Lynbrook/East Rockaway
HERALD Also serving Bay Park
Donating to those in need
Signs of support for ERHS grads
Standout lHS students honored
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Vol. 27 No. 24
JUNE 11 - 17, 2020
Lynbrook eyes July 22 graduation
E.R. officials still finalizing plans
across the state could host limited, socially distanced graduation ceremonies be ginning With the coronavirus pan- June 26. With a declining numdemic leaving many plans in ber of Covid-19 cases statewide, limbo, administrators at Lyn- Cuomo decided that ceremonies b r o o k P u b l i c S c h o o l s limited to 150 people would be announced that they are hoping permitted. for an in-person ceremony on On June 15, seniors in LynJuly 22. brook High “We hope to be School’s class of Lynbrook High able to hold a more 2020 will retur n School administratraditional, on-field their tablets at the tors plan to host an g raduation cereLHS parking lot mony at Marion and collect their in-person, on-field Street [Elementary caps and gowns at graduation ceremoSchool], Principal times determined ny on July 22. There Joseph Rainis by their last are also plans for a announced in a letnames. The followvirtual graduation ter to the commuing day, graduates and a special Senior nity. “If restricare invited to wear tions ease earlier, their caps and Portrait Day we will push up the g ow n s a n d w i l l on June 16. date of this event. have an opportuniDetails will be ty to walk across shared as the date the stage in the approaches.” high school gym on Senior PorGraduation was originally trait Day to receive a symbolic scheduled for June 26 at Marion diploma case, much like a tradiStreet before the pandemic hit. tional graduation, and adminisWith bans on large social gath- trators from the high school erings and persistent health will be in attendance for picrisks escalating over the past tures. three months, district officials Senior Portrait Day will run monitored the situation while from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., allowing rethinking those plans. graduates to pose for photos On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that schools Continued on page 3
By MikE SMolliNS msmollins@liherald.com
Courtesy Joe Horowitz
lyNBRook RESiDENt JoE Horowitz’s Instagram concerts began as an effort to unify those he knows in the community, but eventually reached hundreds nationwide and in other countries while providing gift cards for front-line workers and first responders.
‘I want to do more’
Garage concerts help front-line workers By MikE SMolliNS msmollins@liherald.com
Lynbrook resident Joe Horowitz wanted to use his talents to give back to the community, while also doing something far-reaching. E ve r y S u n d ay fo r 1 1 straight weeks, he took his guitar, a microphone and his cellphone into his garage and perfor med hour-long concerts on Instagram. While the perfor mances star ted as something to
entertain his friends, they soon blossomed, and brands such as the Long Islandbased Notorious Pink, a wine company, contacted him, asking to sponsor his shows. He accepted, requesting that they use the sponsorship money to purchase gift cards from local businesses for front-line workers and first responders, and soon after, more brands got involved. “Everyone in the neighborhood knows someone
who’s a doctor, a nurse or a firefighter,” Horowitz said. “Everybody knows somebody that they wanted to help, and I thought involving the restaurants was a nice way to help out the small businesses.” For Horowitz’s friend Michelle Mastrande, the assistant principal at Oceanside Middle School, the concerts provided a distraction during the madness of the coronavirus. She Continued on page 3