Friday, December 17, 2021
Vol. 81, No. 51
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I am GR AT E F U L and THANKFUL for you – all my clients and customer s– past, present and future!
May the holid ay season bring you happ iness and joy. Barbara Buco vetsky Sells Homes! There Must Be A Reason... Barbara Buco ve
tsky Licensed Asso ciate RE Broke r barbara.buco vetsky@comp ass.com O: 516.517.486 Barbara Buco 6 | M: 516.428.2 vetsky is a Licen sed Associate Compass is a 016 Real Estate Broke Licensed Real Estate Broke r affi r and abides
liated with Com pass. by Equal Hous ing Opportuni ty Laws
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Chamber honors founder Syosset legislator plans at holiday tree lighting run for US Congress BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Amanda Johnson, the 2021 Businessperson of the Year, left, with Chamber President Russell Green, Chamber founder Frank Urso and Jack Biondo of Plaza Realty BY RIKKI MASSAND A meeting of local merchants on Jackson Avenue in 1998, organized by real estate professional Frank Urso, led to the founding of the present-day Syosset Woodbury Chamber of Commerce which now has over 140 members, from small and local businesses to area corporations, nonprofits and community organizations. On Jackson Avenue on Sunday, December 12, at the special community Holiday Lighting Spectacular at Plaza Realty’s parking lot, Frank Urso was honored for all he has contributed to Syosset and Woodbury over the past quarter-century including his annual role in hosting and MCing the marquee holiday event. Urso and his wife Marilyn were seated in the
audience before he was called up to the stage by Syosset resident and 2021 Businessperson of the Year Amanda Johnson, owner and certified balloon artist with her local company Balloons by Amanda. “Welcome, Mr. Christmas himself! Frank has been the face and driving force of our Holiday Lighting Spectacular since it began in 1998. Frank, I hope I make you proud and on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce I want to thank you and express our gratitude for all you have done to make this such a success over the years,” she said. Amanda Johnson took the reins from Urso as the host and MC of the 2021 Holiday Lighting Spectacular in Syosset’s
What started as a campaign to become a Syosset Board of Education trustee during his senior year of high school in 2012, followed by success in elections at the school board level and to the Nassau County Legislature representing his home district (the North Shore’s LD-18), will take a new direction -- towards the U.S. Capitol - as Syosset’s Joshua A. Lafazan announced his candidacy for United States Congress on Monday, December 13. Lafazan recently won a third term as County Legislator, following five years (2012 through 2017) on the Syosset Central School District’s board of education. If he is successful in his Congressional run in the 3rd district, to represent parts of Queens, Nassau County and
Suffolk County in 2022, Lafazan will be the youngest member of Congress in the Democratic Caucus in Washington, D.C., at still under 30 years old. In his announcement on Monday, Lafazan said he believes it is time for fresh faces and new voices in Washington, D.C. “If I’m elected to the U.S. Congress, I will be the youngest Democrat there. And if we’ve learned anything from the divisiveness of our politics it’s that people are ready for new and pragmatic voices that can get things done. I’m used to being underestimated. When I ran to be the youngest elected official in New York State, people called me crazy. But I won a seat on the Syosset School Board at age 18. When I took on an entrenched incumbent as a Democrat in a district won by Donald Trump, I was told there was no See page 10
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The Syosset Advance Published every Friday by Litmor Publishing Corp. Periodical Postage paid at Hicksville, N.Y. 11801 Telephone 931-0012 - USPS 3467-68 Postmaster: Send Address Change to: The Syosset Advance, 821 Franklin Ave., Suite 208 Garden City, N.Y. 11530 • Meg Norris, Publisher
Nassau County Legislator Josh Lafazan, left, at a ceremony to honor healthcare workers at Excel at Woodbury, a nursing and rehabilitation center.
Town outdoor ice skating rinks open PAGE 6 Students help preserve history PAGE 18