_________________ BALDWIN ________________
Sit back and relax.
Vol. 30 No. 37
Baldwin woman goes to space
NICE bus service gets an upgrade
Page 10
Page 20 SEPTEMBER 7 - 13, 2023
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Crime surges at abandoned 3-acre property erty has been up for auction twice. There is now a second real estate sign there, but For the past 12 years, Barba- nobody has purchased it yet. ra Southard has watched the The current owner owes a lot of Oakwood Beach Club turn into taxes, Southard said, and although it’s a very slow proan overgrown wasteland. The club, which closed in cess, elected officials are lead2011, sustained damage in Trop- ing an effort to revamp the ical Stor m Irene property. that year and HurIn 2020, County r i c a n e S a n dy i n Le gislator Debra 2012. Now, over a Mulé wrote to Balddecade later, the win residents, sayM i l b u r n Ave n u e ing that her office property remains was looking into an eyesore for ways to transform neighbors. Souththe land. In a Zoom ard, who lives a few meeting that Sepdoors down from tember, Mulé and the abandoned lot, community memhas seen how it has bers ag reed that deteriorated over they would like to the years. see it turned into a BaRBaRa The club, which green space. Changopened in 1962 on SouThaRd es have come slowly roughly three acres Baldwin since then, Southof property, once ard said, but the had a pool and a concession Town of Hempstead’s Sanitastand. After closing in 2011, it tion District 2 has been very was left unmaintained and helpful. eventually became unrecogniz“I write to Douglas Weidmaable. nn, of Sanitation District 2, all “There’s rodents in there,” the time about the property,” Southard said. “For years, kids Southard said. “And he comes would break in there, and down and cuts the lawn.” there’s graffiti in there.” The main issue that WeidmaSouthard said that the propContinued on page 12
By BEN FIEBERT
bfiebert@liherald.com
T
Deliah Roberts/Herald
Baldwin students go back to school Plaza Elementary School students line up for their first day of classes on Tuesday morning.
Abby Melendez has personal stake in Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month By BEN FIEBERT bfiebert@liherald.com
For Baldwin resident Abby Melendez, September is far from an ordinary month — it’s a vivid reminder of the disease she had and how she had to overcome it. September is Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, which floods her with memories of when she was diagnosed with the disease in 1998. Although the 74 percent survival rate of thyroid cancer is higher than most cancers, Melendez noted that she didn’t have an easy journey to remission. As she approaches her 25th anniversary since
being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Melendez is doing everything she can to make those with the disease feel supported and heard. “When I was diagnosed, I was just shocked,” Melendez said. “And I needed support.” Her surgeon recommended that she reach out to an email address where she could share whatever was on her mind. As part of that email chain, someone reached out to her and told her about a group called Thyroid Cancer Survivors Association, ThyCa, which was launched two years before Melendez was diagnosed with the disease. In 1999, Melendez attended the first ThyCa Continued on page 6
here’s rodents in there. For years kids would break in there, and there’s graffiti in there.