Friday, July 29, 2022
Vol. 99, No.30
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
When You’re My Client, You’re My Client for Life
Linda Brunni
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Lic. R. E. Sales person O 516.307.940 6 | M 516.728.4 800 linda.brunnin g@elliman.com Garden City Office | 130 Sev enth Street 516.307.9406 | elliman.com
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Safety day
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Presidents’ dinner
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© 2022 DOUGLAS 110 WALT WHITMA ELLIMAN REAL ESTATE. EQUAL HOUSING N ROAD, HUNTING TON STATION, NY 1174OPPORTUNIT Y. 6. 631.549.7401.
Parks Supt.: No hope for ash trees
COOL FUN
BY RIKKI MASSAND
Children at the Garden City Community Church’s Community Adventures Summer camp enjoyed some water play to cool off on a hot summer day. See page 42
At the Garden City Board of Trustees meeting on July 21, Superintendent of Recreation & Parks Paul Blake delivered comments on the losing battle Long Island is facing against the Emerald Ash Borer invasive beetle species. Trustee Terry Digan noted that he had a conversation with Harder Tree Service, the contractor the Village of Garden City uses for tree removals as needed. He asked Blake to provide the full board and the public with an update on why some trees across Garden City may be in peril – the Emerald Ash Borer. The insect is a native species of Asia, and it was first found in the United States in the suburbs of Detroit in 2002. By 2014 it had spread
to Somerset County, central New Jersey and then eastward into New York state. “The insect gets into the feed stream and kills the tree. There is no pesticide that can kill this bug, there is no preventative and there is no cure. We anticipate that every ash tree in the village and on Long Island will eventually fall to this insect. We are now looking at the situation to remove somewhere between 100 and 200 ash trees,” Blake said. The Recreation and Parks Department plans to have an agenda item for the Board of Trustees to consider soon, for either a contract bid or an emergency declaration to engage the ash tree removal services. According to Blake the tree removals for ash See page 44
Bricks vs. landscaping at station Garden City Schools to begin pre-K program BY RIKKI MASSAND
At its July 21 meeting, the Garden City Board of Trustees decided to table an agenda item pertaining to brick wall reconstruction at the Long Island Rail Road’s Nassau Boulevard train station. After a preliminary discussion, the project may be completely revamped to get rid of the brick wall and convert some areas into a
landscaping buffer that may provide better sight lines for drivers and pedestrians. The agenda include approval of a $153,600 bid for brick wall reconstruction by low bidder Cornerstone Restoration Group Corp. – with a corresponding agenda item to reject the prior low bid from The Indo American Group, Inc. because bid specifications were not met. Both items were tabled after the
item was pulled off from the consent agenda by Village Trustee Charles Kelly. “I have used the Nassau Boulevard station thousands of times and I’ve always considered those brick walls as a dangerous decoration. I do not think they serve any function, they are only decorative. They walls interfere with a driver’s field of vision See page 34
The Garden City School District is establishing a Universal Pre-K program to start on Sept. 1, 2022. The program will be located at Homestead Primary School. Since this program is state-funded and is not paid for by taxpayer dollars, there is no cost to participate. To be eligible for the program, a child must be a Garden City School
District resident and 4 years old on or before Dec. 1, 2022. Garden City School’s UPK program is able to accommodate up to 40 students. The program will be open Monday through Friday, follow the same calendar as Garden City Schools, and will run five hours a day, five days a week. See page 34
GC Police sergeant, officer take oaths PAGE 48 Village crews tackle early morning cleanup PAGE 6