North Hempstead Town Councilman David Adhami’s mother was recently the sole signer of a Village of Great Neck Estates building permit that asked for the signatures of all owners of a home in which he has said he resides.

When reached by phone, Adhami told Blank Slate Media that he owns two homes – one in Merrick and one in Great Neck – but that the Merrick home is not his “primary residence.” He said the Great Neck home he owns is his domicile.

A town councilman in North Hempstead is required to reside in the town. If Adhami was not eligible to serve under the requirement the Republican party’s current 4-3 majority would be threatened.

Blank Slate Media reported in November that Adhami, a lawyer with a Great Neck practice, signed a notarized Town of Hempstead Buildings Department document that said “David Adhami, being duly sworn, deposes and says: that he or she resides” at the address in Merrick.

The notarized application signed by Adhami goes on to say that the applications and plans
and “all the statements herein contained are true to deponent’s own knowledge.”

When asked by Blank Slate Media why he signed the affidavit for the Town of Hempstead Building Department in October 2021 stating that he lived in Merrick and did not sign the building permit application for his home in Great Neck despite the forms requiring all owners to sign, Adhami responded by saying that he lives in Great Neck.

Adhami referred the reporter to his comments in a story from the North Shore Leader, which called the questions about where Adhami lives a “misfired smear campaign’ by North Hempstead Democrats.”

Maureen Daly, the author of the article, was previously Adhami’s campaign treasurer in 2017 when he ran for the Nassau County Legislature in 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“I mean there’s nothing more to say,” Adhami said to Blank Slate Media Friday afternoon. “What you’re writing is a political hit job, why don’t you put that in your paper?”

In an affidavit of property ownership signed and notarized in September 2023 at a home on Ash Drive in Great Neck, Mitra Mirjani – Adhami’s mother – is the only name listed and the only person to sign the application. The affidavit states “All owners must sign either as owner or applicant.”

The affidavit signed by Mirjani goes on to say that she is the “owner(s) of the property described in this application.”

Mirjani signed her name throughout the permit application as the owner of the property on a Hold Harmless Agreement, the application itself and a Machinery Operation Compliance Agreement.

Adhami’s name never appears in any of the 10 documents associated with the permit and application.

The building permit, which was issued on Oct. 24, was for work involving the removal and repaving of a cement walkway in the front of the property.

Adhami, a Republican, was elected in 2021 to a four-year term to represent the town’s 5th District, which includes Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Gardens, Kensington, Kings Point, Saddle Rock, Thomaston, the Plandomes, parts of Manhasset and other incorporated areas.

The North Shore Leader reported that it received exclusive access to Adhami’s tax returns, which they said that Adhami lists his Great Neck address on his tax returns.

“I live in Great Neck,” Adhami told the North Shore Leader. “I grew-up in Great Neck. My daughter goes to school in Great Neck. My entire family lives in Great Neck. I went to high school in Great Neck. I played on the Great Neck South football, wrestling and lacrosse teams in high school.”

Blank Slate Media asked Adhami if he would share his tax returns with the publication, which he said he would consider. Adhami did not provide his tax returns by the time of publication nor confirmed his decision on whether or not he would send them.

Property records show Adhami and his wife, Shireen Rashidi, purchased a home in Merrick in 2021. The two signed the deed for the property on Aug. 21, 2021, records show.

In a permit signed in October 2021, the town issued Adhami a permit for a solar panel to be installed on the roof of a home he owns in Merrick by Sunrun, a San Francisco-based company that provides energy storage products primarily for residential customers.

As part of the permit process, Adhami signed a notarized Hempstead Buildings Department Affidavit of Property Owner that says David Adhami “being duly sworn, deposes and says: That he or she resides” at the given Merrick address.

The application signed by Adhami goes on to say that “to make application for a permit to perform said work in the foregoing application and accompanying plans, and all the statements herein contained are true to deponent’s own knowledge.”

A spokesperson for the Town of Hempstead said the town does not have a path of recourse if someone lies on a signed affidavit. They said matters of the sort would be handled by the Nassau County’s District Attorney’s office.

Adhami was first confronted about the Merrick affidavit by Great Neck resident Nina Gordon during the public comments portion of the Nov. 2 North Hempstead Town Board meeting.

“It appears a fraud is being perpetrated on the residents of North Hempstead and I would appreciate an explanation of how and why this is allowed to continue,” Gordon said.
Adhami told Gordon during the November meeting that he does own a home in Merrick but that he does not live there and resides in Great Neck.

The Leader also said Gordon and fellow Democrats on the town board demanded that Adhami resign or the Town would hire an “investigator.”

But a recording of the meeting shows that neither Gordon nor any of the Democratic Town Board members at the meeting–Robert Troiano, Peter Zuckerman, Veronica Lurvey or Mariann Dalimonte–demanded that Adhami resign or that the town hire an investigator into the matter.

In 2010, the Great Neck property was sold by Adhami’s parents to him, his sister and Mirjani, according to Nassau County property records.

Adhami’s wife also posted on Facebook to an unknown group in 2020 that she and her husband were looking for leads on houses, but does not mention Merrick specifically.

“Hi Everyone, my husband and I are looking to move into the neighborhood,” the post said. “We are searching Zillow but I was wondering if anyone has any leads. Ideally, we are looking for a home with a dock, three bedrooms two baths and close to the Chabad.”

In a previous statement to Blank Slate Media, Nassau County Republican Committee counsel John Ryan said Adhami’s “domicile was in the district,” which he termed the “exclusive geographic test of elective office” in the Town of North Hempstead.

“It is the location at which he and his family celebrate anniversaries and observe family birthdays,” Ryan previously said. “His school-aged child attends school in Great Neck and he and his family belong to Beth Hadassah (The Iranian Jewish Center) on Steamboat Rd. Any suggestion that Dave Adhami’s domicile is anywhere but in the Council District that he represents is either malicious or downright stupid.”

The North Hempstead Town Code defines a resident of the town as someone who resides in the town and has done so for the previous three months.

New York State’s election law defines residency as the place where someone has a permanent home they always intend to return.

Adhami, who ran for Nassau County legislator in 2017, is a registered voter in Great Neck, according to state Board of Election records.

Since being elected in 2021, all political contributions made by Adhami have been made from his home Great Neck, according to New York State Board of Election records.

A previous version of this story was published. It has since been updated.