Garden City’s kids took in one last day of fun at the pool on Labor Day. Now it’s back to school until next year! Thank you to the Garden City Pool Staff (especially Joanne) and the town for a safe, happy, healthy and fun summer!
Photo courtesy Stephanie Bassi
Synthetic field sparks debate at Board of Trustees meeting
BY RIKKI MASSAND
At the Village Board of Trustees’ meeting on Wednesday, September 10, the hot topic of synthetic turf fields once again sparked debate. The board discussed plans to add at least one new field, with the possibility of more in the
future, to the village’s recreation facilities.
Assistant Superintendent of Recreation & Parks Andy Hill reported that the village received a final proposal for a turf field at the St. Paul’s grounds. Before a purchase order is issued, the depart-
ment is awaiting input from legal counsel, and vendor The LandTek Group will soon provide 3D renderings of the new field. Hill noted that he will share these renderings with trustees and the public.
Trustee Rich Catalano raised
See page 28
Calls for demolition debate grow at St. Paul’s forum
BY RIKKI MASSAND
For the second time in four weeks, Village Hall hosted a breakdown of the 2025 Garden City Survey on the future of the St. Paul’s main building. On Tuesday, September 9, consultants from Brandstetter Carroll Inc. (BCI) presented the results and took part in a question-and-answer session. The discussion quickly shifted to possible flaws in the survey and lingering confusion over what the trustees may ultimately propose for the historic Stewart Avenue landmark. The uses of adjacent Recreation Department structures, including the St. Paul’s Fieldhouse and Cluett Hall, were also debated. By the end of the night, most residents left Village Hall with more questions than answers—and no clear timeline on what comes next.
Deputy Mayor Judy Courtney read aloud questions submitted by residents both in person and via Zoom. Some questions were directed to the BCI consultants, others to Mayor Ed Finneran and the Board of Trustees.
One asked why the survey included data on home values. BCI’s Keith Rodenhauser explained that the information was meant to show residents how much a potential tax could cost, depending on property value.
Another resident questioned how the village could finance long-term work at St. Paul’s when Recreation and Parks budgets are already stretched thin. Mayor Finneran responded that funding would be “iterative” and spread across years, not a lump sum in a single fiscal cycle. He emphasized the importance of a new Recreation and Parks superintendent, who would help set priorities and guide a 10-year plan.
“When we have a hire, together we will be looking to prioritize what we believe makes sense. We’ll then create a budget and Rec. involves a 10-year plan. I am confident that every year over that period you will see improvements to the parks and our services in different ways – but this will not be a blank check. We will work closely with Village Treasurer Irene Woo, our Rec. and Parks staff and administration to see what is the best bangfor-the-buck,” he noted.
The Village Board held a second town hall style meeting to present the results of the recent St. Paul’s survey. (The consultants’ report and videos of both town halls are available to view on the Village website.)
While the survey was largely to determine what uses the community would want in the building, the survey uncovered that a large percentage of residents are resigned to the idea that it may be just too late and too expensive to restore even parts of the building.
In the open ended comments to the survey a large number of residents wrote in that they don’t see a future for the building, or that they would like to see just a relatively small part of it saved. No doubt this was a disappoint-
ment to those who wanted to preserve the building, and we sympathize with their feelings. It was and parts of it still are a beautiful building.
However, the sentiment of the public seems to have shifted in the last few years to one of sorrowful inevitability that the building may be too far gone to save for anything like a reasonable cost. (There has been a lot of debate about what the actual costs will be, but the public is deeply concerned that those numbers have been downplayed.)
It’s like what all pet owners know - at some point you have to make the decision when it’s time to let go of a beloved elderly pet. It’s always a hard decision, but you know when it’s time.
To the Editor:
Bias busters
Bias Busters: When the question, not the answer, is the mistake.
It was very clear from the survey that the “will not support” sentiment materially exceeds the “likely to support” sentiment with any of the respective alternatives presented. This is NOT the answer certain people want to hear, and they are struggling to rationalize to the rest of us why the negative sentiment is not definitive. The title of this letter is from a recent article published by my first employer, McKinsey & Company, a preeminent global consulting firm. When I saw it, I couldn’t help but think that this is the case here.
Jim Apostolides
Saving building makes no sense
To the Editor:
I waded through the 70 pages of the St Paul’s survey, paying special attention to the 37 pages of comments at the end. I don’t know where to begin. I found some of the suggestions beyond ludicrous and unrealistic, too numerous to list here. Rehabbing this historic yet decaying 130 yr old building is a fool’s errand. The costs associated with this project, no matter the option, have been grossly underestimated, IMO. No project of this size and complexity has ever been accomplished on time or on budget in the history of mankind. Many have cited the Senior Center as an example. And thats a fairly simple structure. Or the Nassau County office building on the corner of 11th and Washington. That calamity took over a dozen years to accomplish. That was another plain vanilla building. No one, certainly not the unqualified BOT, certainly not Trustee Muldoon, knows what challenges lie behind the walls of this 130 year old building thats been grossly neglected for over 30 yrs. The scope and financial burden of the Village undertaking this is beyond our capacity.
From a practical perspective, as it stands now, there is not nearly enough
available parking at St Paul’s. As I read in a previous letter, rehabbing only 25% of the building would require / necessitate an addition of several hundred parking spaces. Also, some comments suggested building homes on the fields. Ok, then where will all the soccer / lacrosse / baseball games be played with the accompanying loss of green space?
I try to understand the Save St Paul’s POV but it eludes me. Saving the building makes no sense from any (reasonable) perspective: it’s not needed, we can’t afford it, and it’s beyond our scope to manage. In regards to comments at the end of the St Paul’s survey, if the BOT can’t read the writing on the wall they are collectively obtuse. But I guess I’m being redundant, since they left off DEMOLITION as a choice on the survey. Shame on them.
Tim Deignan
St. Paul’s apartments
To the Editor:
I agree with others that no viable public use is yet identified for the St. Paul’s building. What I don’t understand is why to suggest the concept of apartment use is still like touching the third rail. When nationwide developer Avalon Bay proposed this use in 2007, using $50 million of their own money, they were run out of town. If their plan had been adopted we would have already had 14 years of revenue from the property. People would be clamoring for apartments on the upper floors that would have a view of NYC. Remember the controversy when the Wyndham complex was initiated. Now it quietly exists with selling prices that would have been incomprehensible when it was constructed.
The main thing Avalon asked in order to provide funds for the restoration of the historic main building was the addition of another building at the rear in a similar style. Residents would have had access to the grounds for parking for field games and to some public
Board of Education reviews literacy study
BY KASSARA MCELROY
The Garden City Board of Education met this week to discuss the findings of a comprehensive literacy study conducted by CASDA, the oldest study council chartered by New York State. The study, which began in December 2024, aimed to evaluate the district’s literacy programs and identify areas for continued improvement.
Timothy Backus, executive director of CASDA, presented the findings, which were drawn from multiple sources including meetings with the superintendent and board members, analysis of district documents, 11 virtual focus groups, interviews with staff, parents, and community members, surveys of teachers, students, and parents, and classroom observations covering 34 lessons in grades K-6 and middle school. CASDA consultant Meg Rooney, a former New York State Education Department reviewer, and Dr. Donna Scanlon, Professor Emeritus at the University at Albany, also contributed to the study.
Overall, the Garden City schools were recognized as high-achieving and competitive, but some refinements will help maintain and strengthen its literacy program.
The review team emphasized the
need for a systemic, district-wide review of the comprehensive literacy guide, with a representative group streamlining and agreeing on priorities. Teachers and administrators highlighted the high volume of assessments, prompting a recommendation to review which assessments are most valuable and how they balance instructional time.
Alignment across grades is generally manageable, but vertical integration— coordinating skills and expectations across multiple grade levels—remains a challenge. Maintaining protected literacy instruction time is crucial, and the district should revisit how this time is used to ensure it includes all literacy components.
The reviewers stressed that high-volume, meaning-focused reading is essential: students improve as they read more, both in and out of school. This includes balancing foundational skills with application, supporting grammar and writing, and providing system-wide supports for writing instruction.
Adjustments to MTSS criteria for early intervention, particularly in lower grades, were noted as ongoing priorities. Staffing allocations should continue to be reviewed to optimize resources, especially for early grades.
While the District has made progress with job-embedded professional devel-
opment, including literacy coaches, this should remain ongoing, cyclical, and aligned with instructional goals. Revisiting and clearly communicating tier-one enhanced MTSS expectations ensures consistency, especially for new teachers.
A key area for continued focus is writing instruction, which 60% of teachers surveyed identified as in need of additional professional development and support—a common trend in other districts as well. Board trustees recommended further training in comprehensive literacy programs, such as LETRS, to expand coaches’ ability to support teachers effectively.
Students highlighted the value of choice and collaboration in learning, alongside structured time for writing. Reading aloud remains an important practice in lower grades, while middle and upper grade students benefit from more independent text engagement. Vocabulary instruction in middle school is now consistent across classrooms, with assessments integrated into instruction. Teachers guide students in selecting strategies that work best for them, often incorporating multiple
modalities, such as images, to reinforce learning.
Parents expressed a desire for clear, digestible communication regarding literacy instruction. While the district already provides substantial resources, efforts are underway to ensure families receive information in a usable format, and consistency across classrooms and grade levels remains a priority.
To implement the study’s recommendations, a committee of administrators, literacy coaches, and staff will meet monthly to set short- and long-term priorities and provide updates to the board. Families are encouraged to reach out to principals or teachers with questions, and home practice resources, including books that integrate literacy with other skills, will be shared thoughtfully to avoid overwhelming families.
Superintendent Dr. Kusum Sinha thanked administrators, principals, curriculum coordinators, parents, and students for their contributions throughout the process. The meeting concluded with an announcement that the next Board of Education session will take place on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at Garden City High School.
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Our Service Directory is sure to bring results. Call 294-8900 for rates and information.
Your Home Deserves the Best Representation
When it comes to buying or selling your home, you need more than just an agent—you need a trusted advisor, a skilled negotiator, and a dedicated partner. Atticka Ellis is a passionate and knowledgeable Realtor who goes above and beyond to achieve the most favorable results for her clients.
Known for her keen attention to detail, strong followthrough, and clear communication, Atticka ensures her clients are well-represented and fully informed every step of the way. She has built her success on creating trustworthy relationships, combining market expertise with genuine care and professionalism.
As an active member of the community and a devoted mom, Atticka is a wonderful resource for families and individuals looking to make Long Island their home.
Relatable, outgoing, and always educating herself on the latest real estate and investment opportunities, she o ers both heart and strategy in every transaction. Looking to buy, sell, or invest? Contact Atticka Ellis today—because the right Realtor makes all the di erence.
Home Happens Here
to this inviting 3 bedroom 2 1/2 baths split-level home tucked away on a quiet street. Inside you'll find, bright and spacious living areas, an easy-flow layout, and room for both daily living and entertaining. The split-level design provides flexibility, with private bedrooms upstairs and versatile space on the lower level- perfect for a family room, home office, or playroom. Offering both comfort and convenience. It is freshly painted, with updated baths plus new kitchen appliances. Offered for rent. $6,700 per month.
In partnership with the Garden City Bird Sanctuary, the GC Property Owner’s Association (POA) is excited to host the 3rd Annual Family Fall Festival. Scheduled for Sunday, September 28, from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m., the festival gives residents a great chance to have some old-fashioned fun with friends and neighbors.
This year’s festival promises to be bigger and better, offering a variety of exciting activities for people of all ages. Children and adults alike can enjoy classic games that will test their skills and provide endless entertainment. One of the delightful features of the day will be the pumpkin painting station, which is always a popular event.
A highlight of the festival will be the “Best Pie in GC Contest”. The contest is open to all GC residents, and all entries must be fully homemade. Bakers from all around GC will showcase their culinary talents, vying for the coveted title. Anyone can enter, with categories including Fruit; Berry;
Custard/pudding; or Nut. Judging will begin at 2:30.
This fantastic event is free of charge and open exclusively to GC residents and their guests. (Note – donations are appreciated and there is a small fee for pumpkins.) It is a perfect opportunity to enjoy the crisp fall weather, meet your neighbors, and create fun memories with family and friends.
Join us for a day of festive fun at the Garden City Family Fall Festival. To register, please use the QR code below. For more information, contact GCPOAevents@gmail.com.
Resurrection Lutheran Church
hosts blood drive
Locally Owned & Operated Proudly run by a
Local hospitals report that blood supplies are critically low. In response to the urgent need, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Garden City, will partner with New York Blood Center to host a Blood Drive, Monday, October 6, from 3:15 to 7:45 p.m. in Resurrection’s Parish Hall.
People 16–75 can donate, minimum weight for donors is 110 lbs. Please bring your donor card if you have one, or an ID with name and photo. Donors should eat well and drink fluids on the day of the drive.
For more info, or to make an appointment, please contact Resurrection’s Parish Nurse Linda Wardley, Linda@ resgc.org, or call the church office, 516-746-4426.
Resurrection Lutheran Church is a Christian community of faith, located at 420 Stewart Ave., near Clinton Rd., in Garden City. Worship services are offered Sundays, at 8:30, 9:45 and 11 a.m., with Children’s Sunday School at 9:45 a.m. For more information, call 516.746.4426.
Music Bingo for a great cause
RotaCare invites you to its first-ever Music Bingo at Revel in Garden City! Guests will enjoy dinner, drinks, and a fun night of Music Bingo, while competing for exciting prizes. All Bingo prizes are restaurant gift certificates from local favorites. Every ticket helps support RotaCare’s mission of providing free healthcare to our neighbors in need. Scan the attached QR Code for more info.
Can’t attend? You can still join the fun by entering our Super Raffle for a chance to win Lottery tickets, a private Hibachi Party for 10 people, or tickets
to the Islanders vs. Rangers game on January 28th.
Natl. Charity League kicks off new year
The Garden City Chapter of the National Charity League recently held its annual Patronesses Meeting at the Garden City Library during the first week of September. This meeting served as the kickoff for our 2025–2026 initiatives and was an opportunity to welcome new members.
PLEASE JOIN US
GARDEN CITY COUNTRY CLUB FRI NOV 7TH 7PM
CHRISTINE AND MICHAEL TIEDEMANN
PURCHASE TICKETS OR BECOME A SPONSOR
Founded by families of loved ones diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D), Breakthrough T1D (formerly know as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) is a nonprofit organization that connects experts to advance treatments, influence policy, and improve access to care. Through driving innovation, the organization's ultimate goal is to make T1D a condition of the past. www.breakthrought1d.org
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
BLACK DIAMOND SPONSOR: $20,000
Ten (10) tickets included with special recognition at the podium. Localized acknowledgment in the Garden City News and recognition within the digital event program.
DIAMOND SPONSOR: $10,000
Eight (8) tickets are included with special recognition at the podium. Localized acknowledgment in the Garden City News and recognition within the digital event program.
PLATINUM SPONSOR: $5,000
Four (4) tickets are included with localized acknowledgment in the Garden City News and recognition within the digital event program.
GOLD SPONSOR: $3,000
Two (2) tickets are included with localized acknowledgment in the Garden City News and recognition within the digital event program.
SILVER SPONSOR: $2,000
Tickets are required to attend the event. Localized acknowledgment in the Garden City News and recognition within the digital event program.
BRONZE SPONSOR: $1,000
Tickets are required to attend the event. Localized acknowledgment in the Garden City News and recognition within the digital event program.
TICKETS:
$200 EACH
Checks can be mailed to: Garden City Real Estate Professionals Foundation C/O Joseph Farkas, 1050 Franklin Avenue, 4th floor, Garden City, NY 11530
Net Proceeds will Benefit BREAKTHROUGH T1-D For more information about GCRE please visit https://gcrepf.org
Garden City Real Estate Market Information
RECENT REAL ESTATE SALES IN GARDEN CITY
The information about the homes and the photos were obtained through the Multiple Listing Services of Long Island. The homes presented were selected based solely on the fact that they were recently sold.
Mortgage Rates this week from www.nerdwallet.com
Date: 09/09/2025
Sold price: $2,750,000
5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 half baths
Architectural Style: Colonial
Property Size: .6 acre
Annual Taxes: $35,372
MLS number: 896732
The Seller’s Team: Kevin Coons, Signature Premiere Properties
The Buyer’s Team: Matthew Minardi and Claudia Galvin, Daniel Gale Sothebys
Located in Garden City’s Central Section, this impressive five-bedroom, five-bath home offers 4,106 sq. ft. of living space on a beautifully landscaped 135 x 195 lot. The main level features 9-foot ceilings, a grand two-story entry foyer, formal living and dining rooms, a spacious eat-in kitchen, and a family room with fireplace. A versatile guest suite/den includes a kitchenette, half bath,its own washer/dryer and staircase leading to a second-floor bedroom with its own full bath — ideal for extended stays or entertaining living. Upstairs you’ll find additional well-sized bedrooms and three newly renovated full bathrooms. Additional highlights include new central AC units, a brand-new boiler, invisible dog fence, 8-foot basement ceilings, two-car garage, and a large yard with room for a pool. All just a few blocks from the heart of Garden City Village, with convenient access to shops, restaurants, parks, schools, the library, and the Long Island Rail Road. 84 6th Street
Long Island Sales Data From One Key MLS
Nassau County Median Sale Price
Date: 09/04/2025
Sold price: $2,575,000 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 1 half bath
Architectural Style: Colonial
Property Size: .41 acre
Annual taxes: $30,509
MLS number: 880544
The Seller’s Team: Michelle McArdle, Douglas Elliman Real Estate
The Buyer’s Team: Kevin Concannon, Daniel Gale Sothebys Intl Realty
Presenting 52 Nassau Boulevard, an elegant 5 bedroom, 3.5 bath colonial with over 3,300 interior square feet located in the Estates section of Garden City. The expansive layout is adorned with custom moldings, intricate built-ins, grand arched doorways, French doors, high ceilings, elegant fixtures and distinctive charm. Stepping into the grand foyer, the striking three-story spiral staircase certainly sets the tone for the exceptional craftsmanship and elaborate details found throughout the home. The first floor features a spacious living room with gas fireplace, formal dining room, custom eat-in kitchen, a family room, powder room and fully enclosed sunroom with wraparound windows overlooking the pool and patio area. Walking up the exquisite staircase brings you to a large primary bedroom with en-suite bathroom and large dressing room, with a granite center island, gas fireplace and wall-to-wall custom Plato built-in closet system. Two additional bedrooms, one with a wood-burning fireplace, and a full bath complete this floor. Continuing upstairs to the third floor leads to 2 additional bedrooms and a full bath. There is an updated eat-in kitchen with custom cabinetry, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, including a 6-burner Wolf gas stove, Subzero refrigerator, Miele dishwasher and microwave, Wolf double ovens, Subzero wine refrigerator and custom built-in Miele coffee maker with warming drawer. The lower level has a large recreation room, home gym, laundry area and a custom built 1,600 bottle wine cellar with climate control. Some additional highlights of the home include central air conditioning, gas heating, hardwood floors, 12-zone in-ground smart sprinkler system, whole house water filtration system, updated electric and a 2-car detached garage with driveway on Salisbury Avenue. The beautifully appointed property includes a 18X32 foot gunite heated in-ground pool, outdoor shower, professionally designed landscaping and landscape lighting by The Laurel Group and Bluestone patios, walkways and stepping stones. The house is located in very close proximity to the Long Island Railroad, restaurants, shopping, downtown 7th Street and the Garden City Country Club. This is a rare opportunity to own a truly remarkable home in the Estates section of Garden City.
This informational page is sponsored by Douglas Elliman Real Estate
Houses featured on this page were sold by various real estate agencies
52 Nassau Blvd.
We Know and Love Garden City
THI S WEEK AT ROTARY
District Governor Reviews Rotary Year
Last Tuesday, September 9, MineolaGarden City Rotary was honored to host District Governor Lydia Wells. Seventeen Rotarians and guests heard DG Wells speak of the development of strategic plans and various goals for Clubs to pursue within the 7255 District which encompasses the Verrazano and Brooklyn Bridges to the lighthouses of Long Island’s east end.
Traditionally, the District Governor visits district clubs to engage, inspire and motivate members, and always, to promote membership growth, a major priority of our Mineola-Garden City Club.
DG Wells spoke of her contacts and relationships developed with people and fellow Rotarians throughout her extensive travels over many years and reviewed challenges to pursue for this Rotary year, themed “Unite for Good.”
Also featured at the lunch meeting was the induction of Laurie Burke (Randy Colahan's sister) as a new member of the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club by DG Lydia Wells.
Jim Brady, membership chair; Randy Colahan, clothing drive co-chair; Diana O’Neill, club president; DG Lydia Wells, guest speaker; and Diane Marmann, Asst. DG and new member Laurie Burke.
Upcoming Events:
“Music Bingo”
Imagine playing Bingo to music! You can, and have a barrel of fun competing for prizes (restaurant gift cards).
HOLIDAY FAMILY DINNERS
RotaCare will hold its first “Music Bingo” event on Tuesday, October 7, 6:309:30pm at Revel restaurant, 835 Franklin Avenue, Garden City. Fee: $90 pp. which includes dinner, dessert, unlimited wine & beer plus two game cards. There’ll be raffles and door prizes too.
RotaCare was founded by MineolaGarden City Rotary in 1992. Its signature service, our Club continues to provide annual support. “Music Bingo” will benefit RotaCare’s efforts to provide free health care for our uninsured neighbors in need.
For detailed information about sponsorships or to reserve, please visit RotaCare.Events@gmail.com.
Rotary/Kiwanis Clothing Drive to Benefit the INN
You’ve still time to bring your gently used clothing (mens especially needed) to the bin at the Garden City Library (to right of circulation desk). Sponsored by the Mineola-Garden City Rotary Club and the Kiwanis Club of Garden City to benefit the INN, the clothing drive ends this Sunday, 1-5pm when volunteers will then deliver donations to the INN. Thanks for your support!
Upcoming Speakers
September 23: featuring John Borroni, P.C., Superintendent, Garden City Public Works, guest speaker.
October 14: Featuring Maureen O’Connell, Nassau County Clerk, guest speaker.
Lunch meetings are held at Mineola’s Davenport Press restaurant, 12:15. Fee: $40, payable at the door. To reserve, visit mineolagardencityrotaryclub@gmail.com
DG Lydia Wells receives a welcoming bouquet from Club member Diane Marmann, Asst. DG.
Garden City real estate, reimagined.
Stephen Baymack
Laura Baymack
Lauren Grima Lic. RE Salesperson Principal Agent
Pedro “Pete” Diaz
Guendjoian Lic. RE Salesperson Principal Agent Laura Carroll
Athena Menoudakos
Alexander G. Olivieri
Patrick M. McCooey
Maureen Lagarde
Kathleen McCarthy
Alexandra Parisi
Assoc. RE Broker Founding Agent
Lauren Canner Lic. RE Salesperson Laura Carroll Team
Catherine Anatra
Menoudakos Team
Demetrios Arnidis
RE Salesperson McCooey Olivieri Team
Kathy Thornton
Jennifer Sullivan
Danielle Nero Lic. RE Salesperson Laura Carroll Team
Daniel Niebler
RE Salesperson Baymack Team
Kate Russo Lic. RE Salesperson Laura Carroll Team
Julie Whicher Lic. RE Salesperson Baymack Team
Christina M. Hirschfield Lic. RE Salesperson Laura Carroll Team
Susan Gillin Lic. RE Salesperson Jen Sullivan Team
Adrienne McDougal
RE Salesperson Laura Carroll Team Frank Morabito
RE Salesperson
Diaz Team Amanda Keller
Carroll Team
Carroll Team
Denice Giacometti Lic. RE Salesperson McCooey Olivieri Team
Mairead Garry Lic. RE Salesperson McCooey Olivieri Team
Carolyn Fowler
Team
Alyson B. Esposito
RE Salesperson Laura Carroll Team
Chelsea Costello Lic. RE Salesperson Laura Carroll Team
Matthew Heaney
List this summer with the #1 brokerage in Garden City.* Reach out to connect to a Garden City agent.
6
Women’s Health Care of Garden City committed to personalized care
By John L. Gomes, MD
John L. Gomes, MD, founded Women’s Health Care of Garden City in 1995. It has remained an independent private practice, providing personalized obstetrical and gynecological services.
He employs the technical advances of conventional medicine with an integrative approach to navigate women through difficult pregnancies into the menopausal years. He treats a wide variety of OB/GYN conditions and is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care.
All tests are conveniently done on the premises, and a dedicated, compassionate staff is on call 24/7.
He is committed to excellence in patient communication, education and support, as many patients come with anxiety associated with past experiences and future concerns.
Dr. Gomes received his undergraduate degree from Brown University, and his Doctor of Medicine from Columbia University.
He is both Board Certified and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Women’s Health Care of Garden City is located at 1000 Franklin Avenue, Suite 200, Garden City.
FOR SENIORS fyi
]Garden City’s Senior Center is open. Please visit the Senior Center Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for further information on activities and events!
Nassau County Museum of Art: “At Play Artists and Entertainment”
On Friday, November 7, join us for a trip to the Nassau County Museum of Art for the “At Play Artists and Entertainment” exhibit. The Recreation bus will leave from across the street from the Senior Center at 11:45, the tour begins at 12:30–1:30, with lunch immediately after at Mim’s in Roslyn. To register please visit the Senior Center front desk with a check for $20 made payable to the “Nassau County Museum of Art” and $40 cash for lunch. Both due at time of registration.
Outreach Bus
On Monday, October 6th from 10:00 am- 2:00pm, the Mobile Outreach Bus from Catholic Health LI will be at the Senior Center to offer free health screenings. A brief cariac history, blood pressure screening, BMI screening, simple blood test for glucose and cholesterol, and FREE flu shots. No appointment necessary, last walk up at 1:30.
Recognizing a Heart Attack
NYU EMS will be at the Senior Center on Tuesday, September 23, presenting, “Recognizing a Heart Attack”. To register, please stop by the Senior Center front desk or call (516) 385-8006.
Afternoon Book Club
Join us for our Afternoon Book Club, which will be meeting at the Senior Center on Thursday, September 18, at 1:00 p.m. The title of the book is “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett. All are welcome.
Fitness Sessions with Cathy
Beginning on Thursday, September 18, Cathy will be back at the Senior Center for an 8-week session of cardio, resistance training and work with a small Pilates ball (please bring your own 2-3 lb hand weights). The class is $48, please register using Community Pass or see Felicia at the Senior Center.
Zumba Gold
Beginning Tuesday, September 30, Andrea will be back teaching Zumba Gold, at the Senior Center from 10:3011:15. Registration forms are available at the Senior Center and the Recreation Office. The 8 week session will cost $65, please register using Community Pass or see Felicia at the Senior Center.
Shades of Ireland
If you are interested in the “Shades of Ireland” trip scheduled for next April 30–May 9, 2026, through AAA Member Choice Vacations, stop by and pick up a brochure at the Senior Center. We will have another Travel Presentation at the Senior Center on Wednesday, October 1, at 11:15. For more information, please contact Maureen Wind at (516) 873-5136 or email her at mwind@aaanortheast.com.
Open Ping Pong
Join us on Tuesday afternoons, at the Senior Center from 1:00–3:00 for Open Ping Pong. This is a drop-in program, bring a friend!
Chair Yoga
Chair yoga schedule for Tania at the senior center. 9:15–9:45 Meditation, 9:45–10:45 Chair Yoga class. July 29 will be Tania’s final Tuesday class. Cathy will teach chair yoga on August 19. Tania will return in the fall on Thursdays.
Chess 4 Community
Join us for Chess 4 Community’s Play and Learn at the Senior Center, every other Friday 3:00–4:00. This program will resume in the fall, dates to be announced. All ages and levels are welcome. No registration is required, just stop by and play!
Senior Center Lunch Group
Join our Senior Center Lunch Group at 12:30–3:30 on Wednesdays, or, if you miss your pool friends, join the Garden City Pool Chat Group at the center, on Thursdays beginning at 1:00–3:30. For both groups, coffee and tea will be served, just bring your lunch and chat!! Also, call to inquire about our two book clubs, one meets on Thursdays during the day and the other on Wednesday evenings.
Monday Night Bridge
The winners of the Monday, September 8, games: North / South: 1st Place: Carolyn and Rudy Kaiser East / West: 1st Place: Carrie Flapan and Pat Fontaine
LAUREL LINKS COUNTRY CLUB
2675 Laurel Trail
Come tour this fully furnished 6,000 sq ft home on the golf course, featuring a chef’s kitchen, 4 bedrooms (3 en-suite), multiple living areas, and a 3-car garage. Outdoor highlights include a heated saltwater pool, hot tub, pergola, and balcony with golf views.
Offered at $3,495,000. Owner/Agent.
OPEN HOUSES: Saturday and Sunday, 9am–11am
BRUCE A. BLAKEMAN NASSAU COUNTY EXECUTIVE presents
HARRY CHAPIN LAKESIDE THEATRE
ASHLEY M c BRYDE
Garden City Welcoming Club
Join the Welcoming Club and kick off the season with two exciting events in October!
The Garden City Welcoming Club offers rolling membership to women who reside in the village of Garden City. It is a volunteer women’s organization that unites both new & Long-standing members to build friendships, explore new interests, and give back to the community. Whether you are new to our community or have resided here for an extended period of time and are looking for a new venture, we would love to speak to you. See below for details.
Ladies’ Night at Tony’s Tacos on Wednesday, October 1, at 7 p.m.!
Join us at Tony’s Tacos for the first Ladies’ Night event of the season! The Garden City Welcoming Club will open the new club season and support this year’s fundraising efforts towards Camp Anchor. Ladies are welcome to join us for a night of great food, exciting raffles and meaningful connection - all in support of Camp Anchor, a program that provides year-round recreational opportunities for children and adults with special needs.
Tickets on sale now! Two price options $45 (mocktail + 2 tacos) or $50 (cocktail + 2 tacos)
For more info contact: GCladiesnight@ gmail.com
Halloween Spooktakular on Sunday, October 18, at 9 a.m.!
Get ready for some spooky fun this fall! Join the Welcoming Club for a family-friendly Spooktacular Scavenger Hunt with a DJ, costumes, face painting, and festive treats. Kids will receive personalized treat bags. Light breakfast and refreshments will be provided. All ages welcome—costumes encouraged! For more info contact: welcomingclubfamily@gmail.com
Price: $30/pp (babies under 12 month free). Tickets will go on sale 9/17 at 8pm.
Join the club!
To purchase tickets to events you must be a member so join and make a difference! For just $50 a year you will have access to great events. Complete the online membership form today at www. thegardencitywelcomingclub.org in the “Join” section of the website. Browse the site for great information about the club. Contact welcomingclubofgcmembership@gmail.com
Follow Us!
Facebook: The Welcoming Club of Garden City
Instagram: @gcwelcomingclub
Join A Group Book Club
Enjoy a good book amongst friends. The book club meets every 6 weeks to discuss the page-turner of choice. For upcoming book club events, please email WelcomingClubBookClub@ gmail.com.
Craft Club
The craft club is a great way to meet with friends and get crafty. No experience necessary. We meet every few months to create a seasonal craft. If you are interested in joining, please email GCCraftClub@gmail.com.
Supper Club
Bring your significant others out for this one! This is a great way to make new friends as a couple. You will be paired up with 3-4 other couples to set up a rotation of dinner events. Host your new friends at home or head out to try local restaurants. Please email GCSupper@gmail.com for more information.
Fitness
Different group fitness activities are planned throughout the year. It’s a great way to stay active and meet new friends. Stay tuned for details on upcoming events, or contact WelcomingClubFitness@gmail.com.
Toddler Activities
A great way for you and your little ones to make new friends. Activities include stroller walks each week around our beautiful village and a visit to the park. We also set up playgroups with kids of similar age. Please email welcomingclubtoddleractivities@gmail.com for more information.
Historical Society exhibit to spotlight vintage garments
BY MELISSA JAEGER, ON BEHALF OF THE TGCHS MUSEUM COMMITTEE
Please join us for an event to remember! The Garden City Historical Society (TGCHS) is again hosting a Clothing Exhibit of “Fashion Through the Ages” October 18 – 30 at the TGCHS Museum located at 109 Eleventh Street. Walk back in time and view fashion and style as never before, up close and personal. The focus of this, our third such exhibit, will be a display of vintage garments from the 1910s – 1950’s. All items presented have been graciously donated to the Society through the years.
The Victorian era which spanned during Queen Victoria’s reign – 1837 to 1901 – was a period of rapid economic and social change, driven by the Industrial Revolution. Even
though the Industrial Revolution made it easier to afford current fashion, there were still differences in the ways the various classes dressed. Upper-class women, who did not need to work, often wore a tightly laced corset to emphasize the small waist of the female body, over a bodice which was paired with a skirt adorned with embroidery and various types of trim, over layers of petticoats. The layering of these garments made them very heavy and, coupled with the stiff corset, restricted movement. But did you know that as many as seven petticoats would be worn under her skirt, which could weigh as much as 14 pounds?! As uncomfortable as they were, the numerous layers were worn as a symbol of wealth. With the advent of the sewing machine, middle-class women could wear
similar garments, but the decorations (and the fabric) were not as extravagant.
You will recall that Alexander Turney Stewart, Garden City’s founder, made his fortune in “dry goods” (aka textiles and clothing). Stewart opened this country’s first department store – aptly named the Stewart Department Store -- on Broadway and 10th Street in New York City.
On Friday, October 17, from 4:00 p.m. –7:00 p.m., the Society will host a Special Preview Reception at the Museum. We are pleased to announce that Suzanne Weis of Compass Real Estate in Garden City will be sponsoring our event. Marianna Garthwaite Klaiman, Independent Textile Scholar, will be our featured Speaker. After a successful career in real estate and working at Sotheby’s, she followed her passion
for textiles and became an Independent Textile Scholar, specializing in ecclesiastical vestments. Marianna has been advising the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City. Marianna has also been a tremendous asset to the Historical Society in evaluating our garments.
Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online through Eventbrite and at the A.T. Stewart Exchange within the lower level of the Museum. Tickets will also be available for purchase on the evening of the event. As you peruse the exhibit, enjoy light refreshments.
Can’t make the “Sneak Preview?” Don’t worry, as the exhibit will be open to the public at no charge every day through Thursday, October 30, from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
How sleep makes you strong
Did you know that your muscles shrink as you age?
That’s what makes climbing stairs feel harder, carrying groceries feel like a struggle, and rising from a chair feel less steady.
This drop in muscle mass, called atrophy, doesn’t just sap your strength…
It chips away at your independence.
The good news?
Coupled with exercise, sleep may be your strongest ally in preserving strength.
Yup, it’s true…
One study from the University of Chicago found that people who slept only five and a half hours a night lost 60 percent more muscle than those who slept eight
and a half hours.
Both groups ate and exercised the same, showing that sleep alone had a major impact on keeping muscle!
Not sleeping enough also raises the risk of injury…
A 2021 review in Current Sports Medicine Reports found that sleeping seven hours or less each night for two weeks increases the risk of strains, falls, and other aches by 1.7 times.
Another study in 2019 published by UC Berkeley found that even one sleepless
night can make you feel like everyday movements are more painful and uncomfortable. So, what can you do?
Follow these five tips to improve your sleep quality:
1. Get morning sunlight to set your body’s internal clock and fall asleep more easily.
2. Move during the day. Even a short walk can help you fall asleep faster come nighttime.
3. Keep your bedroom cool (around 60 to 67 degrees), dark, and quiet.
4. Unwind a couple of hours before bed
by avoiding screens and doing something relaxing, like reading or journaling.
5. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
Every night of good sleep is not just rest...
It is your body keeping your muscles strong, solidifying your independence, and helping you move with confidence.
Remember, exercise is key to lifelong strength and independence. Try these tips today! Ahmed Ahmed is the owner of Lotus Fitness. Contact him at (646) 415-2349 or ahmed@lotusfitnessny. com https://lotusfitnessny.com/
Ladies’ gloves
Some of the children’s garments which will be on display.
Summer whites
Ahmed Ahmed
BRUCE A. BLAKEMAN NASSAU COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Public Health Over the Years
BY BOB MORGAN, JR.
Like most people reading this piece, my life has been substantially impacted over the years by public health issues.
When I was five years old in 1957, my mother took me to the doctor to get a polio vaccine injection, which had just come out on the market. To put it mildly, I was not happy about the pain in my arm, but my mother tried to explain. She told me that there was a terrible disease called polio, which made kids not able to walk. She said that she was afraid every summer that it would harm me and my sister and she was so glad that there was a way to prevent it. I guess I more or less understood, but I was certainly relieved when she told me a couple of years later that the new polio vaccine could be taken by mouth.
I may not have liked the injectable form of polio vaccine, but in truth it was a tremendous success. There were approximately 16,000 cases of polio annually in the years before the vaccine, but polio in the United States is almost completely wiped out currently.
In addition to the new polio vaccine, kids of my generation, who already received the longstanding vaccine against smallpox, got another vaccine combined vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough; all of these vaccines which were required for admission to school. These vaccines, which were largely developed by the 1940’s, were generally successful in minimizing these diseases.
On the other hand there was another public health challenge of my childhood that could currently not be addressed by public heath measures. Almost all of us got measles, mumps, chicken pox and rubella (German measles), which only years later could be vaccinated against by the MMR vaccine, available in the early 1970’s . Family members would become infected one by one. Most of the time people recovered after a few days, but each of the diseases occasionally had potential significant side effects. Thankfully, they never affected anyone I was close to.
Sometimes public health authori-
ties were notable for what they didn’t do. The Hong Kong flu outbreak of 1968 and 1969 ran its course without significant closures or lockdowns.
The preceding accounts ] all, to one degree or another, involve public health success stories, in that the diseases involved \ were sooner or later completely or substantially wiped out. Society was allowed to keep functioning during the Hong Kong flu. During the times involved, most people believed in public health and its mission.
Now, however, some decades later and following the response to the Covid virus, and with the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, there is a distinct undercurrent of unhappiness with the public health establishment.
At least in the view of many, the Covid response by authorities was a mixed bag.
On the positive side, Americans quickly became aware of the virus and its potentially severe consequences. And following Operation Warp Speed, a vaccine was developed less than one year after the onset of the pandemic.
But there seemed to be many negatives. There was a seeming overreach by government, as some parts of the country had long lockdowns of almost everything (including outdoor facilities), together with lengthy mask mandates, while other states (for example, Florida) seemed to achieve similar results with much fewer closures. Extended school closures in some areas were a particular sticking point.
In addition, the vaccine, while very effective in eliminating the prevalence of severe cases of the virus, did not, as promised, prevent transmission of the virus.
More than when I was young, public health authorities are being questioned. And now, with the appointment of Secretary Kennedy, even vaccines are being brought into doubt (probably wrongly in my view.) In fact, public health providers play a very important role, but they especially need to be transparent, reasonable and moderate in their prescriptions and dictates.
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Some brief updates:
We had a good crowd in person and via Zoom for the second St Paul’s Survey review and analysis this past Tuesday. BCI presented well and there were several active participants in the Q&A. Additionally, when the subject matter turned to the Recreation Master Plan, it was very apparent that the professionals at BCI were thorough and thoughtful in developing their 10-year plan. All aspects –including sports activities, suggested improvements to our varied programs and our many parks physical plant were included in the plan.
DPW continues on pace in the execution of its $2.5mm 2025-2026 street maintenance schedule. You can find the schedule on our website and through email announcements. This week the crews were on Plattsdale Road, Brixton Road and Jackson Street.
Although the pool season is behind us, it’s full steam ahead on ordering and installing a new slide for the 2026 season. Andy Hill and the team at the Rec Department have completed their due diligence and bid process and have identified a vendor for consideration for the big job.
Finally, we have begun preparations in the Village for the Ryder Cup (week of Sept. 22d). Friday Sept. 26th the Chamber of Commerce will be sponsoring a Festival on 7th Street from 6:00-10:00 p.m. It promises to be a spectacular evening with a myriad of activities, two bands, golfthemed fun, etc…“Be there or be (a) square (golf ball)!!!” Hope to see you around town.
Merillon Avenue
Triangle
The Traffic Commission is still waiting on revised plans from Nassau County for the Merillon Avenue/ Rockaway Avenue triangle. The proposed traffic calming project is intended to control speed, improve intersection geometry, reduce accident potential and enhance pedestrian access in the vicinity of Garden City High School. Accident history at the triangle is concerning; on average per year there’s approximately 8
Vinny Muldoon - Owner and Garden City
accidents at the triangle when compared to 1.6 accidents on average per year on Stewart Avenue, one of the busiest corridors in the Village. Proposed improvements include alignment modifications to the triangle, coordinated traffic signals with crosswalks and pedestrian signals, lane diet portions of Rockaway Avenue and resurfacing Rockaway Avenue with additional signage and new pavement markings.
Edgemere Firehouse Update
The bid opening for the Edgemere Firehouse project was extended to Thursday, September 11 due to multiple bidders asking for more time. The second walkthrough saw eight additional contractors asking for more time on the bids as well. Nearly two dozen contractors attended the first walkthrough in mid-August. Building Superintendent Giuseppe Giovanniello is “expecting good numbers to move this project along,” further noting that a few of the contractors are currently doing or have done work for the Village.
Thank you, GC Fire Department
On behalf of the Garden City community, thank you to Fire Chief James Taunton and members of the Garden City Volunteer Fire Department for conducting the 24th annual remembrance ceremony of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Twenty-four years have passed since the attacks though for many it feels like yesterday. We gathered to pay tribute to the many lives lost, recognizing the 23 residents of our Village, 343 members of the FDNY, 23 members of the NYPD and 37 members of the PAPD killed, as well as those who have died of 9/11-related illnesses. We joined in praying for their families and friends whom we hope seek solace in this annual remembrance ceremony. May we all never forget.
GC Library resumes Sunday hours
The Garden City Public Library resumed Sunday hours on Sunday, September 7, 2025. The Library is open on Sundays from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. You can visit the Library 24/7 at www. gardencitypl.org to access online services such as electronic databases and downloadable eBooks, audiobooks and periodicals.
Property Records Search Module
Did you know the Property Records Search Module can be used to search
for information on properties within the Village, such as ownership, taxes due and paid, assessments and lien information? The portal provides historical information up to five years. Properties are searchable by Parcel ID, Owner Name or Address. For any additional information, please contact the Finance Department.
Back-to-School Safety Series Part IV: Stranger Danger
This is the final part of the fourpart series of articles by the Garden City Police Department addressing back -to-school safety issues. The previous three articles addressed Safe Driving Practices, School Bus Safety, and Pedestrian/Bicyclist Safety. This week’s article will cover Stranger Danger. Parents, grandparents, guardians, and teachers are encouraged to use this article to help teach their children about Stranger Danger. It is essential to explain to children that strangers can look like ordinary people, not monsters. A stranger is someone that you do not know very well or do not know at all. Experts recommend that parents or guardians role-play with their children about how someone might approach them, such as offering candy, asking for help, or if they’d like to come and meet their new puppy. You should teach your child to give a firm “NO” and walk away. When you role-play with your children, keep it matter-of-fact and calm so you do not overly frighten them. Part of protecting children is not just pointing out dangers but also teaching them confidence; this will help them to make good decisions in potentially harmful situations.
• Teach your children to trust their instincts. They should trust that feeling in their gut that tells them if something is safe or not. You can describe it as the feeling in your tummy that gives you butterflies if something seems wrong.
• Tell your children never to approach a vehicle or someone asking for directions; adults do not need advice from children.
• There is safety in numbers; whenever possible, do not walk alone.
• Carry your cell phone for use in emergencies.
• NEVER accept rides from strangers.
• Parents develop a secret password that only your family knows. Tell your kids they should NEVER go with anyone unless they know the secret password. Tell your children that they should NEVER share this secret password with anyone.
• If you think someone is following
See page 30
Mayor Edward Finneran
Mail theft
On September 3, two victims reported that checks placed in the mail on 6th Street were stolen, altered, and cashed.
Truck violations
A Clinton Road truck operator was charged on September 3 with driving in a prohibited zone and multiple equipment violations.
Fire alarms
Responding on September 3, GCFD and GCPD handled a fire alarm deemed to be a malfunction, another set off in error, one caused by burnt food, and one activated due to a battery issue.
Suspended license
On September 3, a Rockaway Avenue motorist was charged with driving with a suspended license, operating an unregistered auto, and uninsured operation.
Registration suspended
A Stewart Avenue driver was charged on September 3 with operating a vehicle with both a suspended license and a suspended registration.
Small fire
On September 3 Garden City Police assisted firefighters at Garden City Plaza in extinguishing a small paint rag fire.
Graffiti found
On September 4, graffiti was discovered on the NICE Bus vestibule located on Franklin Avenue near 4th Street.
E-ZPass misuse
An agency’s E-ZPass account was reportedly used September 4 without permission to pay for bridge tolls.
Burnt food
On September 4, GCFD and GCPD responded to a fire alarm caused by burnt food, along with three other alarms deemed to be system malfunctions.
Aggressive driving
An Old Country Road motorist was charged September 4 with multiple aggressive driving violations, including speeding, unsafe lane use, and making an unsafe turn.
Overweight truck
On September 4, a Clinton Road truck driver was charged with operating an overweight vehicle.
School zone speeding
A Rockaway Avenue driver was charged on September 4 with unlicensed operation and speeding in a school zone.
CO alarm
Garden City Police and Firefighters on September 4 responded to a residence where a carbon monoxide alarm had been activated, ultimately deeming the home safe.
Fallen limb
On September 4, Garden City Police responded to Stewart Avenue to safeguard a fallen tree limb.
Business theft
A local business reported on September 5 that funds had been stolen from its corporate account.
Suspended registration
On September 5, a Washington Avenue motorist was charged with driving with a suspended registration and an uninspected auto.
Faulty detector
That same day, GCFD and GCPD responded to a residence for a carbon monoxide alarm. Firefighters determined the cause was a faulty detector and declared the area safe.
Water main break
On September 5, an officer notified the Water Department of a possible water main break on Nassau Boulevard.
Hair straightener
Later on September 5, GCFD and GCPD responded to a fire alarm set off by a hair straightening device.
School zone violations
A Nassau Boulevard motorist was charged September 5 with driving with a suspended registration, speeding in a school zone, and unlicensed operation.
Stop sign offense
On September 5, a Rockaway Avenue driver was charged with speeding in a school zone and passing a Stop sign.
Hit and run
A white sedan reportedly struck and damaged a vehicle parked in Parking Field 5 before leaving the scene on September 6.
Multiple charges
On September 6, a Stewart Avenue motorist was charged with driving with a suspended registration, unlicensed operation, and uninsured operation.
Alarm responses
That same day, GCFD and GCPD
handled two alarms caused by burnt food, two alarms activated in error, and one triggered by beekeepers.
Speeding driver
A Franklin Avenue motorist was charged on September 6 with unlicensed operation and excessive speed.
Dozens of suspensions
On September 7, a Franklin Avenue motorist was charged with driving despite having 33 license suspensions, along with operating an unregistered and uninsured auto.
Tree limb
Also on September 7, Garden City Police responded to Tanners Pond Road for a downed tree limb that was blocking the roadway.
Multiple charges
A Stewart Avenue motorist was charged September 7 with driving with a suspended registration, unlicensed operation, and uninsured operation.
Flooding condition
On September 7 Garden City Police notified DPW of a flooding condition on Poplar Street.
Sparking line
On September 7, Garden City Police and Firefighters safeguarded 2nd Street after a tree fell on a power line, causing sparks.
Loose utility hole cover
That same day, an officer corrected a loose utility hole cover issue on Franklin Avenue.
Identity theft
On September 8, a victim reported their identity had been stolen and used to open unauthorized Social Security and Medicare accounts.
Hydrant damage
A fire hydrant on 2nd Street was reportedly damaged by unknown means on September 8.
Unsafe driving
On September 8, a Clinton Road motorist was charged with unlicensed operation and unsafe speed.
See page 30
The
Calls for demolition debate grow at St. Paul’s forum
From page 1
ments, including the new pool slide and playground, turf field construction at St. Paul’s, and renovations at Grove Park, Cluett Hall, and the Fieldhouse.
“We have the new GC Pool slide coming in, a new playground there at the Pool, the new turf field for St. Paul’s will be done this year into early next year. Then we the new tennis and pickleball courts at Grove Park, plus the upgrades and HVAC systems for the St. Paul’s Fieldhouse and Cluett Hall. In a matter of a year and a half to two years, with the previous Board of Trustees and current Board, we have done a good job overall of making sure Recreation remains a very important part of our village for our families, young kids, seniors and everyone else and we will continue to do this,” he said.
Consider all buildings at site
Former Mayor Mary Carter Flanagan, attending the meeting, raised a key question: should capital upgrades at Cluett Hall and the Fieldhouse be merged with plans for an indoor community center, rather than treated as separate projects?
“We have them as two separate bullets. It seems if you are talking about an indoor Rec. center isn’t that a lot of what we have at the Fieldhouse and
Cluett Hall which we’re working on? I’m wondering if you have looked into the feasibility of adding on since it may be a lot cheaper to do the additions there with offices and meeting space, and turning it into an indoor community center rather than approaching it as two separate bullets,” she said.
BCI noted the idea had been considered but said additions to existing facilities would essentially constitute new construction.
Other residents pressed on the survey itself. Industrial engineer Frank Milford criticized the lack of a direct demolition question.
“I represented DoubleDay as a member of several mailing organizations, and we ran studies on the delivery of mail throughout the U.S., and I had to defend those studies a few times in front of the Postal Rate Commission in Washington, D.C. – My take is that the survey contained the underlying question of whether or not to keep St. Paul’s as-is, and to wipe it out and do anything it’s a lot cheaper. I know architecture, and this survey did not come up with any answer to the question whether or not to keep St. Paul’s. We hear everyone talking with percentages under 50%, but if you have to defend that with a bunch of people who are up on statistics then you are dead,” he commented. Milford
contends that the survey should have at least contained a question to gauge the residents’ support for demolition.
Another resident asked the Board and BCI to consider the “clear community response rejecting the St. Paul’s Survey’s options A, B and C.” Deputy Mayor Courtney read the question, “Are you pivoting to explore whether you can provide analysis on projects that include demolishing at least parts of the building?”
Mayor commits to public vote
Mayor Finneran replied, It’s premature to talk about demolishing any part of the building, although based on these survey results we do have a split community – it’s almost 50/50. Everything is on the table. We intend to take some time and develop some options. What we will do at the end of the day is do what is best for you and best for the village, meaning what makes the most sense financially as well. I can’t say yes or no but I can tell you we are committed to working exceptionally hard to present the residents with a program or programs that make the most sense. If it requires a bond, which I am assuming it will, we will of course come to the community to vote Yay or Nay on the bond,” he said.
Department operating costs, added BCI Senior Planner John Bucher, but not fund major renovations.
Closing out the evening, Trustee Bruce Torino urged caution before considering demolition. He referenced a time decades ago when the school district was considering selling the Hemlock School property.
“At the time I lived on Laurel Street and it was my understanding that my kids would be going there. To my chagrin they ended up not attending their closest school - they were bussed further away. Low and behold the decision by the schools to not sell Hemlock was validated 10 years later when obviously there were more families moving in. There are also other intangibles and when we’re looking at the numbers, residents may say they don’t want to spend $500 – for those of us that have ever gone down to Seventh Street, a cup of coffee is around $5 so if you give up one cup of coffee a day that’s $15,000 a year. Here, everyone thinks they can’t spend the $500 but that’s an example,” he said.
Trustee Muldoon checked with BCI’s team on how many Survey respondents indicated they would not support ANY of the three options for St. Paul’s – Adaptive Reuse, Partial Reuse and Mothballing – and how many would at least “Look At” one or more of the options presented. The notes state 48% of respondents were willing to consider any of the St. Paul’s options on the survey. Rodenhauser explained that 48% picked “very likely or somewhat likely” to support any of the three options – not all three, but maybe one or two.”
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In total, BCI reported 2,358 completed surveys, a sample size large enough for a 95% confidence level.
Rodenhauser also stated that 45% of respondents selected the option to not support ANY of the three potential projects.
These were noted on one slide as the 45% of “Demolition-focused responses.”
Costs to operate St. Paul’s?
Questions also arose about operating costs should St. Paul’s be restored. Rodenhauser said expenses for staffing and maintenance would vary widely depending on how the building was used. Sponsorships, such as naming rights for tennis courts or banners on fields, could help offset Recreation
Trustee Torino also said the term demolition is misleading because it would involve a very extensive process for a historic structure such as the massive St. Paul’s building. “Demolition can be compared to signing off on a parent or a child’s DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order. Having had the obligation to sign off on a DNR, I am not going to do that until all the options are validated and there are no other options that we have done after all of the homework we need to do in order to be able look in the mirror and say ‘we did the best we could, and it’s what is best for the village.’ Many of us can remember that Grand Central Station came very close to being taken down, but in fact it stayed. The State of New York and the United States almost didn’t fund the base for the Statue of Liberty. It was only the effort of famed publisher Mr. Joseph Pulitzer to unite the country, bringing in donations from the Midwest, for the U.S. to take on the obligation for the pedestal. Ellis Island is another example from Lee Iacoca’s efforts to bring it into life. There are many options the Board has to discuss and to have avenues for other parts of funding and opportunities. A 15-second soundbyte saying ‘Demolish, Demolish!’ is not real – you have to wait to figure out what the true costs, impacts on the village and what the village would be with or without St. Paul’s. Merely looking at numbers is a very narrow viewpoint in my mind,” Torino noted.
Synthetic field sparks debate at Board meeting
From page 1
The
questions about PFAS-free certification and whether the design includes technology to prevent fields from overheating. Hill confirmed that the proposed design incorporates “green fill” technology, which helps retain moisture and reduce surface heat.
“There will be the presence of some black rubber, but the green fill will make up the majority of it – the black absorbs heat and makes it a lot hotter. The green fill has sand inside the encapsulated rubber which retains the moisture and releases it when it gets hot, so that cools it down,” he said.
LandTek will also provide documentation showing the materials are safe and meet New York State standards.
Trustee Michele Harrington, co-chair of the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB), expanded the conversation to the possibility of more turf fields in Garden City. Public comment added further tension: resident George Salem questioned safety concerns tied to turf fields and suggested the village hold a public vote on the project before proceeding.
Mayor Ed Finneran commented that he’s steadfast in supporting the project to build a new turf field at Garden City’s
St. Paul’s grounds. He said he does not believe constructing it will change the character of the St. Pauls campus.
“It is a massive 40-acre tract of land that’s extraordinary, and it will remain extraordinary. On your second point, I would not be in favor of holding a vote on that under any circumstances. There are some decisions, probably most decisions of this Board of Trustees, that we have been elected to make. I feel very confident that the environmental folks have looked into it, and the questions today are just the tip of the iceberg that this effort has taken, so it’s going to move forward. I understand your home is right off the grounds of St. Paul’s but every effort is going to be taken. Know that we are not going to be taking a vote, and an inordinate amount of work has gone into researching whether we should do this turf field or not,” the mayor explained.
Salem rebutted with a challenging concept, “You are basically saying we won’t know the people’s opinion on whether or not we are doing the right thing – you are starting out with one field, and then Vinny [Trustee Muldoon] mentioned there could be a second. Will there be numbers three and four down the road? And how many will we have?”
Trustee Vinny Muldoon respond-
ed that the village’s consultants, BCI, strongly support the project. He pointed to community survey results highlighting demand for more turf fields, and stressed that youth sports participation has increased significantly.
“On the BCI Rec. Survey that the residents filled out, one of the top things that residents have stated was the need for a new turf field. We have Community Park’s turf field, which has been super-successful and it’s an amazing facility. Right now, Garden City High School is adding multiple fields and it looks amazing. These (turf fields) have been done all over the country and we aren’t the test pilot for it. We have to move with the times – in my whole life, I grew up running and playing on grass. Would I personally rather play on natural grass, well I would. But there comes a time, that now we have tremendously more kids in the village – more and more than even when my kids were young – the village needs more and durable facilities to accommodate them.
This is about the kids, whether we like it or not. And your point about the injuries occurring on turf or on natural fields goes both ways, especially with some of the sports like girls’ lacrosse. Plus I’ve met with all of our great local sports organizations – there is a huge need, backing and want for this new facility,” Muldoon said.
Trustee Harrington added that Garden City’s identity includes a strong culture of athletics and reassured residents that the board would act if future health concerns emerged.
“If it turns out all of sudden that we have turf and it’s really bad that there is some chemical we didn’t know about, then I am sure we will think about it and take it up. The field can cost us $1.2 million or more, and all of a sudden three years from now we could find out we made a mistake. I think the people on this Board then would say rip it up and take it out. I think you have to trust us,” she said.
Garden City PTA News
Join/Renew Your PTA Membership Today!
Don’t forget to join the Garden City PTA for the 2025–26 school year! Joining is easy - visit gardencitypta.org and choose your membership option. One membership covers all of your children in all seven schools through June 2026. Join by September 30 for a chance to win an Amazon gift card!
Fall Sportswear On Sale Now!
Visit gardencitypta.org/sportswear to preview and purchase all the latest gear! Get ready to FALL in love with all these cozy and trendy essentials. Lots of new styles this year you won’t want to miss! Store closes October 10.
Save the Date: Homecoming is 9/20!
The PTA and District once again have incredible plans for Homecoming 2025 -- but we need your support! We are looking for donations and volunteers to help make Spirit Week (9/15 – 9/19) and Homecoming 2025 an unforgettable community event. Contact spiritcommittee@gardencitypta.org if you would like to help and check your emails for more spirit week information!
Spirit Day Poster Contest
Calling all Stewart and Stratford students to show your Garden City School Spirit and enter our 2025 Spirit Day Poster Contest! Be creative & imaginative - use crayons, pencils, markers, stencils and paint! Requirements:
• One entry per child
• Max poster size 22”x28”
• Include name, grade, school on back of poster
• Submit to the school main office by Thursday, September 18!
Annual Sponsorship Applications Now Available! Email sponsorships@gardencitypta. org.
Save the Dates!
• September 15 - Hemlock Back to School Night
• September 16 - Locust Back to School Night
• September 17 - UPK Back to School Night
• September 17 - Stewart Back to School Night
• September 18 - Stratford Back to School Night
• September 20 - Homecoming
• September 25 - Stratford Picture Day
• September 29 - Stewart Picture Day
• September 29 - Homestead Picture Day
• September 30 - Locust Picture Day
• September 30 - Renew or Join the PTA by 9/30 for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card!
• October 7 - GC UPK HCC Roslyn
Let’s Connect!
Website: www.gardencitypta.org
Facebook/Instagram/X: @gardencitypta
To get real time informationturn on notifications! Join the conversation and invite your friends.
GCHS Class of 1975 50th reunion
The Class of 1975’s 50th class reunion is coming up on Saturday, October 25, 7–11 p.m. at the Garden City Hotel. Help make it the biggest and best reunion yet!
If you’ve missed emails or updates on the class Facebook page, here’s the link to Eventbrite where you can purchase tickets for the big event: Garden City High School Class of ‘75 50th Reunion Tickets, Sat, Oct 25, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. | Eventbrite. You can also reach out to us at: gchsreunion50th@gmail.com or on our class Facebook page at: www. facebook.com/groups/652681701467825
There is a full weekend of reunion fun planned, including informal gatherings in downtown GC on Friday night, a JV home football game and open house tour of GC High School Saturday morning, informal gatherings downtown and a tour of the Cathedral of the Incarnation Saturday afternoon before the main reunion event at the GC hotel, and an informal coffee meet-up downtown on Sunday morning.
The organizers need your help connecting with classmates they haven’t been able to reach! If you have current
contact information for any of the classmates listed below, please let the committee know.
Thank you, and all are also welcome to join our Reunion Committee. See you in October!
If you can share any updates about the following classmates, please send an email to gchs75reunion50th@gmail.com.
Classmates the committee is seeking to connect with:
Casey Alexander, Diane Argenzio, Jeannine Barrera, David Beck, Therese Beyer, Craig Blanchard, Denise Bonfilio, Linda Buck, Bruce Carlino, Sharon Charles, Thomas Chu, Diana Marie Cimador, Paul Comitz, Kerry Conroy, Paul Craner, Scott Curran, Sean Curry, Bill Curtis, Ann Daly, Carolyn Davis, Craig DelloIacono, Cynthia DeLuise, Patricia Denoia, Ellen Dory, Doreen Grace Downs, Mary Draffen, Steve Du, John Egan, Frank Fallon, Lynda Fenty, Donald Ferguson, Marianne Fischer, Robert Fleig, Barbara Ann Flynn, Brenda Furlong, Linda Garibaldi, Richard Gilbride, Kimberly Gillie, Steven Gotterbarn, Walter Hegarty,
John Herrlin, James Higgins, Brian Hoch, Peter Hoffman, Susan Jankowski, Robert Johnston, Susan Kane, Maura Kehoe, Mary Kenny, Barbara Kiernan, Mary Klein, Sandra Koegel, Timothy Kopf, Robin Kristal, Joanne Krug, Mary Beth Kyser, Mary Jo Larkin, Peter Laskas, Roberta Sue Logan, Kevin Malin, Diane Mangia, Michael Marcellino, Blake McCauley, William McKenna, James McLoughlin, Victoria Moss, Carl Neilson, Arleen Nelson, Basil Northam, Patricia Noone, Laraine Pavone, Laura Pistocco, James Pratt, Nicholas Preziosi, Mary Jane Rossa, Joseph Scanlan, Caran Schmidt, Lisa Schmitt, Heidi Schubert, Denise Sebukaty, Harlan Shays, Vincent Siciliano, John Silk, Scott Smith, Susan Smith, Marianne Springer Judge, Terese Steffen, Sandra Sysol, Frank Toscano, Kenneth Van Wickler, James Vanasco, Debra Vierling, John Walsh, Margaret Waterson Powers, Evelyn Welch, Julianne Williams, Carol Williams, Charles Willis, John Wolf, Donald Woods, Helen Xiques, Susan Zach, Brian Zaino
WPOA seeks volunteers
The Western Property Owners Association has two available volunteer positions, one for Treasurer and one for IT Director.
These are great opportunities for any western section resident to be involved, with minimal time commitment, to help keep our section of the Village of Garden City a desirable place to live.
Founded in 1935, the WPOA (www. GCWPOA.com) supports a safe and vibrant community, works to maintain property values, and provide a voice for western section residents. Through meetings, events, and collaboration with local officials, the WPOA addresses community concern. Retirees, students, and all other western section residents are encouraged to join the WPOA and consider either of these open positions. Anyone interested please contact RoseAnn Vernice at ravernice26@ gmail.com.
Photos from the Village Archives
South Central Garden City Aerial
An aerial view facing northeast of the center of the Village c1936 from the Richard Panchyk collection. In the center is the Cherry Valley Club golf course, bisected by the remains of Cherry Valley Ave, which was closed in 1923. To its left are the three buildings of the newly constructed Adelphi College At bottom center are the sewerage disposal facility leaching fields, later to be reclaimed for Community Park. The original multicurved path of Cambridge Ave is to its north, with First St. at right when the golf course still included the area south of it. The Garden City South houses are yet to be built at lower left, also the West Hempstead houses lower right.
Archives identifier: aer37
A selection from the extensive Village Archives. Others can be seen at www.NYHeritage.org - click on Organizations, G, and Garden City Public Library. Comments/questions: email Historian@gardencityny.net - Wm. Bellmer
THE
From page 25
Steam alarms
That same day, GCFD and GCPD responded to one alarm caused by shower steam and another activated by construction dust.
Unsafe speed
A Stewart Avenue motorist was charged September 8 with unsafe speed, uninsured operation, and driving with a suspended registration.
Damaged vehicle
On September 8, a vehicle was report-
ed damaged while parked in a Franklin Avenue parking garage.
Medical alarm
That same day, Garden City Police responded to a location for a medical alert alarm and found it had been set in error.
Smoke odor
On September 8, GCFD and GCPD investigated a residence for an odor of smoke, with firefighters confirming there was no fire in the home.
Joint arrests
On September 9, a joint opera-
tion between the Garden City Police Department and the Nassau County Probation Department resulted in the arrest of three subjects for allegedly driving with licenses revoked due to Driving While Intoxicated.
Threatening texts
Garden City Police are investigating September 9 reports of threatening text messages sent to a local business.
Missing ring
On September 9, a ring was reported lost or stolen in the vicinity of Dartmouth Street.
Speeding offense
A Rockaway Avenue motorist was allegedly charged on September 9 with driving with a suspended license and excessive speed in a school zone.
Emergency alarm
That same day, Garden City Police responded to a residence for an emergency medical alarm and determined it had been activated in error.
Improper plates
On September 9, a Clinton Road truck operator was charged with driving in a non-commercial zone and using improper license plates.
From page 24
you, go to the nearest school official, business, residence, or Police Officer for help.
• If vehicle occupants harass you, you should turn around and walk in the opposite direction. The driver will have to turn around or back up to follow you.
• When you are approaching your home, have your door key ready so you can enter immediately.Immediately advise School Staff or a parent/guardian if someone is taking pictures of you as you walk to/from school.
• Teach your children that if some-
one attempts to take them or grab them, they should fall to the ground and start screaming and kicking, bite if necessary, and do anything it takes. They should make as much noise as possible and create as much diversion as possible to draw other people’s attention to the area.
If you think something is unusual, report it to police immediately. Information the police need is:
• The vehicle’s license plate number, make/model, and color.
• Description of the subject: gender, race, approximate age, weight, and height.
• A description of the subject’s clothing.
• Length and color of the subject’s hair; any unusual marks, scars, tattoos, jewelry, hat worn, glasses, etc.
• The subject’s last travel direction; note whether it is on foot, by bicycle, or by vehicle.
Strangers often use the internet to prey on their victims. Keep home computers in a busy area of the house, and periodically check your child’s computer/tablet, cell phone, etc. Children should never give out their name, address, phone number, or school name. Never arrange face-to-face meetings
with anyone they meet online. Never go into chat rooms unless their parents say it is okay. Never open emails from someone they do not know, and never go to links they do not recognize. Children should always tell an adult if they see something on the internet that makes them feel uncomfortable.
The Garden City Police Department encourages everyone to take advantage of these safety tips and the others covered in the three previous articles. The Police Department wishes everyone a safe and healthy school year.
OFFICE CAT
IN MEMORIAM
Stephen E. Poole
November 28, 1962 – August 2, 2025
Stephen (Steve) Edward Poole, 62, of Old Saybrook, passed away on August 2, 2025. He was born on November 28, 1962, in Fort Lauderdale, FL, the son of the late Edward Brooks Poole and Nancy Coene Poole.
Mr. Poole is survived by his children, Alyssa Kate Poole and Bryan Edward Poole (Rebeka Blazak), and their mother, Christina Darin Poole, all of Culpeper, VA; his sister, Laura Poole Bollermann (Doug), of Charlotte, NC; his brother, Christopher Brooks Poole (Carolyn), of Land-o-Lakes, FL; nieces and nephews, Kate Lynn Bollermann, Brooke Marie Bollermann, Zachary Edward Poole, and Jacob Donald Poole; aunts Janet C. Porterfield and Barbara P. Coene; as well as numerous cousins and other extended family members. The family also thanks Rica Pinette for her invaluable support provided to Steve and us in life and death.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by all four of his grandparents, Arthur & Marian Poole, and Emil & Dorothy Coene, as well as his maternal uncle, Roger E. Coene, and cousin, Cortland R. Coene.
Mr. Poole was a complex man with a big heart. His family & friends will miss
Stephen E. Poole
his intellect and witty sense of humor. He will be cremated, and a private service will be held at a later time.
German students create Schultüten
German students in Frau Basile’s sixth grade class created Schultütens, containers of back-to-school goodies.
In Frau Basile’s German sixth grade class, the students created Schultüten, which is a traditional cone shapes container that the students in Germany receive on their first day of school going
into first grade. The Schultüten is filled with back-to-school goodies like pencils, crayons and treats to celebrate the child’s first day of school.
The
Friday, September 12, 2025
rooms in the main building for Village activities.
It is not too late to reconsider this option. Of course it still requires the rescinding of the parkland designation for the building area, which was so hastily accomplished with a 5-4 vote in 2004. I’m sure there are still developers willing to take on such a project [possibly even Avalon Bay?], as was so successfully done for the Bulova Watchcase factory in Sag Harbor. The Village would be able to maintain control over the property with a ground lease. The “10% affordable housing” requirement [90% unaffordable?] would be borne by the developer. The number of school-age children that would be added are not any more a problem than exists for the Wyndham, Doubleday Court, and the 555 Stewart Ave project presently under construction.
Before we give up and decide to raze it [also costing the Village millions of dollars for hazardous substance removal], the benefits of it being a residential building must be reviewed. We will be putting to good use the most important historic building in the Village after the Cathedral, commissioned in 1879 by Cornelia Stewart, wife of our founder. It has a story unknown by most current Village residents, who are only somewhat aware of its present condition.
The above letter was written by myself to the Garden City News in November 2021, almost four years ago, in the hope that some inquiries might be made and revised resident sentiment obtained. Nothing has changed since then, and the suggestions made are still valid. According to the NYS parkland alienation rules, it is NOT necessary to provide equivalent land for what is alienated, since federal or state funds were not used for the original acquisition. In any case, if desired it may indeed be possible for the Village to purchase the 7.6 acre remediated Gas Works parcel on Second St., owned by Nation Grid and now lying fallow, to provide a central location for a modern Community Center.
William Bellmer
Let’s stop the bleeding
To the Editor:
On Tuesday, I once again listened carefully to the comments made at the Town Hall presentation, many of which I believe to be disturbing.
Mayor Finneran continues to dismiss demolition as an option because only 39% voted for it in the October ‘23 Opinion Poll. (He fails to mention that of the 61% that voted “against” it, a significant percentage favored facadism, which has also been dismissed as an option by this board.)
Similarly, the latest survey shows
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
that only 40% support adaptive reuse, and a much smaller percentage support the other presented options. Statistically speaking, adaptive reuse and demolition have the exact same support among residents, yet we are told over and over that demolition has been voted down and is a non-starter.
Most importantly, the survey has made one key thing crystal clear - the large majority of residents do not support the tax increases needed to do anything with the building other than take it down and stop pouring resident tax dollars into it. More than 30 years ago, the former owners of the building recognized that this building was not sustainable and was a money pit. They needed to stop the bleeding, so they wisely sold it and made it someone else’s problem.
Many decades ago, it was for sure a beautiful structure, maintained by the very large tuition payments of wealthy families that wanted the best private schooling for their young boys, but those days have long since passed.
Unfortunately, our village cannot afford to restore it and it would be foolishly irresponsible to take on the massive risk associated with such an ambitious construction / restoration project. It is not the Statue of Liberty, nor is it Grand Central Station. It is an old, badly deteriorating former private school building that has been grossly neglected for decades, and has already drained us of far too many tax dollars. It’s time to listen to the residents, who have become weary and have St. Paul’s fatigue.
We need to finally end the preservation debate and move on. Let’s stop the bleeding.
Joanne Lema
And the ball game is over
To the Editor:
The headline of this Letter quotes the usual comment by Gary Cohen, the TV broadcaster for the NY Mets. When the Mets clinch a victory in the last inning of a game he blurts out this 5 word phrase.
This phrase is my description, and reaction, to a tedious reading of 71 pages of BCI’s “open-ended comments” and quotes, from the over 2,300 Survey participants as they prepare for a second “town hall” which may lead us to what the GC residents are telling our Board of Trustees regarding how to take the next steps in dealing with the very controversial St. Paul’s Main Building.
the Village web-site, and posted with little fanfare, in the week ended Sept. 5th. There is also a Board of Trustees meeting, scheduled for Wed. Sept. 10th -- the day after the Town hall. To me the back-to-back scheduling of these two important meetings is puzzling, and perhaps requires comments by our Mayor. Thus my conclusions, presented below, should be considered preliminary, to a potential Letter I may submit for the Sept. 12th edition of the GCNews.
My take on the new BCI disclosures in the survey.
In a nutshell, demolition was the overwhelming winner -- chosen by perhaps 50% of voters -- or more. This ratio is difficult to calculate owing to three major barriers: 1) Nowhere on the survey did the choice of “demolition” appear; 2) some respondents gave ambiguous answers which make them difficult to “pigeon-hole;” 3) For example, if a resident states “demolish or facade”-- is that a vote for facade or demolish? Or “demolish and build a park or community center?” or “somewhat likely” to support? And crucially, demolition was favored by FAR MORE than the 39% given at the first town hall last month. This mystery must be rationalized on Sept 9th. For example, some of the 71 individual pages contained a range of 50-80% favoring demolition -- a view I have espoused for 4-5 years-- and derived from conversations with hundreds of GC residents.
In truth, GC has had a biased Board for many years-- favoring preservation--currently, in my view, by a 6-2 vote. For some unknown reason they have avoided demolition-- as if it was not an option on the Survey. This apparent bias could change next March-when half of our 8 trustees are up for reelection. This group includes Trustees Courtney, Muldoon, Tai and Torino. Those whose terms do not expire until April 2027 are trustees Finneran, Harrington, Catalano and Verano. The “ballgame” has several innings remaining and legally, the Board is not obligated to obey voters’ results. However, the people have spoken so loudly and clearly that I cannot envision any Board ignoring what amounts to a true mandate from the residents. Yes, St. Paul’s “ballgame,” in my view, is over-- after 32 years of agonizing debate. There may even be another Survey.
George M. Salem
See page 34 From page 2
(The second Town Hall is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, Sept.9th, at 7 PM.) The deadline for weekly submissions to the GC News is Noon on Wed.Sep 10th. Thus myself and other reviewers may not have sufficient time to combine what they learn from the BCI Consulting firm and the thousands of comments from the Survey of a few months ago which was placed on
go on the Village website and read for themselves the opinions, one-liners, of our residents. I would say “read them and weep” if you believe St Paul’s can be saved.
GC Central Park?
To the Editor:
I read John Carter’s letter in the GC News last week and couldn’t agree more! https://www.gcnews.com/articles/garden-citys-central-park/ Mr. Carter points out that St Paul’s athletic fields are “about to be partially covered with turf.” Mr. Carter continues that “in the St Paul’s athletic fields, we have a treasure. Natural open land. Let us keep it that way. Manage the use of the fields for soccer and lacrosse but maintain the park-like atmosphere of the fields.”
However, Mr. Carter seems to have not mentioned all the changes in regard to how dramatically the turf field and its implementation will change the face of the St Paul’s Fields. I’m assuming this is because this BOT has not informed the residents in any clear fashion. The changes will apparently include:
• A roughly 1,300 to 1,600 ft long fence that will surround the turf field and area. (My calculations)
• A locked gate when no teams have signed up for the field.
• No individual use allowed
• Space for bleachers on one side and benches on the other
• Space large enough that a track around the field can be added.
• A fence and protective netting surrounding the field that if like our high school fence will be 10 to up to 20 feet high.
• Many question the idea of putting a lacrosse field next to a playground with young, unprotected children playing, netting or no netting.
• Lights for athletic fields that may range in height with“lower-level fields using poles from 20 to 70 feet (6 to 21 meters) and professional or high-demand fields requiring poles from 50 to over 100 feet (15 to 30+ meters)” more than twice the height of the St Paul’s building. (It is unclear if a particular type of pole and light has been selected by the BOT)
P.S. The Executive Summary of the recently-published Survey, was unfortunately, not at all helpful to understanding the residents’ wishes for solving the St. Paul’s dilemma. What BCI has published is 71 pages of quotes from residents re what to do, including one-word write-ins of the word “demolish.” How shameful! I believe demolish was clearly the biggest vote getter; yet the BCI Summary totally ignored it. Finally, I encourage all residents to
While there has been a sentence or two in Mayor Finneran’s weekly column mentioning a fence, the lack of transparency around this new field, the fact that there will only be organized play on the field so individuals cannot use, that it will be surrounded by a locked fence that will only be opened for teams that have signed up in advance, is something that needs to be communicated to the residents.
Note on Governance: Transparency is not about a Trustee reposting the pool schedule, the library book sale or posting of pictures of the flowers on
The
7th Street. Transparency is conveying important information to the residents in a timely fashion so they can understand changes in the village and have a voice in those changes. Especially a change that is going to fundamentally change the look of the largest piece of greenspace in this village. Without transparency, residents will wonder if a BOT is intentionally not letting residents know what is happening to our beloved fields until it is too late. The lack of transparency, with a twostep approach to the construction of the poles and lights (Year 2), will further make residents suspect the worst.
For clarity, I’m all for use of the St Paul’s fields. The Board of Trustees (BOT) that purchased those fields should have a statue erected in their honor. As someone that has coached boys’ lacrosse for many years, (pretty well), girls lacrosse (pretty poorly) and soccer, there is no greater advocate for youth sports. And if the Village wants to put a turf field at St Paul’s, rather than Community Park or Stewart Field, let’s do it! But, the fact that the Recreation Commissioners and BCI have recommended that the turf field go at St Paul’s field only if it is accompanied by lights, is an important piece of critical information that has not been conveyed to the residents. We have a BOT that excels in posting pictures of themselves at every village event, hundreds of videos of a trustee actually in the St Paul’s building, and renderings of potential cocktail parties in the building if Adaptive Reuse had come to fruition, so they clearly have the technical knowhow to produce renderings.
It is one thing when the MTA jammed the residents with Monster Poles along the Third Track Project, it is quite another thing when our own representative’s jam/gift us with Monster Lights with the barest of information and no renderings.
Mayor “Jump Ball” Finneran hopefully will start to exercise a bit of Mayoral leadership on this issue. Trustee Muldoon entertained us with hundreds of wonderful pictures of the inside of St Paul’s. As liaison to the Recreation Commissioners, he has clearly not provided the residents with
the same level of details/transparency he did with the inside of the St Paul’s building, for whatever reason. To many of us, the wide-open fields are as important as Minton tiles and woodwork is to Trustee Muldoon. And it doesn’t appear the eight Recreation Commissioners feel it is worth their time or effort to supply renderings either. https://www.gardencityny. net/194/Board-of-Commissioners-ofCultural-Recre
With only weeks to go before construction starts on the Turf Field, Fencing and Monster Lights (next year’s budget), any BOT that believes in good governance and true transparency would have provided REALISTIC renderings already. Hopefully, the Mayor or Deputy Mayor Courtney will provide them shortly and it was just an oversight.
No one wants to wake up to a $1,360,000 plus turf field and find we get limited us out of it because as we start to put up the lights ($650,000) the residents object. An intelligent process and a little bit of transparency should not be too much to ask.
“Prohibere Melius quam corrigere” Donald MacLeod
Be alert about St. Paul’s
To the Editor:
The BCI Town Hall II, held last Tuesday, was a doozy. Rather than totally focusing on the 2 presentations by BCI relating to the survey ( a rehash of TH I) and discussion of the long term recreation plan for the Village, the meeting in substantial part became a forum for the personal views of several BoT members. Much was intended as a defense of the teetering preservationist cause and featured disparaging and insulting remarks about demolition and its advocates. (Meanwhile Trustee Muldoon expressed dismay over those who criticized his actions on the Board. ) A characterization that demolition positions were merely “sound bites” was made during the event. I personally have never been accused of writing “sound bite” letters given that such routinely cover 1.5 to 2.5 columns. Other demolition proponents have been similarly expressive.
Mayor Finneran erroneously implied that NYS legal provisions could pre-
vent demolition of the structure despite the fact the building, which is not a National Landmark, is not entitled to such protection. Anyone that has seen one Apostle House after another be torn down knows being on the New York Historical Registry provides no legal protection to a building. Mayor Finneran is just wrong on this issue.
It is amazing the building has any historic designation at all given the way preservation forces have neglected to raise money and offer any compromise to “save it all”. Instead we see dilapidated structure surrounded by a metal fence. The Mayor also, at 53-54 min., pretended that the Oct. 2023 Poll justified exclusion of demolition (39% of votes) and facadevote count unknown. Mayor Finneran does not admit the Poll was designed to determine if any preservation option should be explored at all, nothing more than that. He, Trustee Muldoon (1 hr. 13) and former Mayor Flanagan jousted over this. Trustee Muldoon (1hr. 25 min) somehow thought it appropriate to replace those options with his mothball option (which got a rude reception from survey responders) and Partial replacement which largely “overlapped” with partial reuse. Former Mayor Flanagan vigorously pointed out she favored the BCI recommendations that demo and facade be options on the survey and voted against the 6 Trustee survey version well before it was presented to residents.
Trustee Muldoon (1 hr. 09 min) defended the Mayor ’ s Committee despite the fact it includes members of the previous budget team presented by Frank McDonough. The revelations of emails by Mayor Flanagan showed undue influence on that cost estimate process. That cost estimate, largely defended by Trustee Muldoon, was found by residents to be unreliably low in the survey. How can this group possess credibility to inform rather than mislead residents? Does anyone believe that if the recent survey had used real costs, not the Muldoon “ballpark” figures, perhaps the $159,000,000 put forth by “the seven professionals” AFTER the survey, that Adaptive Reuse and Partial replacement (options A & B) wouldn’t have had an even poorer showing?
Trustee Torino drew an analogy
between the Grand Central station project, the Eiffel Tower and others to St. Paul’s to the effect one must not be hasty to rule out preservation. Of course this is a feeble argument given that the residents of our Village have expressed concerns about excessive, high costs, lack of confidence in our 23.5k population Village to afford and properly execute an especially large non essential project. Trustee Torino, (1hr. 25min.) ended the meeting with another analogy -saying choosing demolition was a choice like that for a DNR child. This is as insulting as Trustee Muldoon’s egregious comment that the dust from demolition would be like a 911. How truly deep is their this Board’s desperation to sell preservation? Is there nothing they will not say and no piece of misinformation beneath them?
Trustee Torino tried an example that skipping a daily coffee around 7th St would mightily contribute towards paying residents’ yearly tax attributable to a preservation project. I think his math proves he as with many others, myself included, need that coffee to help us do the math. Far more salient was a resident’s comment (about an hour in) that if when you are looking to buy a house and none are affordable or go to a Chinese restaurant and the dishes you crave are not offered on the menu you don’t buy or order at all. No doubt this quandry confronted many potential respondents to the survey leaving perhaps 10-20% of 7500 feeling out in the cold and then not responding at all. This is the “No Bueno vote” which BCI or ECT, those Kansas folks, could not account for. It puts demolition over the top. (The survey provided no instructions about how to voice support for demo or facade, demonstrating once again this BOT willingness to suppress resident opinion they do not care for!). I won’t speculate as to whether the aforesaid resident was inspired by the Sunday night words of Buffalo QB, Josh Allen, when he frequently shouted “alert, alert” while calling signals but those are words for residents to live by. Residents must be ALERT as this BoT persists with its obsession to save every brick rather than respect and listen to residents.
S. G. Gorray
Galaxy kicks off Champion Division with 1-0 victory
The Garden City Galaxy opened its regular season Champion Division campaign with a hard-fought 1–0 win over Wantagh-Seaford on Saturday. The decisive moment came midway through the second half when Kay Pellish fired a beautiful strike into the upper 90, sealing the Galaxy’s first league victory. It was a true team effort from start to finish. Johanna Dell’Olio, Camilla Gonzalez, and Greta “Beast Mode” Loesch anchored the back line with relentless intensity, frustrating Wantagh-Seaford and limiting them to very few chances on goal. Led by Sehej Sohal, Amelia “Yoshi” Wunsch, Ashley Croyle, and Delaney Crowell, the Galaxy dominated possession through the middle third, dictating the tempo of play.
“Yoshi” Wunsch shielding her defender.
Pre K Girls
Team Pink
Bridget Beecroft
Marella Doliber
Purple Shooters
Tatum Horn
Selena Reyes
Team Peters
Lucy Ferranti
Blair Durand
Teal Turbo Tots
Kyra Danisi
Tessa Pukdak
Anna Scorcese
Kindergarten Girls
Team 1 - Green Grapes
Maeve Conroy
Caroline Kortsep
Sofia Marchitelli
Team 2
Peyton Austin
Mackenzie Schule
Ella Chamberlain
Valentina Marin and Olivia Lehmann pressed high with physical, aggressive play, creating several dangerous opportunities. Lyla Cheng and Madeleine Connolly shared time between the posts and the field, each contributing key saves to preserve the shutout.
What made the performance even more special is that many of these girls are playing together for the first time this year. Already, the chemistry and bond are evident, with the girls supporting one another, playing with heart, and showing the foundation of a team that will only grow stronger as the season continues. Great effort, Galaxy…keep playing hard, supporting each other, and most importantly, having fun!
Soccer Players of the Week
Team 3
The Whole Team
Team 4
The Whole Team
Team 5
The Whole Team
Team 6
Amelia Bowen
Elena Theoharis
Isabella DePalma
1st Grade Girls
Team 1 - Starlettes
Isabella Lanza
Madelyn Scarola
Team 2 - Purple Cotton
Candy
Charlotte Eng
Vivienne Schrafel
Team 3
The Whole Team
Team 4 - Maroon Magic
Kayla Forlenza
Claire Sorensen
Team 5
Noor Hamdani
Madison O’Hara
Team 6 - Red Hearts
Emmy Breslin
Emmy LeFave
Team 7
Phoebe George
Millie Thornton
Team 8 - Pink Panthers
Reagan Hertler
Olivia Vazquez
Kindergarten Boys
Team 1
Matt Servino
Leonzo Cuiman
Team 2
Matt Ritter
Bodie Thadhani
Team 3
Joseph Filosa
Luke Diez
Team 4
Owen San Filippo
Jack Southard
Team 5
Matt Thomas
Nicholas Peslak
Team 6
Jackson Ireland
George Kapela
Team 7
Ryan McGrath
Graham Martinez
Team 8
Patrick Maloney
Matteo Arlotta
2nd & 3rd Grade Boys
Team #1
Luke Conroy
Brody Blanco
Team #2
Issac Chen
Theo Kouznetsov
Team #3
Thomas Ray
Jacob Young
Team #4
Bennett Sambus
Jack Lehmann
Team #5
Charles Dolan
Andrew Jansen
Team #6
Blake Whicher
Chase Whicher
Team #7
Gianni Giuzio
Henry McGlynn
Team #8
Stephan Davi
Ciaran Manley
Sehej Sohal fighting for possession.
Delaney Crowell going to goal.
Kay Pellish celebrating the game winning goal!
Welcome Sunday at Garden City Community Church
BY MELVA VICTORINO
The welcoming hand of Garden City Community Church (GCCC) extends an invitation for everyone to “Welcome Sunday”, on September 14h at the 10:30 a.m. worship service followed by a fellowship luncheon in the playscape.
The GCCC committees have been working steadily over the summer to prepare for this new year. Aside from weekly worship, Sunday School is one of the most important ministries of GCCC. The commitment to spread the Gospel begins with the young ones. Such a commitment takes both parent’s involvement and helpers to provide quality lessons and activities to nurture faith in helping raise the next generation of GCCC members. Amanda Dias, GCCC Youth Ministry & Outreach Coordinator, has laid out great lessons, crafts, biblical stories, and activities for the children. Adult Bible studies, forums, intercessory
prayer services, music, and special worship services are some other ways to develop one’s faith at GCCC.
All are invited to attend the following events:
• September 13th, Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Gather Under the Stars Movie Night featuring “Angels in the Outfield” on the church playground. There is no charge for the event, and all are welcome to attend. Bring your blanket, lawn chair, and sweater. There will be snacks, glow sticks and lots of fun. To register contact Amanda Dias at adias@thegccc.org
• September 14th, “Welcome Sunday” at the 10:30 a.m. worship service GCCC welcome back Sunday school students, teachers, parents, and everyone.
Rev. Rayford A. Howell will be preaching this Sunday and on September 21st.
• Register now for Sunday School& Youth Groups. Registration has now begun for Sunday School program
(ages 3 to children entering 5th grade), Middle School Youth Group for youth in grades 6-8, and High School Group grades 9-12. Sunday School starts on Sept. 14th and the youth groups start in October. For more info email Amanda Dias at adias@thegccc. org.
• Wednesday, September 17th LICC Emergency Food Pantry Food Collection. Please drop off non-perishable food items before noon on the Whitehall Blvd. porch.
• Intercessory Prayer Service every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. in the Chapel.
• Men’s Breakfast every first Saturday of the month, all male members and their friends are welcome to join for an opportunity to enjoy relaxed fellowship and conversation over a shared meal.
• Music Ensemble: Join adult choir, bell choir, youth choir or our youth band. Contact Frank Crosio, Minister of Music, music@theGCCC.org.
Whoever you are, wherever you are on your life’s journey, you are welcome at GCCC. It has services, events, projects, and programs for all ages. Regular church services are on Sundays at 10:30 a.m., in-person and live-streamed. To get information regarding its virtual and in-person worship services and programs, visit its website at www.theGCCC.org.
GCCC is part of the United Church of Christ. It is an Open and Affirming congregation that welcomes people of all ages, races, physical and mental ability, social & economic status, gender identities, and sexual orientations to participate in the life of its community.
GCCC is located at 245 Stewart Avenue between Whitehall Blvd. and Kensington Road. For more information, email churchoffice@thegccc.org or call (516) 746-1700. And as previously mentioned, you may also visit our website, www.theGCCC.org.
A perfect day for outdoor luncheon.
It’s time to connect with friends!
Russell Fincher and Roger Tusiani-Eng. The grill is ready to start the BBQ! Karin Melkonian, Alice Melkonian and Jan Levine waiting for everyone.
Adult Services at the Garden City Public Library
The film “Rocky” will be screened at the Garden City Public Library on September 15.
Monday Movies
Monday Movies presented by the Friends of the Garden City Library at 1:30 p.m.: September
September 15 - “Rocky” - 1983, 120 Mins.
September 22 - “Yentl” - 1983, 133 Mins.
September 29 - “Rudy” - 1983, 114 Mins.
October
October 6 - “Field of Dreams” - 1989, 107 Mins.
October 20 - “Strangers on a Train”1951, 101 Mins.
October 27 - “Phantom of the Opera”2004, 103 Mins.
September Programs
Yoga with Kimberly
• Tuesday, September 16, 23, 30
• Tuesday, October 7, 14, 21, 28
• Tuesday, November 4, 11
7–8 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room
Kimberly Mercadante is back with her popular Yoga Series! Join her for a Yoga Class for beginners and more. All are welcome! This is a series of twelve classes continuing through November. To register, please register online at LibCal at https://gardencitypl.libcal. com/. For additional information contact Adult Services at (516)742-8405 ext. 5236 or email speakingofbooks@gardencitypl.org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Learn to Crochet and/or Knit with an Experienced Instructor - Lupe Velasquez
• Wednesday, September 10 & 24
• Wednesday, October 8 & October 22
• Wednesday, November 5 & 19
7–8 p.m. in the Small Meeting Room
Even though it’s only September, it’s never too early to start preparing for the holidays! Crafter, knitter and crocheter Lupe Velasquez will be on hand to teach, help and suggest projects to do. The class is scheduled on alternating Wednesdays in September, October and November. You may register once for the entire series.
Please register online at LibCal at https://gardencitypl.libcal.com/. For additional information contact Adult Services at (516) 742-8405 ext. 5236 or email speakingofbooks@gardencitypl. org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Mah-Jongg & Games (Register for each one separately)
• Thursday, September 25
• Thursday, October 9, 22
4–6 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room
Bring your own Mah-Jongg board. No instruction is provided.
Seating is limited.
Please register online or call the Reference desk (516)742-8405 x5236.
Chris Buchman Presents “Fall Grow Bags”
Saturday, September 13, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Large Meeting Room
Join Chris Buchman for his fun “Grow Bags” program. He will provide a choice of bulbs, peppers or Chrysanthemums for your grow bags.
Please register online at LibCal at https://gardencitypl.libcal.com/. For additional information contact Adult Services at (516) 742-8405 ext. 5236 or email speakingofbooks@gardencitypl. org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants
The Single Most Potent Anti-Aging Tool Made Simple - Ahmed Ahmed Lotus Fitness
Thursday, September 18, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Large Meeting Room
Audience members will:
• Discover how exercise can easily make them feel younger and boost their energy.
• Unlock the three secrets to liv-
ing longer and healthier so they can play with their grandkids and be there for their biggest milestones.
• Gain exclusive insights to improve their mobility and balance, and live pain free.
Please register online at LibCal at https://gardencitypl.libcal.com/. For additional information contact Adult Services at (516) 742-8405 ext. 5236 or email speakingofbooks@gardencitypl. org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Bingo for Adults
Friday, September 19, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Small Meeting Room
Join us for a fun morning of Bingo and win some fun prizes.
Register for each Bingo online on Libcal (https://gardencitypl.libcal. com) or call Adult Services Reference Desk at (516)742-8405 ext 4236 or email Speakingofbooks@gardencitypl.org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Defensive Driving Course with The Empire Safety Council
Saturday, September 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room
Join us on Saturday, September 20, 2025 from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. for a Defensive Driving Course with the Empire Safety Council. Receive 10% reduction on automobile/liability insurance and qualify for a license point reduction. Register in person at the Garden City Public Library. Space is limited, so check with the Reference Department for availability. Register separately for each person. Proper ID is required when registering an absentee party. You must bring a $33 check made payable to Empire Safety Council and current Library card with you to register. Bring your valid New York State driver’s license and a pen to class.
Sports Lecture on Golf and Memorabilia Appraisal
Saturday, September 27, from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room
Les Wolff is a trusted name in the hobby, having established relationships with many of the greatest names in sports over the years like Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. A hobby
pioneer, Les was the first to conduct a sports auction via the phone and fax and live (before the internet became widely available). His company name was Sports Auctions of New York. That was in the late 1980s and unlike many other dealers who've come and gone since, he's still around, providing exceptional service. He revolutionized the business with auctions being the first. He is one of the main suppliers to the card companies for vintage and rare autographs. Bring some of your treasured memorabilia and at the end of the lecture Les will answer your questions, time permitting.
Register online on Libcal (https:// gardencitypl.libcal.com) or call Adult Services Reference Desk at (516)742-8405 ext 5236 or email Speakingofbooks@gardencitypl.org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Dr. Keith Crocker Presents “Murder and Mayhem in Laurel Canyon” Tuesday, September 30, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room
On August 8–9 of 1969, a series of shocking murders occurred in Laurel Canyon, California. Known forever as the Tate-LaBianca murders, they were masterminded by Charles Manson. What few know is that Manson and his “family” had been to Laurel Canyon many times, and had even been “friends” with many of the high level musicians living there. Such talents as Mama Cass, Frank Zappa, Neil Young, Dennis Wilson had interacted with the Manson family and even encouraged Charles Manson to pursue a musical career of his own. Join us as we unlock this mystery of association and break down the real reasons for the murders perpetrated by Manson. A combination of documentary and music footage come together to paint a portrait of Laurel Canyon whose innocence was forever broken on those fateful nights!
October Programs
Italian For Beginners and More
• Thursday, October 1, 9, 16, 23
• Thursday, November 6, 13, 20
• Thursday, December 4 Thursdays from 11 a.m. to noon in the Large Meeting Room
Mrs. Brunetti is back to teach her popular class “Italian for Beginners and More.” This program is for those with limited knowledge of Italian but all are welcome to join.
Continued in page 38
Adult Services at the Garden City Public Library
Register online on Libcal (https:// gardencitypl.libcal.com) or call Adult Services Reference Desk at (516)742-8405 ext 4236 or email Speakingofbooks@gardencitypl.org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Chairobics and Strength Training with Debbie Krzyminski
• Wednesday, October 1, 8, 15, 22
• Wednesday, November, 5, 12, 19 Wednesdays from 12–1 p.m. in the Large Meeting Room
We’re excited to have Debbie back with her wonderful program. Debbie Krzyminski from Fitness Figures, NY, Inc. will be teaching "Chairobics and Strength Training." This program covers strength training, balance, coordination, aerobics and flexibility. Most of the exercises are performed seated in a chair. Equipment will be provided. Feel free to bring your own free weights, if you are comfortable using them. Have water available, wear clothing that you can comfortably move in and be ready to have fun! This is a seven-week session.
Register online on Libcal (https:// gardencitypl.libcal.com) or call Adult Services Reference Desk at (516)742-8405 ext 4236 or email Speakingofbooks@gardencitypl.org. Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Garden
City Public Library
Adult Book Club
Wednesday, October 29, from 7–8 p,m, in the Small Meeting Room
Join us as we discuss the charming book “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt. This delightful book features a curmudgeon of an octopus named Marcellus. He is a brilliant giant Pacific octopus living in an aquarium when he meets Tova Sullivan, the cleaning person at the aquarium. Tova’s son mysteriously vanished years before and Marcellus helps unearth the truth before it’s too late.
Register online on Libcal (https:// gardencitypl.libcal.com) or call Adult Services Reference Desk at (516)742-8405 ext 4236 or email Speakingofbooks@gardencitypl.org. Programs may be can-
celed due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
Museum Pass Information
Print From Home for Some Passes!
Check Out A Museum Pass This Summer!
Through the generosity of the Friends of the Garden City Public Library, the Library offers free passes to select museums and cultural institutions. Reservations can be made via LibCal, which requires a Library card and a PIN. Please visit the Circulation Desk to verify or create your PIN. Once you have a PIN, you can make your reservations from home or at the Library.
You can make a reservation to borrow a Museum pass from one of the member institutions in our Museum Pass Program. Some museum passes are now available to print from home, including the Vanderbilt Museum located at 180 Little Neck Road, Centerport. If you do not have access to a printer, the Library will be happy to print the pass for you. These passes will be good for one day only. Please note that not all museums participate. For a list of printfrom-home passes, visit the Library website, www.gardencitypl.org.
Passes for the following museums still need to be picked up at the Library: 9/11 Memorial & Museum, NYC (2 adults & 2 children); MoMA (the Museum of Modern Art), NYC (5 visitors); the Long Island Children’s Museum, Garden City (2 adults & 2 children) and the Empire Pass, which allows entry of the vehicle when the card is presented at most New York State Parks, Department of Environmental Conservation forest preserve areas, boat launch sites, arboretums and park preserves.
The following Library Museum Pass rules remain in effect.
Museum passes are available only to Garden City Public Library cardholders in good standing who have signed the Museum Pass User Agreement. Museum passes may be reserved in advance and must be checked out by an adult (18 years and older) family member. Reservations will be taken up to one month in advance of the desired date, subject to availability on a firstcome, first-served basis. Reservations can be made in person at the Reference Desk or over the phone at 516-742-8405 x5236.
Additional rules and information are available at the library.
News from the Children’s Room
“Seals on the Bus” Book Walk
Discover the delightful story The Seals on the Bus through an interactive book walk set up around the library. Each page of the beloved book will be displayed at different stations, allowing families and young readers to stroll from one page to the next, making reading an engaging, physical adventure. No registration required. Just come, walk and read throughout the month of September.
Upcoming September Library Programs for Children
These programs are for children Ages birth through Grade 5 Registration is required. Visit https://www.gardencitypl.libcal.com to register for August programs.
Programs may be canceled due to weather, power outages, lack of registration, or other unforeseen circumstances. If contact information has been provided for registration, a direct attempt will be made to notify participants.
IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! Children’s programs are extremely popular! We recommend that registrants arrive EARLY to checkin. Your reserved spot will be held for 5 minutes after the starting time of the
Come visit our interactive book walk for “The Seals on the Bus” located all around the library this month.
class before being given to a patron on the waitlist. If you know you cannot attend a class, please cancel your registration on
It’s What’s Happening for
Young
Adults Through the Library
Upcoming and Ongoing Library Programs for Tweens and Teens
These programs are for tweens and teens in Grades 6–12 unless otherwise noted. Registration is required for these programs on LibCal at https://gardencitypl.libcal.com unless otherwise noted.
Teens who complete an online survey after specific programs can receive community service for participating.
Registration is live online at https://gardencitypl.libcal.com for the following programs:
• Tuesday, September 9, at 10 a.m.–Thursday, September 8, at 4 p.m.: Ornaments for Community Service (Grades 6–12)
• Saturday, September 13, at 3 p.m.: Teen STEAM Workshop: Make Ice Cream with Chris Buchman (Grades 6–12) Thursday, September 18, at 4 p.m.: Dungeons and Dragons (Grades 6–12)
• Friday, September 19, at 3:30 p.m.: Teen Crafternoon: DIY Hanging Wood Signs (Grades 6–12)
Registration begins Tuesday, September 16, at 10 a.m. online at https://gardencitypl. libcal.com for the following programs:
• Wednesday, September 24, at 4
Join us for Teen STEAM Workshop: Make Ice Cream with Chris Buchman on Saturday, September 13, at 3 p.m. Teens made ice cream during one of the summer’s Teen STEAM Workshops, and it was so popular, the Library has brought it back for September! Teen STEAM Workshops are for teens entering Grades 6–12 in Fall 2025. Registration is required online via LibCal at https://gardencitypl.libcal.com. Teens who complete an online survey after the program can receive community service for participating in this program.
p.m.: Teen Art Workshop: Portrait Drawing (Grades 6–12)
• Thursday, September 25, at
News from the Children’s Room It’s What’s Happening for Young Adults Through the Library
Please join us on Sept. 16 at 3:30 p.m. for the STEAM Maker Space for children Grades 2–5.
Continued from page 38
LibCal or call the Library at 516-742-8405 x5241, so that your spot can be released to someone on the waitlist.
• Monday, Sept. 15, at 10:30 a.m.: Toddler Storytime - 18 Months to 3 Years.
• Monday, Sept. 15, at 11:30 a.m.: Mixed Age Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 10:30 a.m.: Mother Goose StorytimeBirth to 17 Months (Non-Walkers)
• Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 11:30 a.m.: Mixed Age Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 3:30 p.m.: STEAM Maker Space - Grades 2–5
• Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 10:30 a.m.: STEAM Preschool Building6 Months to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Thursday, Sept. 18, at 10:30 a.m.: Mixed Age Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Thursday, Sept. 18, at 11:30 a.m.: Mother Goose StorytimeBirth to 17 Months (Non-Walkers)
• Thursday, Sept. 19, at 6:30 p.m.: Books Before Bedtime Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Monday, Sept. 22, at 10:30 a.m.: Toddler Storytime - 18 Months to 3 Years.
• Monday, Sept. 22, at 11:30 a.m.: Mixed Age Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Monday, Sept. 22, at 4:00 p.m.: Craft for Grades K-2
• Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 10:30 a.m.: Mother Goose StorytimeBirth to 17 Months (Non-Walkers)
• Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 11:30 a.m.: Preschool Craft - Ages 3 Years
to 5 (Not in Kindergarten)
• Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 3:30 p.m.: STEAM Maker Space - Grades 2–5
• Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 10:30 a.m.: STEAM Preschool Building6 Months to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 4:00 p.m.: STEAM Fun Club - Grades K-2
• Thursday, Sept. 25, at 10:30 a.m.: Mixed Age Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Thursday, Sept. 25, at 11:30 a.m.: Mother Goose StorytimeBirth to 17 Months (Non-Walkers)
• Thursday, Sept. 25, at 4:00 p.m.: Tween Thursday: Ceramic Skulls for Halloween - Grades 4–7
• Monday, Sept. 29, at 10:30 a.m.: Toddler Storytime - 18 Months to 3 Years.
• Monday, Sept. 29, at 11:30 a.m.: Mixed Age Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Monday, Sept. 29, at 4:00 p.m.: Craft for Grades 3–5
• Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 10:30 a.m.: Mother Goose StorytimeBirth to 17 Months (Non-Walkers)
• Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 11:30 a.m.: Mixed Age Storytime - Birth to 5 Years (Not in Kindergarten)
• Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 3:30 p.m.: STEAM Maker Space - Grades 2–5
Unattended Child Policy
It is Library policy that all children under age 11 must be accompanied by a parent or designated responsible person while in the Library. Also, if the young child is attending a Library program, we require the parent or designated responsible person to remain in the Library throughout the program and meet the child upon completion of the program.
Registration begins Tuesday, September 23, at 10 a.m. online at https://gardencitypl. libcal.com for the following programs:
• Tuesday, September 30, at 4 p.m.: Perler Bead Art for Community Service (Grades 6-12)
• Friday, October 3, at 3:30 p.m.: Teen Crafternoon: Halloween Model Magic Creations (Grades 6–12)
Ongoing Take-Home Community Service Opportunities
Looking to volunteer? Check out some of our ongoing take-home community service opportunities for tweens and teens in Grades 6-12. Please check at the Library for more information on each of these opportunities; all volunteer projects should be submitted at the Library with a Volunteer Form, which can be found outside the Tweens and Teens Room.
• Ongoing: Bookmarks for Community Service - No registration required. Up to 20 bookmarks can be submitted per volunteer monthly.
• Ongoing: Kindness Cards for Community Service - No registration required. Up to 10 cards can be submitted per volunteer monthly.
• Ongoing: Friendship Bracelets for Community Service - No registration required. Up to 10 bracelets can be submitted per volunteer monthly.
• September 22, 2025–December 19, 2025: Fall Creative Arts Book Submissions for Community Service - No registration required. Up to five pieces of writing and/or art (sized 8.5 × 11 inches) can be submitted per volunteer.
• September 22, 2025–December 19, 2025: Holiday Recipe Cards for Community Service - No registration required. Up to five recipe cards can be submitted per volunteer.
Environmental Tip of the Week
Avoiding Bird Collisions with Windows
Glass windows can be deadly to birds during daylight as they can’t distinguish reflections from open flyway. Window collisions are a major cause of human-caused bird mortality. A study by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Smithsonian Institution in 2014 estimated that at least 365 million birds are killed each year in the USA by collisions with buildings. These collisions tend to increase when birds are migrating in the spring and fall. What you can do to reduce the chance of collisions at your house:
• Create patterns such as dots 2 to 4 inches apart or place decals on windows.
• String cords at windows.
• Place external screens on windows.
• Close blinds and curtains.
• Move plants away from windows.
• Place bird feeders directly on windows. Information supplied by the Audubon Society.
How to Create a CommunityPass Account!
Three simple steps to create a CommunityPass account:
• Create an account through this link: https://register.capturepoint.com/ GCRecandParks
• Verify your residency with 2 proofs of residency (ID and utility bill) by email (gcrec@gardencityny.net) or stop by the Cottages (108 Rockaway Avenue)
• Log in to your new account and hit the “Click Here To Register” button to find the type of Membership or Class you want to sign up for.
Stay Up to Date On All Things Recreation!
Follow our new Instagram and Facebook “GardenCityRecreation” for all Recreation content! Any questions regarding programs or facilities can be directed to our new Recreation email, GCRec@gardencityny.net
The Garden City Pool Sponsor
We would like to welcome Hofstra University as one of our sponsors for the 2025 season. They are sponsoring the movie night series, and also sponsored the Party Under the Stars Night on July 26. Thank you Hofstra University.
We would also like to thank Mollie’s Fund for providing our patrons at the pool with sunscreen and materials on sun safety. It is greatly appreciated, Thank you Mollie’s Fund.
Upcoming Programs
Flag Football is coming back! Outdoor sessions on Friday from 9/19–10/24 from 4:30–5:30 p.m. & an Indoor session from 11/7 - 12/19 from 4:30–5:30 p.m. at the St. Paul's fields and the St. Paul's Fieldhouse. There will be 30 minutes of Clinic and 30 minutes of Games! Run by Pioneer!
Girl's Volleyball Clinic - Sessions starting Monday's 9/22-11/3 & 11/17-12/22 from 6p – 7p at St. Paul's Fieldhouse! Run by Pioneer!
One-Off Multi-Sport Camp Days for September 23 and 24 from 9–12 p.m. at the St. Paul’s. Run by Pioneer!
Pastel Workshop with Arleen Rueth Urban PSA
Have you ever had the desire to challenge your artistic skills? Perhaps you enjoyed drawing as a child and never seriously ventured to explore your hidden talent. Perhaps you have painted and wish to advance your current skills. Arleen Rueth Urban PSA has been offering her pastel class at Cluett Hall for decades to accommodate the beginner as well as the seasoned artist through her expertise and skillful teaching. She will guide you through her years of drawing experience to master your skills and create the very best you can be as an artist. Arleen is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and a seasoned professional portrait artist. Her commissions are in the
homes of families both locally and abroad. She is the winner of numerous awards including the international Elvis Presley award held annually in Graceland, where her portrait of the “King” hangs permanently at his home. She has painted portraits of many famous subjects throughout the country, including the late Barbara Walters.
On the first day of the program, a list of supplies will be distributed to the students. Arleen will then demonstrate her skills in pastel. She will transform an ordinary photograph into a skillfully executed rendering. Students will learn throughout the course, basic drawing skills, the aspects of color, composition, perspective, and all the elements of a good painting. Although pastel is her recommended choice of mediums, her extensive skill as an artist can assist anyone in any medium they wish to explore in her class. Hints from drawing from the right side of the brain are utilized weekly as Arleen will critique the students works and suggest endless hints of how to make each painting the very best it can be.
Arleen will accept all levels of expertise from very beginner to the seasoned artist. It has been noted that artists can add ten years to their life expectancy due to the positive passion that art can have on those fortunate enough to make it part of their lives. So don’t hesitate, sign up for this wonderful local art program, and become the artist you wish you had always been.
Yoga Class
We will be hosting a brand new yoga program for adults at Cluett Hall in the fall. Classes will be held on Saturdays from 8 a.m.–9 a.m. starting September 6! More information to come!
Garden City Recreation and Parks 2025–26 Dance Conservatory Schedule
For information only, registration will begin in early September, date TBD. Classes begin September 22.
Monday:
5:00–5:55: Jazz for Grades 7 and 8
7:00–7:55: Jazz for Grades 9–12
Tuesday:
4:00–4:55: Ballet/Jazz for Grades 2 and 3
5:00–5:55: Jazz/Lyrical for Grades 4–6
6:00–6:55: Lyrical for Grades 7 and 8
8:00–8:55: Adult Dance Combo for Ages 25–60
Wednesday:
11:15-12:00: Senior Citizen Combo (takes place at the Senior Center) for Ages 60–90
2:00–2:55: Creative Combo for Ages 3.5-5 years old
4:00–4:55: Ballet/Tap for Grades K and 1
5:00–5:55: Jazz/Tap for Grades 4–6
7:00 –7:55: Lyrical for Grades 9–12
Thursday:
4:00–4:55: Creative Combo for Ages 3.5–5 Years old
5:00–5:55: Jazz/Lyrical for Grades 2 and 3
7:00- 7:55: Ballet for Grades 9–12
Friday:
4:00–4:55: Ballet/Hip Hop for Grades K and 1
5:00–5:55: Jazz/Hip Hop for Grades 2 and 3
6:00–6:55: Jazz/Musical Theatre for Grades 4–6
Saturday:
10:00–10:55: Ballet/Hip Hop for Grades K & 1st
11:00–11:55: Creative Combo for Ages 3.5 – 5 Years Old
1:00–1:55: Jazz/Hip Hop for Grades 7 and 8
3:00–3:55: Tap for Grades 7–12
Tennis Ultimate Workout
Registration for the 2025 fall session of the Ultimate Workout begins on Tuesday, September 2.
Tennis Ultimate Workout: 12 sessions – 1. 5-hour classes ** FEE: $350. (A fun way to drill for an experienced tennis player!)
Adult Tennis Lessons - Fall 2025
Registration for the Fall session of our Adult Tennis Lesson program begins on Tuesday, September 2.
Our ten-week sessions will begin the week of October 6.
You must be a resident of the Inc. Village of Garden City to register.
Program Fee: $295 per course (10 sessions)
Women’s Tennis League at Community Park
Has openings for players in the below league:
• Monday: 2.0 – 3.0 Level Coached Play DOUBLES 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Instruction and doubles play)
• Wednesday: Learn and PlayBeginners and Advanced Beginners – 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Begins week of Monday, October 6, and plays through April (off on school holidays) FEE: $550. Per person for the season For more information, contact: Steve Espey at the Recreation Office, 516-465-4075
Tennis Center will be Closed for Court Maintenance Soon!
We will be closed for 1 week for court maintenance in the near future. We are waiting for confirmation from the court resurfacing company as to the exact date.
Please call the Community Park tennis center at 516 483-2525 for updates
Youth Tennis Lesson Registration Begins on Monday, September 15
Please make sure you have set up your account with our new Community Pass software.
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Hiking, Biking Adds Dimension to Experiencing Siem Reap, Cambodia’s Ancient Archeological Monuments
BY KAREN RUBIN TRAVEL FEATURES SYNDICATE GOINGPLACESFARANDNEAR.COM
Biking back roads of Siem Reap, Cambodia, passed farmland and fields, through small villages our Discovery Bicycle Tours group chances upon a wedding - but not just any wedding. As it happens, the uncle of the groom was the man who came to the rescue of a couple of our riders who had car trouble on the way from the airport. When Pam gets off her bike to take a photo of the wedding, he recognizes her and dashes out – even inviting our Discovery Bicycle Tours group inside the tent to participate in the ritual underway. The experience gives new meaning to the expression, “small world.” Biking has that effect of making the world smaller, more intimate, more connected.
You don’t go to Cambodia to bike, but biking adds a whole extra dimension – and perspective – to the travel experience, as I find on Discovery Bicycle Tours’ four-day Cambodia pre-tour add-on to the 12-day Vietnam bike tour that follows.
You bike in Cambodia to have such immersive experiences, to see scenes unobstructed and at a pace where you can really observe, even stop and get off the bike for a better, lingering view, to ride through villages, alongside homes and farms and fields that you would never see otherwise, and to have such serendipitous encounters as coming upon a wedding. Discovery Bicycle Tours’ four-day Cambodia is tailored, so we bike on country roads and back roads rather than through the intensely trafficked towns, and we are taken by bus to far-flung locations so we are not deprived of seeing the
Siem Reap has justifiably become a major attraction for visitors – as evidenced from many lovely hotels in the city, the bustling markets and shops and the modern new international airport that opened (for logistical planning purposes it is important to take note that it is more than one hour’s drive from downtown, not the 20 minutes of the old airport),
Indeed, Siem Reap is a long way to go: it’s taken me 32 hours, three planes and three, long immigration lines, though it could have been less had I flown east from JFK instead of west; also when you book your travel, be aware that you cross the Dateline so you lose a day; and be very aware of the online process to get the visa and arrival document).It’s too long a way to go to miss the extraordinary sites by obsessing over biking point-to-point
exclusively.
I make my way to the Aviary Hotel in the heart of Siem Reap (Discovery has arranged an airport pick up but somehow I missed it), riding a shuttle from the airport with a local woman who now works in Sweden, home to visit her family. I have the good sense to ask her where to go for the best place to see the sunset. Phnom Bakheng, she replies without hesitation. Armed with this information, as soon as I pull up to the hotel where I am met by Discovery’s guide Calista Phillips (I actually had just traveled with her on Discovery’s Idaho Trails bike tour), our local guide, Hang, arranges for the hotel’s tuk tuk driver to take Calista and me at 4:30 pm. (Others in the tour had other plans.)
I organize my time so that I recover my energy for our adventure, and resist my inclination to explore the
area, taking advantage of the Aviary Hotel’s stunning garden pool (it also has a rooftop pool) at the Aviary, a delightful 43-room eco-friendly boutique hotel which is our home base for our four-day stay.
I organize my first, free afternoon so I will recover energy for the sunset adventure. I explore the streets and markets around the hotel, pick up food for lunch, spend the afternoon swimming in the hotel’s gorgeous garden pool (it also has a gigantic rooftop pool) and the rest so I will have energy for the evening.
The 35-minute ride through the streets on the tuk tuk – basically a carriage pulled by a guy on a motorcycle – to the temple is extreme fun (what a ride!).
We immediately see why this is the most popular place for the sunset. Situated in the heart of Angkor Archaeological Park, the Hill of Phnom Bakheng offers gorgeous views of surrounding monuments and countryside. (Calista and I have purchase our three-day Angkor Archeological Park passes online, which the others will be given later; Discovery reimburses me the $62; the 3-Day Pass is valid within 10 days of purchase.)
Because of heavy seasonal rains causing damage, the eastern stairway is closed, so we hike for 15 minutes along a shady gentle sloping path which provides a panoramic route to reach the temple.
The first glimpse through the trees is of a temple, glowing orange in the setting sunlight. This is Bakset Chamkrong, built during the first decades of the 10th c at the foot of Phnom Bakheng, the only pyramid September 12, 2025
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GOING PLACES, NEAR & FAR....
Hiking, Biking Adds Dimension to Experiencing Siem Reap, Cambodia’s Ancient Archeological Monuments
temple in the area that has survived. The notes describe a rare Sanskrit text engraved in the doorjamb about the mythic succession of Khmer kings. According to the myth, the dynasty descended from the union of the hermit Kamba, said to be “born from himself” and the celestial nymph mera. (Note: this architectural jewel can also be visited.)
Continuing on, we come to beautiful views over treetops in haze to the water.
And then we come to Phnom Bakheng, which is undergoing restoration– a cooperative project begun in 2004 of World Monuments Fund (WMF) and APSARA National Authority of the Kingdom of Cambodia.with funding from US Dept of State, US Ambassador fund for Cultural preservation and US Embassy Phnom Penh.
We climb the steep stone steps to the top of the temple, and I am struck at the people who have taken up their position facing away from the sunset. I ask why and a woman points down and to the side, and mutters, Angkor Wat. Indeed, this majestic structure –one of the largest religious sites in the world –emerges from the haze and rises above the tree tops. Oh. The hope (expectation) is that when the sun dips, it will turn the grey/black stone a firey orange like the temple we saw on our walk up.
I squeeze my way into one of the last positions that would give me that view and wait.
Alas, when it is clear that the weather will not cooperate (it is still a beautiful sight), I take another position to watch the sun, now a firey red ball, skirt alongside two of the temple’s stone towers, and when it finally dips into the clouds, go to study more intently the carvings on the temple.
We are among the last to start down after the sun has dropped into the clouds, and by the time we get all the way down, it is actually dark – just adding to the
atmosphere. Our ride back in the tuk tuk (the guide has waited for us and we cleverly have taken down his telephone number in case we have trouble finding him) is tremendous fun. We get to see how people gather together at night.
Our driver very kindly asks if we prefer to be dropped at the hotel or at Pub Street, about five blocks further than the hotel so we can get a sense of the colorful night life. We opt for the night market and immediately are engulfed in the neon lights and activity. We come upon crafts people and food sellers.
Hiking Kulen National Park
Our first day full day in Cambodia is not spent biking but hiking. After a delightful breakfast at the hotel, the nine of us who are doing the Cambodia add-on (of the eventual 19 of us who will be doing the Vietnam tour), gather together and set out for Kulen National Park.
The six-mile hike through a jungle on the Langur Trail, named for leaf-eating monkeys that live here) brings us to historic places – where religious symbols have been placed in a stream, a temple, and, most interestingly, a rocky hideaway that was used for the Khmer Rouge.
We hike along the River of 1000s of Lingas - the phallic symbol of the Hindu
god, Shiva – and rock carvings depicting Hindu deities made during the Khmer Empire.
The trail takes us to a fabulous 16th century Buddhist monastery and sacred site for pilgrims at Preah Ang Thom There is such reverence that we need to take off our shoes before we climb the steps to where the massive Reclining Buddha is housed – in fact, we are told, it is Cambodia’s largest sandstone reclining Buddha. The pose, the colors are simply jaw-dropping magnificent.
Our hike continues into what seems to be a village and central marketplace for the national park, where we have lunch in a delightful restaurant. From there, we walk a path that takes us to a steep staircase (103 steps) to the scenic, 81-foot high Phnom Kulen Waterfalls. The area evokes the water cleansing of the Ganges, and was a holy place in 802 AD. We swim (fish nibble at our dead skin - actually a spa treatment), frolic under the forceful spray, before busing back an hour to Siem Reap.
Taking into account that we won’t be getting back for the rest of the group to experience the sunset at Phnom Bakheng which we raved about, our guide, Hang, stops at Pre Rup, for us to explore as
Healthy Eating and Food Costs
BY CHARLYN FARGO
Most of us are painfully aware that food costs in the past year have risen. A survey by The Hartman Group found that 85% of consumers feel the pinch in their pocketbook. Over half of those people say rising prices have impacted their ability to purchase foods, beverages and other grocery items “at least somewhat.” Nearly 1 in 4 report they’ve “really had to rethink how they shop for groceries.”
Here are some strategies for healthy eating on a tight budget:
No. 1: Eat out less. We all got used to
eating at home more during COVID-19. Let’s keep up those cooking skills. The first step is to plan your meals, so you don’t think about what’s for supper on your way home from work -- and opt for a frozen pizza.
No. 2: Choose less expensive foods selectively. Frozen foods can be cheaper than fresh if fresh foods aren’t in season. Skip or reduce soft drinks and energy drinks; swap a couple meat-focused meals each week to include dishes based on canned beans or lentils. Or add those canned beans, mushrooms or lentils to ground beef to stretch your meat budget
the sun sets. This temple was built in honor of Lord Shiva in 961 AD by King Rajendravarman while Siem Reap was the capital of the kingdom of Koh Ker, before the capital was moved to Angkor. (It is not nearly as impressive, so do not miss an opportunity to see the sunset at Phnom Bakheng.)
We gather at 7:30 pm for dinner at Spoons Restaurant – a delightful restaurant which is also a social enterprise where young people from disadvantaged circumstances are trained for jobs in hospitality. The food, the presentation, the ambiance are superb.
Set in the heart of Siem Reap town, The Aviary Hotel
Our base for our four-day visit to Siem Reap is the Aviary Hotel, a 43-room eco-friendly boutique hotel that offers a luxurious, comfortable, modern environment with delightful Cambodian flourishes celebrating the Kingdom’s birdlife and filled with locally commissioned art. The Aviary’s turquoise pool has a garden-like setting curtained by vines and flowers that drape over the balconies above and comfortable lounge chairs, from which you can order drinks and food – a truly relaxing sanctuary. A rooftop pool seems as big as an Olympic pool and is particularly delightful at the end of the day and into the evening. Each morning we enjoy a marvelous buffet breakfast. The hotel also offers its own café. (Aviary Hotel, #09, Tep Vong Street, Siem Reap, Cambodia, +855 12 241 602, reservation@theaviaryhotel.com) Discovery Bicycle Tours, 2520 W. Woodstock Rd., Woodstock, VT 05091, 800-257-2226, +1 802 457 3553, info@discoverybicycletours.com, discovery bicycletours.com.
Next: Biking Siem Reap’s Angkor Archeological Park
for items such as hamburgers, pasta sauce or meatloaf. Choose a larger container for foods like unsweetened yogurt and mix each serving with fresh or frozen fruit. Choose canned or frozen seafood such as tuna or cod.
No. 3: Reduce food waste. Repurpose that leftover chili into a chili mac; buy a whole chicken, cook it in your slow cooker for your first meal, then use it the next few days in quesadillas, white chicken chili or chicken salad. Take an inventory of what’s in your freezer and plan your meals based
Last month I saw a sign for a place that’s specifically for seniors who want to exercise and I thought, “This sounds great! I’ll stop by and check it out.”
Approaching the gym, I parked the car and peered at the place, happy to see some shades partially blocking the front windows. They were meant to be sun shades but I thought of them as privacy shades. No one would be able to walk past and look inside at those of us working out. No pressure would be ideal. I want to be in an exercise space that is friendly and non-judgmental.
Starting out, my goal was to lose 20 pounds and whether that goal would take me three months or a year to do was okay with me. I can’t exercise like I am 20 years old because I’m not that age anymore. So I go at my own pace and whatever progress I make is okay with me.
Walking inside, I was pleased to see several seniors who looked fit working out but at a more leisurely pace. I wouldn’t call these exercisers laid back but I didn’t see anyone resembling Sylvester Stallone aka Rocky Balboa racing up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the “Rocky” movie.
During that 72-step trek up the steps Rocky really pushed it and I couldn’t help but admire his athleticism - and his determination. Rocky is 30 years old in the movie and in that workout, he is shown training for a fight against Apollo Creed. Well done, Rocky. He was focused and he was pushing it.
I, on the other hand, want a leisurely workout. I realize that a “leisurely workout” may be a contradiction in terms but that’s okay. As someone who is 50+ I’ll exercise whenever I can but I am as pleased as can be if that exercise comes naturally and gradually. I don’t want to work out until the point of exhaustion. No, thank you.
Still, I realized that I would have to push myself if the workouts would have any substantial payoffs. No pain, no gain is a familiar refrain among exercise enthusiasts and physical therapists but I didn’t want too much pain. I wanted to see the pounds slide off slowly but steadily.
In my ideal workout I would enter the building, be cheerfully greeted by two employees, be escorted to some exercise equipment and get started as some peppy music played in the background. Motivational music does wonders when working out. It’s fun to listen to and helps get the muscles moving.
I’d get chatting with the seniors on my left and on my right and inevitably we’d compare notes about how many pounds we all were dropping. I’d be happy to hear all about their progress but at an early point in the conversation I’d explain that I was a newbie to the exercise routine.
They would say how long they have been going to the gym and be as proud as could be of their “exercise anniversary date.” It was a milestone for sure because any time someone embarks on a new healthy journey it is an endeavor to be applauded.
As we spoke I discovered that people have many different reasons for going to the gym. Some don’t need to lose weight but they want to be more toned and have better stamina.
Being surrounded by my peers I could count this as some social time. My new friends explained they work out three days a week at a specific time and adding that commitment to their calendars is important because they will stick to it.
I was just starting out but I’d convinced myself that moving around, lifting some light weights and walking on a treadmill, on angle or as a flat surface, would be beneficial. How long my workout is and how many pounds I
start with is important. Then I will step up my game when it’s the right time. I appreciate a customized routine not a one-size-fits-all approach to working out.
Walking, stretching and doing some jumping jacks are good ways to warm up before a serious workout and personally, I’d be happy to stick with those things. Workouts are fine but I don’t want my exercise regimens to be jarring on my joints.
Resistance bands have been offered to me and I’ve used them a few times but they don’t really pique my interest. And when I’m in the gym and focused on working out, I like to be engaged.
Throwing heavy ropes is pretty rigorous and my trainers say that it helps improve strength and cardiovascular fitness. It breaks up the routine of walking on the treadmill and lifting weights so for a little while I throw those ropes around. Plus I’ve seen people on TV do it and it always looks cool.
Fitness can be fun but a good workout does involve breaking a sweat. Being lulled by a comfortable routine and by the status quo doesn’t work when it comes to exercising if I want to
see some results. It takes work. I want to be more toned, have more overall endurance and increased flexibility. It’s all about feeling healthy.
Afterwards I relax with a warm shower, get dressed and head home humming the song “Gonna Fly Now” from the Rocky movie written by Bill Conti. He received an Academy Award nomination for that song among others.
“Trying hard now
It’s so hard now
Trying hard now
Getting strong now
Won’t be long now
Getting strong now …”
Pleased that I have set a new goal, I felt okay patting myself on the back because on this particular day I followed through and took some good steps.
In the end, I am discovering that working out is harder than doing some yoga, with or without goats walking on my back, and it is harder than taking a walk around my neighborhood on a cool day when the weather is perfect.
BY TOM MARGENAU
I can tell it’s time for me to once again explain to people that SSI and Social Security are two entirely different programs.
Every single day, I get emails from readers who say something like this: “I am getting SSI, and I want to know if my wife might be due some of my SSI.” Or they will say, “I’m getting close to retirement. How do I file for my SSI benefits?”
I know from experience that these folks are talking about Social Security, not SSI. I’m guessing they think that SSI stands for “Social Security Insurance.” It does not. SSI stands for Supplemental Security Income. It is a federal welfare program that really has nothing to do with Social Security, other than the fact that it is managed by the Social Security Administration.
And mixing up the programs is not just a matter of a semantic error. It could be problematic. For example, if you called the SSA and said you want to file for SSI (when you really meant to say you want to file for Social Security), you could be led down a very incorrect administrative path. To clarify things further, let’s start with some background.
Obviously, everybody knows what Social Security is. You get a Social Security number, you work, you pay Social Security taxes, and one day you, and possibly some of your dependents, collect Social Security retirement benefits. Or you become disabled before reaching retirement age and you, and possibly some of your dependents, get Social Security disability benefits. Or you die and your widow, or widower and/or minor children collect Social Security survivor benefits.
But only a small percentage of Americans really know what Supplemental Security Income is. To introduce it, here is just a short history lesson. Back before the early 1970s, there were hundreds of different welfare programs in the country. Sometimes states administered welfare programs. Other times, counties had their own welfare programs. And in some places, cities or other jurisdictions had their own welfare programs. And they all had different rules and eligibility factors. It was a mess.
Some officials in the Nixon administration had a good idea. They decided to federalize and standardize this hodgepodge of welfare programs into one national program. But then they had two bad ideas.
The first bad idea: They gave this new program to the Social Security Administration to run. On the one hand, I suppose it made sense. The SSA had a network of field offices around the country, and it had the computer infrastructure necessary to manage a big national government benefits program. On the other hand, they messed up a nice clean government operation used to deal mostly with grandpas and grandmas and saddled it with the task of running a big messy welfare system.
Their second bad idea was the name.
SSI Is Not Social Security
Somebody somewhere in the Nixon administration decided to call the new program Supplemental Security Income. I understand what they were trying to do. They wanted to remove the negative connotations of the word “welfare” from the minds of potential program beneficiaries. But this act of political correctness has led to problems ever since.
So, they called the new program Supplemental Security Income, and they gave the program to the Social Security Administration to run. And almost everyone back then in the 1970s, and almost everyone still today, thinks that Supplemental Security Income is some kind of supplemental Social Security benefit.
It’s not. To repeat, SSI is a federal welfare program that has nothing to do with Social Security other than the fact that it happens to be managed by the SSA. Also, SSI payments are funded out of general tax revenues -- NOT Social Security taxes.
Gosh, how I wish they would have called SSI something like the Federal Welfare Program. And gosh, how I wish they would have created a new federal agency to run it and called it something like the Federal Welfare Benefits Administration.
Anyway, here are some examples just from this week’s emails that give you an idea of all the confusion caused by the misnamed program.
Q: I am getting ready to retire. I called Social Security and told them I want to apply for my SSI benefits. They asked me a bunch of questions about my income and assets and about my house and car. And then they told me I have too much money to get SSI. I was so confused I just hung up. Can you help?
A: Yes, I can help. Call them back and tell them you want to file for Social Security retirement benefits. You do NOT want to file for SSI. To be fair, after a little more questioning, the Social Security agent you talked to should have realized you wanted to file for Social Security and not SSI. But maybe you hung up in frustration before he or she had a chance to figure that out.
Q: In a past column, you said that someone getting disability could inherit a million dollars and still be eligible for benefits. Well, I recently inherited a lot less than that (about $100,000), and it got me into all kinds of trouble with my SSI disability. I’m jumping through lots of hoops now trying to keep my benefits.
A: You misunderstood what I wrote. In that past column, I was referring to someone getting Social Security disability benefits. Social Security is not a welfare program. You could be a millionaire and still get Social Security, whether it’s a retirement benefit or a disability benefit or a survivor benefit.
But you are not getting Social Security disability. You are getting SSI disability. And to repeat, SSI is a welfare program. And as a general rule, someone who in-
herits $100,000 doesn’t need welfare. I’m not a real expert on the SSI program, but you may be able to set up something called a “special needs trust” that lets you keep your SSI checks. Those may be the “hoops” you are trying to jump through.
Here is an interesting tidbit that further shows how these two programs can get confused. The Social Security disability program is frequently referred to as SSDI, which stands for Social Security disability insurance. And the SSI disability program
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CROSSWORD PUZZLE
What effect will an autocratic U.S. have on the housing industry?
The following is my research and thoughts on what would happen:
1. Government Control over Housing
• Property Rights: In a true autocracy, private property rights could weaken. The government might impose stricter controls on ownership, limit who can buy/sell, or even seize land for state use (which is already occurring today through Eminent Domain via the Fifth Amendment of our Constitution). Taking property for the benefit of the public.
• Rent Controls & Price Caps: An authoritarian regime might impose artificial rent controls or home price limits to maintain social stability, which could discourage investment.
• Housing Development: Largescale state-directed housing projects (similar to what’s seen in some authoritarian countries) could replace private-sector-driven development.
2. Economic Impact
• Investment Climate: Investors (both domestic and foreign) may pull back due to uncertainty, sanctions, or fear of government interference, reducing housing demand and slowing construction.
• Interest Rates & Mortgages: An autocratic regime might manipulate interest rates for political goals, which could distort mortgage markets — either making housing artificially cheap (short-term boom) or unaffordable (long-term bust).
• Wealth Flight: Affluent homeowners could move assets abroad, creating more supply at the high end but weakening the luxury market.
3. Social Effects
• Widening Inequality: Housing access may depend on political loyalty or connections, leading to disparities in ownership and opportunity.
• Migration & Demand Shifts: If civil liberties decline, some citizens may emigrate. Outmigration reduces demand in certain markets, while
SOCIAL SECURITY AND YOU
Continued from previous page
is usually called SSID.
So finally, repeat after me. SSI is a welfare program. It is not a Social Security program. SSI does not stand for Social Security Income. It stands for Supplemental Security Income.
If you have a Social Security question, Tom Margenau has two books with all the answers. One is called “Social Security -- Simple and Smart: 10 Easy-to-Understand Fact Sheets That Will Answer All Your Questions About Social Security.” The other is “Social Security: 100 Myths and 100 Facts.” You can find the books at Amazon.com or other book outlets. Or you can send him an email at thomas.margenau@ comcast.net.
COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM
authoritarian policies could restrict foreign buyers.
• Homelessness & Displacement: Government priorities may shift away from housing support programs, worsening homelessness unless the state tightly controls urban residency 4. Regional & Global Dynamics
BY PHILIP A. RAICES
• Urban vs. Rural Divide: An autocracy might prioritize capital cities and strategic regions for development, neglecting others.
• Sanctions & Trade Barriers: If an autocratic U.S. faces sanctions, costs of materials (steel, lumber, appliances) could rise sharply, driving up construction costs.
• Foreign Investment: Global real estate buyers (e.g., from Asia or Europe) could hesitate to buy U.S. property if rule of law and transparency decline.
5. Psychological & Market Sentiment
• Consumer Confidence: Fear of instability reduces people’s willingness to make long-term commitments like buying homes.
• Black Market Housing: In extreme cases, housing may be informally traded outside official channels to avoid state scrutiny.
Summary:
An autocratic U.S. would likely create a less stable, less transparent housing market. Property rights could weaken, inequality may grow, foreign and domestic investment might decline, and housing could become politicized. In the short term, the government might prop up the housing market to maintain control, but long-term effects would likely reduce trust, liquidity, and growth in the industry.
Continued from page 2
on what you’ve already purchased. No. 4: Use sales and coupons wisely. My mom used to plan her menus around the weekly grocery store flyer. Now you can do it based on your grocery store app -- and what’s on sale.
No. 5: Make a list before you shop.
This scenario is potentially where we might be heading as things progress politically. I do not believe that this is what the majority of homeowners and investors want to see materialize and have to experience and be encumbered by in the future. However, who we elect going forward will have a marked and monumental effect on our housing industry. One must be extremely cognizant and vote for those who want free enterprise and entrepreneurial spirit to continue to thrive and flourish and not be hindered by those in power.
However, there needs to be a better balance for those in need of reasonably priced housing, while minimizing homelessness by coming up with solutions that make sense. We currently have major issues in both these categories, but an Autocratic environment will only exacerbate the problem and not solve it.
Next week I will provide some insight as to how property ownership functions in Russia and China to provide more insight to how the laws and rules in those two countries effect the values.
Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has 43+ years experience in the Real Estate industry and has earned 3 significant designations:
National Association of Realtors Graduate Realtors Institute (what I consider a Master’s degree in real estate).
Certified International Property Specialist - expert in consulting and completing international transactions. National Association of Realtors
NEWS
Most of us tend to impulse shop when we go to the grocery store. If you have a list, you’re more likely to purchase the things you need rather than what appeals to you in the moment. It’s also important to eat before grocery shopping. Planning helps you avoid overbuying and helps you know when to cook a little extra for use in another dish.
Green designation: eco-friendly low carbon footprint construction with 3-D printed foundations, Solar panels, Geothermal HVAC/Heat Pumps).
He will also provide a copy of “Unlocking the Secrets of Real Estate’s New Market Reality, and his Seller’s and Buyer’s Guides for “Things to Consider when Selling, investing or Purchasing your Home.
He will provide you with “free” regular updates of what has gone under contract (pending), been sold (closed) and those homes that have been withdrawn/ released or expired (W/R) and all new listings of homes, HOA, Townhomes, Condos, and Coops in your town or go to:
https://WWW.Li-RealEstate.Com and you can “do it yourself (DYI) and search at your leisure on your own. However, for a “FREE” no obligation/ no strings attached 15-minute consultation, as well as a “FREE printout or digital value analysis of what your home might sell for in today’s market without any obligation or “strings” attached call him at (516) 647-4289 or email: Phil@ TurnKeyRealEstate.com
You can now search at your leisure for properties at: WWW.Li-RealEstate.com bit.ly/4bXWVu6 (facebook.com) bit.ly/4inVqaR (X.com) bit.ly/4bVSwrs (linkedIn) bit.ly/4inVK9z (Instagram) bit.ly/4bQH14x (YouTube)
Charlyn Fargo is a registered dietitian with SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, Illinois, and the current president of the Illinois Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. For comments or questions, contact her at charfarg@aol.com or follow her on Twitter @NutritionRD. .
COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM
14 Ways to Use Coffee Filters That Don’t Involve Coffee
BY MARY HUNT
It was a dumb mistake. I grabbed the biggest package of coffee filters -- a pack of 1,000 -- only to discover much later that I’d picked up the wrong size for my coffeemaker.
Coffee filters are not expensive, which is probably the reason I didn’t bother returning them to the store. I suppose I should have tried, but I didn’t. Instead, I began finding ways to use those filters for other things than making coffee.
What I discovered is that the basket-style filters are super useful. It took a few years, but I used up the wrong-size stack of filters, and not to filter coffee! They became such a handy item that I bought the same size again, but this time from the dollar store. Most recently, I found 150 filters there for $1.
Here are some of the things I can do with a coffee filter:
1. Prevent splatters: Don’t you hate that mess inside the microwave? Prevent it by covering the bowl, plate or food item with a coffee filter turned upside down to create a little canopy. It works really well because the filter is highly absorbent but doesn’t fly off when the food pops and splatters.
2. Quick sparkle: Use a coffee filter instead of paper towels to clean and pol-
ish a mirror, window, glass tabletop or chrome. There’s no lint, and it’s super absorbent.
3. China protectant: Be kind to your fine dinnerware or other types of dishes by placing a filter between each plate and bowl to prevent the pieces from sliding around and causing damage.
4. Protect cast iron: Once I clean, dry and re-oil my cast iron skillet, I put a flattened-out filter in the bottom to prevent rust by absorbing any moisture that might remain.
5. Absorb grease: When frying bacon, French fries or any other thing that gets fried in oil, I place a couple of filters on a plate instead of paper towels to drain said items.
6. Food wrappers: Coffee filters are convenient to use as wraps for messy foods like tacos, burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. I love that they’re the right size and they catch stuff that might fall out when the kids dig in.
7. Applique backing: Like a dryer sheet, a coffee filter makes a great tear-away backing for embroidery and applique.
8. Bouquet garni: I learned this by watching the Food Channel. Place herbs and spices in the center of a coffee filter, and then close it up like a little pouch and tie with a piece of string. Drop this in the soup or stew, and allow it to simmer for
hours as needed. Remove the little tiedup pouch before serving, leaving behind the essence and goodness without the twigs, ugly spent leaves, seeds, etc.
9. Spoon rest: Lay the spoon, spatula or other implement you’re cooking with on a coffee filter. It will soak up the drips but not leave bits of paper on the item when you pick it up later, as paper towels often do.
10. Cradle ornaments: Use a coffee filter to individually wrap special Christmas ornaments or other precious decor items. This prevents ornaments from rubbing against one another and makes it easier to nestle them for compact storage.
11. Blotting paper: Whether it’s ink, paint or pressed flowers, when you need to blot, grab a coffee filter. It works perfectly well.
12. Strainer: A coffee filter will strain soup, wine that has bits of cork in it, tea or any other liquid you wish to become clear. Place the filter over a receptacle, and secure it with a rubber band. Pour the item to be strained through the filter.
13. Disposable snack bowl: One or two basket-style filters make an easy-to-hold snack dish for popcorn, chips or nuts.
14. Seed sprouter: Want to get seedlings started in time for spring? Grab a filter, and dampen it with water. Lay the seeds to be sprouted on the filter, and fold
it over so the seeds are covered. Place it inside a small zip-type baggie, and leave it be until the seeds sprout and are ready for planting.
Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “DebtProof Living.”
COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM
Groceries and the Dating Game: What Expiration Dates Really
BY MARY HUNT
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me about food expiration dates, I could afford to buy a lot of the milk that gets tossed each week just for being one day “past.”
These questions come in by the dozen -- from readers, neighbors and once from a stranger in the dairy aisle holding a suspicious-looking yogurt cup like it was a ticking timebomb.
It’s no wonder. Between the “sell by,” “use by” and “best before” -- and “What the heck does this code mean?” -- food packaging labels have become their own dialect. Most of us are just trying to avoid food poisoning without wasting good money -- or a perfectly decent sleeve of saltines.
That brings me to Bob D., who wrote: Dear Mary: Can you clarify expiration dates on food products? When it says “sell by 8/01/25,” does that mean it has to be used or just sold by that date? Others show a date of, say, 2/01/26 on canned or packaged goods. Does that mean you need to use it by this date or what? Some canned or packaged products don’t seem to have any date that I can find. Why is that? I’m so confused! -- Bob D.
Dear Bob: Short question, long answer. Here’s a breakdown of what those dates really mean -- and when to toss or keep:
“SELL BY”
This date is mainly for stores. It helps with shelf rotation so newer stock ends up behind older stock. A “sell by” date doesn’t mean the food becomes unsafe after that day. For example, milk is often good for five to seven
days past its “sell by” if kept cold.
You can freeze milk, cheese or even bread just before the “sell by” and stretch your grocery dollar a little further.
“BEST BEFORE” AND “BEST IF USED BY”
These labels suggest when the food is at its best quality -- taste, texture and appearance -not safety. That box of crackers or jar of peanut butter may taste a little stale afterward but is still perfectly safe to eat.
“USE BY” AND “EXPIRATION”
Now we’re getting serious. These labels -especially on dairy, deli meat and refrigerated dough -- mean the manufacturer can’t guarantee safety after the printed date. Use your senses, but when in doubt, don’t risk it. This is the only date that typically implies a safety concern, especially with perishable items. Infant formula and baby food are the only
products legally required to carry and adhere to expiration dates. Those should always be used exactly as labeled.
“GUARANTEED FRESH”
You’ll see this on bakery goods. The donuts may still be edible after this date, but they may taste more like hockey pucks than baked treats. The label is about freshness, not safety.
“PACK DATE”
This is when the item was packaged, not when it should be eaten. On eggs and some canned goods, it might show up as a Julian date (001 for Jan. 1, 365 for Dec. 31). It’s not meant for consumers, but it can help you guesstimate freshness.
If you stumble across an item with no visible date, don’t panic. Not all foods are required to be labeled. Use your best judgment. If it smells weird, looks odd or feels slimy, toss it.
A WORD ABOUT WASTE
Here’s the bigger issue: Americans throw away billions of pounds of food each year, often because of misunderstood date labels. That’s not just sad -- it’s expensive. The average family of four wastes over $1,800 annually in uneaten food. It’s like buying groceries, driving them home and putting half directly in the trash.
A FEW SMART TIPS
-- Keep your fridge below 40 F and use airtight containers.
-- Use the “first in, first out” method to rotate pantry goods.
-- Freeze meat, cheese and bread near their “sell by” date.
-- Don’t fear “best by.” It’s about quality, not safety.
Bob, you’re not alone in the confusion. But with a little savvy, you can keep more of your groceries out of the trash -- and more of your dollars in your wallet.
Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https:// www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, “Ask Mary.” This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.”
COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM
A Celestial Trio to Greet the Dawn
BY DENNIS MAMMANA
Week of September 14-20, 2025
Early risers have probably been marveling at the dazzling white “star” now appearing in the eastern sky at dawn. It is, of course, the brilliant planet Venus. But this week it will team up with a couple of other celestial bodies to create an even more beautiful display.
On the morning of Friday, Sept. 19, Venus will join with the thin crescent moon and the distant star Regulus. In fact, the three will appear so close that you’ll want to aim binoculars to see them all together.
What appears to be a near collision is anything but. The three celestial bodies are widely separated, but the fact that they appear roughly along the same line of sight produces the illusion of nearess.
Each of these three is an example of a completely different type of object. The moon is our closest celestial neighbor and natural satellite. It’s a huge chunk of rock that, we now believe, formed when a planet-sized body slammed into the Earth some 4.5 billion years ago.
On the morning of the 19th, it will lie 241,185 miles away.
Venus is a planet, much like the Earth, except that it’s enshrouded by poisonous clouds that hold its surface temperature hotter than a pizza oven. On Sept. 19, it will lie some 135 million miles away, and its light will require 12
and a half minutes to reach us.
The third collaborator in this celestial trio is a thermonuclear cauldron not unlike our sun (but much larger and hotter). It’s known as Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo. It’s the most distant of these three, at a whopping 466 trillion miles away -- so far that we see its light arriving after a journey of 79.3 light years.
As I said, no danger of a collision!
But things are not stationary up there. The moon orbits the Earth, and Venus orbits the sun, and both of these motions are visible to those who are patient. Check out the morning sky a few days before Sept. 19, and you’ll see what I mean. Venus appears just above Regulus, while the moon lies quite far above this pair.
Over the next few mornings, you’ll notice that both Venus and the moon have moved in their orbits and appear to be approaching Regulus from above. Keeping watch on this is fun, but you might also want to use your camera to capture the positions of the three as they seem to close in on each other.
And then, on the 19th, Venus, Regulus and the moon will lie almost along the same line of sight and appear as a tight group low in the eastern sky. You should begin your watch about an hour or so before sunrise and enjoy the view as the light and colors of dawn change.
If you’ve got binoculars, you’ll want
at once with binoculars.
to aim them toward this trio. All will fit neatly inside the same field of view and produce a marvelous sight. And a small, low-powered telescope will show Venus and Regulus together.
Be sure to set your alarm early on
Only the Nose Knows
Friday, Sept. 19, for a celestial display you won’t want to miss!
Visit Dennis Mammana at dennismammana.com. . COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM
BY TRACY BECKERMAN
Superman is able to see through walls.
Spider-Man can detect things with his Spidey-sense.
Me? I can smell something in the next county. Yes, it’s true. I am Super Smell Woman (not to be confused with the significantly less appealing Super Smelly Woman). I can detect unseen mold under a bathtub mat. I can sniff out spoiled milk from behind refrigerator doors. I am Super Smell Woman; hear me snort.
Like any superpower, this particular trait is sometimes a gift, sometimes a curse. It’s not a bad thing when the smell in question is something good like flowers or fresh-baked cookies. Most of the time though, it’s super nasty.
“The dog did something bad downstairs,” I inform my husband as we lie in bed.
“What are you, Kreskin?” he asks.
“I can smell it.”
At that point he knows it is his job to go down and investigate, because if I get too close to the nasty smell, it’s curtains for me. Superman has kryptonite. For me, it’s horrid-smelling dog things.
On the plus side, my super sense of smell makes it hard for my family to get away with anything.
“You had cookies,” I say to my daughter when she comes to visit and kisses me hello.
She is flabbergasted. “How did you know?”
“Mothers know everything!” I inform her mysteriously. She thinks I am omniscient. Little does she know I can smell the chocolate on her breath.
Like most superheroes, I feel it is in my best interest to keep my powers a secret. To most people, I am simply “Tracy Beckerman, suburban mother of two with an average sense of smell.” Only my family knows the olfactory phenomenon that I really am.
But then one day the unthinkable happened, and the truth came out.
As I waited at the teller window at the bank, I said, “I smell maple syrup. Did someone have pancakes for breakfast?”
The teller shook her head no. The teller at the next window shook her head no. The teller at the third window shook her head no. But then the customer at the third window blurted out, “You can SMELL that?”
“Um, yeah,” I admitted.
“That’s unbelievable! I have maple syrup-flavored lip gloss on,” she announced loudly to the whole bank. Then she whipped her lip gloss out of her handbag and held up it up for proof. “Maple syrup, see!!”
Everyone turned and looked at me, the weirdo who could smell maple syrup lip gloss across the room.
“I have a good nose,” I said sheepishly, and slunk out of the bank.
Feeling like a freak of nasal nature,
I went off to the gym to try to work off my maple syrup-induced embarrassment. As I contorted my body into some obscure stretch in a group exercise class, I leaned over to my neighbor and whispered, “Who comes up with these moves?”
From across the room, the instructor yelled, “This is a standard Pilates move!”
“You could HEAR that?” I bellowed. “I said that in a whisper.”
“I have super hearing,” she admitted.
I was so excited. A comrade! A cohort! A fellow freak!
“So, you’re a superhero?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m a mom.”
Tracy Beckerman is the author of the Amazon Bestseller, “Barking at the Moon: A Story of Life, Love, and Kibble,” available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble online! You can visit her at www. tracybeckerman.com.
COPYRIGHT 2025 CREATORS.COM
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On Friday, Sept. 19, the moon, Venus and the star Regulus will appear so close together in the sky that all three can be viewed
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Enjoy a honey of a breakfast
Crunchy Honey-Yogurt Breakfast Parfait
Morning mealtime can be frenetic, as multiple people in a home get ready for work or school at the same time. Stocking the refrigerator with ready-to-go offerings that are healthy and delicious ensures that everyone can grab breakfast even if they’re in a rush.
This recipe for “Crunchy Honey-Yogurt
Breakfast Parfait” courtesy of the National Honey Board® seems like a dessert but actually can be enjoyed first thing in the morning. With nutrient-dense ingredients like whole fruits, honey and yogurt, it provides the boost of energy necessary to start one’s day. Makes 2 servings
1 large banana, sliced, divided 1⁄3 cup honey, divided 1⁄2 cup plain yogurt, divided 1⁄2 cup crunchy granola, divided 1⁄2 cup blueberries, divided
1) Reserve several slices of banana and a few blueberries for garnish.
3) Repeat for a second parfait.
4) Garnish with reserved banana, blueberries and a drizzle of honey.
2) Layer 1 tablespoon, 1⁄4 of the pre-sliced banana, 2 tablespoons blueberries, 2 tablespoons yogurt, 2 tablespoons granola, 1⁄4 of the sliced banana, 2 tablespoons blueberries, 1 tablespoon honey, and 2 tablespoons granola in a parfait glass.
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provide, we’ll create
to
or have a
and help you be
Girls Varsity Soccer starts season with strong opener
The Garden City Girls Varsity Soccer team kicked off the 2025 season on Thursday, September 4, on a sunny but windy day at Massapequa High School. Second year Head Coach Scott McCauley and Assistant Coach Tori Flaherty look to lead the team back to another Long Island Championship game, but with different results this time around. Last year’s team dropped a heartbreaker against West Islip on penalty kicks after a 0-0 battle at Hofstra University.
This year’s squad features no shortage of talent, starting at the top with a senior and junior laden roster (20 out of 28 roster spots are held by upperclassmen). Captains Brianna Ciccone, LeeLee Gaffney, and Deanna Prisco are all 4-year varsity players. Captain Marissa Patrissi anchors the team from the back line as a 5-year starter at goalkeeper. Deanna suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier this summer and will be sorely missed on the field. Her lightening fast speed and sheer athleticism will be impossible to replace, but her presence on the sideline as she rehabilitates will surely serve as an inspiration to her teammates throughout the season. We know Deanna will be back stronger than ever and wish her all the best with her recovery.
From the opening kick, Garden City took control of the game. Pre-game discussions amongst the bleacher coaches focused on whether to take the wind at our backs or in our faces for the first half. The coin toss left it at our backs to start the game, which turned out to be fortuitous. With only three minutes off the clock, a botched clear by Massapequa’s defense led to an errant pass across the top of the eighteen-yard box. Junior Sienna Castellano got on her horse and outraced her defender, deftly working the ball into the opposite corner with her right foot. It was a fitting start to this season as Castellano
kicked off last season’s scoring with a sweet lefty blast.
With a 1-0 lead, Garden City went to work. The girls possessed the ball beautifully in all parts of the field, particularly in the middle. Ciccone, Castellano, junior Lia Costa and junior Sydney Rhein displayed excellent first touches and decision making as time and again they worked the ball up field from the back line to their forwards. In addition to their sharp passing and excellent decision making, these four won their fifty-fifty battles throughout the first half. From middle of the field control arose numerous offensive opportunities. Junior Anna Olcott and Gaffney
are speedsters on the outside wings who gave their defenders fits all day. They put tremendous pressure on their opponent’s back line by racing past their respective wing backs (Gaffney from the left and Olcott from the right) and masterfully cutting back at the appropriate times. Massapequa’s goalie was tested several times throughout the first half. The closest opportunity for a second goal came with just 2 seconds remaining, when Gaffney sent a left-footed shot across the goal just wide of the left goal post by a ball’s width.
With the wind at their faces starting the second half, the girls grew even stronger. Possession became more lop-
sided as it was more evident who the better team was that day. The starting back line consisted of senior Nora Donahue, junior and two-year starter Madsie Patrikakos, senior Katie Horn, and senior Ciaira Hegarty, who did an outstanding job all afternoon clearing the ball from trouble. They were patient and precise with their field-switching passes, as well as their up field passes to their checking in midfielders. They read situations extremely well and knew when to step in front of passes and when to sit back. With kick and run panic soccer a thing of the past, our defense displayed the poise, patience and skills necessary to build out an attack from
The GCHS 2025 Varsity Girls Soccer team
The junior players
The senior playerså
Girls Varsity Soccer starts season with strong opener
the back line. Hegarty looked as if she hadn’t missed a beat, considering she sat out all last season due to injury. Patrissi handled all opportunities flawlessly in goal, with her biggest challenge coming with 26 minutes remaining in the second half. A free kick from 25 yards knuckled over our defensive wall but was read perfectly by the veteran goalie. All the other challenges that Massapequa could muster came from corner kicks and strong throw ins that reached the box on several occasions. The final threat came with just 18 seconds remaining in the game, with a corner kick from the left side of the goal. Fortunately, the defense held up for the 1-0 win and a great start to the season.
Coaches McCauley and Flaherty recognized the depth of talent they have on this year’s roster. Eighteen girls saw time versus Massapequa. Juniors Amelia
#00 Captain Marissa Patrissi, Sr.
#1 Sydney Rhein, Jr.
#2 Ciara Hegarty, Sr.
#3 Emily Bennett, Fr.
#4 Katie Horn, Sr.
#5 Madison Mejia, So.
#6 Audrey Donohue, Fr.
Scianablo, Ali Bennett and Kelsey Kern, sophomore Courtney McClelland, and freshmen Audrey Donohue, Emily Bennett and Stella Trillhaase all came off the bench and contributed meaningful minutes throughout the game. Signs of nerves were absent, particularly with the Fearless Freshman, who showed they belonged to be here. They stuck their tackles, made good decisions, and executed cleanly. Because of their skills and confidence, there was a seamless flow to the game as all the pieces worked beautifully together. This depth of talent gives this team a huge advantage over its opponents, most of whom are outnumbered on the bench game after game. With a strong mix of players from freshman to seniors, this team will be a lot of fun to watch as they continue to gel throughout the season.
Albany:
Following their season opener, the team boarded a bus the next morning for their annual trip to Albany. On Saturday, September 6, Garden City faced off against Webster-Schroeder High School during a torrential downpour on a grass field. Junior Anna Olcott netted the game’s sole goal off a rebound when Webster-Schroeder’s goalie mishandled a long ball sent into the box. All 28 members of our squad saw action in a tight but sloppy weather 1-0 victory, which moved the team’s season record to 2-0. The following day, the Lady Trojans squared off against a formidable opponent in Shaker High School, who finished ranked #9 in the state Class AAA in 2024. This game was played under partly cloudy skies on a turf field, where Garden City’s passing
2025 Girls Varsity Roster:
#7 Kiera Ruoff, Sr.
#8 Captain Deanna Prisco, Sr.
#9 Madsie Patrikakos, Jr.
#10 Captain Briana Ciccone, Sr.
#11 Sophia Pica, So.
#13 Lyla Hessler, Fr
#14 Sienna Castellano, Jr.
#15 Stella Trillhaase, Fr.
#16 Zoey Wood, So.
#17 Lia Costa, Jr.
#18 Anna Olcott, Jr.
#19 Kelsey Kern, Jr.
#20 Amelia Scianablo, Jr.
#21 Isabelle DeNoto, Jr.
and possession were once again on display. After a 0-0 halftime draw, Shaker got on the board 5:16 into the second half when they converted a corner kick. But the defense held stout for the remainder of the game, with Captain Marissa Patrissi, junior Riley Hansman, and junior Shannon Walsh making several big saves. With 23:26 left on the clock, freshman Stella Trillhaase converted a pass from Captain LeeLee Gafney and slipped a ball past Shaker’s keeper for her first varsity goal. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, and the Lady Trojans headed back to Long Island with a 2-0-1 record after their first week of play
Come out and show your support for the Girls Varsity Soccer program. The next home game is this afternoon (Friday, September 12, at 5 p.m. at Warren King Field).
Go GC!!
#22 Nora Donohue, Sr.
#23 Captain LeeLee Gaffney, Sr. #24 Liana Kelly, Sr. #28 Courtney McClelland, So. #34 Ali Bennett, Jr.
#77 Shannon Walsh, Jr. #88 Riley Hansman, Jr.
Freshmen players The sophomore players
GCHS Boys Varsity Soccer team returns to the field
The 2025 Graden City High School Boys Varsity Soccer team returned to action this week after last year’s State Championship run. There is a lot of returning talent in the senior class and new additions have been made from the juniors and sophomores, and in preseason coaches polling the Trojans are ranked #5 on a national level.
The season started last Thursday at Community Park where the boys took on a strong squad from Roosevelt High School looking to dampen the Trojans opening game. Garden City got on the board first with a picture-perfect free kick from senior Jack Costa to take the lead, followed by a powerful one-timer from senior Jacob Cooper to go up 2-0. The Roosevelt team fought back and was able to get on the board before the end of the first half, leaving the score 2-1 for the start of the second half. The Trojans came out strong in the second half and senior Jack Costa added to the lead with his second goal of the game. Roosevelt continued to fight back and was awarded a penalty kick which they converted to bring the score to 3-2. Despite continued pressure from
Continued on page 49
Senior Ollie Williams bringing the ball up the field.
Senior Jacob Cooper in control
Senior Thomas Fargione wreaking havoc on Great Neck North.
Trojans Boys Varsity Soccer team
Sophomore Cole Wilson with a shot on goal.
Senior Jacob Cooper and junior Colin Gibbons challenging Great Neck North.
Aces open regular season with a win
Coming off their East Meadow Tournament championship win, the GU11 Garden City Aces aimed to continue that momentum into the regular season.
Taking the field for an early Saturday match, the Aces faced off against the Rockville Centre Fury. While both teams played cautiously in the first half, the Aces controlled the play and their persistence paid off with Ashley Rodriguez-Perez and
Brooke Volpe putting the ball in the back of the net for a 2-0 halftime lead. RVC started the second half with an offensive push, but the Aces held together to repel any real chances on goal. The Aces put the game out of reach with a late tally making the final 3-0.
Great all around play by the entire team contributed to the solid win. Great job Aces!
Elizabeth “Biz” Hughes challenges for the ball.
Brooke Volpe jets past the defender.
Stella Sparacello calmly plays the ball out of harm's way.
Anna Ringh begins the counterattack.
Boys Varsity Soccer wins first ever State Championship
GCFH opens season strong under new leadership
between two defenders to Jack Schorr. The ball hit Schorr in stride, he beat the two flat footed defenders and whipped a shot past an outstretched keeper and GC had the insurmountable 2-0 lead and a ticket to the finals on Sunday morning.
As the final whistle blew on Saturday the boys knew they had one more test to complete their season long journey. After months of training and battle tested with 22 straight wins that included 17 shutouts the boys and their coaches were on a mission, bring the State title home to Garden City for the first time.
Once again, the Trojans faced a team in Clarnece that approached the game as many opponents have, contain the GC attack, allow time of possession to favor the Trojans but try to not allow good scoring chances. As with the previous day, the Red Devils played with only one man up front and ten behind the ball giving Garden City about an 80-20 percentage of ball control and several quality chances to get the opening goal.
The preseason rankings once again placed Garden City Field Hockey (GCFH) at the top of Nassau County Class B, but the program entered the 2025 season with an unexpected major change. Lauren Lavelle, the 2024 Nassau County Coach of the Year, stepped down in July after leading the team to five straight LIC titles. Lavelle, a protégé of Hall of Fame Inductee Diane “Chappy” Chapman, is credited with maintaining the program’s tradition of success while build-
Garden City had numerous chances but couldn’t come up with the first goal. In the opening twenty minutes the Trojans had several dangerous corner kicks but an active Clarence keeper kept them off the scoresheet, either coming off his line to punch the ball out or being in position to grab the ball off the heads of the taller GC forwards.
Perhaps the best chance for GC came in the eighteenth minute as Woodbine shook his defender in the box and one touched a ball that just cleared the bar.
For Clarence, their one and only scoring chance of the opening half came on a counterattack in the seventeenth minute as they pushed two men up field. With a good cross to the corner of the 18 yard box, the Clarence forward fired a shot to the opposite corner of the goal that went just wide as Pupke was able to close down the shooters angle.
In the last five minutes of the half, GC continued to attack and had two good chances, both with Luca Profeta on the ball. The first was a free kick from Profeta from 25 yards out that couldn’t connect. And the second, and last chance of the half
ing a family-like culture among players. The GCFH community is extremely grateful for the seasons it shared with Coach Lavelle.
for the Trojans was a through ball from Profeta that just missed connecting with Jack Costa in the box. The first half ended nil-nil.
the box and with only the keeper to beat he was taken down from behind and awarded a penalty kick in the 50th minute of play.
After an inspiring half-time talk with coach Paul Cutter, he emphasized that the game was there for the taking and the boys couldn’t continue to have so many chances without pushing one in. He implored the boys to raise their intensity, bring more urgency to the field and continue doing what they’ve done all season.
Amanda Lee, a recent Adelphi graduate and former standout player, was named head coach and faced a difficult debut against rival Manhasset. Guided by longtime assistant coach Janet Rogler, Coach Lee’s squad delivered a 3–0 victory. Brianna Kashimer opened the scoring, followed by Stella Goettelmann, younger sis-
Cutter’s words were quickly translated to the field as the team scored in under two minutes gone by in the half. Controlling the ball off of the tap off, GC got the ball into the box and with bodies crashing, Justin Woodbine was able to push the loose ball past an out of position keeper for the opening goal of the game. Garden City celebrated but kept their game faces on as they inched closer to their ultimate goal.
With Clarence looking to generate more offense to get back in the game, the middle of the field started to open up for GC. This played right into the Trojan game plan as the open space allowed them to control the ball with their quick passes and good touches on the ball.
The insurance goal came off the foot of Nassau County scoring leader Myles Watson as he deftly worked the ball into
ter of All-State alum Emmie Goettelmann. Emily Racich out maneuvered Manhasset defenders throughout the game and Casey Psaki added a third goal before halftime.
Watson approached the ball and drove a strong shot towards the corner, but the Red Devil keeper guessed right and made the save. Watson didn’t give up on the ball and without hesitation struck the ball into the open net for the goal that put GC up 2-0.
Katherine O’Hanlon, Jenny Roller and Cat Suau anchored the mid-field, while Averie Smith, Grace Berkery and Daly Prybylski controlled the defensive zone to shut down a second-half Manhasset push.
had the Trojans going 554 minutes without giving up a goal, and it raised the angst of the many GC fans that travelled to Middletown.
champion Carle Place. After a scoreless regulation and overtime period, the game was decided in a shootout. Senior goalkeeper Shea McGovern made an early key shootout save, and teammates Katherine O’Hanlon, Averie Smith, Cat Suau, and Grace Brantuk converted on their shootout attempts to secure the win.
The Trojans had several more good scoring chances in the next 15 minutes as the shot total continued to climb in their favor at 23-3. Woodbine shot just wide of the post, Charlie Koester sent a free kick into the box for Jack Klein that was headed on goal and Profeta sent a couple of corner kicks into the goal area, but none connected for the important third goal.
Garden City didn’t allow the Red Devils any room in the final minutes of play, and they secured the first NY State title in school history. And the players and coaches were finally able to celebrate loudly having accomplished what they had started in the summer months.
GCFH carried its momentum into the home opener against perennial Class C
As the game entered the final fifteen minutes, Clarence began pushing more players into the attack and had a good chance that Ian Pupke closed in on and forced the shooter to go wide of the goal. But with under six minutes remaining in the game Clarence made the game interesting. Attacking down the right sideline the ball was crossed into the middle and a Red Devil player was able to avoid the GC defense and with a quick one touch shot pushed the ball passed Pupke to make the score 2-1. The goal was the first given up by GC in the playoffs, official scoring
With two early victories, GCFH appears in midseason form as it sets its sights on a sixth consecutive LIC title.
All that was left was a very happy ride back to Garden City, and with a GCPD escort the team bus was able to deliver that title on 7th Street to the many parents, friends and residents on Sunday afternoon. The season was truly an historic run for the team and coaches, as they finished their perfect season with a 23-0 record.
Special mention should be made of the excellent coaching and dedication to the team from head coach Paul Cutter with assistants Luke Connolly and Mike Lind, team managers Ryan Cappello and Henry Schnell, athletic trainer Anthony Navaro and Athletic Director Ed Ramirez (GCTrojanNation).
Congratulations especially to all the seniors, many of whom have been with the team for the past two or three seasons.
Daly Prybylski
Goalkeeper Shea McGovern
Cat Suau
Katherine O'Hanlon
Grace Brantuk
Grace Berkery
Averie Smith
Varsity Soccer team leaving for the NYS Championship weekend.
Photos by Ed Rotondo
GC 9U Titans defeat
Island Trees in home opener
The 2025 U10 Titans, all smiles after their win: Christian Bentley (77), Alexander Virzera (17), Luke Linchitz (10), James Kelly (8), Timothy Berroya (15), James Dailey (64), Alex Nicdao (9), Henry Ceriello (3), Christopher Wyremski (5), Patrick Mitthauer (99), Colin Thomas (30) and Jack Boettcher (7) with Coach JR Mitthauer, Head Coach Dan Berroya, and Coach David Virzera.
Patrick Mitthauer (99), with laser aim, shoots the ball and scores the first goal of the game.
Alex Nicdao (9), in his first game as a Titan, shows off his impressive footwork and keeps the pressure on the opposing team.
The U9 Titans opened the fall season at home against the Island Trees Soccer Club at Garden City Community Park with a back and forth battle in the first half.
Alex Nicdao (9) and James Dailey (64), in their regular season debut with the Titans, had strong showings on offense and kept the pressure on the Island Trees goalie. Luke Linchitz (10), held it down in goal keeping Island Trees SC scoreless into halftime.
Early in the second half, the Titans broke the stalemate. Timothy Berroya (15) passed to Patrick Mitthauer (99) on a fast break, giving the Titans the lead 1-0.
Midway through the second half, Island Trees managed to sneak one past the defense, tying the game at 1-1.
It was a nail biter until the last few minutes, when the Titans finally
answered back on another fast break. This time, Patrick Mitthauer passed the ball to Timothy Berroya for the go-ahead goal.
Alexander Virzera (17) in goal for the second half made critical saves to hold the Titans lead.
Solid performances all around on defense by Jack Boettcher (7), Colin Thomas (30) and Henry Ceriello (3), keeping the ball out of the Titans zone throughout the game.
Christian Bentley (77), Christopher Wyremski (5) and James Kelly (8) continued to keep the ball out of Island Trees' possession to close out the game, and the Titans secured their first win of the season, 2-1.
Next Game: Saturday, September 13th at 11:20 vs Manhasset Soccer Club. GO TITANS!
James Dailey (64), in his first game as a Titan, and Jack Boettcher (7) defend their zone.
Colin Thomas (30) sends the ball up the field, putting the Titans back on offense. Alexander Virzera (17) in goal.
Luke Linchitz (10) steals the ball and drives it up the field.
GCHS Boys Varsity Soccer team returns to the f ield
Continued from page 45
Roosevelt, the boys kept their composure, played the possession game and maintained a strong defense to maintain the lead for the win.
The boys were back at it on Saturday for their first game on the turf at the Garden City High School taking on the always challenging squad from Great Neck North High School. The Trojans started quickly and set the tone by dominating possession and being patient with their attack. After several crosses and attempts, Jack Klein hammered a lose ball in the box to start off the scoring. The Trojans continued the heavy pressure in the first half, but the Great Neck North goalkeeper was able to limit Graden City to a 1-0 lead at the half. The second half was a continuation of the first with a solid attack and sti-
fling defense which frustrated the Great Neck North players. Halfway through the second half, junior Tommy Schreier intercepted a Great Neck North clearing pass, dribbled into the box and slammed a low shot past the goalkeeper – Garden City up 2-0. With less than ten minutes remaining junior Jack Cobb sent a terrific pass to senior Ollie Williams who perfectly poked the ball past the oncoming goalkeeper to finish the scoring. The Garden City defense and goalkeepers kept Great Neck North off the scoreboard for the first clean sheet of the season. Graden City win 3-0.
This week, the boys travel to Sewanhaka High School on Thursday at 4:45 and then have a non-league game Saturday evening in Jersey City against a very strong team from Saint Peter’s Preparatory School.
GCHS Football to open season Saturday
After winning its 4th consecutive Long Island championship and ending the season with a legendary 54 game winning streak, the Trojans start their season on Saturday at 2pm in Long Beach. The Trojans are back in the Long Island Class II conference after playing in Long Island Class III for a year due to a drop in enrollment.
This year’s team is led by Captains Owen Andersen, Justin Baiker, Jake Brown, Merit Ruckh and Zachary Olson and coached by Dave Ettinger along with Ryan Boelsen, Ray Chaputian, Steve Finnell, and Don Makofske.
In recognition of the Trojans ’ incredible accomplishments and career record of 109-3, Coach Ettinger was recently named the New York State Coaches Association Class A Head Coach of the Year.
This year’s team has 3 players listed in Newsday’s Top 100 Long Island High School Football Players: juniors Anthony Asaro, GC’s running back and Brayden Robertiello, GC’s quarterback, and senior lineman Zach Olson. The roster also includes a strong returning lineup that will make Garden City football tough to beat!
The current Garden City housing market appears to have reached its peak for the summer, with inventory levels remaining stable and fewer new sellers entering the market. New listings have waned, no longer running ahead of 2024 as they did earlier this year. On the other hand, the steady buyer demand with pending sales tracking in line with last year suggests that the appetite for purchasing homes remains strong.
Fewer sellers are listing. Now is your time to stand out. Connect with us today!
Diez 11s bring the Thunder a rainy opener
Diez 11s players and coaches are all smiles after their first win of the 2025 season at Oyster Bay, the site of their first ever game together back in 2021.
The Garden City Thunder 11sDiez opened their final season on Sunday with a decisive 19-6 victory over the Oyster Bay Generals, under rainy skies at Centre Island Beach Field in Bayville. The rainy conditions didn't dampen the Thunder's fierce play or the emotional significance of the matchup, which brought the team's history full circle—they first played together on this same
field against Oyster Bay as sevenyear-olds.
Grayson Pepicelli electrified the crowd on the second play of the game with a 50-yard touchdown run, setting the tone for the Thunder as their offensive line, anchored by Robbie Sampson, Eric Melendez, Matt Dean, Ben Mackiewicz, Michael Ferrari, and Sean Schoppner, provided outstanding blocking and kept the
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Portraits
Grayson Pepicelli (28) runs for one of two TDs on the day. Great blocking by Robbie Sampson (40), Richie Corrao (97), Eric Melendez (88), Keegan Fitzpatrick (17), and Owen Moylan (10).
Jackson Gallogly (44) catches a great pass from QB Nick Diez for a touchdown.
Eric Melendez (88) with a huge tackle on the Oyster Bay running back.
Teammates Owen Moylan (10), Grayson Pepicelli (28), and Nick Diez (12) congratulate Dylan Conway (14) on his first-ever interception!
Diez 11s bring the Thunder a rainy opener
Generals' defense at bay. Right before halftime, Pepicelli added another long scoring run, stretching the Thunder lead as rain showers persisted throughout the morning, making ball security and footing a challenge for both teams. Throughout the game, the Thunder’s defense was fierce and relentless, with William Burke, James Virzera, Peter Valentic, Richie Corrao, Alex Manna, Nicholas Manginello, Luca Calma, Powers Dell'Olio, and Daniel Makaryus making critical stops to thwart Oyster Bay drives. Safety Dylan Conway came up with a key interception in the second half as the rain intensified, helping the Thunder seize control. Owen Moylan, Keegan Fitzpatrick, and Christian Diez Jr. contributed crucial yardage from the running
back position, ensuring steady offense in slick conditions, and Thunder capped off their scoring with a touchdown pass from quarterback Nicholas Diez to tight end Jackson Gallogly.
On a day marked by nostalgia and the patter of rain, the Thunder’s 11-year-olds, many playing together since they were seven, celebrated not only a hardfought win but the start of the final chapter of their Thunder journey. Their combination of heart and teamwork was perfectly expressed in this rainy start, and the Thunder left the field with a win and a momentous start to their final season.
Come cheer on the Diez 11s at their next game - a home game at Community Park - this Saturday, 9/14, 12 p.m. vs Floral Park. GO THUNDER!
Attention students!
Graduated from school? Have an outstanding GPA? Made the honor roll or Dean’s List? Scored an internship or study abroad opportunity? We invite you to send details of any of these things and more, along with your name and contact info, to editor@gcnews.com for a chance to be seen in our paper!
New to the Market
32 Hamilton Place, Unit I3, Garden City, NY
Open house : Sunday, September 14th | 12:30PM - 2:00PM
Beautifully renovated and spacious, this third-floor 1-bedroom apartment at Hamilton Gardens
Co-ops has a tastefully modern updated bath and kitchen with a washer/dryer. The classic pre-war building details include arched doorways, hardwood floors, moldings, and built-in bookcases. The common areas are elegantly finished with marble and carpeting, and residents enjoy access to the backyard lawn and garden. Pet-friendly with storage and a bike room, the building is located near Garden City train stations, as well as restaurants, shopping, and green spaces. MLS# 910921. $399,000.
danielgale.com
A throwback photo! Diez 7s first game together back in September 2021 at Oyster Bay.
5-bedroom, 3-bath. MLS# 891657. $1,299,000.
Garden City, NY
5-bedroom, 2.5-bath. MLS# 874173. $1,599,000.
Garden City, NY
4-bedroom, 4.5-bath. MLS# 901471. $1,899,000.
Old Brookville, NY
9-bedroom, 7.5-bath. MLS# 825827. $5,850,000.
Garden City, NY 4-bedroom, 1.5-bath. MLS# 878683. $1,299,000.
Garden City, NY 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath. MLS# 873443. $1,549,000.
Garden City, NY 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath. MLS# 845782. $2,225,000.
Garden City, NY 1-bedroom, 1-bath. MLS# 910921. $399,000.
FOOD DRIVE
We are accepting donations the entire month of September.
Garden City, NY
3-bedroom, 2-bath. MLS# 907973. $1,325,000.
Garden City, NY 3-bedroom, 2.55-bath. MLS# 865097. $1,325,000. Garden City, NY 4-bedroom, 2-bath. MLS# 841430. $1,625,000.
City, NY 5-bedroom, 4.5-bath. MLS# 887258. $2,699,000.
Wyndham West, #M23
Garden City, NY
2-bedroom, 2.5-bath. MLS# 837845. $948,000.
City, NY 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath. MLS# 843658. $1,649,000.
Garden City, NY 6-bedroom, 4.5-bath. MLS# 856939. $3,000,000.
Wyndham East, #511
Garden City, NY 2-bedroom, 2.5-bath. MLS# 873980. $998,000.
City, NY 5-bedroom, 3.5-bath. MLS# 889595. $1,499,000.
$8,000/mo.
Drop off any non-perishable donations at any Daniel Gale office With your help, we aim to collect 10,000 lbs. of food for Island Harvest