Valley Stream rally held for woman alleging racial harassment

A crowd of more than 2,000 gathered Thursday afternoon at a Valley Stream train station to support a Black woman who alleges that she's been targeted for repeated racial harassment by a neighbor on her village street.

People of all ages met at the Long Island Rail Road station and listened as an organizer of the rally and others spoke about the allegations made by Jennifer McLeggan, 39. The mother of a 2-year-old girl has said she has been harassed by the man since moving into her home on Sapir Street four years ago.

Some in the crowd held signs that said, among other things, "#StandwithJennifer” and “Protect Black women.” 

McLeggan’s story quickly went viral after a sign she posted on her door detailing the alleged harassment and expressing concern for her safety was photographed and shared on Twitter. As of Thursday afternoon, the image had been retweeted more than 45,000 times.

Anthony Herron Jr., 30, a hip-hop artist who lives in Queens, said he attended the rally after learning of McLeggan's allegations on Twitter. Herron said he has shared the tweet with his nearly 17,000 followers.

But Herron said he has done more than just tweet. He and a few others in the community have been taking “shifts” sitting in their vehicles outside McLeggan’s home overnight.

“We just want to be there for her in case something happens or someone tries to hurt her,” he said.

The man living next door to McLeggan who she alleges harassed her was not immediately available for comment.

Later Thursday, the group marched to a nearby park where McLeggan joined them and expressed her gratitude.

“Putting that sign on my door was one of the best things I could’ve ever done,” she told the crowd, with tears in her eyes. “Black and brown people started knocking on my door telling me they too had lived through similar experiences.”

She also thanked Herron for guarding her home.

The popularity of the social media posts has also caught the attention of area elected officials.

State Assemb. Michaelle C. Solages (D-Elmont), who attended the train station rally with her brother, Nassau County Legis. Carrié Solages, said she too had several times gone to McLeggan’s house around 3 a.m. to stand guard outside her home.

“The police was not there. There was a police officer outside her home the first night, an officer patrolled her neighborhood a few times another night,” she said. “But last night, it was only a handful of concerned community members who were there, including myself, making sure she felt safe.”

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder on Tuesday said officers visited the home McLeggan shares with her daughter to take a statement from her that’s now part of an ongoing police investigation.

Ryder and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran held a news conference Tuesday to discuss the case and ask for patience from community members as the probe continued.

"I want to make it very clear that hate crimes and bigotry have absolutely no place here in Nassau County," Curran said.

Ryder said community members concerned about McLeggan's accusations need to be patient while his investigators look into them.

"Not that our victim is not important, not that our victim is not getting her attention," Ryder said Tuesday at the news conference inside Nassau police headquarters in Mineola, "but at the same time we have to make sure we have the evidence and everything that is going to help us move forward, and move forward in the correct way."

Since McLeggan moved into the Sapir Street neighborhood in 2017, the police commissioner said, the police department have received close to 50 calls for service at the two homes, "almost equally, complaints back and forth."