_________________ FREEPORT _________________
CoMMuNITY uPDATE Infections as of March 30
5,574
Infections as of March 22 5,447
$1.00
HERALD
Broadway Towing guilty of tax fraud
longtime educator Consuelo Velez dies
Red Devils take on top seed
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Vol. 86 No. 14
APRIl 1 - 7, 2021
Freeport gets more vaccines Zion Cathedral Church, county and Northwell host pop-up site existed in our communities for years,” said Bishop Frank A. White of Zion Cathedral, “and Nassau County and Freeport it’s important for the church to leaders teamed up with North- work with the county and Northwell Health to host a three-day well to address these health care pop-up vaccination clinic at Zion disparities that have had a devasCathedral Church tating impact in the that began Tuesday Latino and Africanand was scheduled to American communicontinue through ties.” Friday, after the HerThe vaccinations ald went to press. were reserved for About 800 resiFreeport, Roosevelt, dents were set to Hempstead and receive their first Uniondale residents. dose of the Covid-19 Northwell Health vaccine at the event. held a pop-up clinic County Executive in Roosevelt in JanuLaura Curran said ary. t h e p a r t n e r s h i p FRANk A. WhITE The vaccination among elected offievents are part of Freeport cials, leaders of the Gov. Andrew Cuoministry at Zion mo’s mandate to Cathedral and Northwell serves ensure equal distribution of the those disproportionately impact- vaccine across the state, Northed by the pandemic. Communi- well officials explained. In Januties of color, officials noted, have ary, Northwell joined the county’s had a higher rate of infection Health Equity Task Force to roll over the past year. out the vaccine in communities “These pop-ups ensure access with the highest infection rates. to the vaccines in all our commuFreeport continues to be nities,” Curran said, “and also among the communities hit hardbuild confidence in the vaccines est by Covid-19, with more than so others in the community will 5,500 positive cases reported as of get vaccinated.” this week, according to the coun“This pandemic has exposed many of the disparities that have Continued on page 11
By RoNNY REYES rreyes@liherald.com
W
Courtesy Freeport Public Schools
For the love of music Caroline G. Atkinson School fifth-grader Kayla Weir, left, practiced violin with student-teacher Daria Barteldt during Music in our Schools and Youth Art Month in March. Story, Page 3.
Honoring Patrick Day’s dream Freeport coach set to renovate local gym By RoNNY REYES rreyes@liherald.com
Last year, Joe Higgins, of Freeport, prepped his young athletes at the Freeport Police Athletic League’s boxing program for the 2020 MSG Ring Masters Champions. Three local 22-year-old fighters were ready to take on the challenge, but the coronavirus pandemic shut down not only the championship tournament, but also the PAL’s gym, in Northeast Park, for half a year. The closures put a strain on
the gym, and although it was able to reopen in September, it could only accommodate a handful of athletes at a time because of state regulations. Another major change came in December, when Higgins, a Marine Corps veteran, took a job training participants in the Marine Expeditionary Force’s Martial Arts Center of Excellence boxing program at Camp Lejuene in North Carolina. Despite landing his dream job, Higgins still returns to Freeport regularly to look after the gym as part of a promise he made to Pat-
rick Day, a champion boxer who came up through the ranks in the PAL but who died after suffering a traumatic blow to the head during a match in 2019. Now, nearly a year and a half after Day’s death, Higgins is reinventing the PAL’s gym as a center for youth boxing and mentoring. He said he hoped to start the remodeling process this summer. “It’ll become a place not just to learn boxing, but also to tutor kids and provide career planning services,” Higgins said. “Patrick always believed this place could Continued on page 9
e’re here to fight misinformation and build hope over the vaccine.