Courtesy North Bellmore Public Library
Scholarship recipients Jordyn Dioguardi and Gianna Commisso are joined by members of the Friends of the North Bellmore Public Library during a July 14 ceremony at the North Bellmore Public Library
Friends of North Bellmore library awards inaugural scholarships
By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
The Friends of the North Bellmore Public Library recently awarded its first-ever college scholarships, recognizing two Mepham High School graduates whose essays reflected the lasting impact the library has had on their lives.
Jordyn Dioguardi and Gianna Commisso each received a $1,000 scholarship during a July 14 recognition ceremony held at the library — earning awards that honor graduating seniors who have demonstrated a commitment to the library, academic achievement and community service.
Applicants completed a competitive selection process that included documenting their academic accomplishments and library involvement, submitting a letter of
recommendation, providing proof of college acceptance and writing an essay about the importance of libraries and the role the North Bellmore Public Library played in their lives.
Victoria Seff, chairperson of the Friends Scholarship Committee, said the program grew out of a desire to encourage younger residents to become involved with the organization while supporting students as they pursue higher education.
“Fellow Friends of the Library member Patricia Jarrett and I have always wanted to engage the younger generation in the Friends organization and foster a spirit of philanthropy within the North Bellmore community,” Seff said.
She said the idea originated with Nancy Deluca, the library’s head of teen services,
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Rabbi Gelman begins as new spirtual leader
By JoRDAN VAlloNE jvallone@liherald.com
The East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center, which has been a vibrant hub in the heart of the community, welcomed Rabbi Samuel Gelman as its new spiritual leader on July 1, hoping to build on the synagogue’s momentum and helping guide it into the future.
The synagogue holds religious services, weekly events and programming that bring together about 300 families in the Conservative Jewish movement.
W‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’” Gelman recounted. “And all the kids are like, ‘I want to be a fireman.’ ‘I want to be a policeman.’ I said, ‘I want to be a rabbi.’ I’ve always felt a real, strong connection to Judaism. I’ve always loved it.”
hen thinking about being in a congregation, you’re picking a home.
S
Gelman comes to East Meadow BethEl after serving most recently as an educator at the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning in New York City. A New Jersey native, Gelman said his faith and love of Judaism were important parts of his formative years — and, in some ways, he said he’s always felt becoming a rabbi was his true calling.
AMUEl
GElMAN
Newly installed rabbi, East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center
East Meadow Beth-El was formed in 2020 through a merger of the former East Meadow Jewish Center and Temple Beth-El in Bellmore. The congregation was then served by East Meadow’s Rabbi Emeritus Ronald Androphy, who retired in 2023. For the next two years, the congregation was led by Rabbi Aaron Marsh, who left in 2025. When a search committee was formed to find a new rabbi, Gelman emerged as a standout candidate.
“We have on tape, me at my kindergarten step up (ceremony), where they’re asking us,
A graduate of Princeton University, Gelman received a bachelor’s degree in Near Eastern Studies, specializing in Israeli history. He then served as a youth director and social justice coordinator for Temple CoNtiNueD oN PaGe 5
Two Mepham H.S. grads each win $1K
who suggested the Friends establish a scholarship for local teens who have been deeply involved with the library. Seff volunteered to lead the effort, with committee members Jarrett, Josephine Parlagreco and Judi Reilly helping launch the inaugural program.
According to Seff, the applications submitted by Dioguardi and Commisso stood out because of the sincerity of their essays and their longstanding involvement with the library.
“The committee felt that the students’ essays came from the heart,” Seff said. “They expressed a deep personal connection to the North Bellmore Public Library and described how it helped shape their personal growth and inspire their future career aspirations.”
Both recipients also participated in the library’s Reading Buddies program, which pairs teen volunteers with younger readers to help strengthen literacy skills. Seff said the committee was equally impressed by the students’ academic accomplishments and their commitment to serving others.
“In addition to their academic potential, both recipients distinguished themselves as kind, civic-minded and generous individuals,” she said.
In her essay, Dioguardi reflected on how volunteering at the library shaped her commitment to community service.
“NBPL volunteering has taught me the
importance of creativity, community and engagement when working with children,” she wrote. “I can confidently say that the library raised me, from a little kid looking for adventure between the shelves and participating in community programs to my current self, inspired by the library community to continue seeking opportunities to give back.”
Commisso’s essay highlighted the unique role libraries play by providing free opportunities and resources to everyone.
“There are not many things in life that come free,” she wrote. “One thing, however, that has never asked for anything from the people it serves is the library. The library gives many people countless opportunities, and I am forever grateful to it for so many reasons.”
The Friends of the North Bellmore Public Library plans to continue the scholarship program in the coming years. Future applicants will be required to become junior members of the organization — a step Seff said will help the Friends better understand the needs of younger residents while encouraging the next generation of library supporters.
“We hope to better understand the needs of the younger generation and identify additional ways to support the library and the North Bellmore community,” Seff said. “In return, junior members will be eligible for consideration for future scholarship opportunities.”
Courtesy North Bellmore Public Library
Jordyn Dioguardi, left, and Gianna Commisso pose with a celebratory cake.
Rhoads joins Bellmore Kids Parade celebration
State Sen. Steve Rhoads joined Bellmore families and residents at the annual Bellmore Kids Parade at Randy Lane Park on July 4, helping kick off the community’s Independence Day celebrations.
The annual tradition brought together children, families and neighbors for a morning of patriotic festivities
celebrating the nation’s founding. Residents lined the parade route and gathered at the park to mark the holiday.
Rhoads thanked the organizers, volunteers and participants for making the event a success and praised the parade for bringing the community together to celebrate
the Fourth of July.
The parade is a longstanding Bellmore tradition that gives families an opportunity to celebrate Independence Day while honoring the nation’s history and values.
— Hernesto
News brief
New assistant principal is ready to make an impact
Kevin McElroy has joined the North Bellmore School District as the new assistant principal of John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School, bringing more than a decade of experience in education and school leadership.
McElroy began his new role on July 1. He previously worked for the New York City Department of Education and spent 13 years at The Riverview School 277Q, a K-12 school that serves students with special needs. During his time there, he worked as a physical education teacher and athletic director before being named assistant principal last year.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in movement science, physical education and health education from Springfield College, a master’s degree in teaching students with disabilities from Touro College, and an administrative certification from the American College of Education.
At Dinkelmeyer, McElroy said he looks forward to working with Principal Danica Brugge, supporting faculty and staff, and building relationships with the school’s approximately 430 students and their families.
“I’m looking forward to being a part of a close-knit school community where families are really involved,” McElroy said. “I’m excited about getting to know the students and staff and being part of
Kevin
the North Bellmore School District’s administrative team as the new assistant principal of John G. Dinkelmeyer Elementary School.
a school that has such a great reputation.”
Galdamez
Office of State Sen. Steve Rhoads
State Sen. Steve Rhoads joined families and community members at the annual Bellmore Kids Parade at Randy Lane Park on July 4 to celebrate Independence Day.
State Sen. Steve Rhoads hands out American flags to children.
— Hernesto Galdamez
Courtesy of the North Bellmore School District
McElroy joins
News brIef
Perseids meteor shower viewing planned at Jones Beach State Park
Residents will have a chance to watch one of the year’s most anticipated celestial events from Jones Beach State Park next month, as the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation keeps several Long Island parks open overnight for viewing the Perseids meteor shower.
The viewing event is scheduled for the night of Wednesday, Aug. 12, continuing into the predawn hours of Thursday, Aug. 13. At Jones Beach, visitors should head to the West End 2 west parking lot, which will remain open specifically for the event. Jones Beach’s open beachfront setting has long made it a popular destination for stargazers and astronomy enthusiasts.
There will be no admission fee, and the state’s usual stargazing permit requirement will be waived for the evening. Visitors are asked to remain near their vehicles while watching the meteor shower.
The Perseids, one of the brightest and most active annual meteor
showers, are expected to produce numerous meteors streaking across the night sky. The event occurs each August as Earth passes through debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle.
State Parks officials recommend arriving prepared for a comfortable evening outdoors by dressing for cooler nighttime temperatures, bringing insect repellent and using a reclining lawn chair for the best viewing experience. Binoculars are not necessary, as the meteors are best seen with the naked eye. Observers are encouraged to look toward the northeastern sky with expansive, unobstructed views of the meteor shower.
Jones Beach is one of six Long Island state parks participating in the overnight viewing program. Other participating parks include Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park, Montauk Point State Park, Wildwood State Park in Wading River, Orient Beach State Park and Hallock State Park Preserve in Riverhead.
IKarma cleanup elevate the Conversation
t starts with an inbound phone call to the office that I answer to redirect to the appropriate associate.
The individual identifies himself, remembers my name and voice from a previous call and although a follow-up call to my boss, he proceeds to engage me in conversation to build rapport with a perceived “gatekeeper”. (Gatekeepers are receptionists, secretaries and skilled assistants who retrieve calls but that’s not my hired role). Basically, in telemarketing and sales calls, it can be vital to build a relationship with the gatekeeper if you wish to ensure access to the senior level executive.
The caller goes on to ask me how my holiday with family was (it’s long past July 4) and despite his intention I don’t let him go much further.
Making the World a Better Place
The late Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, wrote extensively on making the world a better place. In his book, “To Heal a Fractured World”, he writes, “I have spent much of my life thinking about life, observing people, reading books, searching for teachers and exemplars...I make no claim to wisdom, but this I have learned:”
“That what counts is not how much wealth we make but how much of what we have, we share.”
“That those who spend at least part of their lives in the service of others are the most fulfilled and happiest people I know.”
“That moral health is no less important to the quality of a life than physical health.”
“That the best do good without thought of reward, understanding that to help others is a privilege even more than it is an opportunity.”
“That self-interest is simply uninteresting.”
“That pain and loneliness are forms of energy that can be transformed if we turn them outward, using them to recognize and redeem someone else’s pain or loneliness.”
“That putting others down, we diminish ourselves; lifting others, we lift ourselves.”
“That nothing is gained by less-thanethical conduct. We may gain in the short term but we will lose in the long, and it is the long term that counts.”
“That the ability to give to others is itself a gift.”
“That the privilege of wealth lies not in what it allows us to do for ourselves, but what it enables us to do for others.”
“That the world is a book in which our life is a chapter, and the question is whether others, reading it, will be inspired.”
immediately accountable, I revisit some of my conversations wondering if I could have done better. More positive. More aware. In short, improve my Karma.
With family it’s easier. I have some freedom to discuss a past moment with them anytime even if only to find out what was going on in their minds for some clarity.
“What can I do for you?” I call him by his name but my tone is sitting on the crossroads of snark and professional.
Sizing up me and the situation he provides contact information and I tell him I will get his message to the boss, thanking him for the call.
On the surface, there is nothing notable here. He’s making a classic move appearing as if he really cares, or he’s just an affable guy who does. Unfortunately, I am truthfully too busy and find the conversation a little manipulative and intrusive for my taste.
I go back to my work, and the interaction stays with me.
Lately, rather than holding others
Let us
For the outside world, cleaning up Karma is more challenging. Reconsidering the situation from the other person’s perspective and remaining open to acknowledging or apologizing even when the incident has passed is possible. It might not seem the best approach, but every time it’s successful, the approach motivates me to try it again.
So while the message is emailed to my boss, I get a moment of “Karmatic” inspiration. I call the gentleman back and let him know that I did exactly what was promised – the message is on its way. He is surprised, defenses are down, and his routine phone techniques are abandoned by gratitude.
I kind of like catching him off guard, I do admit. But improving my Karma is even better.
A contributing writer to the Herald since 2012, Lauren Lev is a direct marketing/ advertising executive who teaches marketing fundamentals as well as advertising and marketing communications courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology and SUNY Old Westbury.
KNews Brief items including awards, honors, promotions and other tidbits about local residents are welcome. Photographs may be emailed as well. Deadline for submissions is noon Thursday, week prior to publication. Send to execeditor@liherald.com
L auren L ev
Gelman hopes to guide temple into next chapter
Emanu-El in Providence, Rhode Island. He went on to attend the Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan, where he received his rabbinic ordination and a master’s degree in sacred music in 2022. During rabbinical school, Gelman met his wife, Naima, who is also a rabbi.
Gelman began his congregational work as rabbi of Congregation Agudath Achim in Savannah, Georgia after rabbinical school. Reflecting fondly on his time there, he said Georgia was where he spent his first years of marriage and where he and his wife welcomed their daughter. Still, the couple felt drawn to the northeast, wanting to be closer to family. After his wife accepted a teaching position in Westchester, Gelman spent the past year exploring the educational field himself while considering a return to congregational work.
Last October, Gelman was asked to officiate at a funeral service for the mother of a close family friend in New Jersey, where he met a member of East Meadow Beth-El. The member was impressed by the way he handled the service, and not long after, Gelman learned that the congregation was searching for a new rabbi.
Gelman applied and completed a few rounds of interviews, and later a trialShabbat service. When he was offered the job, moving to East Meadow felt like
Rabbi Samuel Gelman’s tenure with East Meadow Beth-El began on July 1. Gelman is a New Jersey native and a Princeton University and Jewish Theological Seminary of America graduate.
the right step for him and his family. East Meadow Beth-El, he added, impressed him with its traditional-style services.
“When thinking about being in a congregation, you’re picking a home,” Gelman said. “You’re picking a place — a community — that you want to belong to. It’s important to me that I pick a home, I pick a congregation, where I can be my full self.”
The synagogue’s executive leadership said that although Gelman arrived at East Meadow Beth-El only a few weeks ago, the congregation has already offered him a warm welcome. They liked his personable approach and willingness to sit down with members,
whether to chat over a cup of coffee or to learn more about the community, its ideas and needs.
Gelman told the Herald that he hopes to grow East Meadow Beth-El, particularly by attracting younger families. He said both the congregation’s longtime, bedrock members and its newer generation of families are essential to its future.
“I think there’s a lot of room for growth in the congregation, and I think we can get there,” he said. “I’m really excited to see how the congregation grows in the next several years.”
That hope for growth — and the possibility of what East Meadow Beth-El can become — is what excites Gelman the most in his new role.
“We’re not just going to keep doing what we’ve always done forever,” he said, “because we need to grow and thrive. We don’t just want to be complacent. We want new people to be coming in. We want to attract younger folks. We want there to be this huge, intergenerational community happening here.
“What excites me is being able to work on that, being able to expand, being able to see us move into the next chapter,” he continued. “Let’s take what we have, and let’s make it even better.”
The East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center is at 1400 Prospect Ave., East Meadow. For more, visit EastMeadowBethElJC.org.
and the education
ing forward to overseeing growth in
new setting.
Jordan Vallone/Herald
Rabbi Gelman, the new spiritual leader at East Meadow Beth-El Jewish Center, brings both experience in congregation work
sector. He’s look-
a
Crossovers fuel Nassau County football
By TONY BELLISSIMO tbellissimo@liherald.com
Kickoff for the Nassau high school football season is just over a month away.
On Aug. 17, all 51 public high school football programs in the county will begin preparations for the upcoming season, scheduled to open Thursday, Sept. 3 with a Conference IV battle between Island Trees and Oyster Bay. The vast majority of openers will take place the following Thursday.
The biggest news of the offseason came in the spring when East Rockaway and West Hempstead announced it would be joining forces. Longtime Rocks head coach Russ Pajer adds Dom Carre, who served as the head coach at West Hempstead since 2010, as defensive coordinator. Carre played for Pajer at East Rockaway in 1997 and ‘98.
“Our JV teams combined last year and it was a great experience,” said Pajer, who enters his 32nd season as head coach. “West Hempstead’s numbers are down to less than 20, so it was a no-brainer. It was a seamless process with both superintendents on board. It’s a good thing and we expect to have a strong team.”
East Rockaway/West Hempstead is seeded fifth in Conference IV and opens at Valley Stream North. Three of its home games will be played under the lights at East Rockaway beginning Sept. 18 against defending county champion Seaford. West Hempstead will be the site of the Week 3 crossover against Elmont, and the game will serve as Homecoming. A Homecoming will also take place in East Rockaway Oct. 9. In 2025, the Rocks went 2-6 while the Rams finished 4-4 and qualified for the playoffs.
“We expect to have between 30 and 35 kids on varsity,” Pajer said.
Crossover games add intrigue
Seaford, along with three-time defending Long Island champion Massapequa (Conference I), ninetime defending county champion Garden City (II) and South Side (III) are the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences.
Massapequa and Garden City will clash in a muchanticipated crossover game Sept. 26 on the Chiefs’ home field at 1:30 p.m. The Trojans enter the season riding an amazing 66-game winning streak. The showdown, along with all the other crossovers between Conferences I and II, and III and IV, will carry a lesser power-ranking weight than the other seven games, Carey head coach Mike Stanley said.
Some of the other Week 3 matchups feature Carey at Oceanside, Long Beach at Farmingdale, South Side at Seaford, Plainedge at Lynbrook, and Freeport at Roosevelt (Thurs., Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.)
Seven teams switch conferences
Plainedge and Carey lead a group of six teams switching conferences for this season based on enrollment and size breakdown of each conference. Plainedge finished first in the regular season in Conference IV a year ago, going undefeated in the process, and bumps down to III. Carey was in III last fall but jumps up to II, essentially changing places with Glen Cove. East Meadow is no stranger to the top conference and heads there after a brief stay in II. Floral Park, Valley Stream North and Valley Stream South moved to IV from III.
Few coaching changes
Legendary Plainedge head coach Rob Shaver retired
10 games to watch
Sept. 10 Long Beach at Carey
Sept. 10 Wantagh at Plainedge
Sept. 10 Lynbrook at Seaford
Sept. 19 Mepham at Calhoun
Sept. 26 Carey at Oceanside
Sept. 26 Garden City at Massapequa
Oct. 10 Oceanside at Massapequa
Oct. 17 Plainedge at South Side
Oct. 24 Massapequa at Farmingdale
Oct. 31 South Side at Wantagh
at the end of last season and the Red Devils are now led by former assistant Adam Hovorka. They’ll kick off at home versus defending Conference III champion Wantagh. And for the third time in four seasons, East Meadow has a new head coach with Matt Castaneda taking over. The Jets are seeded seventh in their return to Conference I and open at home against Hicksville. Former Elmont head coach Jay Hegi is the new head coach at Division.
Lucas DiDio and Oceanside take on Carey in what promises to be an exciting crossover game Sept. 26.
Michelle Ebel/Herald photos
Chaminade’s Luka Tomaszweski was on the move during 7 on 7 drills at Oceanside.
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Mepham student uses journalism skills to amplify equity
By HERNESTO GALDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
As she prepares to enter her senior year at Wellington C. Mepham High School, Bellmore resident Arianna Szrajer spent part of her summer using the storytelling skills she developed in the classroom to promote racial equity across Long Island.
Szrajer was one of nine students selected for ERASE Racism’s paid five-week Student Leaders for Equity Internship, where participants explored systemic inequality while learning organizational communications and digital media. The program culminates July 30 with a showcase highlighting each intern’s work.
For Szrajer, the experience combined two passions: advocacy and journalism.
“I applied to the ERASE Racism internship this summer because I wanted an outlet to connect with other people under the united goal to better Long Island in general,” she said. “I feel like using social media is a really great route for advocacy.”
Instead of producing written content, Szrajer created a feature-style video showcasing ERASE Racism’s mission. She interviewed staff members and a former intern before filming current participants and editing the project into a short documentary designed to raise awareness of the organization’s work.
The project drew on skills she learned through Mepham’s Bellmore-Merrick Broadcasting program.
“The broadcasting program really intro -
duced me to the whole video-making world and the news and journalism aspect of it,” she said.
Throughout the internship, students participated in discussions and workshops examining housing discrimination, educational disparities and other issues affecting communities across Long Island.
“I realized that racism is still very prevalent,” Szrajer said. “One of my biggest takeaways is realizing that many of today’s inequalities still persist based off old stereotypes.”
Although she described the Bellmore-Merrick community as welcoming and supportive, Szrajer hopes to share what she learned with classmates by showcasing the video through the broadcasting program’s YouTube channel.
“I just want to have as many people know about ERASE Racism as possible,” she said.
The experience has also shaped her future plans. As she begins applying to colleges this fall, Szrajer said the internship strengthened her interest in pursuing international relations or pre-law.
“I realized how to be an advocate for people who don’t have a voice,” she said.
“Through these internships, ERASE Racism is helping create a new generation of leaders in pursuit of racial equity,” Elaine Gross, the organization’s founder and president emerita, said. “With the skills they are gaining, they are enhancing their own roles as advocates, while promoting our mission and preparing to define their own place in advancing racial justice.”
Courtesy ERASE Racism
Arianna Szrajer was one of nine students selected for the internship.
Jazz show supports first responders
By JOSEPH D’ALESSANDRO jdalessandro@liherald.com
Steve Tepper’s next philanthropic music show is coming back to Merrick.
Proceeds from the fundraising show will be donated to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The foundation was founded in honor of the sacrifice of FDNY firefighter Stephen Gerard Siller, who whose final run through the BrooklynBattery Tunnel became the inspiration for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, died Sept. 11, 2001, after rushing toward the World Trade Center to help save others.
Today, the foundation supports families of fallen first responders, military members and veterans.
Iour commitment to ensuring that those who protect our freedoms know they are never alone”
“I’m trying to promote jazz, and I’m trying to raise funds and bring people in, so it’s a win-win situation,” he said. “They do great work, Tunnel to Towers. They help first responders. They help veterans. They provide housing, and they’re doing a lot of new things now, taking the homeless veterans off the street. That’s why I chose to support them.”
t’s a win-win situation.
StE vE tEPPER Jazz Musician
“The Tunnel to Towers Foundation exists to honor the courage and sacrifice of America’s military members, veterans, and first responders by providing meaningful support when it is needed most,” the foundation wrote in a statement provided to the Herald. “Whether through mortgage-free homes, smart homes for catastrophically injured heroes, scholarships for their children, or efforts to eradicate veteran homelessness, every initiative reflects
How to join in on the jazz
What: ‘In Conversation With Steve Israel’
Why: Support the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
When: Sunday, Aug. 9, 6 p.m.
Where: 2655 Clubhouse Road, Merrick, NY 11566
Cost: $20
“I want to bring people in, so people who aren’t big jazz fans will want to come to support the charity,” he continued. “What I found in my last jazz concert was that people were coming over to me saying, ‘boy, I didn’t know I liked jazz.’”
Two bands will be performing on Aug 9 at 6:00 p.m., 2655 Clubhouse Road in Merrick. Tickets are $20 and are available for purchase at the door.
After the successes of past jazz concerts and cabarets, Tepper is in the preliminary stages of widening his community music plans. Future jazz concerts will benefit other charities.
“I’m trying to put together a jam session with musicians, and we want to do some talent shows for our children and get some students in when school comes back when we’re done with the summer vacation,” he said.
Tepper and other local performers participate in the Jazz Lab NY program, a Queens-based music program founded and directed by Russ Nolan.
“Steve is one of my few students who’s actually taken upon themselves to book his adult student band in other venues outside of the ones that I provide myself,” Nolan said. “Steve has gone above and beyond because of his connection with this, with his synagogue and the charities, to provide yet another place for his band to play, so I’m very proud of him for taking the initiative to bring jazz into the community there.”
The jazz show will be held on Aug. 9.
Jazz Lab NY and Tepper’s independent program share a mission: share something important with your neighborhood.
“I know I’m having an impact sharing my love and music with other likeminded people I know I’m having an impact on,” Nolan said. “I’m just mak-
News brief
ing my students’ life just a little bit better by offering them this community to be a part of. So, it’s been very rewarding to me to see people grow and enjoy their music, and that’s all I can ask for.”
For more information about Jazz Lab NY, visit JazzLabNY.com. To donate to Tunnel to Towers, visit T2T.org.
State Sen. Steve Rhoads hits the road: Mobile hours return this month
State Sen. Steve Rhoads is bringing his Mobile Office Hour Tour back to communities throughout the 5th Senate District, adding summer and fall dates to give residents more opportunities to meet with him and receive assistance with state-related issues.
Now in its fourth year, the Mobile Office Hour Tour has become a regular outreach program for the senator’s office. Rhoads has hosted more than three dozen office hours at libraries and community locations across the district, offering constituents a convenient way to discuss concerns affecting their families and neighborhoods, seek assistance
with state agencies and share feedback on issues before the New York State Legislature.
“The response from our community has been tremendous because people appreciate having a convenient way to share their concerns, ask questions and get help with state-related issues,” Rhoads said in a statement. “Hearing directly from constituents is one of the most important parts of my job, and I look forward to continuing these conversations throughout our district.”
Upcoming office hours are scheduled for Aug. 19 from 5:45 to 7:45 p.m. at the Merrick Library, 2279 Merrick Ave.;
Aug. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the PlainviewOld Bethpage Public Library, 999 Old Country Road; Sept. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Levittown Public Library, 1 Bluegrass Lane; and Sept. 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Seaford Public Library, 2234 Jackson Ave.
Appointments are required and may be scheduled by calling Rhoads’ district office at (516) 882-0630, though walk-ins will be accommodated as time permits. Dates and times are subject to change, and residents are encouraged to call ahead to confirm their appointments.
—Jordan Vallone
Courtesy Steve Tepper
Courtesy Office of State Sen. Steve Rhoads
State Sen. Steve Rhoads is bringing his Mobile Office Hour Tour back to communities throughout the 5th Senate District.
Local author draws on lifelong career for new novel
By HERNESTO GALDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
After writing about education for decades as a high school principal, college professor and radio reporter, Merrick resident Steve Kussin is taking readers in a different direction with his latest novel.
Kussin recently released “Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Who Is Telling the Truth?” his third book. The novel follows a once-respected high school principal accused of committing a horrific crime who forms an unlikely friendship with an overnight prison guard determined to prove his innocence.
Kussin describes the book as a blend of a mystery and a story about friendship.
“I wanted people to enjoy a whodunit and a buddy story,” he said. “I want reading to be a pleasure.”
The idea for the novel began, as many of his stories do, during one of his daily walks around Merrick.
“I always start with, ‘What if?’” Kussin said. “What if a popular, charismatic, respected principal got into trouble? As I walked, the story just developed.”
Although the novel is fiction, Kussin said his characters are rooted in people he has known throughout his life.
“I do not create characters,” he said. “Every one of my characters is based on a person or a composite. They may not know it, but they’re based on students I’ve had, friends, colleagues and relatives.”
Before becoming a full-time author, Kussin spent 21 years as a high school principal, 26 years as an adjunct professor in Hofstra University’s School of Communication and 12 years as an education reporter for WCBS Newsradio 880, where he wrote and broadcast more than 3,100 stories. He also wrote The Principal’s Office, a column for Herald Community Newspapers.
His previous books also drew heavily from his personal experiences.
His first novel, Five Freshmen, is a semi-autobiographical story following five college students during the Vietnam War era. His second book, It’s the Principal of the Thing: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up!, is a memoir featuring 120 anecdotes from his years as a high school principal.
Each project, he said, came from a different source of inspiration.
“The first one evolved from what I observed at Cornell,” Kussin said. “The second came after people at
dinner parties kept telling me to write down the stories I was telling them. The third came from asking, ‘What if?’”
Kussin said his years in education also shaped his outlook on life. Looking back on his career as a principal, he said three lessons stand out: always be prepared, show students you care and pay special attention to those who need it most.
“It’s easy to love the cheerleader and the high school jock,” he said. “Love the most unlovable kid the most.”
The response to his latest novel has been encouraging, Kussin said.
“The term I’ve heard is that it’s a page-turner,” he said. “People tell me they couldn’t put it down because they wanted to find out what happened next.”
Even after publishing his third book, Kussin isn’t slowing down. He said his fourth manuscript is nearly complete and is currently being revised one chapter at a time.
Kussin credits Merrick, where he has lived for 47 years with his wife, Sharyn, for providing both inspiration and a sense of community.
“I love Merrick,” he said. “It has that small-town feeling. I take my walk every morning, and I can’t tell you how many people stop to say hello. I love that feeling.”
For Kussin, writing remains both a creative outlet and a way to encourage others to rediscover the joy of reading.
“There’s too much social media,” he said. “I want people to read again. I wanted to write a book that people would want to read.”
Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Who Is Telling the Truth? is available in paperback and Kindle editions through Amazon. Kussin’s other two books are also available.
Courtesy Steve Kussin
Steve Kussin recently released ‘Guilty Until Proven Innocent: Who Is Telling the Truth?’ his third book.
AUGUST 13 • 10AM-12:30PM
CONGREGATION OHAV SHOLOM
145 S MERRICK AVE, MERRICK
FREE community event focused on health, wellness, and lifestyle
Meet trusted local exhibitors and service providers
Take advantage of on-site health screenings
Enjoy lively entertainment, fitness demonstrations and interactive experiences
Win raffles, prizes, and giveaways
Snack station for all
Hear from experts during a panel discussion with Q&A
*Boxed lunches for first 150 attendees
All designed to help you stay active, informed, and engaged at every stage of life.
News brief
Bellmore-Merrick seniors can get a head start on college applications through a summer essay writing boot camp.
College essay workshop offered for seniors
The Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s Community Parent Center is offering a Pre-College Essay Writing Boot Camp this summer for students entering their senior year.
The four-session workshop, facilitated by Bellmore-Merrick teacher and freelance writer Melanie Sirof, will help members of the Class of 2027 develop their Common Application essay before the fall college application season.
Students will brainstorm, draft, revise and refine their personal essays while also learning strategies for writing supplemental essays. The workshop includes individualized feedback aimed at helping students effectively tell their personal stories.
Families can choose from two sessions: Aug. 10-13 or Aug. 17-20. Classes will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon each day in the Board Room at Brookside School, 1260 Meadowbrook Road in North Merrick.
The registration fee is $100, which includes a $20 nonrefundable registration fee. Pre-registration and payment are required to reserve a spot.
For more information or to register, contact Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Scott Bersin at 516-992-1040.
— Hernesto Galdamez
Herald file photo
Rising
things to know noontime concerts
Spend Wednesday with free live music
By JORDAN VALLONE
jvallone@liherald.com
A free soundtrack to summer continues at Eisenhower Park, where the Noontime Concert Series brings live music to Field 1 every Wednesday from noon to 2 p.m. The upcoming schedule features everything from timeless standards to dance-floor favorites, giving visitors a chance to enjoy lunch outdoors while listening to
performers. All concerts are weather permitting. Here are three shows coming to the mobile stage.
Wednesday, Aug. 5
Fans of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett can spend the afternoon with Johnny Avino, a professional singer known for his polished renditions of the Great American Songbook. Avino has become a familiar presence in the New York entertainment and dining scenes, performing at restaurants, country clubs and community venues, often accompanied by his trio. His smooth vocals and classic crooner style have earned him long-running residencies at well-known Italian-American establishments. At Eisenhower Park, audiences can expect an easygoing program filled with romance, nostalgia and songs made famous by some of the 20th century’s most celebrated vocalists.
Sound Chaser keeps the crowd dancing
Wednesday, Aug. 19
Sound Chaser brings a wide-ranging playlist and high-energy stage presence to Eisenhower Park. Based in nearby Williston Park, the award-winning party and wedding band performs music spanning the 1940s through today, allowing its shows to appeal to listeners across generations. Its repertoire includes pop, rock, Motown, disco and other danceable favorites, along with familiar songs that invite audiences to sing along. Sound Chaser is also a regular presence at outdoor community concerts, including performances at the Garden City Gazebo and Eisenhower Park. The group’s afternoon set should offer plenty of opportunities for dancing, clapping and enjoying recognizable hits.
Bob Damato celebrates music and memories
Wednesday, Sept. 2
Bob Damato, known onstage as Bobby D, will bring his show, Music, Love, and Memories, to Eisenhower Park in early September. The Floral Park crooner performs favorites from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, including songs associated with Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin and Tom Jones. Damato regularly appears at Italian feasts, village festivals, restaurants and other community events across Long Island. He also sings with the seven-piece cover band The New York Connection and has acted in local theater productions. His performance promises a relaxed afternoon of familiar melodies, sentimental favorites and classic vocal standards.
Johnny Avino brings timeless classics
8.04.2026 • 8:30AM - 3:30PM •
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STEPPING OUT
For Michelle Taplin, seen here at a spring showcase, theater is about more than performance. Through Tap Into Your Passion, she is helping young actors develop the confidence, resilience and skills to succeed both onstage and off.
Opening doors to the stage
By Iris Wiener
Michelle Taplin has spent much of her life immersed in the performing arts, but her greatest role may be helping the next generation discover their own voices. What began as a longtime dream has grown into Tap Into Your Passion, a thriving coaching and arts education company that, more than a year after its official launch, is already making a lasting impact on aspiring performers across the region.
As Tap Into Your Passion marks its first year and a half, Taplin celebrates the milestone with a special fundraising gala on Aug. 10 in The Green Room 42 in New York City that reflects the heart of her mission: making quality theater education accessible to everyone.
For Taplin, the journey started long before she opened her Rockville Centre-based business. Growing up in Oceanside, she balanced voice lessons, dance classes, gymnastics, and community theater while nurturing two lifelong ambitions: becoming a theater educator and one day opening her own company. Inspired by Oceanside High School theater teacher Laura Gallo, she pursued degrees in theater and business at Muhlenberg College before earning an MA in theater education from Adelphi University. Along the way, she gained experience as a performer, director, choreographer, stage manager, and arts administrator while also spending six years with the Sunrise Association, where she developed an inclusive teaching philosophy serving children with cancer and their siblings. Those experiences continue to shape every lesson she teaches today.
Taplin continues to wear many hats. She teaches theater at both the middle and high school in Oceanside, and directs productions with the school district and community theaters, including Plaza Theatricals. She also advises student organizations and mentors countless young performers. Tap Into Your Passion has become a natural extension of everything she loves most about teaching.
“Tap Into Your Passion’s mission is to provide theater education without costing an arm and a leg,” Taplin says, explaining that she wanted to remove financial barriers for students pursuing careers in the performing arts. She offers three primary services: private coaching for performers ages nine and up; a comprehensive college audition program that guides students through every step of the competitive application process; and a monthly master class series featuring accomplished Broadway performers, choreographers, casting directors, and other industry professionals.
The response has been exceptional. Taplin credits much of Tap Into Your Passion’s early success to the generosity of the artists who have shared their time and expertise. Taplin explains that each workshop has
Theater coach celebrates a milestone
reinforced the lessons she teaches her students while helping to build a supportive network where young performers can learn directly from professionals working in the industry.
Rather than molding students into “cookie-cutter performers,” Taplin encourages them to embrace their individuality. She believes there is no single path to success in theater and exposing students to a wide variety of artistic voices helps them discover the techniques and perspectives that resonate most authentically.
That philosophy has attracted students from throughout Long Island and Manhattan. Students from Floral Park, Oceanside, Lynbrook, Sewanhaka, Elmont, Rockville Centre, East Rockaway, Garden City, and New York City, among other places, create a diverse community connected by a shared love of theater.
“Michelle always makes sure to put care and respect into all of her students’ work sessions,” says Kevin Kirley, a student from Rockville Centre who now attends New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. “She has also been so integral to my journey throughout the college audition process. Her teaching has been extremely influential to me as a working actor, and I will take what I have learned throughout my training into my artistry.”
For Taplin, arts education extends well beyond singing, dancing or acting. She advocates that theater teaches empathy, collaboration, resilience, confidence, communication, and determination — life skills that benefit students regardless of whether they ultimately pursue careers on stage.
“It’s what the process teaches you,” she says, emphasizing that the personal growth students experience is often more valuable than the performances themselves.
Those values will be front and center shortly when Tap Into Your Passion hosts its Broadway Gives Back gala. The evening will feature performances by many of the Broadway artists and teaching professionals who have led Taplin’s master classes, each sharing a song that inspired their own theatrical journey. Beyond celebrating the company’s growth, the fundraiser will support Taplin’s goal of keeping coaching and master classes affordable for aspiring performers while demonstrating to students the passion that fuels successful careers in the arts.
As Tap Into Your Passion enters its second year, Taplin aims to continue expanding its reach while maintaining the close-knit community that has become its hallmark. She envisions welcoming more students, introducing them to even more accomplished professionals, and reminding every young artist that there is room for their unique voice in the theater world. Looking back on Tap’s remarkable beginning and the theater community’s willingness to help, Taplin relates that the experience has reinforced one lesson above all others: “The answer will always be ‘no’ if you don’t ask.”
It is a philosophy that has helped transform a childhood dream into a flourishing business, and one that continues to inspire the students following in her footsteps.
Visit TheGreenRoom42.VenueTix.com for tickets or more information about Where It All Began: Broadway Gives Back.
Double Vision: The Foreigner Experience
Comprising a group of exceptionally talented musicians and die-hard Foreigner fans, Double Vision has perfected the art of bringing to life the unforgettable hits that have defined generations. From “I Want to Know What Love Is” to “Cold as Ice,” Their renditions are a harmonious blend of passion, precision, and nostalgic energy. Drawing inspiration from Foreigner’s unmistakable sound and stage presence, Double Vision delivers a performance that pays homage to the band’s legacy while infusing their own charisma and enthusiasm. Their commitment to authenticity is matched only by their unwavering dedication to creating an electrifying experience for their audiences.
Saturday, Aug. 1, 8 p.m. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com or paramountny.com. The Paramount, 370 New York Ave., Huntington.
Vishal & Sheykhar
Brace yourself for a high-octane night with Bollywood’s most electrifying music duo – Vishal and Shekhar! VishalDadlani and Shekhar (formerly Shekhar) Ravjiani return to the states, following a completely sold-out U.S. run in 2025. Experience the energy and excitement of The Superhit Tour as acclaimed music duo Vishal and Sheykhar take the stage. Known for creating some of Bollywood’s biggest hits, the duo brings a powerhouse performance filled with fan-favorite songs, dynamic production and a concert atmosphere that will have the entire audience singing along. Expect a night packed with unforgettable music, stunning visuals, and the signature sound that has made them global sensations.
Sunday, Aug. 2, 7 p.m. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com or tillescenter. org or (516) 299-3100. Tilles Center, LIU Post campus, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville.
Photos courtesy Michelle Taplin
Student Bella Romero performs at the spring showcase at The Green Room 42.
Broadway’s Krystina Alabado, right, leads a master class.
Your Neighborhood CALENDAR
jul
Live After Five
Don’t miss out on Merrick’s Live After Five, back for another year.
Merrick Community Civic Association hosts an evening dedicated to supporting local businesses. Participating restaurants and shops offer special promotions for the evening for all customers. Enjoy music at the Gazebo near the LIRR (weather permitting).
• Where: Along Merrick Avenue, from LIRR to Loines Ave, and into the Merrick Mall
• Time: Beginning at 5 p.m.
‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’
The Madison Theatre’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” brings the beloved Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to the stage, retelling the biblical story of Joseph, his colorful coat and his rise from slavery to Pharaoh’s trusted advisor. Told entirely through song, the family-friendly production features memorable numbers including “Any Dream Will Do,” “Close Every Door” and “One More Angel in Heaven,” blending musical styles from calypso to country-western. Suitable for audiences of all ages, the show continues to be one of the world’s most frequently performed musicals.
• Where: Madison Theatre, Molloy University, 1000 Hempstead Ave., Rockville Centre
• Time: Various times, through Aug. 2
• Contact: madisontheatreny.org or (516) 323-4444
Summer grooves
Eisenhower Park’s Summer Concert Series welcomes Grateful Dead tribute band Half Step. The Long Islandbased band are dedicated fans and “students” of the Grateful Dead, capturing the spirit, improvisation, sound and complexity of Grateful Dead music. Half Step has been mastering their craft since 2004 while winning over crowds of veteran Deadheads, newcomers and non-Dead fans alike. Like the Grateful Dead themselves, the band is constantly pushing the envelope, growing together as musicians and performers.
• Where: Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre, East Meadow
• Time: 7 p.m.
• Contact: nassaucountyny.gov or (516) 572-0200
kids to Old Westbury Gardens for a Storybook
Franz Ferdinand
Aug 8
Summer sounds
TOH summer concert series arrives at Merrick Road Park with Fearless, a Taylor Swift tribute. Bring seating.
• Where: 2550 Clubhouse Road, Merrick
• Time: 8 p.m.
• Contact: (516) 292-90000 ext. 7255
Family movie night
Enjoy a movie under the stars at Eisenhower Park. See Disney’s “Zootopia 2,’” the animated buddy cop comedy sequel. Brave rabbit cop Judy Hopps and her friend, the fox Nick Wilde, team up again to crack a new case, the most perilous and intricate of their careers.
• Where: Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre, East Meadow
• Time: Movie begins at dusk
• Contact: nassaucountyny.gov
Nature Connects
are invited to participate in a guided stroll through the Gardens, with a reading of “StellaLuna” by Janell Cannon. Along the way, discover nature’s wonders, in the formal gardens. The tour ends at the Thatched Cottage with a story and hands-on craft for each child to take home.
• Where: 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury
• Time: 10:30-11:30 a.m.
• Contact: oldwestburygardens.org or call (516) 333-0048
Aug
2
Family theater
Lance the Eagle welcomes families to “A Semi-QuincentenEAGLE Birthday” on the Long Island Children’s Museum stage. In this original production, families are invited to celebrate his birthday. His message: As the national bird, this party will be happening throughout the whole month of July. Come to think of it, I did hear something about a birthday for the United States of America as well. Hmm... must be a coincidence! I’ll be throwing a parade through LICM’s galleries and a celebratory spectacle in the Theater. Come ready to party!” Keep an eye out 30 minutes
before each show for a special interactive pre-show! For ages 3+. $5 with museum admission ($4 members), $10 theater only.
• Where: 11 Davis Ave., Garden City
• Time: 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; also Aug. 5
• Contact: licm.org or call (516) 224-5800
Summer tunes
Eisenhower Park’s Summer Concert Series welcomes Lovesong, with an ‘80s New Wave tribute. The band offers a unique concert experience with electrifying performances of legendary music by Duran Duran, INXS, The Cure, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, Erasure, New Order and more.
• Where: Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre, East Meadow
• Time: 7 p.m.
• Contact: nassaucountyny.gov or (516) 572-0200
• Where: The Paramount, 370 New York Ave., Huntington
• Time: 8 p.m.
The Scottish band brings their Greater Glasgow European Cultural Exchange Tour to the Paramount stage, in support of their latest album, “The Human Fear,” which dropped in January. Since emerging from Glasgow’s art-school scene — where the band famously staged illegal parties in abandoned buildings — Franz Ferdinand has built a reputation for bold sharp hooks, infectious riffs and a fearless approach to reinvention. The band’s sixth studio album explores the emotions that define the human experience, transforming fear from something to avoid into something that awakens us. From the vulnerability of new relationships to the courage required to embrace change, “The Human Fear” channels those moments of uncertainty into songs packed with energy, urgency and unmistakable Franz Ferdinand style. Following the retrospective collection “Hits To The Head,” their latest album marks a new chapter for the group — one that honors its signature sound while pushing forward. Expect a high-energy performance filled with the clever songwriting, driving rhythms and irresistible beats that have made Franz Ferdinand one of the most influential bands of its generation. At this point in their career, Franz Ferdinand definitely know who they are, and are relishing the vigor that comes with accepting that
• Contact: ticketmaster.com or paramountny.com
is home to hundreds of ancient treasures and priceless artifacts that have been preserved and gathered for patrons to see. But the museum also has a very special secret: its exhibits are protected by an ancient spell that prevents anyone from leaving if an artifact is stolen! This evening, right before the museum closed, it was discovered that a precious gem from the collection is missing! To escape the museum, teens and tweens in grades 4-12 will help find the missing gem and return it to its rightful place. Registration required.
• Where: 1691 Meadowbrook Road, North Merrick
• Time: 5:30 and 7 p.m.
• Contact: nmerricklibrary.org
Aug
5
Youth filmmaking workshop
Kids ages 8-14 can join JFK High School senior Ben Stone for a free five-session filmmaking course covering storytelling, cinematography and editing at Bellmore Memorial Library.
• Where: 2288 Bedford Ave., Bellmore
• Time: 5-6 p.m., through August
• Contact: bellmorelibrary.org
Old Westbury Gardens welcomes families to spend an afternoon exploring, building and creating together! Seasonal Sprouts offers is a LEGO-themed adventure for young explorers. Children (ages 4–10) embark on a guided outdoor tour of Sean Kenney’s Nature Connects made with LEGO bricks. Everyone discovers the wonders of nature in a fun and hands-on way. After the tour, kids can unleash their creativity in a LEGO free-play area. $22 per adult, $20 ages 62+, $12 child. Registration required.
• Where: 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury
• Time: 2-3 p.m., also Aug. 12
• Contact: oldwestburygardens. org or call (516) 333-0048
Rock on Celebrate the timeless music and improvisational spirit of the Grateful Dead with one of the region’s premier tribute acts.
Aug
6
• Where: Back lawn of Saw Mill Elementary School, 2801 Saw Mill Road
• Time: 7 p.m.
Having an event?
Items on the Calendar page are listed free of charge. The Herald welcomes listings of upcoming events, community meetings and items of public interest. All submissions should include date, time and location of the event, cost, and a contact name and phone number. Submissions can be emailed to kbloom@ liherald.com.
WEDNESDAY,
TOH promotes UV Safety Awareness Month
By CHRIS COLUCCI ccolucci@liherald.com
With July at the heart of every summer, its designation as National UV Safety Awareness Month is timely. When beachgoers soak in the sun and outdoor activities fill most days, skin care and cancer prevention tips are as critical as ever.
Town of Hempstead Supervisor John Ferretti held a news conference at the Town Park at Point Lookout on July 9, joined by partners from Northwell Health, to launch the town’s Summertime Wellness Series.
“This program offers residents convenient access to important health services,” Ferretti said. “We’re kicking it off today with a free skin cancer screening event.” From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., medical professionals from Northwell Health were set up with a mobile unit,
LBEL1 0730
LEGAL NOTICE
providing free skin cancer screenings to 50 town residents. “We urge all of our town residents in the Town of Hempstead to get checked on an annual basis for skin cancer,” Ferretti explained, “Whether that’s here in a town facility or with your own dermatologist.”
Ferretti shared effective tips to mitigate UV exposure, including the use of sunscreen with an SPF 30 or higher; aiming to stay in the shade during peak sunlight hours, typically 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and wearing proper clothing, sunglasses and headwear when outdoors.
Dr. Camila Villa-Ruiz, a dermatologist at Northwell Health, spoke at the conference discussing more realities surrounding skin cancer. “We estimate that one in five people will develop skin cancer by the age of 70,” Villa-Ruiz stated. “It is a very common, but preventable, cancer that has a high cure rate. Have your skin
Public Notices
REFEREE’S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE
SUPREME COURTCOUNTY OF NASSAU ROCKET MORTGAGE, LLC F/K/A QUICKEN LOANS, LLC F/K/A QUICKEN LOANS INC., Plaintiff - againstFRANK LAMAGRA, et al Defendant(s).
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on May 19, 2026. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the North Side steps of the Nassau County Supreme Court located at 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, N.Y. 11501 on the 7th day
of August, 2026 at 2:00 PM. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being at Bellmore, Town of Hempstead, County of Nassau, State of New York.
Premises known as 2347 Elbert Avenue, North Bellmore, (Town of Hempstead) NY 11710.
(SBL#: 56-141-50) Approximate amount of lien $699,370.58 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed judgment and terms of sale.
Index No.
617381/2023. Ernest Bartol, Esq., Referee. Davidson Fink LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 400 Meridian Centre Blvd, Ste 200 Rochester, NY 14618 Tel. 585/760-8218
For sale information, please visit Auction.com at www.Auction.com or call (800) 280-2832
Dated: June 1, 2026 During the COVID-19 health emergency, bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of sale including but not limited to, wearing face coverings and maintaining social
distancing (at least 6feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale. 161038
PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES…
To place a notice here call us us at 516-569-4000 x232 or send an email to: legalnotices@liherald.com
cancer screenings. Visit your dermatologist if you see anything that’s changing, growing, or bleeding.”
Individuals with tattoos, or anyone considering getting a tattoo, should take extra precaution. “It is harder to screen, especially when you have tattoos that are covering moles,” Villa-Ruiz said. “It is definitely harder, but we can still do it. I would highly recommend to not get tattoos over existing moles.”
A second wellness series event and free skin cancer screening will be held on July 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Veterans Memorial Park Pool in East Meadow. The series will conclude with a presentation on Four Ways to Save a Life — including how to administer CPR, how to use an automated external defibrillator and other potentially life-saving practices — from 11 a.m. to noon on July 23 at the Echo Park Pool Complex in West Hempstead.
News brief
Local student joins PSEG internship program
Bellmore resident Livia Cigliano is among 24 college students participating in PSEG Long Island’s 2026 summer internship program.
Cigliano, a senior at Long Island University Post studying business administration and marketing, is completing her second summer internship with PSEG Long Island. She works in the utility’s Talent Acquisition department, where she helps manage the internship program.
“By representing PSEG Long Island at career fairs and other outreach events, I play a role in finding the most talented and skilled people to work for PSEG Long Island, which contributes to ensuring my neighbors have safe and reliable power,” Cigliano said in a statement. “Along with the work I do in Human Resources, I enjoy participating in PSEG Long Island’s
numerous community service opportunities where I get to meet our customers and share why I am proud to work here.”
The internship program includes 24 rising sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students studying engineering, business, accounting, economics, environmental science, law and social work at colleges and universities on Long Island, across New York state and throughout the country.
During the summer, interns gain hands-on experience in departments including customer operations, distribution engineering, energy efficiency and renewables, environmental compliance, finance and accounting, human resources, legal, procurement, transmission planning and utility marketing.
— Hernesto Galdamez
Chris Colucci/Herald
Town of Hempstead Supervisor John Ferretti, at podium, was joined, from left, by Councilwoman Laura Ryder, Town Clerk Kate Murray, Councilman Tom Muscarella, Dr. Camila Villa-Ruiz from Northwell Health and Deputy Supervisor Dorothy Goosby.
per hour
Address letter of interest and resume to: humanresources@vs30.org 516-434-3600 ext 5223 valleystream30.com
a $500 Signing Bonuses, Scholarships and Employee Referrals Questions call: 631-360-0800 ext. 149 or send a resume to: cc@scopeonline.us SCOPE Education is an equal opportunity Employer
EDITOR/REPORTER
Part Time & Full Time. The award-winning Herald Community Newspapers group, covering Nassau County's North and South Shores with hard-hitting news stories and gracefully written features, seeks a motivated, energetic and creative editor/reporter to join our dynamic (and awesome) team! This education and general assignment reporting position offers a unique experience to learn from some of the best in the business. Historically, reporters who have launched their careers with us have gone on to The New York Times, Newsweek, Newsday, the New York Daily News, New York Post, CNN, BBC, NBC News and The Daily Mail, among many others. We look for excellent writers who are eager to learn, enhance their skills, and become well-established and respected journalists in our industry. Salary range is from $20K to $45K To apply: Send a brief summary in the form of a cover letter describing your career goals and what strengths you can bring to our newsroom, along with a resume and three writing samples to jbessen@liherald.com
MAILROOM/ WAREHOUSE HELP
Long Island Herald has IMMEDIATE openings for a FULL-TIME & PART-TIME mailroom/warehouse helper in Garden City. We are a busy print shop looking for motivated and reliable individuals to assist in various duties in the shop. Forklift experience is a plus and heavy lifting is required. Hours vary, so flexibility is key. Salary Ranges from $17 per hour to $20 per hour. Email resumes or contact info to careers@liherald.com
Inside Sales
Looking for an aggressive self starter who is great at making and maintaining relationships and loves to help businesses grow by marketing them on many different advertising platforms. You will source new sales opportunities through inbound lead follow-up and outbound cold calls. Must have the ability to understand customer needs and requirements and turn them in to positive advertising solutions. We are looking for a talented and competitive Inside Sales Representative that thrives in a quick sales cycle environment. Compensation ranges from $35,360 + commissions and bonuses to over $100,000 including commission and bonuses. We also offer health benefits, 401K and paid time off. Please send cover letter and resume with salary requirements to ereynolds@liherald.com Call 516-569-4000 X286
OUTSIDE SALES
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Do we have to submit complete house
plans
just for a garage?
Q. We were recently told that our permit plans, to be approved, were going to have to include plans of the entire house, not just the garage area we are bumping out on the side. We were wondering if you have heard of this or whether we are being singled out. Our architect said that it may be because we have to go to the zoning board. Is this the reason, or did we say something wrong and are being punished? We asked, several times, for an update, because things are moving very slowly and we get the impression the building department just wants us to go away. They work for us and I think we deserve better service, frankly.
A. Trust but verify is now a common expression, and with good reason. What I have noticed over the years is that complete information is more often required, showing unrelated areas of the home, because many people have not been truthful about building changes or about how much work they have done, without permits, in other parts of the home. Because of this issue, many plans examiners ask for the big picture, not just the area you are interested in. It is obvious, when looking at file records in building departments and then comparing them to the actual dwelling during a walkthrough.
Your dilemma is due to the lack of trust between the authorities and the public. If the building inspector notices that the plans and the home don’t exactly compare, they can ask for “revised” plans to be submitted. It is frustrating, right at the end of a project, when people are ready to move on with their lives, to find out that the “simple, little changes” and side work they did require revised plans to be submitted to their building department. It is much worse to learn about changes or not following plans many years later.
Contractors and owners may get away with not communicating in the short term, but it does not pay, in the long run, to hide information. When someone realizes they bought a house with inherited, hidden issues which they are now responsible for, they feel taken advantage of. Worse than that are the costly corrections that have to be made because something that has existed for years may not be code-compliant. It happens all too often that unrelated portions of the building become a stumbling block to getting approvals for what you are really looking to do.
You are probably not being singled out, but you have been put in this position by previous workers and owners who did not take the record-updating seriously. People have told me, with a grin, that “By the time anyone notices, we’ll all be long gone.” I just came from a jobsite where work was done 16 years prior, the plans were not followed, and a structural failure is occurring that is going to be expensive to fix. The whole picture, not just part, is, therefore, important. Good luck!
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The documentary on Steven McDonald is a must-see
Recently I saw a screening of the documentary about the late NYPD detective Steven McDonald, “Saint of the City.” McDonald was a true hero. In 1986, as a young police officer, he was shot and permanently paralyzed by 15-year-old Shavod Jones, whom he was questioning about a series of bicycle thefts in Central Park.
Jones shot McDonald three times, the third time while he was lying on the ground, shattering his spine and leaving him a quadriplegic, needing a ventilator to breathe. McDonald not only survived, but forgave Jones and went on to live more than 30 heroic years of dedicated service, without complaint or self-pity, until his death in 2017.
Steven and his wife, Patti Ann, lived in Malverne during that time with their son, Conor, who was born just months after his father was shot. Patti Ann went on to serve two terms as Malverne’s mayor. “Saint of the City” was written by veteran Emmy-award winning WPIX-TV reporter Mary Murphy
and produced by Erin Mulvey, a former DEA agent. Filled with facts, emotion and perspective, the film captures the essence of McDonald as an outstanding human being who inspired so many.
I met with him over the years at various police events, at his home in Malverne and in Congress. Those meetings made vividly clear to me just how devastating his injuries were. He was not only confined to a wheelchair, but incapable of moving any party of his body except his head, and he had no sense of feeling anywhere. Once when he gave me a book he had written, he inscribed it for me with a Sharpie he held between his teeth.
The NYPD detective forgave the teen who shot him, leaving him a quadriplegic.
His breathing was labored, and required a ventilator. At any time he could be struck with severe spasms lasting 30 seconds to a minute. These were difficult to observe, never mind having to endure them.
As the film depicts, McDonald persevered through all of this. He regularly spoke at high schools and to young cops.
He was also an articulate voice for peace and justice in Northern Ireland, not just attending events in New York, but traveling to Northern Ireland to
Iurge those on all sides — Catholics and Protestants, pro-British and pro-Irish — to resolve their differences and pursue the path to peace. McDonald’s efforts were particularly beneficial in the months following the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, when radicals attempted to shatter the peace accord with a horrific bombing attack in Omagh, Northern Ireland, that killed 29 civilians and injured more than 200. His presence at such a critical time delivered a strong message about the necessity of maintaining peace and allowing the agreement to be implemented.
I remember when Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern addressed a joint session of Congress and singled out McDonald, who was seated in the House gallery. At a reception later that day, Sen. Ted Kennedy asked me to introduce Ahern to McDonald.
The film also highlights how McDonald was sustained by his Catholic faith, and particularly by the advice and consolation he received from Father Mychal Judge, the chaplain of the FDNY who died at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, and Cardinal John O’Connor, who McDonald told me would visit him at his Malverne home
to help him through tough moments. McDonald also organized prayer groups that met regularly.
The “Saint of the City” screening took place at the Marymount School, in Manhattan. Among those in attendance were former NYPD Commissioners Ray Kelly and Keechant Sewell, former Detective Bo Dietl and many high-ranking police officials and officers who worked with McDonald or got to know him over the years. Magee Hickey of WPIX, WINS reporter Juliet Papa and Daily News columnist Michael Daly were also there.
From the sports world there was Mets all-time great relief pitcher Jesse Orosco, who, after pitching the final innings of the Mets’ final 1986 World Series game against the Red Sox, had thrown his glove high in the air. Days later, Orosco gave the glove to McDonald, a longtime Mets fan.
Most notable among the attendees, of course, were Steven’s widow, Patti Ann, and their son, Conor, who is now a captain in the NYPD. Both personify and carry on the inspirational legacy of Steven McDonald, who was truly a saint among us. Once it is distributed, be sure to see “Saint of the City.”
Peter King is a former congressman, and a former chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Comments? pking@ liherald.com.
Why is the U.S. picking a fight with its best friend?
don’t know much about the tariff system, but I know enough about economics and politics to say that President Trump’s new proposed 50 percent tariffs on Canada would be the most foolish things ever done by a president in recent American history. I know these proposals are always subject to negotiation, but why pick on our second-largest trading partner at the worst possible time?
The Canadians have been our best friends for as long as I can remember. They were there for us during World War II, when they lost over 40,000 men in battle. They have contributed soldiers to many of our wars, and have stood up for us at the United Nations and around the world. One of the reasons behind the latest insanity is the president’s statement that he is mad at Canada because of the smoke that has drifted south to the United States.
The best way to describe the latest tariff proposal is that it would be a self-
inflicted wound that would hurt American consumers the most. There is a basic fact that we fail to understand. The average reader may think that new tariffs would punish Canadians, but when new duties are imposed on Canadian autos, wine, hockey sticks, dairy products and cement, American distributors have to pay them, and then they pass the cost on to American consumers. The family in Levittown that buys Bobby a hockey stick pays extra because of the tariff hike.
Tariffs on Canada in retaliation for wildfire smoke that drifted south? Really?
Lots of other bad things happen when new tariffs are imposed. Canada, in retaliation, has imposed its own 25 percent counter-tariffs on U.S. vehicles, steel and aluminum. These tariffs hurt American builders and potential homebuyers who can’t afford higher costs when they’re seeking to purchase their first home. Tariffs on auto parts disrupt production lines and costs manufacturing jobs on both sides of the border.
Tariffs have another impact on countries like Canada. China is eager to establish new relationships with nations that will buy its goods. In 2025,
Canada announced a new comprehensive trade agreement with China that, among other things, will allow the sale of Chinese autos in Canada. Industry specialists say that Chinese cars are high quality and much lower in price, and will be a potential threat to American auto manufacturers.
One of the worst results of our feud with Canada is its impact on American businesses. Tourism in many of our northern border states has been badly damaged by this unnecessary battle. And one of the biggest losers has been Las Vegas. Hotel operators have seen a 70 percent drop in Canadian visitors, which has caused large layoffs of hospitality employees.
When arbitrary tariffs are imposed on a friendly nation, there are other consequences. Other countries watch American actions and conclude that we can’t be trusted if we economically attack a longtime friend. To add to our unreliability, the U.S. has a trade agreement, negotiated by Trump six years ago with Canada and Mexico, which was scheduled to be renewed this month.
The president has stated that he won’t honor the terms of that agreement.
The crowning touch to the U.S.-Canada breach has been Trump’s threats to make Canada our 51st state, and his frequent statements deriding Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Trump supporters will say this is just the president doing his thing, and that he isn’t really serious, but words have consequences, and many Trump watchers around the world don’t have such an expansive sense of humor.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the president didn’t have the unilateral authority to impose sweeping, open-ended tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and that only Congress has that power. Trump is now using a 1930 law to justify his actions, which will likely be challenged in court.
At a time when the nation is juggling a war with Iran, higher gasoline prices and the continuing issue of affordability, fighting with Canada is just plain dumb.
Jerry Kremer was a state assemblyman for 23 years, and chaired the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee for 12 years. He currently chairs the Capitol Insight Group, a government relations firm.
There’s always someone downwind
there’s a particular quality to the light when the smoke arrives. It goes flat and white, the sun turns into a coin you can look at directly, and the air smells faintly like someone three houses down is burning leaves. It has happened enough times now that Long Islanders recognize it.
The fires are in Canada. Ontario mostly, sometimes the prairie provinces — a thousand miles and more from here, far enough that the smoke spends days in transit before it reaches us. And it reaches us anyway. It settles over Rockville Centre and Garden City and Long Beach. It gets into the lungs of kids at day camp in Merrick who have never heard the phrase “boreal forest.”
There is something clarifying about that, if you let it be.
We are accustomed to thinking of our lives as local, and with good reason. This newspaper exists because the things that shape a day here — the school calendar, the traffic on Sunrise Highway, whether the field will be playable Saturday morning — are decided close to home by people you might run into at the deli. That proximity is the texture of life in a place like ours. The distance between a thing and its cause is usually short enough to walk.
letters
Town supervisor candidate Scianablo deserves a serious look
To the Editor:
Barely a day goes by that I don’t receive at least one mailing from John Ferretti expounding on all of his successes as Town of Hempstead supervisor. He claims that he is hard at work for the people of the town. He claims to have lowered town taxes, that he is working to ensure that our water is safe to drink, and is working with Nassau County to protect religious institutions. Just because he makes these claims doesn’t mean they aren’t just alternative facts.
The truth is that since he became supervisor — with the questionable means by which he was made the incumbent for his election — town taxes have increased 12 percent, our
Smoke from a forest a thousand miles away is a different phenomenon. It did not come from anything anyone here did or failed to do. And at the end of that very long chain sits your daughter’s soccer practice.
Why more of it, and why now? Because the climate is warming and the northern forest is drying out as a result. Spring snowpack melts earlier than it used to. Summers run longer and hotter, and the peat and duff beneath the trees turn into something that holds fire the way a sponge holds water — slowly, deep down and for a very long time.
Fires that once burned themselves out now smolder underground through the winter and surface again in spring. More fire, more smoke. And the same atmospheric machinery that has always carried Canadian cold fronts down to the Northeast now carries the smoke with them.
The smoke isn’t doing anything unusual. It is riding the same currents that have brought us our weather since before there was a Long Island to bring it to — the northwest flow behind a front, the same air that gives us a crisp October morning and the frigid air of January. We have always been downwind of Canada. We simply had no occa-
sion to notice.
That’s what makes this worth sitting with. Not the fires themselves, but what they reveal about connection. Something we didn’t do, in a place most of us have never been, is now a feature of summer on Long Island.
And what we do continues downwind. The exhaust from the Meadowbrook, the fertilizer that leaves a lawn in Wantagh and ends up in the bay, the plume from a stack in Island Park — none of that stays put, either. Our runoff is someone else’s smoke.
There is a version of this line of thinking that curdles into helplessness, and we would steer away from it. Being connected to a place you cannot influence isn’t the same as being powerless. It is mostly an invitation to pay attention — to the bay, to the air, to the small local things that are, somewhere downwind, someone else’s inherited condition.
The sky has cleared — but it will haze over again. If not this summer, then next. And each time it does, it is worth taking a moment to notice the strangeness: that we are downwind of a forest we will likely never see, and that somewhere, someone we will never meet is downwind of us.
Donnie Kreiss, ‘I
carry your heart
with
me’
My husband, Donnie Kreiss, died on July 12, at home, just days after our 58th anniversary. He was 80, and had been living with pancreatic cancer since it was diagnosed in 2023.
Donnie did not go gently. As Dylan Thomas wrote, he raged against the dying of the light, from the moment he knew he had this relentless cancer until two Sundays ago, when he drew a quiet breath and then no more. Our son and daughter were with him.
My sister, Meryl Greenbaum, was with us. The loving good wishes of everyone he knew were with us.
He had been drifting away for the previous 10 days, suffering the side effects of three years of treatment. Still, in early June he was walking laps in our building, and in April the family had gathered for his birthday dinner. He pushed his athlete’s body beyond anyone’s expectation, and the night he died, we rang the bell for him, because every single day he lived since 2023 was a tribute to his courage.
Letters
water rates are up 33 percent, and our energy rates continue to climb. Due to the lack of transparency, we have no idea where our hard-earned tax dollars are going or to whom.
I met Ferretti’s opponent, Joe Scianablo, for the first time when he attended a parlor meeting at my home. I was impressed not only with his background, but also his sincerity and his desire to continue serving the public. Scianablo has spent his entire adult life as a public servant. He served multiple deployments in the Marines in East Timor, Eritrea, and Iraq, then was a New York City police officer, focusing on domestic violence cases, in which helped victims find safety and justice. He is a former prosecutor in the Queens district attorney’s office, where he advocated for survivors of domestic violence.
I believed Scianablo when he said his focus would be to ensure that our tax dollars and resources benefit all the people in the Town of Hempstead, not just the favored ones. He isn’t a career politician, but will be a politician who has made a career of service. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to meet him to do so. I think you will come away as impressed as I was.
CHERIE FEINBERG Lawrence
triumph over adversity.
HDonnie never felt sorry for himself. In his last days on earth he was reaching out to friends who had heartache, relationship woes, business setbacks or medical problems. He preached a gospel of positivity, insisting on finding threads of hope. He left a legacy of goodness and generosity, changing the lives of so many people along the way.
e always found the best in others because, truly, that was all he saw.
Donnie was a native Lawrencian. He was born in 1946 at Brooklyn Jewish Hospital to Lillian and Jack Kreiss, who lived at 16 Muriel Ave. in Lawrence. When he was 2, he contracted bacterial meningitis, which was usually fatal in those days. He was in isolation at St Joseph’s Hospital, in Far Rockaway, for two months. That was the first of his medical miracle recoveries, which included a fractured skull when he was 10, heart attacks at 40 and 50, bypass surgery, congestive heart failure and cervical spine surgery. He recited his near-misses enthusiastically, as if they were a resume, not of suffering but of
Donnie was a gifted athlete who ran track and played varsity football, basketball and golf. He was a beautiful man, and we fell hard in love as teenagers. We graduated together in 1964 from Lawrence High. When we married and settled in Woodmere, his second home was the Lawrence Golf Club, where his father was president and then, 50 years later, he was president. In recent years his home course was on Longboat Key, Fla., where last year he was named Most Inspirational Golfer of the Year, an award they created for him.
Don started his own business in 1969, selling slippers and bras and panties. He loved selling, and he was the best salesman because he could out-wait, out-talk and outlast any buyer he encountered.
He always found the best in others because, truly, that was all he saw. He drew on a deep well of generosity and kindness.
Our children, Jason, Rochelle, Jocelyn and Josh, were, as Auden said, his north, south, east and west. His grandchildren, Sabrina, Jacob, Elijah and
Emi, brought light and delight into his life. “Did you talk to the kids today?” was his mantra.
Despite his lifelong medical issues, Don was a rough and ready traveler, up for any adventure. We spent five summers exploring Montana when the kids were teenagers, and then for decades we traveled the world, from Komodo Island, in Indonesia, to the Alaska wilderness, from Bali to Singapore to Tasmania and New Zealand. Nothing stopped him.
Obituaries are the last public words written about someone. I never expected to write Donnie’s obituary, which I hope is more like telling the story of his life. Which is also the story of my life. As Cummings wrote, I carry his heart in my heart.
He trusted me to shepherd him through these last years, to get to the right doctors, to hold hands as we heard the diagnoses that limited his days. He wanted time, he said over and over again. I did my best, but time was not in my hands. I believe he would have wanted me to write this, the last words about him, from a place of love and longing, happy remembrance, and sadness that he did not have more days to grace our lives.
Copyright 2026 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.
FraMework
by Tim Baker
My Morning Jacket performed at the Great South Bay Music Festival, in Patchogue’s Shorefront Park, last Sunday.
