Hempstead’s town board approved a special exception for a car wash expansion on Feb. 10, but with a specific caveat: business owners must fly the American flag. As of March 17, the business was not flying the American flag.
“I did go look at the property as it is currently. There is no flagpole. Would your client be willing to add a flagpole with the American flag?” Town Supervisor John Ferretti said at the hearing.
Dominick Minerva, an attorney from Minerva & D’Agostino P.C., which represents the business, said the car wash would be happy to accept the addition of a flagpole as a covenant to the application.
“The government cannot force private businesses to contract away their First Amendment rights,” Susan Gottehrer, director of the Nassau County office of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement, according to Newsday. “That means the government cannot force you to fly a flag — even if it’s an American flag — as a condition of any permit, variance or other business.”
Ferretti said in an interview that Gottehrer’s comments were not relevant to this situation.
“Nobody forced anybody to do anything,” he said. “I asked somebody if they were willing to fly a flag, and they not only agreed but excitedly agreed.”
New Magic Realty Inc., the company that owns the business located at 1260 Hempstead Turnpike, had requested that the town provide a special exception to expand the facility and install an automated carwash system.
Ferretti also added a stipulation to the exception’s covenants and restrictions requiring the business to restore and maintain the landscaped areas with a licensed landscaper and to install an irrigation system.
Ferretti said the flag should be prominently displayed, and the board voted unanimously to adopt the item.
This is not the first time the Hempstead board has imposed restrictive covenants on businesses to display American flags, Ferretti said. He said he often requests that businesses update landscaping and add flowers to their properties in an attempt to spruce up commercial sites in the town.
“Will there be a flagpole with an American flag as part of the property? Would your client be amenable to that being one of the conditions?” Ferretti said during a September 2025 hearing for Quick Lube of Carolina LLC for a special exception to build a garage oil change facility in Wantagh.
Ferretti also requested that the business agree to maintain landscaping around its facility.
The applicant, who does business as Take Five, agreed to the stipulation.
“We love our country, we love to show our American pride,” Ferretti said in an interview. “We live in the best country in the world.”
