__________________ Nassau _________________
HERALD All the news of the Five Towns
Sisterhood aids Hannah’s Project
Playing hoops for charity
lawrence girls top Hewlett
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Vol. 100 No. 3
JANUARY 12 - 18, 2023
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Lawrence hopes to sell Number Five School reconstruction of the high school using a combination of district funds and significant funding from FEMA.” For the third time in 16 years, the Lawrence Lawrence High School, Forman explained, School District is hoping to put a school build- will undergo a $60 million to $80 million makeing up for sale. The former Number Five School, over, using $50 million to $60 million in Federal in Cedarhurst — home to the Emergency Management Agency Shulamith School for Girls since project funding for damage caused 2015 — will be the subject of a pubby Hurricane Sandy in 2012, as lic referendum on Feb. 16. well as the projected proceeds from The asking price for the nearly the sale of the Number Five century-old building at 305 Central School. New sidewalks, a new heatAve. is $12.5 million. As of press ing and air-conditioning system time, Shulamith, a girls-only Jewand flood protection walls are ish school, was the highest bidder, GIlA KoPoloVITZ planned. according to Lawrence Board of After the school district adopted Education President Murray For- Shulamith secondits version of the Princeton Plan man, with an offer that equaled the grade teacher and sent the Number Five students asking price. to other district buildings, Law“The voters get the final say at rence officials approved a lease the referendum,” Forman said. “If (the sale) is agreement with Shulamith for payments that something that the voters are in favor of, it will began at $500,000 per year and grew to $600,000 get done. this school year. “The district has enjoyed renting it,” he Shulamith has an early-childhood school, a added. “The district is about to embark on a Continued on page 4
By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
I
t’s a great location. We love it!
Joe Abate/Herald photos
Cowgirls at the gala Jeans and bling were on view at the Kulanu Academy’s Denim and Diamonds dinner on Jan. 7. Shari Shapiro, left, and Cindy Grosz posed for Carl Krause. Story, more photos, Page 20.
Bridge users want proof that toll hikes are warranted By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
New Year’s Day brought new tolls on the Atlantic Beach Bridge after their approval in December by the Nassau County Bridge Authority. Questions remain about what prompted the decision. “Prove to us that you really need to raise the rates,” said Atlantic Beach resident Barry Ringelheim, referring to authority Chairman Samuel Nahmias. Ringelheim added, “He has not shown any grounds for the need to raise the rates.” Last month, the bridg e authority announced that it would raise the tolls for the bridge from $2 to $3 for passenger vehicles, and, to $4 for vehi-
cles not registered in Nassau County — the first increases since 2007. The bridge authority expects to implement the E-ZPass system later this year. In a Dec. 5 news release, Nahmias stated that the authority lost nearly $1 million in each of the past three years. Because it has no state or federal funding and all of its revenue is generated by tolls, the increases are intended to keep the authority viable, Nahmias said. According to a person who is familiar with the finances of the bridge, stated the authority has had a surplus of over $5 million over the past three years. “It is well over $5 million,” the person said.
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rove to us that you really need to raise the rates. BARRY RINGElHEIM Atlantic Beach
Nahmias told the Herald that the claim was incorrect. “You have to factor in the reserves,” he said. “Any profits that the authority makes has to be placed in a reserves for future and current maintenance.” In 2018, a periodic review by Moody’s Investors Service raised the authority’s revenue bond rating from A3 to A2. The report stated that the increase was due
to the authority’s strong fiscal management. In last month’s news release, Nahmias said the condition of the bridge was rated a 5 by Hardesty & Hanover on a scale of 1 to 7, from poor to excellent. “Make no mistake, this is because we were setup as a separate authority from the start,” Nahmias said, “in order to maintain our own bridge.” The person familiar with the bridge’s finances said that the
numerical rating of its condition was based on upgrades that have been made to the structure over the past 10 years. The machinery that raises and lowers the drawbridge and the steel grid decking were replaced for the first time in the bridge’s 70-year history, he said. “Each (component) has an estimated life of 30 years,” the person said. “That’s why the rating is so high. Bridges with a 7 are bridges that were literally Continued on page 14