeing from the residence, Kotlarsky said.

Minutes later, Kotlarsky's 19-year-old daughter heard that initial explosion from inside their Tarry Hill Drive home located a few hundred feet away from the Jewish religious center.

According to police, an unidentified female resident at the Tarry Hill Drive home said that she saw four white males, possibly teenagers, running west outside of her home. One of the males threw a firework toward the front of her residence, police said.

The firework exploded next to a tree, setting it on fire. The males fled west on Phillips Hill Road.

Clarkstown police responded, as well as the New City fire department.

The small fire was extinguished by the New City fire department, police said.

Kotlarsky said his home was not damaged.

The explosions were described as fireworks by police, but the investigation continues.

“This is a case right now that we’re looking at as fireworks going off,” Clarkstown police said.

Supervisor George Hoehmann strongly condemned the attacks and called them “troubling.” He added that Clarkstown and the police were doing “everything in our power to fully investigate this quickly.”

“Violence like this and incidents of this nature are repugnant and will not be tolerated in Clarkstown,” Hoehmann said.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day denounced the incidents in a released statement.

“There is no place for hate in our community,” Day said. “We condemn this apparent hate crime in the strongest terms possible.”

Penny Jennings, Rockland's commissioner of human rights, said in a released statement that she will convene a meeting of the county’s Interfaith Council in order to "deepen community relationships."

Kotlarsky said he believed the homes were targeted, because both he and Morgenstern were the only two rabbis living in the area.

“I think that is shows a level of intolerance and discrimination” he said.

Twitter: @mikedonofrio_