_________________ WANTAGH ________________
HERALD $1.00
Forest City rings in the holidays
Policies remain for sports crowds
Veterans omitted from funding
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Vol. 69 No. 50
DECEMBER 9 - 15, 2021
Community seeks support for siblings By stEPhaNiE BaNat newsroom@liherald.com
Courtesy Charles Gandolfo
Paul aND MaRy Saporito, who are 12 and 15, on a trip to Niagara Falls in September. The siblings recently lost their father, Jeffrey, to Covid-19.
It’s often said that in times of need, we lean on our community to give us strength. That is true of siblings Mary and Paul Saporito, who recently lost their father, and turned to Wantagh-Seaford for support. On Nov. 19, longtime Wantagh resident Jeffrey Saporito, 63, died of Covid-19. He was a veteran member of the Wantagh Preservation Society, and its president from 2005 to 2007. A master carpenter, he owned and operated Saporito Con-
tracting Inc. He helped repair the Wantagh Museum grounds, including the reconstruction of the post office on the site. Saporito was also an active member of St. William the Abbot RC Church in Seaford, his cousin Dolores WilliamsHassell said. “He was steadfast . . . a warm and loving person, and a faithful servant to the Lord,” she said. “He was a lector at their church, and raised his children to be devoted to their faith and their community like he was.” Saporito was a devoted family man, Williams-Hassell Continued on page 4
Forest City Park renovations slated for next spring By MalloRy WilsoN mwilson@liherald.com
Forest City Community Park, on Morgan Drive in Wantagh, will see upgrades next spring, according to Town of Hempstead officials. New pickleball courts, pool building facade improvements, playground upgrades, picnic area rehabilitation and an artificial-turf volleyball court will be included in the renovation project. The work will be financed through the town’s capital improvement fund, and is part of the town’s $10 million investment in local parks.
The Forest City Community Association, composed of residents, has been monitoring the project. Board member Bill O’Leary said the group, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2020, was told about the project before its fall festival in October. “I usually try to invite local officials to our events,” O’Leary said. “So when I invited [Town Supervisor Don Clavin], he told me that they were doing the projects in different parks.” Forest City, in Northwest Wantagh, has over 1,000 residents. “It’s critically important that we invest in our parks to make significant improvements that
will pave the way for our town’s future,” Clavin said in a statement. The park projects were made possible by an increase in the town’s bond rating, which allowed it to borrow additional funds and save taxpayers money, Councilman Chris Carini previously told the Herald. “It’s something that our park definitely needed,” O’Leary said. “It’s nice to see the upgrades. It’s been a while since they invested money into it.” There has been no official estimate of the total cost of the work in the Forest City park, because it is still in the planning stages. As of now, the most extensive
upgrade will be the playground, at roughly $102,000, according to officials. The project would include a new turf surface for the play area for 2- to 5-year-olds, as well as renovations of playground equipment. “In the springtime, we hope to have everything in place,” said Town Councilman Dennis Dunne, whose councilmanic dis-
trict takes in Forest City. “In spring we’re going to start taking care of all of the parks — not only Forest City.” The cost of replacing the volleyball court with turf is estimated at about $60,000. The cost of the pool building facade improvements and upgraded pickleball courts — which would include Continued on page 16