______________
CommUNitY UPDAtE infections as of Jan. 17
5,041
infections as of Jan. 11 4,569
VALLEY STREAM
_____________
HERALD
When You’re Having an “Out of Money Experience”
DEADLINE APPROACH
V.S.-filmed Epix show airs Sunday
Police arrest shootout suspect
Page 2
Page 4
$1.00
JANUARY 21 - 27, 2021
ING
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION
18/21 itc FG Demi Condensed
Apply online at mptrg.com/heraldn ote or call 516.479.9171
Hablamos Español
Page xx
Maidenbaum Propert y Tax Reduction Gro up, LLC 483 Chestnut Street, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
Vol. 32 No. 4
Developer pitches plans Village board to vote on apartment rezoning proposal Developers of a proposed up largely of village employees, four-story, 35-unit apartment which voiced its support for the complex on South Franklin Ave- project, noting that with its nue, between the Valley Stream proximity to the train station Long Island Rail Road train sta- and the village downtown on tion and West HawRockaway Avenue, thorne Avenue, prethe apartments sented construction would represent a plans at a public m a j o r i m - p r ove hearing livement in the neighstreamed from Vilborhood. lage Hall on Jan. 11. “The proposal is The development a significant investwo u l d re p l a c e a ment in our commustrip of commercial nity that will storefronts and expand our taxes offices now on the without requiring property. additional village VillAGE T h e h e a r i n g ECoNomiC AND services,” the statecame as the village ment read. “It will board of trustees CommUNitY enhance the safety considers a zone DEVEloPmENt and beauty of the change for the prop- tEAm area around the erties to allow for train station, and the construction of we believe will be multi-family housing. Approval one part of a future transformawould clear a major hurdle for tion that our entire community the project to go forward. will be proud of.” Valley Stream-based attorney In 2020, the properties paid Dominick Minerva is represent- more than $120,000 in school ing the Oyster Bay developer taxes, roughly $23,000 in general Rand L.I. LLC in its application taxes and nearly $26,000 in vilto the village. He began his testi- lage taxes, according to Nassau mony at the hearing with a County and village tax rolls. statement from the village Eco- Minerva said that according to nomic and Community Develop- estimates, the property would ment Team, a committee made Continued on page 4
t
he proposal is a significant investment in our community.
Peter Belfiore/Herald
So that’s where they end up Village Department of Public Works workers fed discarded Christmas trees through a wood chipper at the village’s Arlington facility last week. For the first time this year, the trees will be repurposed as mulch made available to residents. Story, more photos, Page 3.
Recalling Dr. King’s legacy
Students discuss fighting racism in troubled times By NiColE AlCiNDoR nalcindor@liherald.com
On Monday, the 35th anniversary of the federal holiday marking the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Valley Streamer Solomon Akaeze, 15, said he thought about his time in middle school two years ago, when he faced racism through bullying. On occasions like MLK Day, Akaeze said, he is flooded with memories of times when other
students laughed at and taunted him nearly daily with pejoratives like “the darker-skinned, white-washed kid.” Whenever he thought about retaliating against the bullies, Akaeze said, he held back and focused on what he described as the “Dr. Martin Luther King way.” King was nonviolent, Akaeze said, but he was never silent or neutral in the face of oppression. Now a sophomore at Central
High School, Akaeze decided last September to take action himself, harnessing his painful experiences to create an anti-racist student club at the school called Students Committed to Social Justice. “Going through the school system as a dark-skin Black man has always been extremely hard, and I don’t want to see other students go through racism like I Continued on page 10