_________________ FREEPORT _________________
HERALD $1.00
Troop 182 honors Eagle Scout
National Night Out succeeds
Lester ‘Les’ Endo has died
Page 3
Page 4
Page 19
VOL. 86 NO. 33
AUGUST 12 - 18, 2021
Leaders react to Cuomo’s plan to resign By REINE BETHANY and SCOTT BRINTON rbethany@liherald.com, sbrinton@liherald.com,
Reine Bethany/Herald
A WEEK AFTER the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James released a report saying he had violated sexual harassment laws, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he would resign. Above, Ron Ellerbe, at lectern, Village of Freeport deputy mayor, and Debra Mulé, left, Nassau County legislator, were among the governor’s critics over the past week.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Tuesday that he would resign, catching New Yorkers off guard, particularly after he began his roughly 20-minute-long speech with a seemingly defiant tone, calling himself a fighter. The Democratic governor, 63, who has been in office since 2011, came under mounting political pressure to resign over the past week, with members of the State Assembly making it clear that they would move
forward with impeachment hearings if he did not step aside. His announcement came one week after State Attorney General Letitia James issued a scathing re port detailing alleged sexual misconduct by the governor. James’s report included testimony by 179 witnesses and 74,000 pieces of evidence. At the time, village, county and state leaders expressed universal condemnation. Though Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy said he thought a fair trial should precede pressure for CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
Nautical Mile business protests potential closure By REINE BETHANY rbethany@liherald.com
Just before 5 p.m. on a recent Monday, Kenny Ware sat in a booth in his restaurant, Backyard Barbeque, and talked about what had transpired before and after Aug. 2, when the restaurant received a cease-and-desist order from the Village of Freeport. Though he and co-owner Michael Toney immediately complied by shutting down the restaurant, they thought the letter represented an increasing trend of unfair oversight by the village compared with other Nautical Mile businesses.
“We got repeated citations from the Building Department about different compliances,” Ware said, “like one saying that neighboring restaurants had complained about the signs we put in our windows advertising the name of the restaurant and our telephone number. I didn’t know signs in windows were an issue, but we removed them immediately.” Now, the only sign is the one over the door. Those citations were only part of the story. Ware said he believes Backyard Barbeque may be targeted for excessive oversight because it is Black-owned. “We’re just
W
e’re just here to bring good food to the Village of Freeport, but this happened after we did all the things we’re supposed to do.
KENNY WARE
Co-owner, Backyard Barbeque here to bring good food to the Village of Freeport,” Ware said, “but this happened after we did
all the things we’re supposed to do. “This year, we received multiple visits from the Nassau County Health Department after passing [required] inspections,” Ware noted. “The first one” — on April 16 — “was regular. It should have been good for a year.” But the Health Department visited again on May 12
and July 17. One of the visits was prompted by a complaint that Backyard Barbeque customers were not wearing masks, and also that the restaurant was operating over capacity. No violations were issued as a result of those inspections, nor was any violation notice given when the State Liquor Authority CONTINUED ON PAGE 17