__________________ Nassau _________________
HERALD All the news of the Five Towns
Hewlett seniors were superior
A special visitor at St. John’s
JCC kids brush and floss
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Vol. 100 No. 12
MARCH 16 - 22, 2023
$1.00
Bidding for the 5TCC By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
In response to Nassau County’s request for proposals from potential new tenants for the Five Towns Community Center, the Lawrence school district has pledged to spend $10 million to renovate the five-decade-old building on Lawrence Avenue. Along with a proposal by the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC to partner with the community center, this was the second submission made to the county by its March 1 deadline. “The new proposed center supports current research by the creation of an environment where wraparound services are available to the whole child and whole community,” Lawrence Schools Superintendent Ann Pedersen stated in a news release. “The focus will be on community involvement, family engagement, academic support, extended year services, counseling and psychological services.” The county owns the property at 270 Lawrence Ave. where the community center has operated since 1972. Its 50-year lease with the county, signed in 1974, is set to expire next year, and it has not been offered an extension. The county’s RFP, issued in January, is Continued on page 11
3URSHUW\ WD[ VDYLQJV IRU RXU QHLJKERUV DQG IULHQGV Contentious meeting Hernesto Galdamez/Herald
Woodmere resident Matthew Russo questions the motives of the Lawrence school district for making a bid to renovate the Five Towns Community Center at a town hall meeting on Monday. Story, Page 3.
*HW 5HVXOWV 6LJQ 8S 7RGD\ Michael Gliner is the Inwood Civic Citizen of the Year 5' $&7 12: Ɯ '($'/,1( $35,/ e is very involved in By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
As they pondered who to name the Inwood Civic Association’s Citizen of the Year, David Hance, the group’s president, and five other board members were looking for someone reputable and dedicated to the community, Hance said. Inwood businessman and Far Rockaway resident Michael Gliner was the unanimous choice, because, as Hance noted, Gliner has made his mark in the community by being more than just a local merchant. “He is very involved in all
things Inwood,” Hance said. “He’s got his hands in a lot of things.” Gliner, 62, the civic association’s chairman — who was not involved in the vote — said he spends almost 70 percent of his typical week in Inwood, either at his business, PIP Printing, or doing volunteer work. “I purchased the business in 2005,” Gliner said. “I was told that in order to be successful and respected, you’d have to give back to the community. I was always a believer in giving back to begin with.” With that advice in mind, Gliner joined the civic associa-
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all things Inwood.
DAViD HANCE
president, Inwood Civic Association, on Michael Gliner tion in 2005. He served as its president for six years, and is now president of the Peninsula Kiwanis Club. For more than 50 years, Peninsula Kiwanis has been active in the Five Towns, offering financial support for student scholarships and organizations
such as the Five Towns Early Learning Center in Inwood. Civic association board member Kathy Mennella supported Gliner’s nomination for Citizen of the Year because of his willingness to help and, Mennella added, because Gliner never asks for anything in return. “He has Kiwanis donate food to the Five Towns Community Center, and is always at almost every Inwood event,” she said. “He is always doing something for the community.” Richard Brodsky, of Atlantic Beach, whose Richard M. Brodsky Foundation helps raise
money to research a cure or vaccine for AIDS, recalled that during the coronavirus pandemic, Gliner volunteered his time to help Brodsky deliver food to the community center, in Lawrence. “He’s very helpful,” said Brodsky. “He had a big SUV, and we donated about $20,000 of food to the center on about four to five trips from Westbury. He’s just always there for the community.” Brodsky said they made six round trips. Gliner helps to host Peninsula Kiwanis’s annual Christmas Continued on page 7