What Happened
A single-vehicle crash on Jerusalem Avenue in Uniondale at about 6:30 a.m. Monday, August 17, 2026, knocked a utility pole to the ground, cut power to nearly 700 homes, and left the driver seriously injured, according to Nassau County Police. Newsday first reported the incident. The driver was the lone occupant of the vehicle.
Nassau police placed the crash on Jerusalem Avenue just west of Uniondale Avenue. The pole came down and wires followed. PSEG Long Island confirmed almost 700 customers in the surrounding area lost power as a result; the utility’s outage map showed those outages restored before the story’s 10:32 a.m. update.
The driver was transported to a hospital with serious injuries, police said. Nassau County Police released no name, age, or hometown for the driver as of that update, and no cause of the crash was given.
Jerusalem Avenue closed between Greengrove and Edgemere avenues following the crash. That stretch runs past St. Martha’s Catholic Church. Nassau County patrol units remained on scene at 10 a.m. and told motorists the road would stay closed until all repairs were finished.
According to Newsday, the Uniondale crash was one of two separate incidents that forced traffic to be diverted in Nassau County overnight Sunday into Monday. Police said the second involved a water main break in Oceanside.
Liberty Utilities emergency crews were still working at Long Beach Road and Daly Boulevard in Oceanside as of 10 a.m. Monday. Nassau County Police said the break was reported at 5:23 p.m. Sunday. By Monday morning, flooding had been contained to one southbound lane on Long Beach Road, with police on scene diverting traffic around it. Newsday reported no estimated completion time for the Liberty Utilities repairs.
Location & Road Context
Jerusalem Avenue is a major east-west corridor through central Nassau County, running through Uniondale and into neighboring communities. The closed block, between Greengrove and Edgemere avenues adjacent to St. Martha’s Catholic Church, sits in a residential stretch just west of the Uniondale Avenue intersection. Motorists needing to move through the area Monday morning were directed to find alternate routes while pole and wire repairs continued.
Long Beach Road at Daly Boulevard in Oceanside carries southbound traffic toward the South Shore. The water main break reduced that flow to one southbound lane throughout the overnight and into Monday’s morning hours. For current conditions on these roads, see our Nassau County roads page.
Broader Impact
The Jerusalem Avenue closure fell on a Monday morning commute, with Uniondale patrol units still managing the scene past 10 a.m. Jerusalem Avenue has seen multiple serious crashes in recent months: a pedestrian was critically injured nearby on July 23, 2026, and a second pedestrian was seriously hurt on Jerusalem Avenue on July 24, 2026. The next concrete step for the Uniondale scene: full reopening of Jerusalem Avenue pending completion of pole and wire repairs by PSEG Long Island crews.