Friday, November 3, 2017
Vol. 77, No. 44
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Town to combat quality of life issues with task force
BATTLING CHILDHOOD CANCERS
BY GARY SIMEONE
Hempstead Town Councilman Dennis Dunne, Sr. (right)along with Town Clerk Nasrin Ahmad (center) attends the Levittown Athletic Club “Batting to Beat Childhood Cancers” Fundraiser held at Azalea Road Park located in Levittown. Pictured (L-R) are Dino Mastropierro of Seaford, Levittown Athletic Club President Alex Weinberg, Town Clerk Ahmad, Rich Matarazzo and Councilman Dunne, Sr.
BY GARY SIMEONE
Town officials came together on Caffrey Avenue in Bethpage on Monday to discuss the newly formed Town-wide Quality of Life Task Force. The Task Force is the first of its kind in the Town and will address issues such as illegal housing, non-maintenance of properties, so called zombie homes and parking and noise related problems. Town councilman, Lou Imbroto, who will act as a liaison to the Task Force, said that when he was first elected, addressing quality of life issues was one of his first priorities. “These illegal boarding rooms and houses have been cropping up in our Town over the last few years and it is our job as elected officials to protect our residents from illegal housing, non-maintenance of properties and other quality of life concerns,” said Imbroto. The Quality of Life Task Force will be made up of representatives from multiple Town departments including Public Safety officers, Code Enforcement personnel and members of the Planning and Devel-
opment department. Just recently Town officials received a complaint from a Caffrey Avenue homeowner that the house across the street from there’s contained multiple people living inside. “Supposedly a company who owns the home was renting out to their employees,” said Jaime Nuzzi, who lives at 80 Caffrey Avenue. “There were people coming and going at all hours, different cars on the street all the time and being that I have three small children, I didn’t feel safe.” She said that the Town responded to her complaint immediately. “I am feeling so much safer now that the problem has been taken care of,” said Nuzzi. Town Supervisor, Joe Saladino, spoke about the issue of zombie homes on Long Island and in the Town. Zombie homes are abandoned properties that have been stuck in foreclosure for a prolonged period of time. “With this new Quality of Life Task Force, we will no longer let these abandoned properties plague our neighborhoods,” Saladino said.
Buddy the dog is reunited with his family
The Humphrey family of Wantagh got some unexpected good news on Saturday, October 14th, as their beloved pet, Buddy the dog, was found inside the woods of the Massapequa Preserve. The one year old beagle-labrador mix had been missing for over three weeks after escaping through a door of a dog handler’s house. “A woman called in a tip that she saw Buddy on the edge of the Preserve and we happened to be in the area at the time,” said MaryEllen Humphrey, the owner of Buddy. “They were able to cor-
ner him off on a path and collar him and we’re ecstatic to have him back home with us.” Humphrey has a nine year old daughter, Julianna and a four year old son, Jack, who is particularly close to the dog. Jack is hearing impaired and relies on Buddy to help communicate with others. Humphrey said she pulled out all the stops to find Buddy including placing cameras inside the Preserve, posting fliers within a three mile radius of the area and hiring a dog tracking team from Maine to locate the missing pet.
“One of the dog trackers threw a cheeseburger at him and laid on the ground in a non-threatening manner and they were able to corral him.” She said that Buddy was found in relatively good shape considering the time he had been missing. “He lost eight pounds, probably from all the running he was doing and had a few ticks and burrs in his fur and a couple of cuts on his legs. He also had a bit of gastrointestinal upset from whatever he was eating out there.” The dog was placed inside the Humphrey’s minivan and was immediately
taken to an emergency veterinarian in Plainview. On the way home the hungry dog devoured three McDonald’s cheeseburgers. The family had initially hired the dog walking service Wag, to watch him while they were away in Florida. The Walker did not properly lock the crate inside her home and Buddy was able to escape through a side door. Humphrey said that after the ordeal they went through of trying to recover their lost pet, that in the future they will only have family members or friends watch him.
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