A throng of about 200 people gathered Monday evening in Manhattan's Columbus Circle to honor and remember slain Plainview native and American Israeli soldier Omer Neutra, whose body has been returned to Israel after he died in the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas militants.

The crowd gathered on the north side of the USS Maine Monument, carrying candles or Israeli flags; some held American flags.

Steven Herz, originally from Hewlett and now living on the Upper West Side, said he was there to show solidarity for a fellow countryman.

"I am here mostly as an American," he said. "To support an American who was brutally killed. I think that was lost on all of us, that there were many Americans that were killed and kept hostage untold months and years. There just never seemed to be any outrage

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