_________________
________________
HERALD
CommuNITy uPDATE
Friends Don’t Let Friends Overpay
DEADLINE APRIL 30TH
Infections as of April 19
2,345
Infections as of April 12 2,307
$1.00
WANTAGH
Honored for community service
Students meet Wantagh champion
Page 4
Page 24
Vol. 69 No. 17
THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION
18/21 itc FG Demi Condensed
Sign up today. It on ly takes seconds. Apply online at mptrg .com/heraldnote or call 516.479.9171
Hablamos Español
Page xx
Maidenbaum Propert y Tax Reduction Gro up, LLC 483 Chestnut Street, Cedarhurst, NY 11516
APRIl 22 - 28, 2021
Combating hate through education Farrah Mozawalla, executive director of the county’s office of Asian American Affairs; Thom“I hope tonight is the opening as Joy, a Suffolk County police of a door of understanding,” officer and a member of the SufState Sen. John Brooks, a Demo- folk County Asian Advisory crat from Seaford, said as he Board; Sabrina Guo, a local began a virtual roundtable dis- activist and a sophomore at Syoscussion titled “Promoting Anti- set High School; and Gordon Hate and DiscrimiZhang, president nation Awareness,” and founder of the o n Ap r i l 1 5 , t o Chinese American address the increase Association and the in crimes against board director of the the Asian-American Asian American and Pacific Islander Coalition of Educacommunities. tion. At the start of the “We know that roundtable, Jeongsince the start of the eun Rhee, a profespandemic, the numSABRINA Guo sor at Long Island ber of attacks and University Post’s Panelist hate crimes against College of Educam e mb e r s o f th e tion, Information and Technolo- Asian-American and Pacific gy, began by calling out Long Islander community have Island schools for being “the increased,” said Dafny Irizarry, most segregated in the country.” who moderated the discussion. According to the State Educa- “But we also know that everyone tion Department, roughly 45 per- has a role in stopping hate and cent of Long Island’s student creating a safe and inclusive population comprises people of community. What everyday color, yet only 8 percent of teach- actions can community memers are people of color. Diversify- bers take to help combat hate?” ing school staff should be one of “I think that this conversaLong Island’s main priorities to tion right here, right now, is the combat systemic racism, Rhee first of many steps to push for said. change,” said Guo, who is also The panelists also included Continued on page 3
By BRIAN STIEGlITZ bstieglitz@liherald.com
Courtesy Wantagh School District
Forever a Warrior Christine Lodato, left, and her husband, Jimmy, threw the first pitches at the dedication ceremony for the James Lodato Field of Dreams last Saturday at Forest Lake Elementary School. Three years in the making, the field was named for the Lodatos’ son, who died of leukemia in 2018. Story, more photos, Page 7.
Theme parks are back in action Jones Beach to see first full season of WildPlay By JENNIFER CoRR jcorr@liherald.com
One of the most daunting attractions at WildPlay Element Parks Jones Beach, high above the boardwalk at the state park, is a zip line called the What’s To Fear Jump, a plunge from a 40-foot perch. The hardest part is stepping off, said Adam Karp, the manager of the adventure park, which is filled with zip lines and aerial obstacle courses. In its third year of operation,
WildPlay is still a relatively new attraction at Jones Beach. The park celebrated its reopening day of what will be its first full season on April 16. Its first season, in 2019, was short because it opened in midsummer, and last season was delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. “A lot of people are coming out,” Karp said last Sunday morning amid the sounds of the ocean and pulleys sliding across zip line cables. “It’s been nice to have a lot of great experiences with people who have just been
cooped up and are trying to find an outlet.” And it’s a safe outlet, Karp added, with mask-wearing and social distancing required. You leave your comfort zone only to try one of the zip lines or obstacle courses. “People may look at something and say, ‘That’s impossible. I could never do that,’” Karp said. “And then when you . . . get them on the other side, they’ve actually done it. It’s such a change in attitude. It’s definitely Continued on page 3
T
ruly, there is nothing too small to make an impact.