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Oyster Bay Herald 06-09-2023

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________________ OYSTER BAY _______________

HERALD Seniors mark Memorial Day

Cancer survivor shares story

Becoming famous while learning

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VOL. 125 NO. 24

JUNE 9 - 15, 2023

$1.00

Holocaust stories inspire teenagers By LAURA LANE llane@liherald.com

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Courtesy Ross Yablans

ROSS YABLANS WEAVED three photos together to create a piece representing Holocaust survivor Fred Zeilberger’s story for the Witness Project, and the work was displayed at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in April. It depicts Zeilberger’s father, far left; his son; and Zeilberger, his wife and their granddaughter.

red Zeilberger was just 14 when he was ordered to stack the bodies of dead fellow prisoners like firewood at a makeshift concentration camp outside Riga, Latvia, during World War II. He was among 1,000 Jewish prisoners in the camp, only 27 of whom survived. “I was working every day,” Zeilberger recalled. “If you didn’t work, you didn’t survive.” Zeilberger’s story was among those shared at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts in April when the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York’s Witness Project presented an art exhibit and a film, “The Ties that Bind Us.” Students and Holocaust survivors explored the issues of loss, resilience, war and trauma during one of the darkest times in history. The Witness Project, created five years ago, offers high school students an opportunity to collaborate with Holocaust survivors. Students met twice a month in groups of 10 or 11 with a Holocaust survivor at the Sid Jacobson JCC in Greenvale. The center served the survivors dinner every other Thursday night, and several of the teens involved in the project volunteered as servers, CONTINUED ON PAGE 4

O.B. inspector general under investigation by Nassau DA By WILL SHEELINE wsheeline@liherald.com

Brian Noone, the Town of Oyster Bay inspector general, is under investigation by the Nassau County district attorney’s office for approving a $2 million contract between Michael Esposito, a business associate of Noone’s, and the town, to reassess the town’s cybersecurity. The investigation comes on the heels of a town Board of Ethics inquiry that concluded that the deal did not constitute a conflict of interest. Neither Noone nor Esposito responded to requests for comment.

Nova Venture Partners, a security consulting fir m in which Noone is a partner, employs Esposito as its cybersecurity practice leader, according to the firm’s website. Esposito also owns and operates Enterprise Security Solutions, a cybersecurity company based in New Jersey, which Noone recommended to the Town Board to receive the contract over 13 competitors, which prompted both investigations. This is not the first time Noone approved Enterprise for a town contract. In 2019 the town hired the firm to conduct an annual electronic security assessment for $10,000, and the

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his raises serious concerns about the independence and integrity of his office. JARED BEHR

town supervisor candidate contract was renewed twice before a new $15,000-per-year contract, also with Enterprise, was signed in 2022. Brian Nevin, the town’s public information officer, released a statement saying that the town

has been aware of the county investigation for several weeks, and that town officials have been cooperating with District Attor ney Anne Donnelly’s office. Noone has been on leave since the initial ethics investigation began in March, although he continues to carry out general administrative tasks separate

from the work of the inspector general’s office, and is receiving his $154,000 salary. “Town of ficials initially referred this matter to the Board of Ethics and have been in communication with the district attorney’s office for several weeks,” Nevin wrote. “Supervisor Joseph Saladino directed the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2


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