______________ VALLEY STREAM _____________
CoMMuNity uPDAte infections as of Feb. 26
6,653
infections as of Feb. 21 6,503
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Maidenbaum Propert y Tax Reduction Gro up, LLC 483 Chestnut Street, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
MARCH 4 - 10, 2021
Vol. 32 No. 10
A pandemic’s bleak milestone Valley Streamers reflect on 12 long months of Covid-19 calming to me, and going to Hendrickson Park to watch the ducks move across the lake in a March 1, 2020, marked the tranquil way reduces my anxifirst confirmed case of corona- ety and makes me feel more like virus in New York. As fears of myself during this pandemic,” the virus mounted, Valley Dowling said. “Over the past Stream resident Thomas Dowl- year of this pandemic, I’ve ing, 41, recalled, he was riddled learned that when I’m in my with fear and anxiety about house, if I keep my shades open what it could mean for his to make sure light comes in the future. house, my anxiety goes down.” He wor ried Dowling, who about everything has seen some of from food shorthis friends and ages and rising extended family crime to the toll members die of on his health and complications emotional wellfrom Covid-19 in being. He even the past year, said feared having to he was angry that quit his job just the pandemic had t o s t ay s a f e. dra g g ed on as Dowling said he long as it had, but often lost sleep. noted that he had tHoMAS DowliNG But a year for med closer Valley Stream l a t e r, a s h e bonds with his reflected on his wife and children initial worries, because he had most of his fears spent more time about the pandemic did not at home with them than before. become reality for him. “The pandemic has changed Instead, he and other Valley my perspective, because now I Streamers learned to adapt to see life as even more delicate, their altered lives, and to cope. because in an instant someone “Trees, plants, nature, fresh air and sunlight are all very Continued on page 16
By NiCole AlCiNDoR nalcindor@liherald.com
Peter Belfiore/Herald
DoRiS HiCkS, PReSiDeNt of the Lakeview branch of the NAACP, received a dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a pop-up vaccination clinic at the Gateway Christian Center in Valley Stream on Feb. 23. Such sites are intended to reach communities that might otherwise be overlooked in the vaccination effort.
Hope lies in a needle
At local pop-up vaccine site, 250 are inoculated By PeteR BelFioRe pbelfiore@liherald.com
State officials joined community representatives to host a pop-up coronavirus vaccine site at the Gateway Christian Center in Valley Stream on Feb. 23. According to state officials, 250 people ages 65 and older from Valley Stream and Elmont were able to receive shots. Officials noted the impor-
tance of using local community hubs such as churches to reach residents who might be overlooked in the vaccination effort or who might distrust the vaccines’ safety. “I think the closer that we can get to communities in order to administer the vaccine, the better we are,” Tracey Edwards, the NAACP’s Long Island regional director, said. “This is a place in the community that people know
and trust.” While mass vaccination sites at hospitals, colleges and stadiums are good for the overall vaccination campaign, Edwards said, efforts at smaller centers can help alleviate some of the apprehension many people may have about getting vaccinated. Experts have said that communities of color, particularly Black communities, Continued on page 10
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ow I see life as even more delicate, because in an instant someone could be gone.