Franklin Square/Elmont
HERALD county celebrates veteran’s 100th
remembering sylvia Brocker
graduation plans still up in the air
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Vol. 22 No. 23
JUNE 4 - 10, 2020
L.I. begins to reopen F.S., Elmont business owners adjust to changes transitioned to reopening, and supporting major projects that leave a lasting impact will be mkoenig@liherald.com critical to building our economy Elmont and Franklin Square back,” Eric Gertler, acting combusiness leaders said their missioner of the Empire State downtowns were slowly coming Development Corp., said in a back on May 27, the first day of statement last week. “The BelLong Island’s Phase One reopen- mont Redevelopment Project ing of its economy, and they said will create tens of thousands of they hoped people would abide jobs and generate billions in new by social-distancing protocols to revenue to support Long Island ensure that the economy stays communities — and as the open. region enters Phase One, workThe first ers were back on phase allows for site today preconstruction and paring to resume wholesale trade construction in a companies to s a f e e nv i r o n restar t opera ment that protions, along with tects their retailers for curb- MohaMMEd rEfraN health.” side pickup only. Owner But Lisa DelIt also allows conliPizzi, a real Real Discount Outlet struction on the estate broker and B e l m o n t Pa rk president of the redevelopment project to contin- Franklin Square Chamber of ue. The project includes an Commerce, said that many local 18,000-seat arena for the New businesses had already reopened York Islanders, a 250-room hotel, in some capacity. Under Cuomo’s a community center and 350,000 executive order, curbside pickup square feet of retail space. Con- was already allowed as long as struction on the site was sus- orders were made online or over pended in March, when Gov. the phone and there was only Andrew Cuomo ordered a halt to one employee in the store fulfillall “non-essential” construction. ing them, according to officials “As Governor Cuomo said from ESD, the state agency that this week, New York has clearly Continued on page 4
By MElissa KoENig and scott BriNtoN
Peter Belfiore/Herald
NEarly 200 ElMoNt and Valley Stream residents marched through the streets on Monday night to protest police violence, one week after a police officer killed George Floyd in Minneapolis.
‘Our chance to talk’
Residents hold protest against police violence By MElissa KoENig, scott BriNtoN, PEtEr BElfiorE, roNNy rEyEs and darwiN yaNEs mkoenig@liherald.com
Nearly 200 Elmont and Valley Stream residents gathered in the parking lot across the street from St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church on Monday evening to create signs and share their thoughts about police violence against minorities before marching through the streets of Elmont and Valley Stream.
It was one of hundreds of demonstrations that sprang up across the country after a police officer killed George Floyd on May 25. Floyd, 46, an African-American man, died after Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes before he stopped speaking or moving. In a video of the incident, Floyd could be heard saying he could not breathe and pleading for the officer to stop. The police, according to authorities, were responding
to a report of a man attempting to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a store. At the protest on Monday, comprised mainly of young people, residents held up signs saying, “Black Lives Matter,” “I Can’t Breathe” and “No justice, no peace,” and listing the names of black people killed by police, while passing drivers honked to show their support. “A lot of these people, it’s their first time protesting,” said Goldie Harrison, an Elmont resident who co-orgaContinued on page 6
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ife is different, and it’s scary.