Friday, March 16, 2018
Vol. 94, No.25
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
Citizen of the Year PAGE 6 n Swim-a-thon
PAGE 35
Village Board prepares for 555 Stewart Ave. hearings
NEVER TOO OLD TO CHEER
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Garden City High School's Class of 2018 and their parents enjoyed the annual Class Party and Parent Skit Night recently. Above, parents of the Kickline show their stuff. See page 58.
Garden City mom petitions for EpiPens on all airline flights BY GARY SIMEONE
Ten year old GianLuca Ingrassia, of Garden City never had an issue with nuts until a recent family vacation. On a return trip home from a relaxing getaway in Aruba last week, the fourth-grader suffered a severe allergic reaction aboard an American Airlines flight. “He ate a few of the complimentary cashews, and his throat started tickling and he had severe stomach cramping and chest pain,” said his mother, Francine, who was onboard with GianLuca and her three other children. The stewardess made an emergency announcement that a passenger was in distress, and a nurse who was onboard checked
GianLuca’s throat and his vital signs. “She found that he had stridor breathing due to disrupted airflow and he was really struggling to breathe,” said Ingrassia. Stridor breathing is a high pitched sound due to an obstructed airway. “She screamed for the flight staff to bring an EpiPen to open his airway, but there were none on board,” said Ingrassia. An adult female and a teenage girl, who were passengers on the flight, came to the aid of GianLuca with EpiPens they happened to have on them. The nurse injected the first one, which was filled with epinephrine, into his leg, but it See page 46
A set of public hearings regarding the 555 Stewart Avenue proposed development, with a plan for three stories, 150 rental apartments including 15 affordable housing units, are scheduled for the Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday night, March 22, at Village Hall. The 555 Stewart Avenue plan was discussed in a variety of meetings following a presentation to the CPOA on Tuesday, February 13 by attorney and village resident Kevin Walsh, who represents the developer. At the Tuesday, February 27 Board of Trustees’ meeting, Deputy Mayor John DeMaro commented on the status of the 555 Stewart Avenue proposal, brought forth in a work session last November 1 by
the applicants (550 Stewart LLC) as Walsh delivered a one-hour presentation. “The applicant has made several presentations to the Zoning Change Review Committee, and the Commission reviewed the proposed development. It has also received reports from consultants, H2M Engineering and Nelson, Pope & Voorhis, LLC (land surveyors, environmental planning and economic consulting firm). I am hopeful that the report and recommendation of the ZCRC will be sent to the Board in a matter of days,” DeMaro said. Since April 2017, DeMaro has served on the ZCRC along with Trustee Louis Minuto, Superintendent of Building Ausberto Huertas, Architectural See page 40
Police budget up as salary, overtime, cars calculated BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson presented his department’s budget request for 2018-2019, a total of $10.182 million in expenses including $9.726 million for salary-related items, to the Village Board of Trustees at their Tuesday, March 6 work session at Village Hall. The GCPD budget projection for salary-related cost, which includes overtime, is $366,000 more than the salary-related forecast for the current fiscal year ending May 31, totaling $9.360 million, and it
comprises the majority of increases in police expense of $381,000 with the budget request over the current year. Three police officers are scheduled to retire in the coming fiscal year, and the changes are reflected in the proposed budget’s GCPD salary and overtime, the latter of which has escalated to $900,000 and is a concern for the Village Board. Salary-related expenses including the overtime account for 96% of the overall village police budget. The GCPD headcount includes 65 See page 46
GCAA Challenger basketball ends season on top PAGES 56-57 GCHS Boys basketball historic season ends PAGES 62-64