Lynbrook/East Rockaway
HERALD Also serving Bay Park
$17.9M liRR upgrade complete
local author pens baseball book
E.R. lawyer joins renowned firm
Page 10
Page 15
Page 14
$1.00
OCTOBER 15 - 21, 2020
VOl. 27 NO. 42
Chief under fire for ‘mask Kaiser’ email wrote in the email, which was acquired by the Herald. “I have great people that work for me.” Lynbrook Police Department On Saturday, Paladino sent Chief Brian Paladino recently the Herald a statement, saying caused a stir when he responded his response stemmed from emoby email to a complaint that offi- tions running high amid a chalcers were not wearing face cov- lenging, unprecedented year. erings, writing that he would not “Our village and Police be a “mask Kaiser.” Department follow On Sept. 28, Palall CDC and New adino responded to York state guidJim Burns, of Long ance on Covid-19,” Beach, who said he he wrote. “Fronthad observed a line workers, inpatrol officer withcluding police offiout a face covering cers, have experispeaking with sevenced some of the eral unmasked most challenging teenagers in an outtimes this year. In door dining area on a recent email, I Atlantic Avenue. provided an emoPaladino wrote tional response that 20 percent of that was out of Lynbrook officers character with had previously testh ow I r u n m y e d p o s i t ive f o r BRiaN PaladiNO department. The Covid-19 and 40 per- LPD chief safety of our citicent had tested poszens and of our itive for antibodies, officers has always while they were “strictly follow- been my number one priority, ing the guidelines set forth by” which includes reminding them the Centers for Disease Control to wear masks when appropriand Prevention. ate.” “I pick my battles with my Reached by phone Friday, employees and being a mask Kai- Mayor Alan Beach said there ser with them is not one I think is worth waging at this time,” he Continued on page 9
By MikE SMOlliNS msmollins@liherald.com
i
Nicole Alcindor/ Herald
laST SaTuRday, ClaRk Street in East Rockaway was renamed Captain Robert Pryer Place at a ceremony honoring Pryer, an East Rockaway firefighter who died in the line of duty in 1970.
Street named for E.R. firefighter Robert Pryer died in line of duty 50 years ago By NiCOlE alCiNdOR nalcindor@liherald.com
Many East Rockaway firefighters say they experience a wave of emotions when reflecting on Oct. 11, 1970. On that day 50 years ago, firefighter Robert Pryer died when he fell off a Company N o. 2 f i re t r u ck wh i l e responding to an early-morning car fire. He was 26. Pryer is the only East Rockaway firefighter to die in the line of duty.
To honor his life and commemorate his death, Pryer’s family and friends, dozens of East Rockaway firefighters and elected officials gathered on Clark Street last Saturday — the 50th anniversary of his death — to rename the street Captain Robert Pryer Place. “My brother was very generous,” recalled Timothy Pryer, who has been a Hempstead firefighter for 12 years and is one of Pryer’s 12 siblings. “He never hesitated to help anybody, and I followed
in his footsteps by becoming a firefighter. I was 10 when my brother passed away, and I can still hear his laugh today.” When Pryer died, future Fire Chief Bobby Klose was also 10. Klose, whose father was the ERFD chief at the time, knew Pryer through his father. “Robert Pryer was a hardworking firefighter, and he was a role model to me,” said Klose, a 42-year ERFD memContinued on page 4
n a recent email, I provided an emotional response that was out of character with how I run my department.