_______ Lynbrook/east rockaway ______
SEPTEMBER 8, 2022
FO OT BA LL PROSPECTS
’22 for the
SEASON
27 Schools
E
Vol. 29 No. 37
Also serving Bay Park
2022 FooTBAll LO OK
INS FOR IDE TH SCHSEASOE FUL EDU N L LE
Mepham High School’s
Dominick Novello
HERALD High School Preview - Inside
Students head back to school
1184923
202 2 HIGH SCHO OL SPORTS PREVIEW
Page 3
SEPTEMBER 8 - 14, 2022
$1.00
Sloth business under scrutiny once again By ANDRE SIlVA asilva@liherald.com
Courtesy Andi Schorr
CooPER SChoRR, 15, at far right, won an award from the USTA for his display of sportsmanship on and off the courts.
Young tennis star wins award Cooper Schorr, 15, honored at U.S. Open By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
I
t was more than Lynbrook High tennis player Cooper Schorr’s forehand or serve that caught the attention of the USTA. The sophomore student-athlete with a positive attitude and genuine joy for the sport was recognized by the USTA with an award for outstanding sportsmanship—demonstrating a high level of respect and compassion for fellow competitors and teammates. His goal-oriented focus and respect on the court ultimately helped him to win the E. Hawley Van Wyck, Junior Boys 14s Sportsmanship Award. The award was presented during a spe-
cial ceremony at the 2022 U.S. Open championship. Schorr, 15, has been playing tennis since he was three years old. Showing great talent at an early age, he continued to practice. At the age of 12, he began taking lessons at the U.S. Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens. His dedication to the sport continued to pay off. In 2019, he became a nationally-ranked tournament player after winning the Boys 12 doubles title with Zavier Augustin of Malverne at the USTA Empire Cup. He entered high school last year and broadened his athletic horizons trying out for footContinued on page 4
Larry Wallach doesn’t understand why some people don’t like what he describes as his wildlife and educational business. “The animals are happy,” Wallach said. “They’re healthy. Everyone here is happy. Just ask around. I don’t get what the problem is here.” The East Rockaway resident opened a petting zoo he called Sloth Encounters in Suffolk County’s Town of Islip, where he houses and offers his pet sloths — the notoriously slow-moving, long-clawed mammals indigenous to the rainforests of Central and South America. Since opening his doors earlier this year, Wallach has faced severe public backlash from wildlife and animal activists, concerned neighbors, and now Islip town officials. And it’s not his first time facing controversy over such exotic animals. He was cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year for keeping a sloth and a wallaby — a kangaroo-like animal native to Australia and New Guinea — in unsafe conditions in his East Rockaway home. Months before that, Wallach was targeted by both the USDA and the People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals over videos he posted on Facebook reportedly showing him using an electric prod to scare a juvenile tiger named Sheba. The USDA cited Wallach for violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act, claiming he kept Sheba in a rundown enclosure, and handled him in a dangerous and inhumane manner. Wallach, at the time, claimed he used the prod as a training tool to calm animals, not to shock them. He told the Herald last year he has trained up to 50 tigers, and owned dozens of wild animals of various kinds over the years. But now Wallach is up against Islip town officials who issued four court appearance tickets last month for his failure to comply with the town’s ban on wild animal possession, occupying a building without approval from a fire marshal, and other violations. Sloth Encounters is a small, two-roomed facility sitting across from the local Carvel ice cream shop. It looks like just about any other small business, until one considers it’s a location that houses live sloths. The facility hosts families and individuals to hold and take pictures with the animals while its Continued on page 18