_________ Oceanside/island park ________
HERALD Students lend a helping hand
Time for some Mario Kart
Chorale perform for veterans
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VOL. 58 NO. 47
NOVEMBER 16 - 22, 2023
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Temple Avodah raises $33,000 in aid for Israel Oceanside comes together for fundraising dinner By KEPHERD DANIEL kdaniel@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
Celebrating veterans in Island Park Navy Veteran Martin Stamile and 8-year-old Franco Stamile at the Memorial Monument in Island Park. More photos, Page 3.
Sewage project construction on Sunrise nears its end By NICOLE FORMISANO
nformisano@liherald.com
If your commute on Sunrise Highway has been interrupted by construction, there’s good news: It’s almost finished. Construction crews are in the final stages of installing over 10 miles of pipe systems along Sunrise to connect two water-treatment facilities. The project, called Bay Park Conveyance, began in the summer of 2021, with the goal of eliminating excessive nitrogen pollution in Nassau County’s Western Bays. The construction is now 77 percent completed, according to the Long Island Regional Planning Council. “The construction crews have been working on that the last few weeks,” Andrew Fera, the project director from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said of the final phase of construction along Sunrise Highway. “We certainly hope that we can get this complete by the end of
November.” The Long Beach portion of the larger Bay Park Conveyance Project will soon be underway as well. The project will move treated water from the South Shore Water Reclamation Facility, in East Rockaway, to the Cedar Creek Water Pollution Control Plant outfall pipe. The plant currently discharges about 50 million gallons of water into Reynolds Channel each day. The treated water will be conveyed by a twomile-long force main from the water reclamation facility to the aqueduct underneath Sunrise Highway, a seven-mile-long stretch of which has been the focus of the reconstruction work. The Long Beach portion involves the decommissioning of the city’s wastewater treatment plant and converting it to a pump station that will send the city’s sewage to the Water Reclamation Facility for treatment. According to the city, this project will eliminate about 75 million gallons a day of Continued on page 7
With Israel’s war against Hamas raging on, Temple Avodah, in Oceanside, hosted a major fundraising event in support of Israel on Nov. 9, and the synagogue has raised about $33,000 since the start of the conflict over a month ago. Temple Avodah organized the fundraising dinner with Kenny Kombert, of Kombert Caterers, and all of the proceeds are going to help the Jewish state. “Every single person serving food volunteered their time, and I really can’t say enough about how much this means not only to Israel but also to us as Temple Avodah,” Matt Phillips, temple president, said. More than 100 community members came together for the $180-per-person dinner and cocktail fundraiser. Temple Avodah R a b b i J e s h ay a h u “ S h a i ” Beloosesky explained that the price of admission held a deeper significance. In Judaism, the number 18 is considered lucky. The Hebrew word “chai” means life, and the numerical value of its letters is eight and 10, adding
up to 18. Giving gifts in multiples of 18 symbolically signifies giving the gift of life. “One hundred eighty for one person, we can eat several dinners in a week, but it’s not about the food, it’s about supporting the State of Israel, now at this moment,” the rabbi said. Since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Israelis near the Gaza Strip have required aid. Roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed during the attack and more than 5,000 were injured. Under the direction of Rabbi Beloosesky, the temple will send relief to the Friends of Israel Defense Forces, and emergency medical services such as United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom. “It’s one thing for people from Temple Avodah to come, but it’s another for the community to come,” Phillips said. “I can’t overstate how good it is that so many people are supporting Israel.” Nearly six weeks into the war, according to the U.S. State Department, Hamas continued to hold roughly 200 hostages. In Continued on page 9