_______ Lynbrook/east rockaway ______
HERALD Also serving Bay Park
Chamber gala honors stalwarts
Sherman-Murphy leads lynbrook
lIPA to start time-of-day rates
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Vol. 30 No. 5
JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2023
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Affordable housing plan alarms Curran sounded for the better part of the decade. But now, as even the governor noted, you can’t ignore People have left New York in it anymore.” droves this past decade, and Cur ran retur ned to his Brian Curran is ready to put that Assembly seat earlier this trend at an end. month, after winning the But doing so November election could mean finding against Judy Griffin some common in November — who ground between the had ousted him just Assemblyman and four years before. Gov. Kathy Hochul, Cur ran had first who have some very won his Assembly different ideas on seat in 2010 after affordable housing. spending three years During her State as mayor of Lynof the State address brook. earlier this month, Nearly 300,000 Hochul introduced a people left New York plan that would between July 2020 build 800,000 new and July 2021, homes over the next according to census 10 years across the data. Although New state. Af fordable York City’s populahomes. t i o n j u m p e d by Cur ran ag rees BRIAN CURRAN 700,000 to 8.8 million with Hochul that the Assemblyman over the last decade, lack of affordable the pandemic wiped housing is a major away much of those contributor to the mass fleeing gains, Curran said, through the of residents to other states, but aftermath of inflation, higher fixing it is another story. taxes, and even higher rent. “The governor talked about It’s the rent that Hochul is migration of people out of New focused on the most, citing the York right off the bat at the State Population Reference Bureau of the State address,” Curran claims that more than half of said. “This alar m has been Continued on page 17
By BEN FIEBERT
bfiebert@liherald.com
Courtesy Melissa Burak
MElISSA BURAk ANd students at the Kindergarten Center Thanksgiving Feast.
School district changed ‘a great deal’ under Burak By BEN FIEBERT bfiebert@liherald.com
Superintendent Melissa Burak looks back at a decade of accomplishments as she prepares for her July retirement from Lynbrook Public Schools. Burak was taken by storm in 2012 when she became interim superintendent. A few weeks after she started, the remnants of Hurricane Sandy hit the area hard. She had a rocky start, but quickly adapted. “I remember driving to all the school buildings to post written signs regarding the status of the school opening,” Burak said. “Many peo-
ple were without power so our robocall system only reached those with power. In my messages, I asked families to spread the word as well.” Sandy was not the only major disaster that Burak had to face as she had to quickly learned how to navigate a pandemic. “During the pandemic, weekly updates were provided to the families,” Burak said. “Everything we experienced was new to us all so providing whatever information I had was important.” She kept a constant connection with students and their families providing updates on what was happening with the schools during Continued on page 7 January 26, 2023
Great Homes the Ultimate Local Home showcase Pull Out
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he way that Hochul is planning on going about affordable housing ... I think this plan is misguided at best.