Merrick Herald 01-14-2021

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Elected leaders decry violence at U.S. Capitol attempted insurrection, including one Capitol Police officer.

In the following days, U.S. The usually routine day in the Rep. Kathleen Rice joined a United States Congress on Jan. 6, growing call from Democrats when senators and representa- and Republicans to remove tives met to certify the Electoral Trump from office, either via College results of the 2020 presi- resignation, the 25th Amenddential election, turned historic ment or a second impeachment. when a virulent mob stormed They placed the the Capitol. blame of the Thousands of attempted insursupporters of Presrection squarely on ident Trump overTrump, who has whelmed Capitol consistently quesPolice and occutioned the results pied the building, of the election forcing members based on false of Congress to barclaims of fraud and ricade themselves refused a peaceful in their respective transition of chambers. The riotpower. ers’ goal was to LAuRA CuRRAn The effects of overturn the certi- Nassau County the day were felt fication of Joseph executive here on Long Biden as presidentIsland, where reacelect. A number of tions streamed in.

Republican senators and repre“The violence happening in sentatives stood with the presi- Washington today is flatly unacdent and defied the results based ceptable, regardless of who you on largely false claims of elec- supported in the election,” Nastion fraud. sau County Legislator Steve After bouts of violence, the Rhoads, a Republican from Bellmob was cleared from the build- more, wrote to followers on ing, and hours later, early on the social media the day of the riot. morning of Jan. 7, the election “This is America. It doesn’t matwas certified. Five people were left dead in the aftermath of the Continued on page 7

By AnDREW GARCIA agarcia@liherald.com

Courtesy Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District

JoHn F. KEnnEDy High School seniors, from left, Danielle Kacaj, Julia Levine, Callie Burns, Tara Fusillo and Jordyn Krinsky were named semifinalists in the 2021 Regeneron Science Talent Search competition last Thursday.

Bellmore-JFK boasts five Regeneron semifinalists

By ALyssA sEIDmAn aseidman@liherald.com

John F. Kennedy High School’s most recent crop of Regeneron Science Talent Search semifinalists was announced on Jan. 7 by the Society for Science. Seniors Callie Burns, Tara Fusillo, Danielle Kacaj, Jordyn Krinsky and Julia Levine were among the top 300 scholars in the 2021 competition.

Regeneron STS is one of the oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competitions in the country, pro-

viding students with a national stage on which to present original research. The students were selected from more than 1,700 entrants worldwide, and each earned a $2,000 award; Kennedy will receive $10,000 for school programs.

“When I first saw my name, I was in shock,” said Fusillo, 17, of Merrick. “I was so happy I couldn’t move.”

The semifinalists worked under the supervision of Barbi Frank in Kennedy’s Advanced Science Research class. Her students, who num-

bered a dozen in this year’s class, start their research as freshmen, and devote thousands of hours of work to their projects, which often have practical, potentially world-changing implications.

Frank said this was the second time the semifinalists from JFK were all girls. The first time it happened was 2004 — the same year most of the current semifinalists were born.

“I’m so excited for the representation,” said Burns, 17, of Merrick. “I think it’s aweContinued on page 3

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January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

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MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

Courtesy Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District

The RegeneRon Science Talent Search is a program of the Society for Science, and is considered one of the most prestigious pre-college science competitions in the country.

Courtesy Julia Levine

The STudenTS weRe forced to conduct a portion of their research from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Above, Julia Levine, of Bellmore, in her home lab.

All-girl group proud to be women in STEM conTinued fRom fRonT page

some that we all had this opportunity to even perform this amazing research . . . It was kind of a bonding experience for all of us girls who worked so, so hard, and it all paid off.”

But the hard work didn’t come without its own set of challenges. When the state ordered schools to pivot to remote instruction last March during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, Kennedy was no exception. Frank established a buddy system between upper and underclassmen so the older students could advise their younger peers. Additionally, ASR alumni spoke to the students every week via Zoom to share their own experiences from the class and offer advice.

“Once the pandemic hit, the 12 seniors rose to the occasion, and that commitment was so impressive and inspirational,” Frank said. “They were the only kids allowed to stay after school when school was closed . . . and it was their passion that drove this.”

Many of the students also set up home laboratories. Krinsky, whose project studied the collective effects of diet and caffeine on Parkinson’s disease in fruit flies, said she still has a CO2 tank attached to her dining room table in Bellmore. It was used to put her subjects under anesthesia.

Because of the pandemic, Kacaj’s clinical trial at Northwell Health’s Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital was put on pause. “I had to perform all of my research from home,” she said. Her project studied if pattern electroretinogram (an ophthalmologic test) could detect retinal ganglion cell dysfunction in early-

stage glaucoma patients.

Each of the students has a personal tie to her chosen research topic (see box).

Levine studied dietary factors and their potential influence on celiac symptoms in fruit flies. She, her mother and her sister all have the autoimmune disease. Her project is the first to examine the roles of glucose and fructose on such symptoms, and the first to use a fruit fly celiac model to investigate alternate treatment options for the disease, according to her summary.

Krinsky first became interested in neurodegenerative diseases after her grandmother was diagnosed with lung cancer, which spread metastatically to her brain and prevented her from performing innate tasks. Her research found that caffeine, the ketogenic diet and dietary restriction independently alleviated symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Fusillo’s project was inspired by the pandemic’s effects on socioeconomically vulnerable populations. Using readily available mortality rates, she studied how Covid-19 has disproportionately affected these hard-hit communities and shared her findings with pharmaceutical companies so they may allocate proper testing and treatment resources.

Burns’s experience as a Nassau County Youth Court advocate prompted her to investigate suspension and expulsion rates in high schools throughout Long Island. Many of the children she worked with came from the same few districts, she explained, and her research found that districts with “incorporated policing

unequally distribute discipline to minority students,” according to her summary.

Kacaj’s interest in studying glaucoma, the world’s second-leading cause of irreversible blindness, came from her own experience with poor eyesight. She explained in her summary that since early-stage glaucoma patients present normal visual field tests, one may not know they have the disease until it is too late to properly treat it. She observed this firsthand while shadowing an ophthalmologist during freshman year, she said.

“At Kennedy, we talk a lot about the importance of resiliency and adaptability,” said Principal Gerard Owenburg. “I can’t think of any other group of individuals that have demonstrated these traits better than our class of 2021 Regeneron Scholars. The fact that these students were even able to complete and submit their research was one of the most emotional moments of this school year. I could not be prouder.”

Forty of the 300 scholars will be named finalists on Jan. 21. From March 10-17, the finalists will compete for more than $1.8 million in awards provided by Regeneron.

Kennedy’s scholars expressed admiration for the work done by their fellow classmates. On the day semifinalists were announced, all 12 seniors raised the Cougar Nation victory flag, which was installed in the courtyard last month.

“By the time we become seniors in the program, we are all best friends,” Levine said. “There’s no better feeling than being able to enter in the Regeneron STS competition together.”

project titles “Student Discipline in Nassau County High Schools: Comparing Distinct Layers of Law Enforcement and Disparity in Student Punishment.”

By Callie Burns “Predicting Health Disparities in Regions at Risk of Severe Illness to Inform Healthcare Resource Allocations during Pandemics: Observational Study.”

By Tara Fusillo “Retinal Ganglion Cell Dysfunction is Associated with Macular Microvascular Abnormalities in Pre-Perimetric Glaucoma.”

By Danielle Kacaj “The Combinatorial Effects of Diet and Caffeine Mitigate Parkinson’s Disease in a Drosophila melanogaster System.”

By Jordan Krinsky “Reduced Fasciclin 2 Expression in Drosophila melanogaster Leads to Impaired Locomotor Function and Abnormal Stress Response Following Dietary Alterations of Carbohydrates in a Celiac Disease Model.”

By Julia Levine

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BMCHSD contracts vendors to conduct testing

January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

By AlyssA seidmAn aseidman@liherald.com

At its first meeting of the new year, the Central High School District Board of Education passed two resolutions that will provide Covid-19 testing capabilities to students and staff should Bellmore-Merrick be designated as one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “micro-cluster” communities.

On Jan. 6, trustees approved respective agreements with ATC Testing and Screening Services and Healthcare Logics to administer PCR nasal swab tests on site in each of the district’s five schools. The tests will come at no cost to district, and the contracts also apply to Central’s four component elementary districts, according to Superintendent John DeTommaso.

A geographic area can be designated a yellow zone if it has a seven-day rolling average positivity rate of 3 percent for 10 days and has 10 or more new daily cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day average. Other factors include whether the spread has been caused by gatherings and week-to-week growth in hospital admissions.

Additionally, “If schools are in an area deemed a yellow zone, the state mandates you test 20 percent of all of the personnel in that school,” DeTommaso said at last month’s board meeting (see box). He also said he was confident that Bellmore-Merrick’s students, teachers and staff would be open to testing so each school can reach the 20 percent threshold.

“As soon as we started hearing about micro cluster zones and the expectations of schools to test on site, we started doing our research,” said Assistant Superintendent Michael Harrington. “We all recognize that we want to keep our schools open, and we want to do it in the safest way.”

The district sent out surveys

Zoom screenshot

during A virtuAl meeting, the Central High School District Board of Education passed two resolutions that will provide Covid-19 testing capabilities to students and staff should Bellmore-Merrick be designated as one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “micro-cluster” communities. to identify people willing to get tested should the community fall into a yellow zone. The results determined that 85 percent of Central’s staff members would submit to testing on site, with another 10 percent providing results on their own, and 70 percent of Bellmore-Merrick families would allow their children to be tested on site, with another 15 percent providing off-site results, Harrington said.

Trained medical personnel from ATC and Healthcare Logics would set up designated areas in each building to conduct testing, which involves a non-invasive nasal swab of the lower half of the nostril. The PCR rapid test is considered the “most accurate,” Harrington said, and returns results within 48 to 72 hours.

Those willing to get tested will be required to fill out per-

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mission and insurance forms provided by the district ahead of time. Harrington said if a person or family does not have medical insurance, the districts will cover the cost from reimbursement from federal CARES Act funding, which provided a total $750,000 to Bellmore-Merrick schools via the Town of Hempstead.

“We’re cognizant of the fact that we’re moving closer to that Christmas/New Year’s surge,” DeTommaso said. “We will continue with monitoring cases and quarantines and paying close attention to what the next few days and weeks will bring.”

For more information about the Central District’s response to Covid-19, visit http://www.bellmore-merrick.k12.ny.us/district/ coronavirus_information.

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testing by the numbers The following is a breakdown of the total number of students, teachers and staff that would need to be tested weekly at each school if the Bellmore-Merrick community is designated as a yellow zone.

These numbers reflect 20 percent of each school’s population: John F. Kennedy High School: 205 Wellington C. Mepham High School: 245 Sanford H. Calhoun High School: 266 Meadowbrook Alternative Program: 18 Merrick Avenue Middle School: 170 Grand Avenue Middle School: 187 Information provided by Superintendent DeTommaso’s office.

Let us know News Brief items, including awards, honors, promotions and other tidbits about residents are welcome.

Photos may be emailed, as well. Deadline for submissions is noon Thursday, week prior to publication.

Send to aseidman@liherald.com

NMSD 2021-22 transportation requests deadline set

Transportation is not provided by this district for/to: ■ Children who have completed sixth grade.

■ Children who will not be 5 years old by Dec. 1, 2021.

■ Schools located more than 15 miles from the child’s home.

■ Schools located less than two miles from the child’s home.

agarcia@liherald.com

All requests for transportation should be addressed to: North Merrick UFSD Dr. Irene H. Lenhart Administrative Center 1057 Merrick Ave. North Merrick, N.Y. 11566 Applications may be picked up at the business office at Fayette School between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Students entering junior high or high school should contact the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District.

Please note: there will only be corner bus stops for the 2021-2022 school year. There will be no house stops. All students must be officially registered with the district.

Provided by the North Merrick School District; compiled by Alyssa Seidman.

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afternoon and night.

Figliola moved to Bellmore with his wife and daughter in December. The residential nature of the area reminds him of his home borough, he said, but he now has a nature preserve practically in his backyard.

“It’s not just a Queens story — it’s palatable across any place you live,” Figliola said. “It’s a neighborhood book.”

Figliola is active on his social media pages; he can be found at @mikefigs on Twitter and @MikeAFigs on Facebook.

“The Slow Midnight on Cypress Avenue” is available through most major retailers, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

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Photos courtesy Mike Figliola

MIkE FIGlIolA, Who recently moved to Bellmore, has released his debut novel, “A Slow Midnight on Cypress Avenue.” He spent months studying the street where he grew up, collecting the experiences of residents to form a series of vignettes.

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PANELISTS

A war-torn veteran; a young, affable Puerto Rican girl; the old-age architecture that defines much of Queens — such images are only a few of the intricate scenes shared by Bellmore resident Mike Figliola in his new book, “The Slow Midnight on Cypress Avenue.”

Figliola knows the street well. For the past eight months, he has studied life on the central block that runs between Queens and Brooklyn as he gathered material for his book, which offers a snapshot of one Sunday in the area. “Slow Midnight” is a linear story but also a collection of vignettes that focus on an eclectic array of characters.

Figliola grew up in Queens, too — “I’ve lived there basically my whole life,” he said. As a self-proclaimed “child of the 80s,” Figliola’s childhood was largely spent outdoors on the streets of New York, where he would play in school yards, explore railroad tracks and venture wherever he could go.

“That inspired me to write this love letter to that time in my life,” Figliola said, “and to Queens in general.”

Life on Cypress Avenue is quaint but also constantly bustling, inhabited by working class residents who take the bus and shop in their local delis. Even the architecture can feel “as alive as the people,” Figliola said, with fire escapes and stoops every few feet.

“One thing I wanted to make palatable is, whethPART ONE PANELISTS er you live in Bellmore or you live in a rust belt state, everybody is a neighbor,” Figliola said.

“This book is about people who all know each other; they all live in the same area and share small-town gossip, and it’s a day in the life of these folks.”

“Slow Midnight” is a “real character study,” Figliola said, and is divided into three parts that break up the day into morning,

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Requests for transportation to private or parochial schools outside of the North Merrick School District must be received by April 1, 2021. Children must be registered in North Merrick before submitting an application.

Families moving into the district after April 1, 2021 are given 30 days after moving in to submit such a request.

By ANDREW GARCIA

MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

Bellmore resident explores Queens culture in new book

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January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

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events and activities

community update Thursday, Jan. 14

Thursday, Feb. 4

Solely Sunshine

Book Discussion and Author Visit

Solely Sunshine was founded in 2020 by 16-year-old Nicole Salvatierra as a way to send a little “sunshine” to teens struggling with OCD or other mental illnesses. Join Nicole on a Zoom session hosted by the North Bellmore Library from 7 to 8 p.m. as she explains how an Instagram post led to her ongoing letter-writing campaign and write a personal letter of your own. Community service will be awarded.

The Merrick Library will host a book discussion and author visit via Zoom from 7 to 9 p.m., featuring Greer Macallister, author of “The Arctic Fury.” Register on the website, www.merricklibrary.org.

Virtual Student Loan Workshop Join Assemblyman Dave McDonough and the State Department of Financial Services for an in-depth workshop on repayment options, deferments, loan consolidation, student loan forgiveness, FAFSA, grants, scholarships and more.

There will be plenty of time for questions and answers, too. This Bellmore Library event is open to high school students and families. For those that register, you’ll receive an invitation to the Zoom meeting an hour before the program begins at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 20 Virtual Chair Yoga Chair Yoga is a gentle form of yoga that is practiced while sitting in a chair to help improve flexibility, strength, balance and focus. This class is for people who feel they may not be flexible enough for standard yoga. Come sit, stretch, strengthen and breathe your way to a happier, healthier you.

This North Bellmore Library class will be held virtually; participants must register with their email address. Links to a Zoom class with a password will be sent prior to the first class. From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Facebook Pajama Storytime Watch Miss Phyllis from the Merrick Library as she leads a fun storytime on the library’s Facebook page. The storytime will begin at 7 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 22 Gift wrap with Birthday Wishes L.I. Birthday wishes Long Island makes sure every child has a birthday. Come help wrap boxes that will be used to create “birthday-in-a-box” sets for children in need. Participants will be given supplies to wrap 1-2 boxes at home and to make personalized birthday cards. Supplies can be picked up at the North Bellmore Library beginning Friday, Jan. 22. Register at northbellmorelibrary.org.

Virtual Music & Movement During this interactive Bellmore Memorial Library program, your child will hear

l l l l l

Ongoing Courtesy North Bellmore School District

Dinkelmeyer kindergartners inspired to write One by one, kindergartners walked up to a box, looked inside, and saw their reflections in a mirror.

Students in Marianne Devine’s class at Dinkelmeyer Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District knew they were being introduced to an author, they just didn’t know it would be them. Above, Lucas Lau, left, and Nico Pignataro worked on their books, which included their personal interests.

familiar rhymes and songs to get them moving and dancing. Recommended for children ages 5 and under. An invitation link for Zoom will be sent via email.

Register at bellmorelibrary.org.

Friday, Jan. 22 Tech Talk: Intro to 3D Printing Join the Merrick Library for the first Tech Talk of the new year. The library has been the vanguard of the maker movement in libraries, and 3D printing has been a huge component of that trend.

Come and learn the basics of 3D printing, such as information about the 3D printers we use, how to find and prepare a project and how to start designing your own. This event will take place via Zoom from 2 to 3 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 27

Monday, Feb. 1

Virtual Winter Mediation

Zoom Event: Freedom Quilts

Learn the basics of calming and slowing down the mind, relaxing the body and opening to greater well being.

Learn a variety of techniques, including deep breathing awareness, visualization, mindfulness, guided body relaxation, mantra, sounds that relax the mind and more. Learn why meditation can lower blood pressure, enhance work performance, improve sleep and help one enjoy life more fully. Each student will be provided with the tools to create a daily meditation practice to bring calm and relaxation into one’s lifestyle. Register for this Bellmore Memorial Library program at bellmorelibrary.org. From 7 to 8 p.m.

At 4 p.m., discover the stories that quilts told in the days of the Underground Railroad to assist runaway slaves on their journey to freedom.

Learn to “read” various quilt codes, then use mathematical patterns and fabric shapes to design a quilt that tells your very own personal story. Registration begins Friday, Jan. 15th. Pick up kits for this Merrick Library program from Monday, Jan. 25-29, during regular library hours. If you are a Merrick resident and are unable to come to the library to pick up a kit, but still wish to participate in the program, email childrensroom@merricklibrary.org.

Budget Advisory Committee The North Merrick Board of Education is forming the Budget Advisory Committee for the 2021-22 budget. Members provide input through questions and suggestions to assist the board in finalizing the budget. If interested, contact District Clerk Joanne Long at (516) 292-3695.

HAVInG An EVEnT? Items on the Community Update pages are listed free of charge. The Herald welcomes listings of upcoming events, community meetings and items of public interest.

All submissions should include date, time and location of the event, cost, and a contact name and phone number. Submissions can be emailed to aseidman@liherald.com

Strike Out Cancer is holding a clothing drive on Jan. 30. Email strikeoutcancer21@gmail.com for details.

Off the Brook, a new bistro and cocktail lounge, is now open at 1810 Merrick Road in Merrick.

A brand-new coffee shop, Soul Brew, will soon open in the former site of The Bellmore Bean.

Food Truck Fridays presents “Brunch in Bellmore” @ the Bellmore LIRR, Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Two BMCHSD teachers were awarded $500 grants from Jovia Financial Credit Union.

Local leaders react to Capitol uprising

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MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

ConTinUed from fronT page

ter what side of the aisle you fall on, when protest turns to violence, it is wrong, and what we are seeing today is against everything we stand for. Our prayers go out for all who work at the Capitol and for the members of law enforcement working hard to keep everyone safe.”

“Violence like what we are seeing in Washington today should never be accepted in a free society,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said. “This is not about politics. This is about safety, freedom and decency.”

Town of Hempstead Councilman Chris Carini, a former police officer, posted a remembrance of the Capitol Police officer who was killed during the attack. “RIP to U.S. [Capitol] Police officer Brian Sicknick, a 12-year veteran of the department,” he wrote.

On Sunday afternoon, a group of Trump supporters gathered at the Bellmore train station and were met by a group of counter-protesters, according to a Nassau County Police Department press information officer.

The group of roughly 30 people eventually dispersed after police were contacted.

Lawrence Garfinkel, president of the Merrick Historical Society and the Merrick Brotherhood, said the answer to preventing catastrophes like the one that unfolded in Washington, is one word: education. From a young age, children must be taught to recognize right and wrong, he said, which is passed down from parents, educators and social clubs, like the Society and Brotherhood.

“We must continue our education here in the United States to do all we can do to produce youngsters who will eventually understand the best choices that they can make,” Garfinkel said.

Courtesy Martin Falbisoner via Wikimedia Commons

The U.S. CapiTol was attacked last Wednesday by a mob of angry Trump supporters.

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January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

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Nassau lawmakers react to Capitol violence

By Laura Lane, andrew Garcia and Scott Brinton llane@liherald.com, agarcia@liherald.com, sbrinton@liherald.com

“For those asking, my staff and I are safe,” tweeted Congresswoman Kathleen Rice at 4:03 p.m. Wednesday, as she and others barricaded themselves within the chambers of the U.S. Capitol against a mob of insurrectionists.

Lawmakers were scheduled to spend the day debating the certification of Electoral College results in the presidential election — a usually uneventful day in Congress.

It was interrupted, however, by thousands of supporters of Presi d e n t D o n a l d T r u m p who stormed the Capitol, overrunning police barricades, scaling walls and invading the structure.

Sometime between 3 and 4 p.m., Congress members were instructed to retrieve gas masks from under their chairs.

“Tear gas had been used in the Rotunda,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, of Glen Cove, during a Kathleen rice call to the press from an undisclosed area. His voice was measured and calm when sharing his experience. “The chaplain of the Congress said a prayer. The doors in the chamber were locked, but then people began banging on them.”

The rioters had forced security to barricade the doors to the House chamber with furniture, their weapons drawn, prepared to fire. Republican and DemoGregory meeks cratic lawmakers huddled together, said Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive. One insurrectionist broke through the glass on the main door, which the president enters through for the State of the Union.

“The glass is broken, but I don’t know if it was shots or banging,” Suozzi said. “I did hear a ‘pop, pop, pop.’”

“My staff and I are safe and andrew Garbarino currently in lockdown,” U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement during the melee.

“The storming of the U.S. Capitol is a stain on American democracy. Make no mistake—this disgraceful violence will not stop the inauguration of Joe Biden on Jan. 20.”

Lawmakers in both houses of Congress later reconvened after a 6 p.m. curfew, during which time police escorted the insurrectionists out of the Capitol. The Congress members voted to certify the Electoral College results that declared former Vice President Joseph Biden as the president-elect.

Several representatives and senators have placed the blame of the attempted insurrection squarely on Trump, who for weeks had sown discord and spread lies about false instances of fraud in the November election. Protesters in and outside of the Capitol were clad with Trump merchandise.

“The president incited a domestic terror attack on the Capitol,” Rice, who represents the 4th Congressional District, wrote on Twitter. “He is an imminent threat to our democracy, and he needs to be removed from office immediately. The cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment.”

Rice later re-tweeted a video from U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, who joined the call for Trump’s removal. Invoking the 25th Amendment would require the support of Vice President Mike Pence and a majority of the president’s cabinet. Pence would then assume the role as president if Trump were found

Courtesy Tom Suozzi

u.S. rep. tom Suozzi, a former Nassau County executive, was in the House of Representatives chamber when violence broke out at the Capitol last Wednesday. He is shown here in the early morning hours on Thursday, after lawmakers voted to certify the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States. unfit for office.

Last Thursday, Rice again tweeted, questioning where Chad Wolf, the head of Homeland Security, was during the protests. “Absolutely unacceptable for him and the entirety of [the Department of Homeland Security] to be completely absent during this domestic terror attack,” she wrote.

Local reaction to last Wednesday’s events was swift.

“For hundreds of years, the peaceful transition of power has been a foundation of our country,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said. “It doesn’t matter who you voted for — violence like what we are seeing in Washington today should never be accepted in a free society. This is not about politics. This is about safety, freedom and decency. I am lending my voice in support of law enforcement who are keeping everyone safe.”

U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, who represents the 5th Congressional District on the southwest Queen-Nassau bor-

der, spoke to the history of the moment on Twitter. “The world is watching as the greatest democracy braces against an attempted coup.” Referring to President Trump, he continued, the day’s events were “stirred by its leader who’d rather watch the country burn than transition power.

“Our ability to advocate for democracy around the world,” Meeks said, “will be significantly hurt after this tragic day in America.”

Andrew Garbarino, the newly elected representative from the South Shore’s 2nd District, had only been in Congress four days when the Trump protesters stormed the Capitol. At a little before 4 p.m., he tweeted, “It doesn’t matter which side you support — violence is never the answer. This must stop now.”

He added, “Thank you to the law enforcement at the Capitol for working diligently to keep everyone safe.”

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MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

10

Coliseum may see concert surge later this year NASSAu coLISEum IS expected to see a spike in concert activity in late 2021 and early 2022, according to a report from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency.

By BRIAN STIEGLITZ bstieglitz@liherald.com

Nassau Coliseum may see a surge in the number of concerts that it hosts late this year and early next year, according to a report from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency.

The IDA hired consulting firms Camoin Associates and RMG SportsVentures, which conducted the 13-page report last month to forecast the Coliseum’s economic impact once coronavirus pandemic restrictions lift.

The consultants predicted that demand for live music would surge in the fall of 2021, during which Madison Square Garden, the Barclay’s Center and other large music venues are booked with acts that had to reschedule during the pandemic. Such high demand could “create a short-term positive” for the Coliseum by drawing in more acts that could not secure a spot at the larger venues, according to the report.

The Coliseum may not see the same success with hockey games, however. The Islanders are expected to start playing games at the Coliseum this month, if the 2020-21 NHL seasons commences. Then, in late 2021, the team will relocate to its new home at the UBS Arena at Belmont Park. The report states, however, that “it is not clear whether there will be in-person attendance, and at what capacity, for games at either location.”

The consultants developed the report from a series of interviews conducted in November with executives and officials from the music and sports industries. The report does not take into account other events that the Coliseum offers, such as LI Nets basketball games and family entertainment shows.

All of the consultants’ findings depend on the venue’s ability to meet certain Covid-19 guidelines, such as proper ventilation, vaccination availability, and rapid testing of employees and talent.

The report also states that the Coliseum is “a secondtier venue” and may have a slower economic recovery

Christina Daly/Herald

than the larger venues like MSG and the Barclay’s Center. Once the pandemic ends, the consultants predict, it may take another four to six months before the Coliseum is back to normal.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Coliseum generated about $4 million in annual revenue to the county.

In August, the Coliseum’s former tenant, Onexim Sports and Entertainment, defaulted on payments and handed control of the arena and the Nassau Hub development to its lender, the U.S. Immigration Fund, which is running the Coliseum under the name Nassau Live.

The deal reached between the two parties recovers $2.2 million in overdue rent owed to Nassau County by Onexim, which temporarily shuttered the Coliseum two

months before because of the toll the venue took from coronavirus restrictions.

USIF is based out of Jupiter, Fla., and run by Nick Mastroianni II. Although not directly tied to the U.S. government, USIF created a $100 million loan for the Coliseum renovation, soliciting 200 Chinese investors through a federal program that grants visas for job-creating projects.

Bruce Ratner, owner of Forest City Ratner, sold the Coliseum lease to Onexim in 2015 and developed the financing program. Mastroianni then secured the loan under another company called Nassau Coliseum Funding 100.

Staying home for college amid the pandemic

By NIcoLE ALcINdoR nalcindor@liherald.com

When college doors reopened in the fall and fears of spreading the virus were widespread, many Long Island colleges adopted a hybrid model of in-person and online classes and extracurricular activities— which changed the academic and physical dynamic of the college experience for many.

With new social-distancing guidelines also being applied colleges, Long Islanders attending university from home or those living in college dorms experienced many social, emotional and psychological changes and challenges.

With only a few weeks before the spring semester begins, and with the second wave of the pandemic in full effect, many college-aged Long Islanders are faced with the decision to return to their dorms for school or transfer to local schools.

Herald Inside LI hosted a free live Zoom webinar, sponsored by Molloy College, last Thursday to discuss many of the questions that college-aged students and their parents have about staying local for college.

During the webinar, representatives from Molloy College, Adelphi University, Nassau Community College and the New

York Institute of Technology provided insight about how their schools have become more flexible because of the pandemic, including their recent decision to accept students on rolling admissions to accommodate those making last-minute decisions to stay local for the spring semester.

“We went test-optional by eliminating the requirement of applicants having SAT and ACT scores for admissions, and now we are only looking at academic scores,” said Marguerite Lane, assistant vice president of enrollment management at Molloy College. “They can send ACT or SAT scores if they want, but Molloy College won’t use students’ scores for their disadvantage, but only to their advantage, because many students might not have been able to test more than once or take a review course because of the pandemic.”

Molloy College will start the spring semester Jan. 20, and students still interested in applying have up to two weeks into the beginning of the semester to apply.

“Most of our students had a good experience in the fall semester at home doing school, and I know they are continuing with that in this upcoming spring semester because our admission numbers for the spring are where we expected,” Lane

said. “People have been resilient, and college students, particularly new ones, have adapted well to the hybrid model for events and classes, but we hope to return to a normal college experience in the new year.”

Nassau Community College went 90 percent online for the fall semester, and it will continue that way in the spring. For the community college, SAT and ACT scores have always been optional. For the spring semester, NCC has adopted a late start semester to allow students to apply later than usual and start later than usual.

“Even though we have seen an uptick of 22 percent more students taking winter classes, we are under the normal enrollment for spring semester,” said Dave Follick, dean of admissions at Nassau Community College. “We are doing more initiatives to get more people to enroll, but we think a lot of people are not returning because they did not like online school.”

In the new year, Nassau Community College will offer in-person sports options and mostly virtual clubs and extracurricular activities.

For Adelphi University, the vice president of enrollment management and university communications, Kristen Capezza, said enrollment has been the same for spring semester; however, she said she

has noticed a shift in students who are participating in clubs, with more students than ever joining virtual clubs.

“People can still remain connected if they want to, and we offer dorms, as well as virtual tours where students interested in applying can provide commentary and receive feedback while getting an online tour,” she said. “This past semester, we also saw students who had stellar grades, and then because of the pandemic, we saw a fall in their grade point average. We know that the pandemic affected them, so we just asked those students to share what happened, and we are doing our best to be understanding.”

In the same way, Karen Vahey, the dean of admissions and financial aid enrollment management at New York Institute of Technology, said students at her college have been more involved in virtual events.

“Even though I worry about students getting bored with virtual events, [many] more students are getting involved in virtual activities than they ever did before with in-person campus activities,” Vahey said. “We pushed back our deadlines for enrollment and waved the standardized testing to get in. We just want to get these students over the finish line, despite the pandemic.”

11

MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

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Go time for Bellmore-Merrick sports

By TONY BELLISSIMO tbellissimo@liherald.com

For the first time since mid-March, Nassau County high school athletes participated in practice for their respective sports on Jan. 4 as the long-anticipated season for low- and moderate-risk winter sports got off the ground despite rising Covid-19 cases.

Public high schools all across Long Island are moving forward to compete in bowling, gymnastics, track and field, fencing and swimming/diving, with events beginning this week. High-risk winter sports such as basketball, wrestling, hockey and competitive cheerleading remain on hold subject to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s guidelines.

In the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, Calhoun, Kennedy and Mepham High Schools combine their students to form teams in bowling and boys’ swimming, while each has its own boys’ and girls’ track teams.

Nassau’s track and field schedules had to be revamped after the county was notified by St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington that it would be unable to host meets inside its fieldhouse.

Instead, Section VIII, the governing body for Nassau high school athletics, moved to Plan B: outdoor meets at high schools.

The first few weeks will be strictly virtual, with the possibility of in-person dual

Alyssa Seidman/Herald

CaLhOuN hIgh SChOOL’S girls’ track and field team is preparing for a condensed season with all meets taking place outdoors, weather permitting. meets in play for late January and early February.

“It’s really exciting to be back with my teammates,” Calhoun senior track standout Faith Dwyer said. “It has almost been a year since I raced and I’m hoping to show my times to college coaches. Running outside in the cold will be difficult, but everyone is in the same boat.”

Colts girls’ track and field coach Joe

Migliano is hopeful every team in Nassau can compete in up to 10 meets. “We’ve had 50 girls at practice,” he said. “They know they’ll be outside and competing with masks on, but they’re willing to do whatever they need to do.”

Coach Bob Kaefer said the district’s boys’ swimming/diving roster is nearly 50 percent smaller than usual, with 16 athletes compared to the usual 30. “The low

turnout isn’t great for the team or the sport, but it’s good for social distancing rules,” he said. “We have seven dual meets on the schedule and hopefully we can conduct division and county meets.”

Like the track and field athletes, swimmers are likely to be competing against some opponents virtually, with teams located at different sites. Times and scores would be compared to determine a winner.

Maxwell Hahn, a junior at Mepham who swims the backstroke and freestyle, said he’s excited about the start of the season, and believes the team can compete for a division championship.

District boys’ bowling coach Joe Bianca said the program will only compete at the varsity level and carry a roster of eight. Bowlers must wear a mask at all times. “Practices have gone smooth,” he said.

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association said it will not put another potential start date on basketball, wrestling, hockey and competitive cheer, and instead wait for authorization from the governor’s office.

Longtime Kennedy boys’ basketball head coach Rory Block said he was hopeful the sport would be pushed back to later in the school year. “It’s a very difficult time,” he said. “I feel bad for the kids.

They only have so many years they’re able to compete at the high school level.”

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January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

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A new camp introduced by the Friedberg Jewish Community Center in Oceanside recently completed its third summer program and has grown into a year-round platform for LGBTQ children ages 6 through 17.

Camp Ga’avah (Pride) began as a pilot program in 2018 with a grant from the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York, according to co-founder Ellen Diamond, of Merrick, and had nine children and teens enrolled for a one-week summer camp. In 2020, despite the challenges of the pandemic, 13 people took part in the camp over a seven-week span, including five newcomers.

“The only difference between this year’s camp and the first two was the location,” said Stephanie Abrams, the director of camping services at Friedberg JCC. “Instead of at the campgrounds in Wheatley Heights, it was held on site here at Friedberg JCC. It’s exciting to have new kids on board. We still had arts and crafts, sports and fireside chats where they all really bond.”

Abrams described the camp, which starting this year is increasing to eight weeks beginning on June 28, as a safe, welcoming place for kids who identify as LGBTQ as well as gender fluid, gender creative and gender questioning. Allies, such as siblings or friends, are also encouraged to enroll.

Diamond said the camp has been “lifechanging for some of the kids . . . This is a place where they can totally be themselves.”

Year-round activities, with the exception of a weekly virtual meeting, are on hold due to Covid-19. In the past the camp has featured field trips to Broadway shows, museums, ice skating, hiking, nature walks and guest lecturers that

serve as “LGBTQ role models for our kids,” Diamond said.

Friedberg JCC also offers a parent/ guardian support group that meets virtually on the first Thursday of every month.

Diamond moderates the group, which Jen Chasin, of Merrick, is a part of. After her son came out as transgender in early 2019, she began looking for an outlet to provide him with support. At Camp Ga’avah, she said, “My kid felt at home.”

Chasin’s son, who wished to remain anonymous, attended his first summer at Camp Ga’avah in 2019. It was there, he said, that he “finally” found a place where he could relate to other kids. His favorite activity is the daily fireside chats, where he and other campers can talk openly about current events, feelings and LGBTQ topics.

“It’s a good place to get things off my chest,” he said. “I met a lot of friends and met really nice people [at camp].”

Diamond said she’s had parents say their children never had close friends before enrolling at Camp Ga’avah.

Abrams noted that some of her campers have started Gay Straight Alliance clubs in their schools. “I think kids feel more empowered by our camp and gain confidence and become more active in their everyday lives,” she said.

Chasin recommended other parents with LGBTQ-identifying children to join the support group so they can better understand what their kid is going through. “The kids from camp have encouraged me to think twice about certain things, and it gets the parents to accept that this is who their child is,” she said. “For the kids, it’s all about validation and confidence, and to parents with kids bringing it up, be open, be loving and be accepting.”

For more information about Camp Ga’avah’s summer and year-round programs, visit friedbergjcc.org.

15

MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021 Photos by Brian Stieglitz/Herald

BLAck LIvES Matter demonstrators marched in Wantagh last weekend to condemn the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Protesters clash at Black Lives Matter march

By BRIAN STIEGLITZ bstieglitz@liherald.com

Two political groups faced off at the Wantagh Long Island Rail Road station on Saturday during a Black Lives Matter protest in response to the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Protesters were marching to condemn systemic racism and double standards in policing, they said, specifically in light of last week’s swarming of the Capitol by a mostly white crowd protesting the results of November’s presidential election.

“They want to take us back to a time when everyone else was under their boots,” Terrel Tuosto, 28, of West Hempstead, said of the demonstrators in Washington. Tuosto was one of the organizers of the Wantagh protest, which included members of the local activist groups Black, White, Brown United and Long Island Peaceful Protest.

As Tuosto spoke, a group of about a dozen counterprotesters congregated across the street and began chanting “All lives matter!” and “This is what communism looks like!” among other phrases.

The group carried a large “Trump 2020” flag, and most wore sweatshirts that said “F--- Antifa,” while others sported propolice shirts and hats. Nassau County police separated the two groups on opposite sides of Railroad Avenue, in front of the LIRR platform.

Addressing the Black Lives Matter protesters, Tuosto brought up the reaction of many Trump supporters to Colin Kaepernick, a former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who in the 2016 NFL season took a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality.

Many who disagreed with Kaepernick said he was disrespecting the American flag, Tuosto said. But some of the protesters who raided the U.S. Capitol building were seen removing an American flag and replacing it with a Trump flag, among other actions of vandalism.

“Where is the outrage now?” Tuosto asked.

He encouraged the group to ignore the counterprotesters, and likened them to

TERREL TuoSTo, LEfT, spoke with Nassau County police officers before the march. children screaming to get attention. “You don’t have to explain yourself to them or go back and forth,” he said. “That’s what they want.”

Before the group started marching, a Nassau County police officer explained to Tuosto that they could not block vehicular or pedestrian traffic and had to march on the sidewalk. They stepped off and began marching on Wantagh Avenue, before police officers began shouting that they would be arrested if they did not leave the street. Officers then shepherded the protesters and counterprotesters to the sidewalks on either side of the avenue, where both groups marched north.

Tuosto has led a number of marches on Long Island since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last May. Terrel and his brother, Tiandre, were arrested on June 12 at a protest in East Meadow for allegedly blocking traffic.

Tuosto’s arrest was captured in a video, which later went viral on Twitter, that shows officers throwing him to the ground and pinning him to the pavement before handcuffing him.

Over the course of dozens of protests since then, Tuosto and his fellow organizers have been handcuffed, pinned to the ground and detained a number of times

for similar infractions. Most of the incidents can be seen in videos on the Facebook and Twitter pages of Long Island Peaceful Protest.

Saturday’s march came after Tuosto resigned from the county’s Police and Community Trust and Community Collaborative Task Force — a subset of the county’s Public Safety Committee — along with several other members, over what they called a lack of inclusion or input in the county’s plans for police reform.

The Public Safety Committee has been drafting plans for police reform at public meetings in response to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations all summer and in the months since. But advocates like Tuosto have said they were not given enough time to address their concerns at Public Safety Committee meetings or enough knowledge about the county’s plans.

About an hour into Saturday’s demonstration, the counterprotesters left and the Black Lives Matter group continued to residential side streets of Wantagh.

They marched until sunset, finishing back at the Wantagh LIRR station.

Public Notices

LMER1 0114

LEGAL NOTICE Design 180 Interior, LLC. Filed with the SSNY on 11/19/2020.

Office: Nassau County. SSNY designated as agent for process and shall mail copy of process to: 333 Earle Ovington Blvd Ste #225 Uniondale, NY 11553. Purpose: any lawful 124172 To Place A Notice Call 516-569-4000 x232

LEGAL NOTICE BELLMORE-MERRICK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BELLMORE U.F.S.D. MERRICK U.F.S.D.

NORTH BELLMORE U.F.S.D. NORTH MERRICK U.F.S.D. TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD, COUNTY OF NASSAU NOTICE TO BIDDERS: In accordance with provision of Section 103 of the General Municipal Law, the Board of Education of the Bellmore-Merrick Transportation Consortium hereby invites the submission of sealed bids for: Bellmore-Merrick Cooperative School Year Bid 2020-2021 Bids will be publicly

opened and read at the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District Business Office, 1260 Meadowbrook Road, North Merrick, New York, on Tuesday, January 26, at 10:00 am. Specifications and Bid Forms may be obtained from the office of Tom Volpe, Director of Transportation, between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.

The Board of Education reserves the right to waive any informalities in or to reject in whole or in part all bids or to accept

any bid which in its judgment is in the best interest of the school district.

By order: Board of Education BELLMORE-MERRICK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT BELLMORE U.F.S.D. MERRICK U.F.S.D. NORTH BELLMORE U.F.S.D. NORTH MERRICK U.F.S.D. 124379

PUBLIC & LEGAL NOTICES To place a notice here call us us at 516-569-4000 x232 or send an email to: legalnotices@liherald.com

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Fax your ad to: 516-622-7460 E-mail you ad to: ereynolds@liherald.com E-mail Finds Under $100 to: sales@liherald.com DEADLINE: Monday, 11:00 am for all classified ads.

Every effort is made to insure the accuracy of your ad. Please check your ad at the first insertion. Credit will be made only for the first insertion. Credit given for errors in ads is limited to the printed space involved. Publisher reserves right to reject, cancel or correctly classify and ad.

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17

HOME OF THE WEEK

Hewlett Harbor

e s t. 1 9 1 1

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T

his home is a one of a kind stunner in exclusive Hewlett Harbor. Built with top of the

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© 2019 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. All rights reserved. CENTURY 21® and the CENTURY 21 Logo are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Century 21 Real Estate LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each office is independently owned and operated. It is your responsibility to ensure that the marketing materials you choose or create are compliant with real estate and other local laws in your area.

proximity to Manhattan, Brooklyn

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MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

Homes

HERALD

‘Are we living in a police state?’

Homes

HERALD

To place an ad call 516-569-4000 press 5

• To place an ad call 516-569-4000 press 5

Now is the time to buy or sell a home.

Buyers are enjoying lifetime low interest rates.

Sellers are getting multiple offers at and above asking prices. Housing inventory is extremely low and buyer demand is strong.

Real estate

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Call me for a free professional consultation.

Melinda Beauchamp Licensed Real Estate Salesperson

Mobile: 516.721.7805

mbeauchamp@coachrealtors.com mbeauchamp.coachrealtors.com 314 Sunrise Highway Rockville Centre NY 11570

Melinda & Thor

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spacious 3 Br top Floor 2 Family House, parking, nice Area $3000 +Gas & electric.

Broker - 516-378-2884

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DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOUR HOME IS WORTH?

Call for Your FREE Home Market evaluation now!

Lisa a. Fava CBR, sRs, aBR

LiCensed assoCiate BRokeR, LiCense #10301204103 1116815

50 Hempstead avenue Lynbrook, nY

516 815-2434

“Going Above & Beyond to find your Dream Home”

IN BRIEF Coach Realtors Welcomes Meliza Berrios

Meliza Berrios also known as Liz is a lifelong resident of the 5 Towns. Growing up in a diverse community taught her to embrace cultures, to be humble and be diligent. After 25 years working in the medical field, she has decided to change careers and assist people in finding their dream home. She has a passion for renovation, restoration and décor, allowing her to guide each client to see the possibilities in a property and look beyond any imperfections. Liz has a cheerful personality, is compassionate and takes pride in ensuring people are content. Her administration and communication skills are some of the attributes she will be adding to the Hewlett team. She is bilingual - speaking Spanish and English. With her extensive background, social network and work ethic, she is prepared to find a buyer for your home and/or find the perfect home for your family. Contact our office to meet her and LIST with LIZ! Meliza Berrios mberrios@coachrealtors.com 516-668-1145 Realtors are encouraged to send briefs and photographs to: Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd.., Garden City, NY 11530.

Rhonda Healy

M: (516) 236-7269

Real Estate Salesperson, abR, SRS E: Rhonda.Healy.VW@gmail.com Verdeschi & Walsh Realty 1025 W. Beech St. | Long Beach, NY

OneKey Multiple Listing Service

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January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

18

One phone call, one order, one heck of a good price to run your ad in any state, or across the country.

Call the

USA Classified Network today!

1-800-231-6152

JOBS, MERCHANDISE, REAL ESTATE & MORE...

JOBS, MERCHANDISE, It’s inESTATE the Herald Classifieds...

REAL & MORE...

To Advertise Call 516-569-4000 JOBS, MERCHANDISE, REAL ESTATE & MORE...

JOBS, MERCHANDISE, REAL ESTATE & MORE... press 5

Q. I’m so confused. I keep seeing programs on TV where it looks much simpler and the cost is so much lower than I’m getting estimates for. I also notice that there are no building inspectors, architects or permits.

Why is this? Are we living in a police state? What is the real situation? I need to save time and money.

A. I’ve noticed, over the years, the difference between the generation that trusted architects and engineers to advise them and the Information Age clients, who get their answers from TV shows and cellphones, even if the media information is staged, exaggerated and inaccurate. It really all comes down to money, and it always has. Unless cononte eeper sumers understands that they know only a tiny amount of the full equation, they feel emboldened by the misinformation being fed by inexperienced or uneducated people offering opinions without substance.

You need to realize that the shows you see on TV are paid for and starred in by people who aren’t licensed professionals, and even when they’re pouring their heart into how nice-looking they can make the home or how much they can get for their investment, they’re often creating issues that would not pass in your state or climate region. What I experience, weekly, are people who are given wrong advice by non-professionals who have generally never experienced having to put their name on the project, legally, and haven’t had to accept responsibility, either personally or professionally, for the unknowing problems they create. In just a single week, I encountered multiple problems with people making bad decisions.

Many media shows are made in places where there is minimal regulation. States where some shows are filmed require no professional input.

Many shows never include anything official in the form of licensed professionals, building officials, regulations, permits or even the mention of permits. While permits don’t make buildings stand up, shows mislead people into thinking of how easy or fast a project can get built. Thus, the reality upsets people who, in some cases, refuse to accept the truth. People feel empowered to defy the law.

During only one day, a contractor decided to ignore the hours when construction work could be done, another told the client he could change the structure, and another tried to defy the zoning requirements by changing the height. The next day, a potential client showed me their foundation-less deck, intending for it to be documented for a permit so they could sell. They weren’t expecting to be told they would need to invest in foundation piers under each post, which the law requires.

Then there are the contractor and plumber who were willing to do the work and take the money, during the pandemic, just not to cooperate with filing for the permit when the building department reopened. Hollywood is based on myth and illusion.

Reality actually saves time and money, if you get caught or things have to be done over again.

Ask The Architect

M

L

© 2021 Monte Leeper Readers are encouraged to send questions to yourhousedr@aol.com, with “Herald question” in the subject line, or to Herald Homes, 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530, Attn: Monte Leeper, architect.

19

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MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

HERALD

January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

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Answers

to todAy’s puzzle

21

opInIons

spent last Wednesday afternoon scurrying up and down the stairs at home, rushing between my desk upstairs and the TV downstairs. I flipped between CNN, MSNBC and Fox, my pulse, as measured by my watch, racing faster as the afternoon went on.

I was reporting on the insurrection at the Capitol for liherald.com, shooting emails to editors and reporters, talking with them on the phone and typing as fast as my fingers could move.

By 4:30, we had published a story in which U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi sCoTT recounted the horrifying details of BRInTon the Capitol takeover by a violent mob.

He had escaped unscathed, but he was clearly shaken.

The afternoon was the ignominious end to the Trump presidency, a final, inglorious melee that concluded with five people, including one Capitol Police officer, dead.

President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Mo Brooks spoke at a rally that preceded the Capitol takeover, stoking anger. And so, only days before Trump will leave office, he is, it appears, once again under investigation.

Karl Racine, the attorney general for Washington, D.C., told ABC News Friday that his office would examine the president’s

I

alleged role in inciting the violence. “Clearly, the Capitol was ground central in the mob’s behavior,” Racine told “Good Morning America.” “Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, even the president were calling on supporters and hate groups to go to the Capitol, and in Rudy’s words, ‘exercise combat justice.’ We’re going to investigate not only the mob, but those who incited the violence.”

It was all unfathomably shocking, but unsurprising, given the angry messaging that Trump had telegraphed ever since he ran for president in 2015. Since Wednesday, officials and pundits, both Democrats and Republicans, have spoken out, calling the president a clear and present danger to the American people. Trump is, and has been, a destabilizing force, continually acting to divide rather than unify, they correctly noted.

What we often lose amid Trump’s rapidfire tweets and fire-and-brimstone rally speeches, though, is the direct effect of his policies on the American people, in particular his dismantling of many environmental regulations enacted over decades to protect our health and our world.

Before the insurrection, I had intended to write this week on all that President-elect Joe Biden must do to clean up Trump’s disastrous environmental policies, beginning with rejoining the Paris Agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions, which the

J

U.S. adopted in December 2015, President Obama signed in August 2016 — and Trump withdrew from in June 2017. The accord was signed by 196 nations before the U.S. pulled out. To date, the U.S. has been the only country to withdraw.

It might seem incongruous to write about Trump’s environmental policy on a week when insurrectionists, egged on by the president, stormed the Capitol. It might, but it’s not.

Both are directly related to the well-being of the American people. The invasion of the Capitol desecrated one of our most sacred government institutions and posed a direct threat to our democracy. Loosening environmental regulations while defiling our sacred lands — our national forests and parks — poses a direct threat to the planet.

Humans — and all life forms, for that matter — require clean air and water. That was of little consequence to the Trump administration, however. According to the World Resources Institute, a Washingtonbased environmental think tank, Trump, nearly from the start of his presidency, targeted the Obama-era Clean Power Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Under Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency repealed the plan — which, according to an EPA internal analysis, could result in 1,400 premature deaths because of air pollution and $30 billion in

an. 6 was an ignominious end to the Trump presidency.

health damages, with the worst effects in the industrial Midwest.

Imagine that: The federal agency vested with protecting our environment and our health actually rolled back a policy that would help protect our planet and save lives.

Let that sink in.

That was Trump’s macro approach to our environment — a wholesale reduction in sound standards — but he also took a micro approach. He blocked a U.S. Department of Energy policy, established under the Bush administration in 2007, to phase out energy-inefficient light bulbs. The rollback, according to WRI, is expected to cost the average American household an extra $100 a year, and in the aggregate, families and businesses will spend an additional $12 billion a year.

Imagine that: The federal agency charged with improving energy efficiency actually rolled back a policy aimed at doing just that.

Why? The only answer is greed. Such rollbacks, of which there were dozens more under Trump, benefited not the American people, but the president’s corporate cronies. Yes, we must pay very close attention to the dangers before us in the here and now, but we also must address the slow-burning fires that Trump quietly set while distracting us with his Twitter tirades.

Scott Brinton is the Herald Community Newspapers’ executive editor and an adjunct professor at the Hofstra University Herbert School of Communication. Comments about this column? SBrinton@liherald.com.

When it comes to Trump, newspapers go BIG

have seen my share of heart-stopping headlines. In The New York Times, I read “MEN WALK ON MOON,” “NIXON RESIGNS,” “U.S. ATTACKED” and the one-word, stand-alone headline from Nov. 5, 2008: “OBAMA.” These bold, 96-point headlines are saved for momentous, ground-shifting news. One editor famously said that if a headline writer wanted to go bigger than 96 point, it better read, “THE SECOND COMING.” Last week, the day after armed RAndI Trump supporters kReIss stormed and invaded the Capitol building, the Times blasted, “TRUMP INCITES MOB.” The San Francisco Chronicle went with one word, “INSURRECTION,” and The Guardian, in England, wrote, “ANARCHY IN THE USA.” Even though I saw the mob storming the Capitol in real time on television, I still could not fully absorb the impact of what was happening. Trump followers were incited by the president of the United States to loot and damage the Capitol building because inside, a fully legitimate election

was about to be formally signed and sealed.

The raging violence of the mob was shocking, even though, in hindsight, it was inevitable. The president has been stoking this fire for years. But “anarchy” in the USA? Photos flashing around the world of crazed vandals desecrating our cherished monuments, breaking through windows to ransack the speaker’s desk? It looked like a Halloween melee gone berserk, complete with weird hats and freaky masks.

One man wore a T-shirt that read “Camp Auschwitz.”

They were clownish and rabid, rather than organized in any way. They got lucky, because law enforcement agencies weren’t organized, either, and so the mob raged for way too long, before the cavalry arrived.

These people are Trump’s posse. He owns them; he owns the events of Jan. 6. And I sure hope we do more as a society than take away his freaking Twitter account. No one knows what will happen in the coming days, but in order to set the country right, every one of the thugs in the Capitol building that day, and every single one of the enablers and inciters, up to and including Trump himself, have to be held accountable for their parts in the riot. Otherwise, what has been undone,

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what the mob did to destabilize our government, can never be reconciled. It won’t do to wipe off the fingerprints and pick up the broken pieces. How can we feel good about ourselves as a country until the violators are brought to justice?

We Americans have always known our story. It is part of our national narrative. It goes like this: We are winners. We are optimists.

We have a can-do attitude that allows us to face down our enemies and conquer any challenge that life presents.

We invent things, fix things and help others. We are smart as hell, and we don’t come in second.

Slowly, that narrative has unraveled. It didn’t happen last week when the Trumpers stormed the Capitol; it has been happening since Trump took office. Our pride and position have been diminished, and our reputation has been sullied. Serendipity played a part as well, with a worldwide pandemic landing on our doorstep, crushing us into small, isolated spaces.

So, the new narrative is: In a creepy confluence of circumstances, a charismatic but fatally flawed leader rose to power in America at the same time that millions of people

nd I sure hope we do more than take away his Twitter account.

were drifting, feeling disenfranchised as the rich got richer and more powerful. A match was struck in the weeds of this discontent, and the conflagration began. It is still consuming our nation. Witness the events of Jan. 6.

We have become reactive rather than proactive. Our leaders have had a failure of imagination. Rather than foreseeing and avoiding problems, we’re in the business of doing patches and fixes and cleanups.

Wasn’t anyone reading Trump’s tweets when he was urging followers to come to Washington? Couldn’t anyone in the National Guard or the Capitol Police possibly have foreseen the danger ahead?

We begin to reclaim our dignity by finding and arresting the people who ran amok last week. We begin by giving our new president and his people a chance to do the right things. People can disagree. They can raise their voices loud and long and vote their hearts and minds, but they cannot break windows in the people’s house or plant pipe bombs around the capital of the United States.

Something has permanently shifted in our collective consciousness. Something unthinkable is possible that was not possible before: TRUMP INCITES MOB. Copyright 2021 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.

MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

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A day of reckoning after four frightful years

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Herald editorials

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January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

HERALD and Merrick Herald News Established 1994

Please, get vaccinated when it’s your turn

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n Monday, New York entered Phase 1b of the state’s Covid-19 vaccination program, meaning first responders, public safety and transit workers and anyone 75 or older can now get the vaccine. Phase 1a started in mid-December, with vaccinations first offered to health care workers and longterm care facility residents.

By all measures, the vaccines are safe and effective. If you can sign up, you should seriously consider doing so. Getting the vaccine is a personal decision. No one can be forced to receive it. If we want to beat this virus, however, the vaccine is the way to do it.

In Nassau County, we clearly need more vaccination sites, working around the clock, to get this job done.

Social distancing and mask wearing are critical, but these measures were never intended to defeat the virus, only to slow

Jim HArmon

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its progression until a vaccine could be developed and administered.

Even after we have reached “herd immunity,” when 60 to 70 percent of the population has been vaccinated, we will likely have to continue preventive measures for some time to ensure that we are doing all we can to eradicate this viral invader.

Last week, Nassau’s Covid-19 test positivity rate hovered around 5 percent — among the lowest in the country. Only three states — Alaska, Hawaii and Vermont — and the District of Columbia reported positivity rates below that. We must continue working to drive the rate down, remembering that it was less than 1 percent just over three months ago.

New York state’s positivity rate last week was 7.9 percent, which was good compared with many other states — only 12 had lower rates. Still, it wasn’t good to see New York’s rate rising. Only a month ago,

It’s high time truth prevails once again

oseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany’s short, mercurial, ruthless propaganda minister, was known to many as the “poison dwarf.” By all accounts, he was insanely obsessive and manipulative, practicing the dark art of disinformation distribution like no one else.

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it,” Goebbels was quoted as saying, according to the Holocaust Research Project.

We have been told any number of big lies — again and again — in recent years.

The biggest, undoubtedly, was the one perpetuated by President Trump that he won November’s election. He did not. Joe Biden won — by a lot — as affirmed by our

courts, our state legislatures and now Congress.

Last week, however, that lie cost five people their lives, after Trump riled up an angry mob of insurrectionists with fiery rhetoric and they stormed the Capitol, smashing through doors, stealing government property and pushing, shoving and striking members of the understaffed and overwhelmed Capitol Police force.

During and after the melee, conservative news pundits and Republican lawmakers baselessly — and falsely — claimed that members of the left-wing, anti-fascist group Antifa were responsible for the riotous behavior of the loosely affiliated mass of Trump supporters, white supremacists and conspiracy theorists. That lie was

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the state had the fourth-lowest positivity rate in the country.

In New York, and particularly downstate, we have suffered more than many other parts of the country, in large part because of our population density — the coronavirus breeds among people who are in close proximity to one another.

When you’re wearing a mask in public, don’t let it drop down below your nose. The mask does little to no good if your nose is exposed. When you’re in line anywhere, respect social-distancing protocols. Stand six feet apart.

We know, people are tired of hearing this again and again. It’s been 10 months since the coronavirus broke out in New York. We have to say it, though. If we can’t keep the positivity rate down, then the alternative is another shutdown, which no one wants.

letters Hasn’t Trump done enough damage?

To the Editor: In my six decades of being a U.S. citizen, never have I been more ashamed than after the events that occurred on Jan. 6. Just as we are anticipating good things for 2021 — Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the White House; vaccines to eradicate, or lessen, the effects of Covid-19; the end of social distancing, working remotely and mask wearing; being able to hug family members who don’t live in the same household; sharing birthdays and holidays and any days with our friends and family — Trump trumps it all!

It’s obvious he wanted to go out with a bang. But to incite a riot? He couldn’t have left bad enough alone? Hundreds of children separated from their parents at the border, still possibly never to be reunited? Downplaying the danger of Covid-19, even when he and his family members

amplified by hundreds of thousands of retweets.

Last Wednesday, many have said, was a day of reckoning for Trump, and he now must own up to what he has done: peddled lies for political gain. It should also, though, serve as a day of reckoning for all of us — an inflection point when we decide, once and for all, to disown the disinformation campaigners and restore normalcy to our media stream.

Truth, based on knowable facts, must be our hallmark. It is a tough ideal to live up to, for sure, but we must do better than we have in recent years. The alternative, as we saw last week, is to descend into chaos and demagoguery, and we know how that turned out for Germany.

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opInIons

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nauguration Day, Jan. 20, will bring much-needed change in our country.

President-elect Joe Biden has made controlling the coronavirus pandemic a priority, and for the first time, the incoming administration will have a presidential adviser who will focus solely on health equity and pandemic-related racial health disparities.

Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale physician and researcher, will lead a new White House task force that will focus on equitable access to testing, treatments and vaccines, parmartIne ticularly in communities hardest Hackett hit by Covid-19.

This national strategy promises to give the appropriate attention to the longstanding issue of health inequity that existed long before the pandemic began.

An effective approach will need to be adjusted based on place, because where you live plays a role in your health. More than half of Americans live in suburbs, and health equity will look different here.

Even with the political influence that suburban voters had in recent elections, there has been little attention paid to understanding the significant role that suburban spaces have on the health of their residents.

On Long Island and across the country, Black and Latino residents have disproportionately been infected by and died from the coronavirus. The reasons for their increased risk include working in “essential” in-person jobs, taking public transportation, living in more crowded housing, and lacking access to quality health care and respectful treatment.

Though the task force’s immediate focus will be targeting medical resources and vaccines to vulnerable communities, members will also tackle the underlying social and economic inequalities that put them at risk in the first place.

Nunez-Smith said that “what’s needed to ensure equity in the recovery is not limited to health and health care. We have to have conversations about housing stability and food security and educational equity, and pathways to economic oppor-

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new task force will focus on equitable access to treatment.

Letters finally got the disease? Perhaps if “the people” he represents got the same VIP treatment and the same medicinal cocktail he received, then we could all say it’s nothing. But the staggering number of deaths in the U.S. indicates otherwise.

Last Wednesday, as the chaos unfolded, Trump’s hoards of followers were rampaging through the Capitol, trying to stop his chosen vice president, Mike Pence, from doing his job, and the members of Congress from doing theirs. Seeing photos of them cowering under chairs sadly reminded me of the awful images we have seen or heard about too many times in our country, of schoolchildren, religious worshippers and others being in that same unfortunate situation. Some were lucky enough to be led out of harm’s way, but too many were not.

We have seen so much ugliness in our country thanks to this “leadership.” I would be fired from my job if I ever referred to a colleague as “Pocahontas.”

Yes, racial tensions have been around for a while, but they have escalated under Trump’s watch: BLM, anti-Semitism (yes, one of the rioters was wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirt). I could go on and on, but why? Until the powers that be open their eyes, I fear that things like this may just be allowed to happen, as they have been for the past four years.

Now we are hearing about the rioters being arrested and eventually prosecuted to the “full extent of the law.” The followers are already being pursued, but

tunities and promise.”

This comprehensive health equity approach needs to be understood in suburban regions like Long Island. Though we saw an outpouring of response to food insecurity in our communities as hundreds of distribution sites were set up, many of our fellow suburbanites used these services for the first time.

The need for healthy and affordable food will persist when the pandemic has passed. Housing stability in the suburbs requires shifting from traditional singlefamily homes to multifamily housing and overcoming community resistance to supportive housing. Zoning changes will be required. At the same time, educational equity on Long Island is a fundamental suburban challenge as residential segregation and local control has restricted the quality of schools.

Even something as basic as having local data publicly available to quantify health disparities so actions can be targeted is often missing in the suburbs.

Nowhere on Nassau County’s daily “Covid-19 by the Numbers” tracker, for

example, is there a count of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations or deaths segmented by race and ethnicity. We cannot address what we do not see.

Creating health equity in the suburbs will require a shift in how we approach what it means to be healthy. We cannot use the same approach and expect different results. The pandemic may have provided the push we need. Consider that the approved Covid-19 vaccines are based on a new approach to protecting against infectious diseases. Instead of putting an inactive germ in our bodies to trigger an immune response, mRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a protein that produces antibodies to protect us from infection. This approach has been around for decades, but it took a crisis to push it into reality.

The incoming Biden administration’s stated commitment to combating health care injustice during and after the pandemic is an opportunity for the suburbs to shift our approach to finally attain health equity.

Dr. Martine Hackett is an associate professor in the Master of Public Health and Community Health Programs at Hofstra University.

Framework by Christina Daly

what about the instigator? Why is the president still the president?

SUSAN WALD North Bellmore

Taxpayers and commuters deserve accountability To the Editor: There is more to State Sen. Todd Kaminsky’s call to speed up repairs to the East River railroad tunnels. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said in June 2016 that the Federal Transit Administration provided $432 million in Superstorm Sandy funding to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for repairs to the East River Tunnel. Almost five years later, there is no evidence that any of the funds have been used for their original intended purpose.

The MTA and LIRR have yet to complete negotiations with Amtrak to start this work. Are there any other FTA grantfunded capital projects still not under contract, behind schedule, over budget or with excessive change orders to base contracts?

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Senators Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, MTA board members and other elected officials, including Kaminsky, and transit advocates need to look at how the billions of dollars in previously approved federal funds are being spent before complaining about future

He had the pier to himself — Oyster Bay

levels of Washington financial assistance being insufficient. Taxpayers and commuters deserve accountability.

LARRY PENNER Great Neck

Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously worked for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office.

MERRICK HERALD LIFE — January 14, 2021

New leaders are the suburbs’ best shot at health equity

January 14, 2021 — MERRICK HERALD LIFE

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