Friday, January 31, 2020
Vol. 96, No.25
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Library Board chooses firm for security guards
HOOPS FOR HOPE
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Save the date: The second annual Hoops for Hope event will take place on February 12th at 3:30 p.m. at Garden City High School. Above, a group of supporters from last year’s event. See page 16 for deetails.
Residents seek stop signs on Pell Terr. BY RIKKI N. MASSAND Two Garden City residents -Mary Cetta and Lauren Brossard, neighbors and both teachers in the Port Washington School District spoke at a recent Eastern Property Owners Association meeting about the need for additional safety measures such as stop signs at the t-intersection of Pell Terrace and Iris Lane. They made their presentation at
the EPOA’s meeting on Tuesday, January 21 at the Garden City Senior Center on Golf Club Lane. Cetta says Pell Terrace is a very long block like Transverse Road, and support for a stop sign has grown especially among the many families with children or grandchildren living on the block. The proposal is to add stop signs on each side of Pell Terrace’s t-intersection with Iris Lane (on Pell and not on Iris).
On Pell is a school bus stop for students going to and from Garden City public schools and Chaminade High School. The women say the stop signs are needed due to high traffic, vehicle speeds, the school bus stop at the intersection as well as a large number of young children living along the block. They say many families moved into Garden City’s eastern areas in the last See page 50
At a special meeting held Monday night, January 27, the Garden City Library Board of Trustees met during a brief session and voted, 4-0 with Trustee Charles Murphy absent, to entertain a competitive bid for its security guard service -- a heated subject during the spring 2019 budget formulation for 2019-2020 -- from firm Securitas for 40 hours every week. Library Board Chairman J. Randolph Colahan said the reason for 40 hours a week and not longer to start is to keep the expense within the 2019-2020 budget allocation. He noted that there’s still evaluation needed by GCPL administration and trustees to see if an increase from 40 hours a week would be appropriate. Colahan also spoke about the incidents and circumstances observed at the Library within the last one to two years that have increased concerns and emphasized the need for security. “In July of 2019 anti-vaccination protestors disrupted Sen. Kevin Thomas’ Town Hall event. A month prior in June 2019 patrons observed a loud, disruptive and combative woman inside GCPL. Last September there was strange behavior observed by a man with young children who was asking to use library phones. Curiously, there was a burglar alarm sounded both in September and in October. There were also several times people were in the computer rooms down the hall viewing images of naked women. In November 2019 a pocketbook was stolen, then a wallet was stolen. This month (January) there were disruptive boys at GCPL. This is why we need a security presence as the library is now a different place than it was,” Colahan explained. Library Director Marianne Malagon prepared a report with her recommendation on which security firm presented a great option for GCPL. She outlined the main difference in the firms’ services as Strategic Security Corp. based in Commack has mostly experience with federal sites while Wisdom Protective Services and Securitas “have public library and schools experience, however Securitas has covered at more local public libraries.” Securitas services Levittown, Westbury, Bellmore, Copiague See page 50
Arts and STEM education ‘energized’ by Adelphi PAGE 3 Girls Basketball’s winning streak continues PAGE 54