Martin Avenue Elementary School in North Bellmore held its annual Memorial Day ceremony on May 21, drawing community members and veterans for a commemorative event. Avery Forgione and Isabelle Digioid were among the ceremony participants. Story, more photos, Page 10.
By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
When Cynthia Seibold founded Balloon Mission, a nonprofit organization dedicated to balloon waste and environmental education in January 2023, she never could’ve imagined how much the organization would grow in just over two-and-a-half years.
Through partnerships with fellow organizations — big and small — dozens of libraries around Long Island and environmental groups, Balloon Mission has collected and recycled nearly 55,000 balloons and counting on Long Island and in Queens.
By CHARlES SHAW cshaw@liherald.com
At Temple B’nai Torah, congregants of all ages came together last week to take part in Mitzvah Day, a day of caring and service. The congregation serves the Bellmore, Merrick, East Meadow, Wantagh and Seaford communities.
Mitzvah means a good deed performed as part of one’s religious duty, and throughout the day, temple members engaged in activities aimed at helping those in need. Several stations were set up at the temple to address various issues facing struggling community members, from homelessness to hunger.
those in need.
“It’s everything that we want our community to be,” BarNahum said. “It’s coming together, it’s helping to repair the world and it’s meeting people through all generations.”
At one station, congregants crafted no-sew fleece blankets for residents of Bethany House, a nonprofit based in Baldwin that offers emergency shelter and transitional services to women and children. Temple member Janet Goldstein has participated in the project for eight years, donating 15 blankets each year.
RABBI DANIEl BAR-NAHUM Temple B’nai Torah
“It’s a comfort to them when they go to sleep at night,” Goldstein said. “It’s like giving them our own little hug from the temple.”
In an interview on the heels of the height of the coronavirus pandemic, she explained that she spent a lot of time outdoors, and among all of the litter in various parks, preserves and beaches, one item stood out: balloons. She found and collected their strings and whatever was left of their plastic or rubber bodies, impacting trees, plants, and of course, wildlife — animals that could easily mistake balloon pieces for food.
The pandemic, she said, created a surge of helium-intensive events, as people found different ways to share birthdays, graduations, and retirements, among other celebrations.
“Balloons are a leading cause of pollution in
According to Rabbi Daniel Bar-Nahum, Mitzvah Day, which took place on May 18, was scheduled at the end of the school year to remind children in the temple to make the world better. The idea, he explained, was to kick off a summer in which children remember values that are most important to them, which include helping
A new Mitzvah Day activity this year was stuffing teddy bears for children in need. Congregants filled 50 bears with stuffing, for donation to the Waldo Sanctuary, a migrant shelter in the Bronx.
For temple member Howard Lev, involving children in the
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teddy bear project was especially meaningful. It helps teach them that every day can be a Mitzvah Day, he said.
“As a kid, you’re excited about making it, but then you’re excited about what’s going to happen to it,” Lev said of the bears. “If you teach somebody about mitzvah early on, they’ll do it for ever. They’ll look for things to do.”
This year, the temple partnered with Splashes of Hope, a Huntington-based nonprofit that creates murals for chil dren’s hospitals, veterans homes, and other clinical settings to help brighten their patients’ or residents’ lives. For Mitzvah Day, the organization set up a station outside the temple where chil dren and their parents painted a mural to be delivered to the Family Service League, a social service agency that helps vulnerable families on Long Island.
“Everybody feels like they’re part of a good thing,” Sandy Caracciolo, a Splashes of Hope volunteer, said. “It is so fulfilling.”
A returning activity this year was Party-in-a-Box, a project that provides underprivileged children with supplies for birthday celebrations. The boxes are donated to the Long Island Family and Children’s Association, and include cake mix, frosting, plates, napkins, a toy and a card for parents to fill out. On
By JORDAN VALLONE jvallone@liherald.com
There was no better weekend for Nassau County to celebrate Fleet Week 2025 than Memorial Day weekend. In Eisenhower Park’s Field 2 on May 24, a combined team from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard brought helicopters to the park. The event featured fast rope demonstrations, performances by the Navy Band Northeast and Navy Ceremonial Guard, military displays and much more.
Comfortable weather and clear skies made for a perfect day to celebrate the United States’ military organizations. In the U.S., Fleet Week is a Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard tradition in which active military ships recently deployed in overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week.
Events typically include ship tours, military demonstrations, parades and air shows featuring performances by the Blue Angels or other military flight demonstration teams. The purpose of Fleet Week is to celebrate the naval services and to allow the public to interact with and learn more about the military.
The origins of the celebration date back to 1935, when it was first celebrated in San Diego. It’s evolved in many ways over the years, and today it serves multiple purposes including public engagement, because it allows the public to interact with service members; recruitment, because the event showcases the opportunities and experiences available in participating military branches; and community relations, because it strengthens the relationship between the military and local communities.
The event in Eisenhower Park included all the things communities around the country have come to love about Fleet Week events. It also featured a WWII Armor parade — vehicles were set up at Eisenhower’s Parking Field 5 for attendees to view prior to a parade which ran from the field to the park’s administration building and back, much to the excitement of those viewing it.
On a weekend when the U.S. remembers and honors those who’ve died in the line of duty, Nassau County’s Fleet Week activities drew a substantial crowd of residents.
‘Blood Alley’ stretch lives up to its name on roadway with grim total of over 3,000 crashes per year
By BRIAN NORMAN bnorman@liherald.com
Third in a series on the Southern State Parkway.
The 23.5 miles of the Southern State Parkway, which stretches from the Queens-Nassau border to Heckscher State Park in East Islip, has daily traffic congestion and frequent accidents, so numerous that one portion is called “Blood Alley.”
There have been over 3,000 accidents a year on the parkway since 2021, a majority of which occurred in Nassau County, according to New York State Police. Last year, 15 of those crashes were fatal, the highest number in recent years.
The section of parkway between exits 17 and 32 is widely referred to as Blood Alley due to its high accident rates, which include several fatalities. The road’s narrow lanes, sharp turns and poor lighting have all contributed to its dubious distinction as one of the most dangerous roadways in the country.
Elmont resident Winston Waters said that he has lived in the area for 40 years, and has often found himself having to plan his day around the congestion of the parkway.
“I work around it as much as I can,” Waters said. “There are times when I have to leave early to get to work — you know, I’ve got to deal with that — but I try to work around it. I try and leave very early, after rush hour, before rush hour, those kinds of things.”
Waters said his backyard once resembled a national park, with thick trees that helped muffle the sound of the nearby parkway. But since the trees were removed because of their age, the noise has become a growing issue, and the constant congestion is beginning to spill into the community, disrupting daily life.
see the roadway.
And despite the noise, she is not a fan of the huge sound walls erected on other roadways, such as the Long Island Expressway. “The walls are kind of ugly, Kordulak said.
“I personally didn’t want to see that much traffic in the area,” he added, “because it (creates) a lot of congestion, particularly if there’s an accident or there’s in the morning, rush hour — you have a lot of people that come through, come off the exit and then they want to maneuver through the side streets, which decreases the quality of life.”
Blood Alley lived up to its name in January, when a car overturned near Exit 29 in North Massapequa, killing two people and seriously injuring two others. The driver was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic before losing control and crashing into a tree, police reported.
South Park Drive, in North Massapequa, sits within sight of the parkway and Sharyn Kordulak can see vehicles whizzing by from the front of her house.
“You get used to all the noise, the drone of the traffic,” Kordulak said, noting that some neighbors have blocked out portions of the cyclone fence on the opposite side of the street so they don’t
Valley Stream resident Patrick Goin, who has been an advocate for safer conditions along the highway, specifically near Exit 13 in Valley Stream, said that he is hopeful that the myriad complaints about the parkway complaints will be addressed.
“I’m the one who spoke with Carrié for something to be done about that intersection, because my uncle had a severe car accident where he almost died and his car was totaled,” Goin said, referring to Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages. “There’s been a few accidents. My uncle wasn’t the first, so that’s being addressed.”
Goin added that he lives right near Exit 13, and that speeding by motorists coming on and off of the parkway has become a recent issue for him and his neighbors when they try to leave their homes.
Exit 13, which serves both Central Avenue south and Linden Boulevard north in Valley Stream, is one of the more widely reviled entry and exit points along the highway, with residents calling for fixes for several years.
In 2018, Valley Stream resident Nayyer Zubair created a petition that documented residents’ concerns about safety. The petition, which currently has 672 signatures, calls for the addition of leftturn lanes and signals on Central Avenue to facilitate safer turns onto Stuart Avenue; lighting upgrades to enhance
Osmar Vasquez was killed in 2023 when the driver of the car in which he was a passenger apparently lost control and crashed between exits 36 and 37.
pedestrian visibility and safety; and the addition of traffic cameras to deter redlight violations and other dangerous driving behaviors.
The state Department of Transportation unveiled a plan on May 8 to reconstruct eastbound Exit 13, with construction set to begin in the spring of 2027. The project aims to create safer conditions for drivers entering and exiting the parkway.
However, some residents questioned the need to reconstruct the entire exit.
Valley Stream resident Dayle Cohen said she recognized the issues that occur at the exit, but questioned how a massive project like this could affect the community even more.
“I drive this route often,” Cohen said. “I know a lot of people run the stop sign when you’re getting up (the ramp to) the highway. People coming from the Linden (Boulevard) side always struggle to make their right lane on Stuart. But I really haven’t noticed any (bigger)
issues. I’m not an expert — I don’t know the traffic patterns. I don’t know the statistics, and my only concern was people run the stop sign, but then you wait a minute and it’s no big deal. I’m not sure about the price tag and how it will affect people who actually live right here, but I personally didn’t see a need for it.”
In Islip Terrace, not far from the Southern State’s eastern terminus, Jo Borda has lived off Spur Drive South, on Juniper Street, for 33 years, and though the parkway is wider there than in its western portion, accidents still occur.
“All times of the day, people are turning too fast off the exit and crashing on the turn,” Borda said. “Once right into the corner house.”
The former Franklin Square resident had advice for motorists. “People just need to slow down,” Borda said.
Additional reporting by Jeffrey Bessen. Next installment: Engineering challenges, infrastructure needs.
By BRIAN KACHARABA sports@liherald.com
Everything was lining up right again for the Calhoun girls’ track and field team this spring. They extended their meet winning streak to 113 en route to an eighth straight conference championship and was one event away from successfully defending their county title, but a rival school swooped in and stole it away.
The Colts placed second at the Section 8 Class AA Championships with 65 points at Hewlett May 19 after the host team surpassed them in the pole vault to finish with 73 and the county title. Calhoun captured the program’s first-
Rosario, who was also competing in the high jump and long jump almost simultaneously. A very game Rosario cleared eight feet on her second attempt to place fourth, but three Hewlett competitors finished first, second, and fifth for a total of 20 points and Manhasset only mustered a half point among its three athletes, which proved to be the difference.
“She was going back and forth from the pole vault to the long jump and she was just high jumping, so her legs by the time she was pole vaulting were dead,” Hendler explained.
Rosario’s season-best leap of five feet in the high jump was good for second place and she was third in the long
shot put earlier in the meet.
“She wanted to win,” Hendler said. “She got fourth in the shot put, and she was a little bit unhappy with that. She saw her first three [discus] throws she was unhappy with. I said nothing to her. She knows what she has to do. She took care of business.”
Senior Milan Alexander had a season-best leap of 33-8.5 to finish second in the triple jump and freshman Jenny Gasparello showed early signs of being a future star by setting personal records in the long, triple, and high jumps.
In the running events, senior Kaitlyn Stibritz finished third in the 1,500meter run with a personal-best time of
Powered by volunteers, Island Harvest’s largest one-day food drive collects 335,000 pounds of food
By RENEE DeLORENZO rdelorenzo@liherald.com
Island Harvest hosted Long Island’s largest one-day food drive of the year, Stamp Out Hunger, on May 10, collecting more than 335,000 pounds of food — and counting.
The donations will stock over 300 food pantries across Long Island, ensuring they have enough supplies to feed children who face food insecurity and lose access to meals once school is out for the summer.
The event, now in its 33rd year, is organized nationwide by the National Association of Letter Carriers, the union representing the U.S. Postal Service’s letter carriers. Since its inception in 1993, the drive has collected more than 1.9 billion pounds of food across the country.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a householdlevel economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.
According to Island Harvest, more than 240,000 Long Island residents — over 8 percent of the population — faced food insecurity in 2023, a 10 percent increase over the previous year.
Tom Siesto, executive vice president of NALC Branch 6000, said he has helped coordinate the local drive since it began in 1993. Based in New Hyde Park, Siesto organizes the delivery of more than 865,000 postcards each spring, notifying residents about the collection date, the second Saturday in May. On that day, letter carriers collect nonperishable food donations left on doorsteps.
“We take pride in this,” Siesto said. “Our letter carriers take pride in picking up the food because they know it’s helping their neighbors and communities.”
He emphasized that many people in need on Long Island go unnoticed. “It’s people living paycheck to paycheck,” Siesto said. “It comes down to whether they’re going to put food on the table, buy medication or buy clothing for their children.”
Amanda Chirco, Island Harvest’s director of development, said that donations are initially dropped off at the nonprofit’s Islandia warehouse. Staff and volunteers then sort the food into large mixed bins. The food is later repacked into boxes that are placed on pallets for shipping.
Chirco said that Island Harvest relies heavily on volunteers, including drivers from companies like Amazon and College Hunks, to help transport the food. Three days are dedicated to sorting — Saturday, Monday and Tuesday — and this year, more than 500 pallets were filled and prepared for delivery.
Each pallet holds 550 to 700 pounds of food. Once packed, they are moved with forklifts to a weighing station, where volunteers record the weight in black marker before loading the bins onto trucks. Any remaining food is stored at Island Harvest’s Melville warehouse for
later distribution.
Food pantries across the region are reporting an uptick in first-time visitors, Chirco said, which aligns with Feeding America’s data showing a continued rise in food insecurity.
“These are people who are just one car accident, one flat tire or one medical emergency away from depleting their savings and needing support,” she said. “They’re doing OK until one major thing happens, and then they’re not.”
Federal funding cuts have also affected Island Harvest’s operations. Millions of dollars in government aid were eliminated this year, Chirco said, resulting in over a million fewer meals for local fam-
ilies. Potential cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits could worsen the situation, she said. Many Long Islanders in need don’t qualify for those benefits, she said, because their income exceeds eligibility thresholds — even if it isn’t nearly enough to cover Long Island’s high cost of living.
The Economic Policy Institute estimates that a single adult must earn over $68,000 annually to maintain a modest but adequate standard of living on Long Island. A family of four, with two incomes, needs to earn around $161,000. In contrast, the minimum wage on Long Island is $16.50 an hour — just over
$34,000 annually for full-time work.
“Someone might not be considered in poverty because of their total income,” Chirco said. “But they still can’t afford to live on Long Island.”
Despite the challenges, Island Harvest is on track to distribute more than 20 million pounds of food this year — nearly double its pre-pandemic output.
For Martin Feinstein, a longtime donor who now volunteers for the organization, the scale of need became clear when he visited a local food pantry.
“I couldn’t even find parking,” Feinstein recounted. “I just kind of scratched my head and said, ‘I’ve never really seen that.’”
Now retired, Feinstein volunteers weekly with his wife, helping load food for seniors and pantries across Long Island.
“I want to help,” Feinstein said. “I want to be part of it. I wasn’t part of it for all these years even though I wanted to be, and this is the way to do it.”
Rob Schepis, senior vice president at Flushing Bank, also volunteered at the event alongside three of his employees Rob Albino, Raymond Ok and Michelle Posada. It was the bank’s second year of supporting Stamp Out Hunger through both service and donations.
“When I found out how many people were food insecure, I was shocked,” Schepis said. “It wakes you up to recognizing how fortunate we are.”
Chirco said that Island Harvest’s most pressing need is funding, which supports its food programs, nutrition education and logistics. She encouraged more community partners — businesses, schools and local leaders — to get involved.
Volunteers can register for events at IslandHarvest.org, where they can find dates, instructions and contact information for each one. “Everybody can play a role in some way,” Chirco said.
By Jordan Vallone jvallone@liherald.com
Voters in Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick, North Merrick, and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District approved their respective 2025–26 school budgets on May 20. All spending plans remain within the state’s tax levy cap and include strategic investments in curriculum, student wellness, technology, and infrastructure.
In Bellmore, the approved $42.1 million budget, which earned 361 votes, supports continued innovation through instructional enhancements and technology upgrades. Incumbent board members Maryann Kelly and Janet Goller were re-elected unopposed. North Bellmore’s $70.3 million budget, which earned 1,063 votes, includes investments in facility upgrades and student development, with voters also approving a second proposition to use capital reserve funds for accessibility improvements. Incumbents Rosemarie Coreless and Christopher Nardo retained their seats.
Merrick voters approved a $62.1 million budget, with 626 votes, that maintains all current programs and supports roof repairs at two elementary schools, without additional cost to taxpayers. Incumbents Gina Piskin and Jennifer Schatzman were re-elected. North Merrick’s $42.6 million budget, which earned 374 votes, advances core academic initiatives and expands mental health supports, alongside voter-backed propositions for future capital planning. Megan Ryan, Will Luciani, and Steve Enella were all re-elected to the board.
Following these local elections, appointed representatives from the elementary districts will serve on the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Board, which also saw its comprehensive, student-centered $204 million budget pass with strong community support.
Students at Martin Avenue Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District gathered inside the school’s gymnasium for the annual Memorial Day ceremony. Dressed in red, white and blue and waving miniature flags, they sang patriotic songs and listened to remarks honoring those who gave their lives in service to the country.
In front of the lectern was a White Table, which is set up in many mess halls at military bases as a tribute to service members who are fallen, missing or held captive. The halls were lined with student-made American flag art, including grade-level flags and a collaborative quilt near the cafeteria, symbolizing unity and pride in American values.
