An email to Manhasset School District officials called for an investigation into the assistant superintendent for curriculum after he made statements to a journalist associated with the far-right Project Veritas site about diversity, equity and inclusion.
The email, signed by “Manhas-
Local officials gathered at the Village of Great Neck Plaza Thursday to condemn racist vandalism of a Great Neck Chinese Association banner, which is currently under investigation by the Nassau County Police Department.
The organization’s welcome banner was on display above the Great Neck Long Island Rail Road station, officials said, and had a “racial slur” written at the bottom last week. Dorothy Feng, co-president of the Great Neck Chinese Association, called on the individual(s) who committed the vandalism to step forward and accept responsibility for their actions.
“The attack on the banner is not a simple act of vandalism,” Feng said. “But it is an attack on a group of residents based on our ethnicity. More importantly, this is an attack on the ideas of tolerance, acceptance and the celebration of diversity.”
Feng, on behalf of the organization, expressed gratitude for the outpouring of community support and urged others who witness any attack against any other religious or ethnic group to speak out against it. Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Ted Rosen said that an act of hatred against any one person or group is an act of hatred against the entire Great Neck and Nassau County community.
Continued on Page 34
set Parents.” was sent from the email address “ManhassetParents@proton. me.” Efforts to reach the sender’s to verify their identity were unavailing.
Donald Gately, who was hired by the district in 2022 to also oversee instruction and personnel, is the cofounder of EdCamp Long Island, described on its website as “a grassroots, teacher-led event that brings together
educators from across the region to share their ideas and expertise.”
In a Project Veritas video released March 13, Gately said teachers now have kids with some parents that are “extremely conservative and rightwing.”
“Now you’re gonna have people make — they’re gonna connect politics to DEI work,” Gately continued.
Project Veritas is a right-wing group that has gained notoriety for recording undercover videos and releasing deceptively edited versions of them. The organization’s founder, James O’Keefe, known for targeting left-wing officials and groups, left his post in February.
The email called for the school district to launch an investigation into
Gately and for him to be placed on leave until the probe is finished.
“We request that the Board of Trustees promptly place Dr. Gately on leave until the investigation is complete,” according to the email. “As you know, the board has a legal and fiduciary obligation to investigate this matter and we therefore respectfully
Continued on Page 35
Thomaston resident Nancy Sherman said preserving the village’s “unique character” is a paramount goal of hers after being elected to the board of trustees in a write-in campaign last week.
Sherman received 68 votes and defeated Trustee Karen Lynne Siegel, who also ran on a write-in campaign, for the second trustee spot. Sherman, in a phone interview with Blank Slate Media, said she was encouraged to run just days before the election.
A local attorney who has lived in Thomaston for more than 15 years, Sherman said, she became involved in local politics in 2021, when a project to turn the village’s Tower Ford building into a mixed-use apartment building was proposed.
“I advocated tirelessly for saving Tower Ford from destruction and replacing it with a luxury apartment building and I advocated for the landmarking of that building,” Sherman said. “I became very involved with the community at that time.”
The village subsequently granted landmark status to the building in February 2022 following months of highly-contentious meetings between village officials and residents.
“I wanted to continue working for the residents of the community to maintain Thomaston,” Sherman said. “It’s very important in this day and age to maintain the community.”
A lot of the homes in the village were constructed in the early 1900s1920s, she said, and carry a significant historical value with them.
Proposals to stray from preserving history and turning them into various housing projects, Sherman said, is something the entire Great Neck peninsula could be facing in the coming years.
“I feel that my experience with the development gave me an insight as to what the Great Neck peninsula, specifically Thomaston, could be facing in the near future with respect to overdevelopment and irresponsible overdevelopment.”
Sherman said that her experience as an attorney and general practitio-
More than two years have passed since Sewanhaka alum Nafiah Ikram had acid thrown in her face, but the unknown assailant has not been arrested and still remains at large.
Ikram was the victim of an acid attack outside her Elmont home in March 2021. The acid caused Ikram to scream, which resulted in the liquid spreading to her mouth, according to a GoFundMe page to help pay for the various medical procedures she needed. Her tongue and throat were burned as a result of the attack, which also left her with burns and scars on her face, according to the page.
Ikram and her family last week renewed their calls for justice and implored the community to provide police with any information on the attacker.
“I constantly have this fear of this happening to me again or reliving it,” Ikram said in a news conference outside her house.
Ikram ran into the house, where her parents attempted to help her, but the acid burned her parents’ arms and hands as well, the page said. The acid caused “severe burning” on Ikram’s
eyes, chest and arms, according to the post. She was also wearing contact lenses, which were melted to her eyes as a result of the acid.
“Two years have passed by and, unfortunately, that’s why it feels like nothing has been done becuase it’s like my sight is still not there.”
Ikram’s mother, Sherina Mohamed, was walking into the house with her daughter that March night and urged anyone with information to “be a human being” and come forward to help bring the acid thrower to justice.
Ikram, who lost more than 10 pounds in 10 days after her eighth surgery, said she will not feel fully safe until the attacker is caught.
“I am a rock, but like all the rocks in the world, it’s gradually fading away,” Mohamed said last week. “That’s what is happening with us.”
The attacker, police said, was about 6-foot-2 with a skinny build who wore a black hooded sweatshirt and gloves before fleeing the area in a red 2013-2015 Nissan Altima.
Nassau County Legislator Carrié Solages (D-Valley Stream), who pressed for a bigger reward, ex-
Continued on Page 35
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Sue Tabakin 516-307-1045 x206 stabakin@theisland360.com
ner will be an asset to the board and expressed her desire to work with the rest of the trustees, including Mayor Steven Weinberg and Trustee Burton Weston, who were re-elected to their seats last week.
Creating more of a transparent government, she said, is also something she looks forward to promoting. Village residents, Sherman said, had lost some faith in their elected officials after claims of the Tower Ford public hearing not being properly publicized
DISPLAY ADVERTISING: Steven Blank 516-307-1045 x201 sblank@theisland360.com
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: Deborah Flynn 516-307-1045 x218
in July 2021.
Weinberg, in an email to Blank Slate Media in 2021, said, “The Village gave all required legal notices, and complied with all applicable procedural requirements.”
“I look forward to serving with the board and working towards transparency in government, which is very important because people lost a lot of trust in the Village of Thomaston during the Tower Ford experience,” Sherman said.
Port Washington residents shared their grievances and personal experiences about the Long Island Rail Road schedule change Thursday night at a Residents Forward community forum intending to gather community concerns to include in a letter addressed to the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
More than 50 residents were in attendance at the forum held in the Jeanne Rimsky Theater at Landmark on Main Street, most of which spoke about their dismay with the schedule changes and shared personal anecdotes about how it has negatively affected their livelihood.
The LIRR schedule was changed on Feb. 27 to offer full services to the new terminal at Grand Central. The terminal’s opening, which is the first station to provide LIRR riders access to Manhattan’s East side directly, resulted in schedule changes that would split the trains running to and from Grand Central and Penn Station.
Trains running to and from Penn Station were reduced with the new schedule in order to defer trains to Grand Central instead.
The schedule also reduced the number of express trains running along the Port Washington branch, originally proposing that all would be
eliminated.
In September, local politicians and residents came together to demand the reinstitution of express trains and successfully implemented six, three in the morning and three in the evening.
The schedule implemented on Feb. 27 will be in place through May 21.
The forum was led by five panelists, including North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, Town
munity for change to be achieved. She advised residents to document their negative experiences on the train and post them on social media platforms like Twitter where MTA officials can see their complaints.
“It takes a village, truly, it can’t just be anyone up here having silo conversations with the railroad,” Parasco said. “The community needs to be outraged and we need to publicly make noise about this.”
The panelists shared their personal thoughts and experiences with the changed LIRR services.
In a prior interview with Blank Slate, Rasmussen said that he commutes to Penn Station and the schedule change has made his commute worse. He proposed that the LIRR reinstate the previous schedule, not changing any of the trains to Penn Station, and instead add trains to Grand Central through transfers at Woodside and Jamaica.
Residents were able to submit questions prior to the forum, which the panelists answered.
Councilwoman Mariann Dalimonte, state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti, and residents and commuter activists Ian Rasmussen and Ariana Parasco.
Parasco told attendees that collective action is needed in their com-
During the question period, multiple attendees spoke out from the crowd to ask questions or share their personal grievances with the new LIRR services. Many attendees took the chance to speak directly to the
Continued on Page 34
BY JESS TAYLOR
The Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees unanimously approved a proposal for a new facade for the Young Mashadi Jewish Center building in Great Neck as well as an amended site plan and a request for special use for the school that will be housed in the religious facility.
The center was granted permission to upgrade the facade, site plan approval and parking waivers and permission to have an outdoor pool by the board. No pool is currently on site.
The 73,000-square-foot building is located at 187, 189 and 195 Steamboat Road, a residential zone with a code permitting religious use.
Paul Bloom, of Harras, Bloom and Archer LLP, the law firm representing the project, said “the change in the facade material will be limestone. This will be used on three sides of the building.” The only side that will have stucco, which was previously approved, will be on the side that faces the Park District Maintenance Department.
Mayor Pedram Bral commented that it “looks like this is going to be a beautiful building.” The board concurred.
“The new amended site plan to move the building forward will provide better circulation around the entire building for both fire safety and the people utilizing the facility as well as increased parking on site and increased rear and side yard setback”, said Bloom.
These plans are being reviewed by the fire marshal’s office, which is not asking for any major changes or modifications, he said.
The application for special use required a permit to use the religious facility as a school. The lower level of the building plan shows nine classrooms in addition to the cafeteria and other items associated with a school. There is no increase in the number of previously approved classrooms, officials said.
“Having a classroom in a religious facility is probably more appropriate than having a basketball court,” Bloom said.
Village of Great Neck Building Superintendent Stephen Haramis interjected that “every classroom will require a strobe light and carbon monoxide detector.” Making sure that the building and everyone in it is safe is a top priority, he said.
Haramis concluded that there were no negatives in the proposal.
Bloom agreed and echoed Haramis’ emphasis on safety by stating that he had spoken to the fire marshal and confirmed that their fire trucks can safely make the appropriate turns around the building if necessary.
The board then welcomed Daniel Baker, of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, the law firm representing 777 Middle Neck Road, to the meeting. The applicant, he said, was seeking a 3 1/2-inch addition to the height of the three-story, 38-unit multi-family building.
Baker said the new height will allow the “appropriate room between floors to put in all the different plumbing and mechanical systems in place, as well as maintaining appropriate ceiling height for a marketable apartment unit.”
He also proposed an incentive of $65,000 in cash to the village community fund.
Baker assured the board that this will not require any material changes to the project or affect the shadow study that was originally done by Cameron Engineering.
“I want to remind the board that the height we’re seeking is not just for aesthetics. It’s really for the building to function properly”, Baker said.
After looking over the plans, Bral agreed that there will be no significant change to the shadow study and it would not negatively impact the community, which the board then approved.
The project’s developer is Lions Group LLC, with architectural aid from Newman Design.
Northwell Health dropped most of the mask-wearing requirements for staff, patients and hospital visitors on Wednesday.
While the three groups are still required to wear protective face coverings when interacting with a patient suspected or confirmed of having a viral respiratory infection, the main guidelines in place for nearly three years have been lifted, according to a statement from the organization.
Northwell’s announcement follows new guidelines from the state Department of Health in February that allowed healthcare entities to develop mask-wearing procedures with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Should COVID-19 rates spike, Northwell officials said, the traditional mask-wearing policies will be reinstated.
“This month marks the third anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and lifting the mask mandate reflects an important milestone in our fight against this deadly disease,” Northwell said in the statement.
Long Island’s COVID-19 rates are
listed as “moderate” by the CDC, with 44 people testing positive for the virus in Nassau County on Monday, the most up-to-date figures reported by the state’s Department of Health.
The 11042 ZIP code of New Hyde Park, as of Tuesday, had the secondlowest primary vaccination series in Nassau County, according to statistics from the state’s Department of Health. That area consists primarily of businesses south of Northern State Parkway and along Marcus Avenue.
The next lowest rate on the North Shore is the 76.2% in the 11024 ZIP code of the Great Neck peninsula, which includes the Village of Kings Point. The next lowest one is also in Great Neck, with the 11023 ZIP code at an 81.7% rate, according to the figures. This area incorporates parts of the villages of Great Neck and Saddle Rock, along with Great Neck Gardens and Harbor Hills.
The statistics also show rates of 100% in Great Neck’s 11020 zip cod, 96.3% in Roslyn, 94% in Albertson, 93.9% in New Hyde Park’s 11040 ZIP code, 93.5% in Williston Park, 93.3% in Mineola, 92.5% in Port Washington, 90.1% in Roslyn Heights, 88.9% in Great Neck’s 11021 ZIP code, 86.7% in Manhasset and 84.5% in Floral Park.
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Metropolitan Transit Authority CEO Janno Lieber touted the implementation of LIRR service to Grand Central Madison during a Wednesday press conference, sharing the positive results of the newly established Eastside access.
But Port Washington residents say there are changes needed to fully serve their community and address the negative results of the schedule change.
During the press conference about “reimagining Grand Central,” Lieber said the opening of Grand Central Madison has led to a 40% increase in LIRR services due to increased tunnel capacity. This includes almost 300 LIRR trains running daily into Grand Central, Lieber said during the press conference.
He said the Grand Central Madison terminal and the broader efforts to revitalize the surrounding neighborhood through business growth and the expansion of public spaces are an attempt to draw people back into the city.
“It brings Long Island and the center of our business district closer together for so many people and that is in the long run going to have great benefits,” Lieber said.
Grand Central, which now houses the LIRR,
Port Washington resident Ian Rasmussen’s LIRR commute to Manhattan has become worse since the schedule change, he said, and he wants the old schedule to be reinstated with transfers to Grand Central only at Woodside and Jamaica stations
Tuesday’s Children, a Manhasset-based nonprofit formed in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, held its annual Plandome Benefit at the Plandome Country Club Tuesday night to honor medical officers Navin and Sylvia Arora and the Plandome Fire Department, which is currently in its 110th year of operation.
“Tuesday’s Children is all about making connections,” said Chairman John Cahalane. “Connections that bring hope and assurance that no one should walk alone on the path to healing and resilience.”
The evening started with a welcome and blessing from Rev. Kevin Smith, chaplain for the fire department and national anthem from Carys Hyland, a junior at Manhasset High School and probationary member for the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department Co. 1.
In comments to those in attendance, Navin Arora spoke on the phenomenal depth and profound impact Tuesday’s Children has on all levels of society.
“This is an organization you should be spending time with and makes a difference in what’s important in society, which is our children,” Arora said.
Arora, a native New Yorker that moved to Manhasset with his wife seven years ago, spoke previously with Blank Slate Media on what it means to his family to be honored Tuesday night.
“Service is selfless and it’s important for self-growth,” Arora said. “Our freedoms are not given to us but they’re earned by our predecessors and I think remembering that and realizing everyone has a role to play and can play a role at a variety of levels is really what’s important for us and the future generations.”
Arora is the founder of Borealis Dermatology with offices in Garden City and Syosset. He served as an Army physician for 12 years and has professional experience at both clinical and leadership levels with the Department of Defense and the private sector. He and his wife are both members of the American Legion Post 304 in Manhasset.
Arora shared part of his service background from joining the Army on June 3, 2001, as a second-year medical student to hearing of the Sept. 11 attacks on the radio and later being deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was stationed with Sylvia.
“I bring this up to show a reflection of the impact that this event tonight has beyond the immediate impact it has on children,” Arora said. “It’s changed us as people and tonight helps
spread the word on how these conflicts affect people and not just in a primary, secondary or tertiary way that still affects children.”
Sylvia served in the U.S. Navy for four years before transferring to the Army after getting married. She graduated from the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, the only military medical school in the country, before completing her pediatric residency at Walter Reed Medical Center. She previously worked at Manhasset Pediatrics before stepping away for her children and currently works for a nonprofit that supports the state Department of Health’s Office of School Health.
Sylvia spoke of what she called her first experience of terror as an eighth grader in Los Angeles during the L.A. Riots in 1992. She recalled the thankfulness she had for the National Guard members that made her feel safe.
“I remember in that moment thinking when my parents left the house I would never see them again and that still impacts me today in how I take care of my patients,” Arora said. “Seeing the
Metro North and subway at a single station, began full service Feb. 27 with a changed schedule that added trains running into Grand Central to its regular Penn Station service.
Overall, fewer trains will be servicing Penn Station than before the new schedule.
While the LIRR now services Grand Central Station, the Gothamist reported that about 20% of THE LIRR trains cannot go through the East River Tunnel to the station, limiting the trains that can access the terminal. This is because the tunnel is too small for the MTA’s diesel trains.
Port Washington resident and local commuter activist Ian Rasmussen said there are many negative effects residents are experiencing due to the schedule changes.
“There’s no way around the fact that if you ask people in our town, ‘did you seriously consider the train service when you moved here?’ The answer would be universally ‘yes,’” Rasmussen said. “So an assault on the train service is really like an existential attack.”
Rasmussen, a commuter to Penn Station, said one of the issues is the number of evening train departures from Penn being cut in half.
During peak p.m. times, 10 trains depart
Continued on Page 34
National Guard and what they did for us was my first exposure to how thankful I was to this country for making me feel safe again.”
Chief Sean Byrne accepted the honor on behalf of the fire department, reiterating the volunteers’ mission has remained the same over a century later.
“Although much has changed in the community over the last 110 years, the primary purpose of the fire department was and always will be to protect the lives and property of the residents and our neighboring communities,” Byrne said. “That has not changed and continues to be our main purpose.”
The organization has approximately 90 members, Byrne said, and has a juniors program for teens aged 14 to 17 that are interested in joining the fire service.
“The primary reason our members join is for civic duty,” Byrne said. “Similar to when I joined 20 years ago on the invitation of my neighbors, it’s a commitment to help my neighbors and protect their families, as they would mine.”
Port Washington’s retirement community, The Harborside, has filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 for the third time in nine years because of a a decline in residents.
The company blamed the lower occupancy numbers, which has reduced needed revenues to pay the facility’s bills, on the stigma associated with its earlier bankruptcy filings and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The list of creditors who have the 30 largest unsecured claims and are not insiders are all residents, whose names have been redacted, for entrance fee refunds, according to documents filed in federal bankruptcy court Wednesday. Overall, the 30 unsecured claims add up to approximately $29 million.
The Harborside, previously known as The Amsterdam at Harborside, recognized 1,0005,000 creditors in its bankruptcy filing, with estimated assets and liabilities ranging from $100 million to $500 million.
At a March 21 board of directors special meeting, The Harborside leadership said in a resolution that the company has entered into a loan agreement of $9 million “to support The Harborside’s operations and restructuring efforts during its Chapter 11 case.”
The board’s resolution also said the retirement facility has “engaged in arm’s length, good faith negotiations” for a possible sale to New
England Life Plan Communities Corp., a nonprofit from Lincoln, Ma., established in 2021.
Blank Slate reached out to The Harborside President and CEO Brooke Navarre and Senior Vice President and General Counsel Pamela Landman, but neither responded for comment by the time of publication.
The nonprofit retirement community at 300 East Overlook last filed for bankruptcy protection June 14, 2021. This case has concluded, according to documents. The Harborside had filed for bankruptcy in 2014 as well.
The Harborside is located on 8.9 acres, providing 329 residential units and a diversity of
care and amenities. Units are either one or two bedrooms, including weekly housekeeping services. The community includes a library, fitness center, art studio and beauty salon and barbershop.
The senior facility’s care services include assisted living, memory support, skilled nursing, hospice care and rehabilitation.
“For many seniors, moving into a [continuing care retirement community] is an attractive option because it minimizes the burdens and costs associated with the aging process and ensures that they can remain in place if their medical needs change,” Michael Morton, chief restructuring officer of Amsterdam House Continuing Care Retirement Community, which operates The Harborside, said. “These seniors will often liquidate their homes, liquidate significant assets and/or invest a significant portion of their life savings to become a part of a CCRC like The Harborside.”
For The Harborside to meet its operational, financial and regulatory obligations, the facility relies on its revenues from residents, which have decreased with the shrinking occupancy level, Morton said in the bankruptcy declaration.
Morton also explained that the facility’s 2021 bankruptcy filing was fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Harborside has continued to experience “the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic” coupled with rising labor costs and inflation, he said.
The third Pinwheels for Prevention in the Park, which marks the beginning of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, will begin this Sunday and run for two weeks in Manhasset and Port Washington.
The event, which includes an influx of 748 blue pinwheels at Blumenfeld Family Park in Port Washington and Mary Jane Davies Green in Manhasset, will be held by Kyra’s Champions, the child safety advocacy group founded by Manhasset Resident Jacqueline Franchetti in response to a personal tragedy.
“This event is about much more than pinwheels — it is about a court system that has harmed our community for decades and how we are working together to make changes,” Franchetti said in a statement to Blank Slate Media.
On July 27, 2016, 2-year-old Kyra Franchetti’s father shot her twice in the back while she was sleeping at his Fairfax, Va., home on an unsupervised, court-sanctioned visit. He then set the house on fire and shot himself to death.
Kyra’s ninth birthday would have been on April 4 and the additional significance for the two parks Sunday comes from where she liked to play, Franchetti said.
“It’s about students, parents, citizens, and politicians who have come together to put pinwheels on their lawns, send emails to lawmakers, who show up at our rallies and advocacy days,” Franchetti said.
The 748 pinwheels honor 23 children, who like Kyra were murdered by a parent during a child custody case, divorce or separation since 2016 and the 725 deaths of New York children
in the last decade who were kept hidden by Child Protection Services, according to the Albany Times Union.
Shayna Blumenfeld, a Kyra’s Champions Youth Ambassador who is co-running the event, said the event brings the entire community together for a common cause.
“This is an event that is FOR kids, and BY kids. We can’t see our peers getting hurt, so we are taking a stand,” Blumenfeld said in a statement. “The pinwheel events raise awareness
and bring our community together to truly stand up for what is right.”
Franchetti’s advocacy has led to legislative action. There are currently seven total bills inspired by Kyra’s death introduced in the New York State Legislature that take aim at protecting children from abusive parents.
The bills, with the centerpiece of Kyra’s Law, make child safety the top priority in Family Court, increase judicial training on family violence and eliminate the use of forensic
evaluators.
Franchetti also thanked Print Station N.Y. located in New Hyde Park for its continued generosity and support in donating the signs for both parks all three years.
“Champions from our community, and all around the state and nation, have come together to make changes in Kyra’s memory and in the memories of far too many children who were murdered by an abusive parent,” Franchetti said.
In approving new district lines, Republican Nassau County legislators have done the unexpected – the right thing.
The new map, approved in an 11-7 partly-line vote two weeks ago, gives Democrats a 15-4 advantage over Republicans in districts with a majority of voters registered as Democrats
The map, approved by Republicans, also gives Democrats a 14-5 edge in county legislative districts carried by President Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Let’s repeat that for a moment. Eleven Republican legislators voted on revised districts that give Democrats a 15-4 edge in registered voters. And all seven Democrats voted against the map.
The new map reflects the latest numbers for registered voters in Nassau County. According to the state Board of Elections, Democrats lead countywide by nearly 100,000 people – 412,178 to 315,741.
But for Nassau County, this is the political equivalent of dogs and cats living together to borrow a phrase from “Ghostbusters.”
The new map is in stark contrast to 10 years ago when Republicans in the county Legislature, holding a 10-9 advantage, voted for a map that gave them a 12-7 advantage in districts based on registered voters.
At the time, Democrats held a 30,000 edge in registered voters over Republicans in Nassau County.
The county Republicans’ new-found fairness in drawing district lines still did not satisfy Democrats, who said the latest map was illegal and favored their GOP counterparts.
Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) criticized the Republican legislators for working in “secrecy.”
Abrahams also criticized the new lines for not reflecting the more than 40% of the county population that is non-white.
The new map does increase the number of minority-majority districts from three to five but at 26% of the Legislature falls three seats short of reaching 40%.
“It is not surprising that such a deeply flawed, self-serving process would produce an extreme partisan gerrymander that disenfranchises Nassau’s minority communities and violates numerous federal, state, and local laws,” Abrahams said in a statement. “By passing this illegal map, the Republican Majority has recklessly placed Nassau County on a collision course towards numerous lawsuits that will ultimately cost taxpayers millions of dollars.”
Abrahams has a fair point about minority representation not being equal. And it is important. Non-white Democrats in the county Legislature have split from white Democrats on occasion in votes and emphasis on such issues as police accountability.
But Nassau County is, by design, one of the most segregated counties in the country. This makes it difficult to create districts that are both geographically together and reflect the county’s ethnicity.
The county map is also a far cry from the district lines recently created by Town of Hempstead Republicans.
With nearly half the town comprised of non-whites, the Hempstead Town Council approved a map that maintains the current 5-1 advantage of majoritywhite districts.
Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park), who has announced he will not seek re-election, seemed to get it right in discussing the county map.
“Is this map perfect?” Nicolello asked during a press conference. “No. But perfection is impossible in redistricting. This map is a fair map, it provides equal representation for all our residents and protects community interests as much as possible.”
Other Democrats have complained about changes to their particular district, including county Legislator Arnold Drucker, who is currently one of four legislators whose district includes Roslyn.
Drucker expressed his displeasure with changes that among other things split Plainview with fellow Democratic Legislator Josh Lafazan.
“The current proposal is an extreme partisan gerrymander that carves apart Plainview and other communities across
22 Planting Field Road, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577
Phone: 516-307-1045
E-mail: hblank@theisland360.com
Blankthe 16th Legislative District,” Drucker said. “This is not about the political fate of one person over another – it is much more significant. This is a brazen attempt to dilute and render irrelevant the voices of all Democrats residing in the 16th District and it must not stand.”
Drucker is correct that redistricting should not be about the fate of one person over another. For many years this was common practice with Democrat and Republican officeholders who routinely worked together to help each other stay in office. We are happy to see that end.
We also believe that even in trying to create district maps injustices may happen.
But it is also true that to revise a gerrymandered map created in 2013 to give Republicans an undeserved advantage there would be changes that affected many legislators. Some not to their liking. That’s just a matter of mathematics.
You have to break some eggs to make an omelet, as it is said.
Democrats might be better served by trying to turn their 15-4 advantage in registered voters to a majority in the county Legislature.
Democrats should now be considered heavy favorites to win control of the Legislature, but that is by no means
guaranteed.
In addition to Republicans and Democrats, elections are decided in Nassau County by members of the Conservative and Working Families Party as well as those with no party affiliation. The so-called blanks number 274,253, just 41,000 less than Republicans’ 315,741 registered voters.
It’s also true that blacks vote for whites. Whites vote for blacks. Democrats vote for Republicans and Republicans vote for Democrats.
And in some elections, one group or another of registered voters will lack the motivation to show up to vote in the numbers expected of them. This is what is known as election turnout.
For proof that there are no guarantees in elections just take a look at the 2022 election when Lee Zeldin, the Republican candidate for governor, received more than 55% of the vote in Nassau County – despite the county’s nearly 100,000 advantage in registered voters.
And much to our shame Republican George Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the race for Congress in the 3rd District, where Democrats also held an edge in party registration.
Or take a look at 2021, when Democrats lost 13 of 45 city, town and county races, including county executive, district
attorney, county comptroller and county clerk.
In both years, Republicans won in large part on a rise in crime statewide that they blamed on reforms to New York’s bail laws approved by the Democratic-controlled state Legislature.
The claim that the reforms are responsible for the increase in violent crime in the state wasn’t true.
But it was an effective message that Democrats failed to counter. Two years in a row.
Many have blamed Jay Jacobs, who is both the party’s state and Nassau County chair. Others have pointed the finger at the strength of candidates such as Gov. Kathy Hochul and then County Executive Laura Curran and how they conducted their campaigns.
Nassau Republicans also seem to have the advantage of a deeper bench in no small part due to their control of the Town of Hempstead for more than 100 years.
The good news is that if Republicans maintain control of the county Legislature going forward, it will not be because they have stacked the deck and subverted the will of the people through gerrymandering.
For that, we thank Republican Nassau County legislators led by Nicolello.
DIRECTOR Yvonne FarleyBack in the day my boys loved playing with action figures.
Memorable among them were a pair of two-inch soldiers of fortune that delivered oneliners when you pressed a button on their backs. One of them cautioned, “No escape for the guilty!” The other avowed, “Vengeance is mine!”
Given my intractable state of arrested development, the soldiers issuing their warnings made me laugh. Over time their one-liners became an enduring in-joke between my boys and me. I have always tried to include my wife in the merriment, but she isn’t having any of it. She just rolls her eyes.
When I first heard the soldiers issue their ultimatums, I had no idea that the Bible was their source; more precisely, Romans 12: 19-21 King James Version, which reads: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is
written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
Recently, a friend gave me a Trump action figure as a gag gift. As my boys’ soldiers did, the Trump toy delivers fabulous one-liners. When you press the lever on his back, he says things like: “My IQ is huge” and “Good people don’t go into government.”
If they upgrade the Trump toy, I hope the manufacturer adds a few of the classic lines he debuted at the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 7 when he made this pledge to his adoring fans: “In 2016 I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.”
I was surprised he didn’t end with “saith the Lord.”
The ex-president’s messianic missive is the most recent point in a straight line that extends back to his
September 2020 “stand back and stand by” command to the far-right, neo-fascist Proud Boys. Trump is a “wink and a nod” kind of boss, a master at finding untraceable pathways for plausible deniability of criminal
activity, contributing to upending the rule of law in our democratic system. Sadly, it’s working.
“For the first time since 1860, a major American political party does not believe we live in a democracy. The line is between those who believe in democracy and those who believe in democracy only when their side wins,” writes Stuart Stevens, author of “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump.”
“I am your justice. I am your retribution” comes from the same deep well of personal grievance that brought the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Despite the Fox propaganda channel’s ongoing falsehoods about election fraud and its efforts to whitewash the attempt to overturn the election on Jan. 6, the storming of the Capitol Building could have been a dress rehearsal for the mayhem that Trump has been foreshadowing if indicted for crimes he has been implicated in.
In fact, on March 18 in anticipation of being indicted in the hush money arrangement involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels, he has called on his supporters to take action. He said, “Protest, take our nation back.” He conveniently left out the word “peacefully.” It was not an oversight. Political violence is part and parcel of the authoritarian’s playbook. And it appears from past performance, the ex-president has acquired a taste for blood (and soil).
The ex-president said the quiet part out loud at CPAC. He confirmed that he is cornered, desperate and dangerous and, clearly intent on prolonging the “Big Lie” through any means necessary.
In the final analysis, the only oneliner delivered by my boys’ action figures that applies is the little soldier’s unqualified call for equal justice under the law:
“No escape for the guilty!”
For as long as I can remember, I have been deeply involved in politics. I started out as a speechwriter for candidates when I was 15 years old. I served in local government as a corporation counsel and then went on to serve in the state Assembly for 23 years. I travel to Albany frequently representing clients. Does this make me an expert? Probably not, but from time to time, my instincts tell me that something is going to happen in our business and sometimes I am right. I should add I have made my share of mistakes.
Each day the media is dominated by stories about pending legal actions against former President Donald Trump. Whether it’s the Manhattan grand jury or the Georgia grand jury or Special Counsel Rice, it is a constant drip-drip of accusations. Little has been said about the grand jury investigating the Jan. 6insurrection, but it is all part of the big ugly picture.
Trump like any person is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but there is some serious gravity attached to this docket of cases, anyone of which could sink the average person and lead to a jail sentence.
Most possible defendants listen to their counsel and measure their words in defense of their case, making it a point not to inflame their tormentors.
Mr. Trump is totally incapable of keeping quiet each day and his responses are getting uglier by the moment. Calling the Manhattan District Attorney an “animal” and raising the antisemitic trope of George Soros, is another way of getting some fair-minded voter to dismiss Mr. Trump from their future political considerations.
As an attorney, I am not inclined to comment on pending cases, but it is obvious that the possible Georgia election interference matter is pretty serious, considering there are recordings of Trump calls to elected officials
asking them to overturn the voting results. When your own words can be used against you in front of a jury, the battle for exoneration is probably an impossible dream.
The second case of heavy weight is the matter involving retention of classified documents. The special counsel handling that case has told federal judges that there may be “criminal law violations.” That means that there are possible facts that could sink the former president.
Mr. Trump will have no problem raising funds for his defense, unlike the average Jane or Joe, because his every utterance is part of a sophisticated campaign to raise money. To date, in mostly small contributions, he is said to have over $80 million on hand. That enables him to hire any lawyer who is willing to risk their law license to represent him. But the question of the moment is whether the torrent of court cases will at the end of the process sink his hopes to get back into the White House?
Weighing all of these factors and many more, I have come to the conclusion that when the Republicans choose their standard-bearer in 2024, it will not be Donald Trump. I believe that the
procession of serious charges will cause the millions of suburban voters to send a message that they will support anyone but Trump.
Mr. Trump can claim that he is prepared to seek another term, even if he is under indictment. In that case he is speaking for himself and not the voters that the party needs. There may be a group of hard-core Trump voters out there, but you can’t win a general election with 30 percent of the vote.
Because Mr. Trump may be prepared to burn the house down, it is possible he will run anyway, which would help re-elect President Biden. But a series of charges with heavy criminal overtones might be enough to drive him out of the race.
I have my own views about who the Republican designee will be, but I leave that to the party to pick their own candidates. For now it is my gut instinct that Donald Trump will not be the candidate of his party come 2024.
Iwas surprised to read a feature story by Joseph Bernstein in this Sunday’s New York Times entitled “Back to the Couch with Freud.” Bernstein’s piece announced a resurgence of interest in psychoanalysis as people have slowly grown aware that positive self-talk, relaxation therapy, goal setting, mindfulness and visualization tips are of little value.
As a psychoanalyst, I have been treating professional athletes over the last 25 years and I by now am con-
vinced that all those quick fix, positive psychology mantras like “relax” Just do it” or “Think positive!” are useless. There is no such thing as a free lunch, a quick fix or a magic pill. Quick fix solutions have been promoted by insurance companies for many years due to the promise of cost-savings and big pharma has also encouraged quick easy fixes to complex problems. Welcome to this brave new world.
Cognitive behavioral quick fixes are touted as being based upon scientific research, but the truth is that the data does not support its claims of a cure. So when I read Joseph Bernstein’s discussion of the re-emergence of Freudian therapy, I was delighted. This is a needed paradigm shift that I have been writing about for many years.
The history of clinical psychology really started with Freud in about 1900 and for 50 years it was the treatment of choice for neurosis and human anguish. But at mid-century all this shifted and voila we started to hear about B.F. Skinner, Pavlovian conditioning, Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck, and the magic power of positive reinforcement to alter mood and behavior.
The behavior modifiers and cognitive therapists suggested that Freud was a quack and that notions like the unconscious, the id, and the super ego were all nonsense.
However, a listing of Freud’s numerous concepts reveals just how deeply he has penetrated the minds of most sentient humans. He was the guy who discovered the talking cure, the unconscious, resistance, transference, libido, the influence of sex, the death wish, guilt feelings, slips of the tongue, repression, rationalization,
dream analysis, denial, dissociation, the function of humor and the value of asceticism and sublimation. He wrote over 60 books in his career.
People have grown tired of therapists telling them to think more positively and take a tranquilizer. This trivializes human nature, human complexity and human suffering.
The Bernstein piece featured Ilan Zechory, a guy who once ran a big digital tech company, stepped down and undertook the five years, five days a week on the couch training it took to become a psychoanalyst. Zechory was quoted as saying, “I always had a sense that there was no free lunch, psychologically.” This is a true statement.
Most of my patients come to my office with an unconscious fantasy that the cure will be quick and easy. And I always respond to this fantasy by saying, “If I could provide you a cure to suffering in three sessions, I would be charging $100,000 per session and I would be getting it.” They smile and usually agree.
Human suffering is great, the human mind is complex and it resists change. But that doesn’t mean that the cause is hopeless or that there is no
path to happiness. “The Divine Comedy” was about a man who was lost in the woods, depressed at mid-life and wanted to go straight up the mountain to heaven. But when he tried to do so, the path was blocked by two beasts.
He rushed back into the woods where he met the poet Virgil, who told him if you want to find happiness and heaven, you must first follow me down through hell, then purgatory. “The Divine Comedy” is considered one of the greatest epic poems ever written because it contains that profound piece of wisdom.
Freud was also like Virgil. He informed the world that the only way to get to heaven and to get to your fair measure of joy is to first face the hell of your own past, buried within your unconscious.
This is a bitter pill to swallow and the culture has been resisting this truth for over 70 years since the promise of the quick fixes. I am pleased to see that finally the world is coming around to this mature realization expressed in the Bernstein piece.
There is no free lunch, quick fix or magic pill. That happens only in the movies.
Spring officially arrived when we passed the vernal equinox March 20. As this seems to have been the winter that wasn’t, this year it’s easier to believe that we are heading into warmer days. All the predictable harbingers are following their appointed schedule. the snowdrops came in February and are now clumps of grassy foliage. Small species crocus were welcomed by honey bees foraging on warm days. On their heels came the giant crocus
and the early daffodils. Tulips and iris are pushing green shoots out of the ground. The buds and flowers of maple and birch trees are popping out in shades of scarlet and lime. Pussy willows are showing their fuzzy catkins beside open streams. Those of us with pollen allergies are beginning to sniffle and wonder where we stashed the antihistamines last fall.
It’s not too late to think about making changes to your garden to improve it as a habitat for birds and
JENNIFER WILSON-PINES
Matters
wildlife, and even more importantly, for insects. Insect decline might seem like a good thing when you’re swatting at mosquitoes or fishing a yellow jacket out of your drink, but they along with plants are the base of the terrestrial food web. A full 96% of songbirds feed insects to their young, with that high protein diet allowing them to grow to adult size in a few weeks.
Roughly 35% of crops grown worldwide and three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants depend on insect pollination. And that pollination is not just by honeybees, but also by solitary bees, wasps, flies, butter-
flies, moths and beetles. Diversity is a good thing, both in plants and insects. The bigger the buffet provided, the more guests can arrive and thrive. Most of the plants I mentioned above are non-native and while welcomed by the European honey bees that are active earlier than the native pollinators, it’s native plants that give the best resource value to the vast majority of our insect population.
There are a wealth of resources to help you make decisions to up your pollinator game. These are the basics rules to follow; Provide habitat for pollinators. Nesting and sheltering sites are needed as much as pollen rich plants. Offer pollinators a drink with a bug bath — a shallow saucer with pebbles and a little dirt- butterflies need minerals from the soil. Leave the leaves in spring and fall — just rake them under your shrubs or into a pile to compost. That’s where insects are overwintering as adults and larvae. They’re also helping to decompose the remnants of last season’s plants. Let’s say that again- LEAVE THE LEAVES. Shredding, blowing and filling black plastic bags for dumping are BAD in so many ways. Limit the use of pesticides unless there are no other options – try to be organic. Best management practices mean you start
with the least damaging method first. And first means checking to see if a pest’s natural predator is doing the job for you. Then spray with a hose, or a mild soapy water concoction. Use a box fan to keep off insects when relaxing outside. Be vigilant about standing water where mosquitoes can breed – prevention is better than warfare. Pesticides are mostly indiscriminate – they kill the good bugs along with the pests. And most of them are toxic to you, your kids and pets, but they just won’t kill you right away. Offer a variety of plants, perennials, shrubs and trees. They provide different value as food and shelter at different times of the year. Remember that a few holes in some leaves is a small price to pay for preserving diversity and abundance.
Some good resources to guide you in planning and planting for pollinators and their kin.
National Parks Service https:// www.nps.gov/subjects/pollinators/ index.htm
The Xerces Society https://www. xerces.org/pollinator-conservation
The Pollinator Partnership https://www.pollinator.org/pollinators
The National Environmental Education Foundation https://www. neefusa.org/nature/land/protectingpollinators
Ican remember when Great Neck was regarded as the Long Island destination. People came from all over for our trendy shopping, dining. It was when the famous actor-comedian Alan King lived in the Kings Point mansion once owned by Oscar Hammerstein II and when the sense of community was so strong (there used to be a United Community Fund), that he would lend his name to the annual UCF tennis fund-raiser, even hand out the trophies.
Ah, the good ol’ days. Nostalgia is a warm and fuzzy thing.
Destination Great Neck, a grassroots nonprofit organization formed in 2021 to promote the revitalization of Great Neck, wants us to reimagine Great Neck. Our peninsula of nine villages and unincorporated areas needs a new lease on life. But a reimagined Great Neck should not and cannot be the Great Neck of old.
The group held its second major forum event to create a dialogue of ideas – starting with experts from Elisa Kyle of Vision Long Island; Frank Camarano of the Nassau County Chambers of Commerce; Victor Dadras, an architect and urban designer intimately aware of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative projects; and local merchant Marni Ives of Kron Chocolate.
Kyle, the placemaking director for Vision Long Island, provided numerous photo examples of what revitalization – of storefronts, streetscapes, architecture, landscaping, lighting, events and activities – look like. She also showed
how drab, dead downtowns can be transformed, not just visually and aesthetically, but creating happier, more healthful environments, imbued with vitality and community spirit. “Placemaking” is about creating a sense of place and a place where people want to come, be, gather.
What Great Neck used to have going for it, and other small villages from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to Grass Valley and Nevada City, Calif., that I have visited have gone through magnificent transformations. They are filled with small (unique) boutiques and shops, restaurants, cafes and bakeries, candy makers, delis, ethical and cultural that offer ambiance and experience. As for offices: why not capitalize on the twin trends of remote work and entrepreneurism and the state’s incentives and offer We Work-style office co-ops and business incubators, tutoring-style services, crafts (like the music store)?
They can compete with the higher rents in Manhattan and the too-large spaces of malls, with the sheer convenience of being nearby for local shoppers and attract people from farther away – provided they also provide the welcoming ambiance and the raison d’etre.
In fact, villages can capitalize on their unique advantage of offering mixed-use development (malls can’t, online shopping can’t), which makes for a sustainably profitable business model because of the synergy of the uses.
Other Long island villages, towns
KAREN RUBIN View Pointand cities have done it – several getting their act together enough to take advantage of the state’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grants (you don’t even need to have a finished plan – funds go toward the planning process). Ten are awarded each year.
A visionary village leadership might see their way to introduce funding for a Middle Neck Road trolley that would let the Old Village, Kensington and Great Neck Estates benefit from proximity to the LIRR; it could improve Middle Neck Road to promote safe travel for pedestrians and cyclists, it could seek partnerships for mixed-use and affordable housing rather than the contentious projects the board has pushed through that residents and neighboring villages resent, and even repurpose some of those vacant (obsolete) retail store-
fronts into new service businesses.
Such a trolley would also go far to unifying the Peninsula into a real community – something that has really been lost over the years. Instead of a United Community, there are tiny fiefdoms which make the absurd claim that they don’t want to “lose” their individual character (autonomy).
And instead of fighting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s NY Housing Compact plan – mandating a 3% increase in housing units over three years (arguably a village like Great Neck Plaza that has already been adding density would get credit) we should be embracing it and the resources that come with it to overcome inevitable opposition to any development proposal.
Indeed, development is universally attacked as exacerbating traffic, but that can and should be overcome by requiring every multi-family project, instead of providing parking for two cars per unit, to operate or cooperate on a shuttle van. As for the other complaint about “overcrowding schools” – Great Neck should worry about the opposite: too few students if families can’t afford to live her.
Great Neck Mayor Pedram Bral has been pushing for new residential development as the only way his village residents can avoid crippling increases in property taxes and address the woebegone condition of his “downtown.” But he has done it horribly wrong, ramming through spot-zoning without a cohesive (appealing) plan, and not
engaging residents and stakeholders in a meaningful, productive fashion. As a result, his concept of “development” has been suspect and unlikely to achieve the ultimate goal of a beautiful downtown people want to visit, work and live.
The advantage of a revitalized Great Neck – and I mean Great Neck the Greater – is that it brings in people from outside who provide the cash infusion into businesses (after all, the peninsula has only 45,000 residents, not 200,000 like Huntington). This achieves the goal of expanding the tax base and lowering each property-owner’s taxes (by expanding the tax pie).
Towards this end:
Employ Complete Streets strategies to beautify and make Great Neck Peninsula more pedestrian, bike friendly.
Work with the Great Neck Historical Society to create interesting historical markers that keep pedestrians interested, pay attention, linger, and show the importance (the Plaza has created a historic walking tour of the village). Create an online walking/biking tour (the Historical Society has much of this already.)
Restore the Stepping Stones lighthouse (Town of North Hempstead) and the Saddle Rock Grist Mill (Village of Saddle Rock) two significant historic sites that would draw visitors to the Peninsula and also give our Great Neck the Greater a sense of pride and purpose.
Create a Great Neck the Greater website.
An open letter to Gov. Hochul: I am writing to you today on behalf of the residents of North Hempstead’s 6th District, urging you to revisit the mandates set forth in the New York Housing Compact. I am frankly alarmed at your willingness to strip away local control from municipalities, which will significantly hamper our capacity to represent the residents who elected us. During my tenure as council member for North Hempstead’s 6th District, I have heard time and again from my residents that major development projects such as those implied in the New York Housing Compact are not viable in our communities, and I agree.
The 3% home growth and transitoriented local rezoning mandates outlined in the Housing Compact offer limited options for a suburban town that is already highly developed like North Hempstead. I am concerned that our unique and beloved downtowns would be profoundly altered to fit the guidelines set forth in the Housing Compact. Furthermore, it is difficult to comprehend how the New York Housing Compact was created without significant regard for our local environment. Preserving the ecological systems that make North Hempstead so special has always been a critical priority for me as a leader in government. The Housing Compact, which
ostensibly emphasizes development for the sake of development, asks municipalities to cede environmental preservation efforts, and that is simply unacceptable.
Residents and community leaders across New York State have been adamantly against the New York Housing Compact as it currently stands, and I am one of them. It is my hope that you will work diligently to amend your plan to consider the many concerns you have heard since the Housing Compact’s announcement.
Council Member Mariann Dalimonte North Hempstead
I’ve been thinking about how sheets rise and fall on waves of wind, though have no wings or feathers. I religiously hang clothes outside. Even winter, when the air is dry and temperatures are above freezing. It’s perfectly balanced and clean, conserving energy—quite a lot over the years.
The bright white and colored motifs are like blossoms ready to be picked before they fully open to release tethers and stream away, as is time like a river.
We do the same, holding what happiness we can, vacillating back and forth because life depends on it. The road we take does not just lay down the miles— our imagination is how we reach the world across the distances.
The thoughts and gestures by which we are ourselves, certainly. That’s the thing, perspicuity. When our wings touch down on the next shore the way we are… sky… sun shadow… cloud.
This place feels like that. Everything reaches skyward on precious waves, there’s no turning back.
More and more it all seems related, finally. And I in the gale steady myself a little while longer however inconceivable.
Lest I forget myself, the way pain leads to happiness by connecting, which is of course the true miracle, before it frees itself, slips away.
Stephen Cipot City ParkIf you think that reading a book will turn a kid gay, you might as well think that you were the star player on Baruch College’s championship volleyball team.
So it makes sense that our congressman, George Santos, is a co-sponsor of recently introduced book censorship legislation in the House of Representatives. Book banning is rooted in a disdain for facts, truth and reason, and who better represents that disdain than George Santos?
The congressional bill that Santos has chosen to add his name to as a co-sponsor would make it a federal crime for a publisher to furnish a school with printed or digital material “containing a sexually explicit visual depiction of any kind,” punishable by five years in prison and a $500,000 fine. It does not define “sexually explicit,” which in the iconography of the book ban movement might mean as little as the corner of a single panel in a page of panels in a graphic novel glimpsing half a topless woman (e.g., Maus, the holocaust memoir and graphic novel banned last year in a Tennessee school district).
The bill allows for an exception for “material with serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value,” at least nodding to one prong of the Supreme Court’s three-prong obscenity test. Yeah, the bill is likely unconstitutional on its face. But for its supporters, that’s besides the point.
The real point is to terrify publish-
ers into avoiding the risk and expense of prosecution, prison and bankruptcy using tactics whose effectiveness school teachers and librarians across the country can attest to, most recently in Florida. The larger goals served by such strategies and tactics are to demonize LGBTQ individuals, families and communities; to deny, and thus dodge fixing, the racial and other inequalities that exist in our society; and to channel expression and thought into narrow lanes that comport with their ideological views.
Anti-freedom advocates have a long list of books that need banning and thinking that needs blocking. LGBTQ themed books and programming top their charts, but I’ve also seen cited “Zahra’s Paradise,” a graphic novel about political oppression in Iran, for its brief depictions of nudity and sexual content to highlight the Islamic regime’s hypocrisy, and a graphic novel version of George Orwell’s 1984 (irony is not a topic book banners like to read about either apparently), for nude silhouettes and dialogue of Winston’s and Julia’s romp in the woods.
Yes, you’ve seen this movie before in our region. As recently as 1982, the Supreme Court found that the Island Trees School District in Nassau County violated the First Amendment rights of students when it removed books from school libraries that it determined were “antiAmerican, anti-Christian, anti-Semetic [sic], and just plain filthy.” The school
board had declared that “[i]t is our duty, our moral obligation, to protect the children in our schools from this moral danger as surely as from physical and medical dangers.” Sound familiar?
But Great Neck is an odd place to wage war against the freedom to read, to learn, and to think. Great Neck schools are among the best in the country, let alone the state. Its library — a main branch and three satellite branches — is equally impressive. Learning is revered here, both for its own sake and for the opportunities for advancement it provides, and Great Neck’s taxpayers put their money where their mouths are.
Facts, truth and reason are clear. Books with LGBTQ themes or characters are not grooming kids to be transgender. Teaching that black lives matter isn’t teaching that white lives don’t. Suppressing conversations about sexuality won’t suppress a teen’s curiosity about sex (or, with a smartphone in their hand, their access to many worse places to learn about sexual health than through books at the library).
And you have to actually attend Baruch College before you can star on its volleyball team.
Rory Lancman Great Neck
Lancman is president of the Great Neck Library Board of Trustees, but the opinions expressed in the letter are his own.
Let us give thanks to Washington via the Federal Transit Administration providing the critical funding to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. This paid for the latest new subway cars purchased on behalf of New York City Transit. The first 10-car train set went into service on March 10 on the A line for a 30-day in service test period. Upon successful completion of this test, additional cars will go into passenger service.
A series of FTA grants to the MTA, over several years, will pay for most of the base bid of $1.44 billion awarded to Kawasaki to purchase 535new state-of-the art R211 subway cars. They will primarily replace a similar number of subway cars currently operating on the A and C lines along with the Staten Island Railway that have reached their useful life. The delivery of all 535 cars, including 75 for the
Staten Island Railway, is anticipated to be completed before the end of 2024.
This assumes there are no additional project delays. There will be a total of 1,175 new subway cars purchased at a cost of $3.2 billion. The balance of 640 cars is anticipated to be delivered by December 2026. Future FTA funding will also pay for many of these cars as well. Previous subway car procurements suffered from delays of several years during plant production, inspection, acceptance, testing, and delivery before riders could reap the benefits.
Both the MTA and FTA have their own respective Project Management Oversight independent engineering consulting firms to supplement in-house staff. They are monitoring and providing oversight on this car procurement.
They also provide technical assistance to NYC Transit staff managing the
project. These engineering firms prepare monthly reports which provide detailed information on the progress of this subway car procurement.NYC Transit has a fleet of 6,500 subway cars with 471 stations serving 5.5 million pre- COVID-19 riders. Close to 4 million daily riders have returned.
Service is provided on 28 routes spanning four of five boroughs comprising NYC, including Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. Only the 500,000 residents of Staten Island have no direct subway connection to the rest of NYC.
Larry Penner Great Neck
(Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former Director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office of Operations and Program Management).
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Gold Coast Arts has announced its participation in the newly formed Long Island Arts Education Coalition, an initiative of Long Island Arts Alliance.
LIAEC is comprised of a network of individuals from Nassau and Suffolk Counties dedicated to advancing arts education on Long Island and in New York State.
Gold Coast Arts is an impressive group of arts administrators, arts educators, college and university leaders, and state agency representatives aimed at building capacity within and across the arts education field.
Chaired by Regent Roger Tilles, LIAEC will advocate to advance policy change in ways that benefit all youth on Long Island.
The LIAEC has been established to join the growing number of regional and statewide coalitions designed to ensure that our legislators and Governor are aware of the essential need for every school to provide opportunities for kids to
express themselves through study in the arts.
Where arts programs thrive, students are learning in the arts with high engagement, expressing ideas in a variety of arts languages, and engaging in creative and reflective work.
We also see students learning through the arts—meeting objectives in both an art form and another subject area and constructing and demonstrating understanding in highly creative and personal ways. But quality arts programs don’t thrive on their own.
One of the keys to their success has been the active involvement of arts advocates with a powerful and strategic message.
“I believe in grass roots advocacy” says Hon. Roger Tilles, Long Island’s representative on the Board of Regents, Founder of Long Island Arts Alliance, and Chairman of LIAEC. “The most effective tool for action is to galvanize leading citizens to affect
change as advocates of a common mission. And I have seen in Albany that the loudest voices are those best positioned to win the day. At this crucial time, when our representatives are setting educational policy with long term implications, it is our intent to join with counties across New York to guarantee that children will continue to enjoy the peace and fulfillment that the arts can bring to their lives. We can do no less”.
The LIAEC will work to develop systems and infrastructure that expand and sustain accessible arts education for all students, of all ages, within all 125 public school districts. It will focus on building and strengthening partnerships and collaborations between schools and arts and culture programs led by local arts organizations and artists.
“For over 25 years, Gold Coast Arts has been dedicated to promoting and supporting the arts and artists through education, exhibition, performance, and outreach” says Regina Gil, executive director,
and founder of Gold Coast Arts. “We have seen first-hand the positive impact that quality exposure to and education in the arts has had on the lives of thousands of children and adults of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities – including an increase in self-confidence, creative problem-solving skills, and the ability to work cooperatively with others. Engagement in the arts helps prepare students for jobs that have yet to be imagined. But due to cutbacks in funding and diminished respect for arts education in too many schools, not every child has access to a quality education in the arts. We look forward to working with so many influential arts leaders throughout our region to ensure that the arts remain a priority in the classrooms for all students throughout New York State.”
For more information and a current list of coalition members and their affiliated organizations, visit www.longislandartsalliance.org/liaec
Fri 3/31
Michelle Jameson
@ 6am
Paddy Power Pub, 70 Merrick Ave, Merrick ART DRIVES SOCIAL
ACTION: "THE PLANT A ROW STORY"
@ 9am
AT THE HEART OF PLANT A ROW'S SUC‐CESS IS ART! Port Washington Public Li‐brary, 1 Library Drive, Port Washington. marv‐@plant-a-row.org, 516510-8408
Guster @ 6:30pm The Paramount, 370 New York Ave, Huntington
Opening Day at Old Westbury Gardens!
@ 10am
The 90's Band @ 9pm Tap Room, 47-51 N Village Ave, Rockville Centre
Port Washington chapter of CancerCare Red Stocking Revue @ 8pm / $25 Mar 31st - Apr 2nd
It’s time for the Port Washington Chapter of CancerCare to host their annual fundraiser show “The Red Stock‐ing Revue”. Paul D. Schreiber High School, 101 Campus Drive, Port Washington. Rgennarelli@cancer carepw.org, 800-8134673
Sat 4/01
Zac N Fried: Zac N' fried DEBUTS @ Plattsduetache
"Celebrating Meat Loaf"
@ 8pm / $30-$45
The Space at Westbury Theater, 250 Post Av‐enue, Westbury
Nate Charlie Music
@ 9pm Dark Horse Tavern, 273 Main St, Farmingdale
@ 7pm Plattduetsche Park, 1132 Hempstead Turnpike, Franklin Square
Mike Delguidice and Big Shot
@ 9pm / $20
Mulcahy's Pub and Concert Hall, 3232 Railroad Avenue, Wantagh
The Gardens are now open to the public! Old Westbury Gardens, 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury. tickets@ oldwestburygar dens.org, 516-333-0048
Seth Meyers
@ 8pm / $39.50-$89.50
The Paramount, 370 New York Ave, Huntington Meyers is an Emmy Award-winning writer, New York Times best‐selling author and host of NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers.” Meyers began his TV career with “Saturday Night Live” in 2001, where he was a cast member for 13 seasons. He served as head writer for nine seasons and “Weekend Update” anchor for eight.
The 3rd Rail Bar & Grille, 216 Pettit Ave, Bellmore
"Using our Voices" Mental Health Run
Series- North Babylon @ 8:45am / $10-$25
Shine Phelps Lane Park, 281 Phelps Ln, North Babylon
North Merrick Public LIbrary Presents: Deni Bonet & Chris Flynn @ 2pm North Merrick Public Library, 1691 Meadowbrook Rd, North Merrick
FREE COMMUNITY
EASTER EGG HUNT
@ 10am
A FREE community Easter Egg Hunt Event! Will feature bounce houses, games, crafts, snacks, and more! Bea‐con Church, 201 I U Willets Road, Albert‐son. heidi@bea con.church
Bangers and Mash Acoustic Show @ 4pm
Johnny McGorey's Pub, 131 Front St, Massapequa Park
After School ProgramsSousa Elementary - K2nd Grade - 4pm-4:45pm - 9 Classes @ 4pm / $225
Apr 3rd - Jun 12th
Sousa Elementary School, 101 Sands Point Road, Port Wash‐ington. 516-801-3533
George Harrison @ 7pm Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave, Huntington
Roger Street Friedman/ Annie Mark/Toby Tobias at Sea Cliff Arts Council @ 7pm
Barnyard Egg Hunt
@ 11am / $15
Bring your baskets for a farm-wide scavenger hunt, enjoy Bunny Hop dancing and outdoor kids's games, and take photos with Whiskers the Bunny. Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Park‐way, Queens. hello@ queensfarm.org, 718347-3276
Sea Cliff Arts Council, 86 Roslyn Ave, Sea Cliff
Wed
After School ProgramsSalem Elementary - K2nd Grade - 4:00pm4:45pm - 10 Classes @ 4pm / $250
Apr 5th - Jun 14th
Salem Elementary School, 10 Newbury Road, Port Washing‐ton. 516-801-3533
Bobcat Live at 3rd Rail Bellmore NY @ 7pm
AEW Presents
Dynamite @ 7pm / $29-$100
UBS Arena, 2400 Hempstead Turnpike, Belmont Park - Long Is‐land
An Evening with Rick Wakeman: His Music and Stories @ 8pm / $29.50-$79.50
The Paramount, 370 New York Ave, Huntington
New York Mets vs. Miami Marlins @ 1:10pm
Citi Field, 120-01 Roo‐sevelt Avenue, Flushing
Fri 4/07
SMLI Edible Science Holiday Workshop @ 10am / $80-$90
Explore the yummier side of science in a day �lled with edible exper‐iments! We’ll use food to explore all areas of science and go home with lots of tasty treats. Science Museum of Long Island, 1526 North Plandome Road, Manhasset. corellana@ SMLI.org, 516-5642274
New York Islanders vs. Tampa Bay Lightning @ 7:30pm / $31-$1000
UBS Arena, 2400 Hempstead Turnpike, Belmont Park - Long Island
SMLI EGGcellent Experiments Holiday Workshop @ 10am / $80-$90 Spring is here and what better way to celebrate than with a workshop devoted to eggs! Meet our egg-laying animals, compete in our famous egg drop challenge, and more! It's sure to be eggciting! Science Museum of Long Is‐land, 1526 North Plan‐dome Road, Manhas‐set. corellana@ SMLI.org, 516-5642274
Dionne Warwick @ 7pm / $44.50
NYCB Theatre at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury
Misty Mountain debuts at the Metropolitan @ 8pm
The Metropolitan Restaurant & Bar, 3 Pratt Blvd, Glen Cove
Warped Tour Band @ 9pm / $15
Mulcahy's Pub and Concert Hall, 3232 Railroad Avenue, Wantagh
The best place to promote your events online and in print. Visit us @ https://theisland360.com/local-events/ powered by
Credit card debt as of the fourth quarter of 2022 was a record $986 billion after it jumped by $61 billion from the third quarter. Residents of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey had the top three spots for the largest amounts owed.
It is obvious that members of Gen X have the highest, followed by Baby Boomers and then millennials; and the smallest credit card debt holders are GenZs. However, many are in some type of financial stress and difficulty and between their student loans ($1.6 trillion owed) and credit card debt things do not look very promising.
It is so easy to get into debt today as the insatiable appetite for what some may call “free and easy money” has truly ruined many young people who have a real problem paying their bills and dealing with credit card companies. The companies seem to provide their cards to almost anyone, especially on college campuses where they have a captive audience to get everyone qualified and provide that alluring plastic to almost 99.9% of the students who apply.
Do they think that their parents will pay the bill every month if the children don’t? Maybe in some cases that may be true. However, the vast majority of students are in somewhat of a quandary and do not have the funds to make at least their monthly minimum payment (and
there are those parents who might be closer to retirement, and don’t have the funds to help their kids either!). This becomes a vicious cycle where interest compounds monthly. When you add their student loans to the mix, this becomes a catastrophic and deadly situation that will potentially stay with them for the rest or their lives if it isn’t dealt with in a logical, pragmatic and well thought-out plan.
When paying on time becomes a problem, the best way to handle these tenuous and stressful situations is to deal with them head-on by communicating with your credit card issuers on a regular basis. This will have an adverse effect on your credit scores and history if you are late on your monthly payments or if you don’t consistently pay the minimum monthly payment.
Most important will be to always ask the credit card representative for their name and I.D. number to keep accurate records of whom you speak with as the majority of banks are required to have their employees provide their identification. However, there are times when they do not have an ID number, but will provide their last names if asked. Some refuse and I have had that happen to me and when I ask for a supervisor, then all of a sudden they provide me their information.
It is extremely important to take notes, as some reps may say that they will, but don’t as you find this out when you call back the next time and the next representative says “there are no notes.” Unfortunately, when you are consistently late, those notes give you more credibility. Do this each and every time that you are on the phone with your credit card companies.
Most companies do offer hardship programs, whereby they will provide a smaller payment over a 3-5 year period. But you will most likely not be able to use your card going forward as it will be
canceled. Also there are times when you can negotiate for no further interest to be accrued as long as your payments are made on time. The worst case scenario is declaring Chapter 7, 11 or 13 personal/ business bankruptcies to either wipe out your debts or settle for pennies on the dollar.
There will be an expense to hire an attorney to handle this task (we can assist with professional and knowledgeable attorneys to help). I personally do not recommend this action unless there is no other way out of your situation and your back is against the wall. By taking this path, you will have this on your record for at least seven years. However, after two years or less you can apply for a secured credit card, whereby you would send whatever dollar amount that you want as a credit line directly to the bank as security. This can be the quickest way to re-establish your credit and credit history.
We have helped some re-establish their credit, enabling them to purchase a home and condo in a very reasonable time period. However, co-ops will look more intensely and be more intrusive with respect to your credit, unless it is fairly pristine. There are credit-fixing companies (we have what I believe to be one of the best in the industry) that can raise your credit scores by removing
derogatory remarks from your credit history.
They usually charge per item removed or a flat rate, depending on how poor your credit history and length of time. If you want to purchase, we have some creative methods that we use to enable you to become a homeowner. However, the simplest way is not to abuse your credit and to use no more than 10-25% of your credit line, so as to keep your credit scores as high as possible, so you will qualify for a mortgage.
Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has 40 years of experience in the Real Estate industry and has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (G.R.I.) and also as a Certified International Property Specialist (C.I.P.S) as well as the new “Green Industry” Certification for eco-friendly construction and upgrades. For a “FREE” 15-minute consultation, value analysis of your home, or to answer any of your questions or concerns he can be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email: Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com or via https://WWW. Li-RealEstate.Com Just email or snail mail (regular mail) him with your ideas or suggestions on future columns with your name, email and cell number and he will call or email you back.
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EMPLOYMENT
HELP WANTED
ASSISTANT ACCOUNT MANAGER
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
3 Day Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Never Known to Fail) Oh Most Beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven. Blessed Mother of the Son of God; Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh Star of the Sea, help me and show me you are my Mother. Oh Holy Mary Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succour me in my necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee (say three times).Sweet Mary I place this cause in your hands (say three times). Thank you for your mercy to me and mine. Amen If your request is granted, please publish the Novena. (MAK)
NOVENA TO THE BLESSED MOTHER
Oh Most Beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven. Oh, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh Star of the Sea, help me herein and show me here you are my Mother. Oh Holy Mary Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor me in my necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee (say three times). Holy Mary I place this cause in your hands (say three times). Amen. This prayer is never known to fail and is to be said for 3 consecutive days. In Gratitude (M.T.F.)
A.T. STEWART EXCHANGE CONSIGNMENT SHOP 516-746-8900 AntiquesFurniture-Jewelry-Silver-Mirrors-LampsArtwork Come to Consign & Stay to Shop Visit.... Our Shop 109 Eleventh St. Garden City Mon-Fri 10-4 (Wed till 6) Saturday 12-4 Shop Our Online Store ATStewartExchange.org Items to Consign? Email photos (with sizing info) to: store@atstewartexchange.org All proceeds benefit The Garden City Historical Society Like us on Facebook & Instagram
INVITED ESTATE SALES BY TRACY JORDAN is doing VIRTUAL TAG SALES and ONLINE AUCTIONS now! Sell the contents of an entire house or sell just a few things! You can host your own sale on invitedsales.com and Facebook and Instagram or we can do it for you. We can photograph, advertise and handle the winning pickups for you within a week! Don’t worry about your closing date, we can get your house ready on time! We are a one stop service for all your needs when you are moving or selling a property! Selling, donating, discarding and cleaning out services can be done to meet your time frame with minimal stress. Contact info@invitedsales.com for more information or call 516-279-6378 to schedule a consultation or receive more information. Visit us at www.invitedsales.com for a listing of our upcoming Virtual Tag Sales and Weekly Auctions!
LOOKING TO BUY! Estates, Oriental items, Gold, Silver, Costume Jewelry, Dishes, Flatware, Watches, Clothing, Old Photos, Coins, Stamps, Records, Toys, Action Figures, Comics, Art and Furniture. Immediate Cash Paid Call George 917-775-3048 or 718-386-1104
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AUTOMOTIVE
AUTOS WANTED
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Antoinette Biordi News 12 Long Island Anchor and Reporter
Bill Corbett, Jr. President
Corbett Public Relations
Ed D’Ambrosio
Senior Managing Director Compass Real Estate
Jim Denburg
Franchisee/Owner
Jersey Mikes
Mary Ellen Diver
CEO
Advantage Care Health Centers
Tom Dunn
Executive Director Tilles Center for the Performing Arts at LIU Post
Peter J. Elkowitz, Jr.
President and CEO
Long Island Housing Partnership
Ronald Fatoullah, Esq. Principal and Founder Ronald Fatoullah & Associates
James A. Garner President and CEO
Garner Group International, LLC
Joel Harris NY State District Governor Kiwannis International
Marc Herbst Executive Director Long Island Contractors’ Association, Inc.
Steven Krieger, Esq. President B2K Development
Brian Lally Sr. Vice President Chief Development Officer Northwell Health
Jason Lipiec Long Island Regional President M&T Bank
Rich Lisk Executive Vice President GF Sports & Entertainment/ New York Riptide
Robert Londin Partner
Jaspan Schlesinger Narendran LLP
Lori A. Marano, Esq.
Senior Trial/Appellate and Managing Partner at Gabriele Marano, LLP
Christopher H. Palmer
Managing Partner Cullen and Dykman LLP
Andrew Parton President
Cradle of Aviation Museum and Education Center
Susan Poser
President Hofstra University
Catherine Rinaldi
Interim President
Long Island Rail Road
President
MTA Metro-North Railroad
Dr. Chris Rosa
President and CEO The Viscardi Center
Michael N. Rosenblut
President and CEO
Michael H. Sahn
Founder Sahn Ward Braff Koblenz
PLLCDr. Timothy E. Sams President SUNY Old Westbury
David G. Schieren CEO EmPower Solar
Steven Schneider
CEO
Professional Physical Therapy
Dan Siegel
President Lifetime Brands, Inc.
Jack Weidinger
President Weidinger Auto Group
Sharon Wyman COO
Discover Long Island
Island, Inc.
Robert Ciatto, MS President and CEO Adults and Children with Learning Disabilities
Erik Gershwind President and CEO MSC Industrial Supply Co.
Adam Haber CEO and Co-Founder
Trellus Same Day Delivery and Marketplace
Bert Lurch CEO and Co-Founder
ECM Management
Bernard Macias
Associate State DirectorLong Island AARP New York
Parker Jewish Institute for Health Care and Rehabilitation
Chairman, Board of Managers
Agewell New York
Bina Sabapathy
President India Association of Long Island, Inc.
Butch Yamali President and Owner The Dover Group
Continued from Page 1
“This act cannot stand unchallenged,” Rosen said. “It is an act that requires a strong, decisive response by people of goodwill from all backgrounds.”
Rosen praised the mixture of cultures, races and religions in Great Neck Plaza and the entire peninsula, noting that the village recently received an “A” rating for its diversity by Niche. com.
“We are here today united and strong,” Rosen said, “condemning bigotry and racial prejudice here, wherever and whenever hatred and prejudice raise their ugly heads.”
The village and the Great Neck Chinese Association released a joint statement that formally condemned the act and committed to promoting diversity and the acceptance of tolerance of people from all backgrounds.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said he, county officials and the Nassau County Police Department will be putting their entire effort into finding those responsible for the act. Hate crimes, Blakeman said, have not been on the rise in Nassau due to the work of the police department.
“Our hate crimes are way down and the reason for that is we have zero-tolerance for these types of acts that are done to create fear and terror in people of various ethnic groups, religions and races,” Blakeman said. “Dorothy, we will not stand for this.”
Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Blakeman urged him to put “all the resources” into the investigation last week. At this time last year, Ryder said, there were 15 hate crimes in Nassau against the Asian community. This year that number has dropped to eight, he said.
“We’re doing everything we can because of the cooperation we get from the community,” Ryder said.
Police are currently monitoring surveillance videos in the community and running license plate readers to try to identify any suspects, Ryder said. Having individuals in the community report any information about who may have committed the vandalism, he said, is the best help that concerned citizens can provide to the police.
Rabbi Robert S. Widom of Temple Emanuel said this act of hatred proves there is more work to be done, despite having the peninsula and nation flooded with diverse individuals.
“You have to root out [hatred] from wherever we find it,” Widom said. “We have to be unified against what these haters represent. And we must show them how powerful we can be in opposing the vile behavior that they represent.”
Other officials present to express their support for the Great Neck Chinese Association and stood against the vandalism included Nassau Legislator Mazi Pilip, North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, North Hempstead
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panelists at this time, some interjecting and some passionately sharing their negative experiences.
All residents, excluding one, spoke at the forum about the negative effects the new schedule has had on their commute and overall lifestyle.
Issues residents have faced include crowded trains and train platforms, longer wait times in between trains, longer wait times when transferring between trains and train schedules limiting options for riders when going to and from work.
For riders leaving from the Port Washington station during peak times on the weekdays, three
trains arrive in Penn Station before 8 a.m., and another three before 10 a.m. The train arrival times at Penn during this time are 6:16, 6:59, 7:49, 8:30, 9:06 and 9:51.
Residents expressed their concern with the gaps between these arrival times, leading to some residents being late to work because they may miss the only train arriving at the station within the hour before they start work. While questions were posed and experiences shared, the panelists compiled a list of issues the residents have faced with these schedule changes and the new Grand Central madison terminal, as well as proposals of changes that residents need.
Issues included prolonged wait times in between trains, a lack of seating at Grand Central and the timing of transfers. Proposals for change included more departure times, more trains running to Penn Station before the 8 a.m. work day and to shift off-peak evening trains from Grand Central to Penn Station.
The list will be included in a letter sent to the MTA within the next couple of weeks. The MTA was not notified of the event.
Parasco said that residents need to have a narrow sense of focus when it comes to what they are asking for from the LIRR.
The forum lasted for about two hours, with
panelists having to end the session and cut off public comments as they had to leave the theater by 9 p.m. While the panelists ended the forum, many stayed afterward to talk with the concerned residents.
Sillitti is conducting a survey for residents to share their LIRR experiences in the wake of the schedule change to then be shared with the MTA. State Sen. Jack Martins is also hosting a petition for the MTA to improve its services.
“They will not admit that they made a mistake, but all of us here in this room know that they made a mistake and we will be pointing at their mistakes,” Dalimonte said.
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from Penn Station, some with upwards of 45-minute gaps between trains.
One of the largest gaps between trains exists between the 5:10 departure and the 5:52 departure. Rasmussen said having a 42-minute-long wait time between trains, especially during a peak time when people are getting off work, can have great negative impacts.
He said that if you were to miss the 5:10 train, sometimes due to uncontrollable factors like a delayed subway, your arrival time in Port Washington is extended extraneously. He expressed concerns for people who have evening schedules to abide by, such as picking up a child from daycare, who then have to endure a long wait time for the next train and possibly be late to their next location.
Rasmussen said that prior to the current schedule, trains came about every 20 minutes.
“The trains out of Penn Station are absolutely packed, standing in the aisles,” Rasmussen said. “And the trains at Grand Central are half empty.”
Another issue that Rasmussen said was the original plan to exclude express trains. Due to efforts in September, in which Rasmussen was involved, local government officials were able to negotiate six express trains to run along the Port Washington branch, three in the morning and three in the evening.
Rasmussen said that prior to his advocacy for express LIRR services, he had never been involved with his local government. For the first time, he worked with his local state senator and assemblywoman to create a collection of government officials to push for their com -
munity’s needs.
“Your whole routine is largely informed by how you get around, particularly Long Island, which is essentially a satellite place to New York City,” Rasmussen said. “There needs to be a much more broad realization of the fact that schedules, decisions on where to live decisions on where to work, all of this is the result of sort of decades of living.”
Rasmussen added that friends of his who commute to Grand Central, previously commuting to Penn and then taking the subway, have sometimes experienced longer commute times.
He said another issue is that riders who want to transfer trains along their route have to wait sometimes 15 minutes for their connection, making commute times longer.
Rasmussen suggested that a solution
to this would be to implement the original schedule of trains running to Penn Station and add additional trains running to Grand Central from Jamaica or Woodside.
The schedule implemented before the change on Feb. 27 was the reduced schedule in response to the pandemic and fewer people commuting into the city, and Rasmussen said that it worked well for people.
While Rasmussen said the LIRR schedule changes have posed problems for the community, he still thinks the Grand Central Madison terminal is a beneficial implementation. He said he doesn’t have an issue with the new terminal, but rather an issue with the schedule for the new terminal.
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request your immediate attention.”
Superintendent Gaurav Passi, in a March 17 letter to the Manhasset community, said parental input about curriculum is welcomed by the school district and that classroom instruction is outlined in Board of Education meetings archived on the district’s YouTube page.
“The district’s commitment has been and always will be on partnering with parents to cultivate a safe learning environment where students become independent thinkers who employ critical reasoning skills, work collaboratively, respect each other’s individuality, and embody integrity, honesty, empathy and compassion,” Passi said.
Passi said a majority of conversations surrounding students’ education and instruction are resolved at the classroom level, occasionally being escalated to the administrative level.
The email also expressed concerns about the district’s hiring practices after the Project Veritas video showed Gately saying he is a “Catholic in recovery.”
Other videos from Project Veritas allege that school districts discriminate in hiring of individuals based on political and religious beliefs.
Passi said this would be a cause for concern in the Manhasset School District if the organization’s claims had any validity but it doesn’t.
“The district does not utilize a rubric for the interview committee,” Passi said in the letter. “Nor do we ask questions to assess, in particular, a candidate’s political leanings or religious background. Because our district does not discriminate in our hiring process, committee members are instructed not to ask questions about a long list of items such as religion, marital status [or] organization memberships.”
Public concerns were addressed at an East Williston Board of Education meeting last week, where Gately’s wife, Danielle, serves as superintendent, about another Project Veritas video with statements made by David Casameto. Casameto is an assistant superintendent for the East Meadow school district who served as a director of technology in East Williston before leaving in 2017.
Comments made by Casamento include: “I think I said this before, but people don’t give up power, you have to take it from them…you stop hiring those types of people [conservatives]…
we created a whole rubric for hiring in light of DEI.”
The video continues, showing him saying: “It’s all secret. So, I would rank them [conservatives] so low [in their interview process] that their score couldn’t possibly raise them up to the level of moving on to the cabinet.”
Some teachers and parents contended that Project Veritas’ video had been edited and highlighted the most revealing comments.
Project Veritas videos have also cited alleged attempts to indoctrinate school-age children with inappropriate reading materials, an allegation brought up at the East Williston meeting.
In responding to critical commentsfrom par-
ents about inappropriate library materials, East Williston Board of Education President Mark Kamberg said library texts are chosen based on “age-appropriate recommendations from a variety of professional organizations, including the American Library Association, School Library Journal, and Common Sense Media.”
The Great Neck Library’s most recent election included candidates discussing the hotly contested topic of banning books, specifically those with sexual and LGBTQ+ content.
Then-candidate Jessica Hughes said the question of whether or not to ban books did not center around censorship, but rather “promoting content that is divisive and exclusionary.”
Parental engagement, she said, should be
welcomed by the board. Hughes touted the need to have community stakeholders be informed about what children will find in the libraries’ stacks of books.
Board members Mimi Hu and Rory Lancman opposed the idea of banning books as a whole in the Great Neck Library system.
“There is no place in the Great Neck Library or any other library to restrict content based on a topic if it makes you uncomfortable – LGBTQ, civil rights,” Lancman, who now serves as president, said during a candidate interview in October. “There is a long history in this country, unfortunately to this day, of people trying to ban, restrict, remove books from our libraries.”
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pressed his gratitude to the county and the FBI for helping to incentivize others to find the assailant and commended Ikram for her strength throughout the search.
“Nafiah Ikram has inspired all of us with
the determination, dignity and courage she has demonstrated throughout this unthinkable ordeal,” Solages said. “I am very thankful for the cooperation and strong support from the Nassau County Police Department and the FBI, and I believe that together, we’re going to make justice happen for Nafiah.”
The reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect was increased from $40,000 to $50,000, officials announced in February.
The county will pay $30,000 in reward money while the FBI, which is aiding the county in its search, will pay the other $20,000.
The GoFundMe page has raised more than
$570,000 for Ikram since being launched following the attack. Ikram occasionally posts updates on her surgeries and the road to recovery.
In a January update, she said she remains grateful for friends, family, medical professionals and others who have aided her in the recovery journey.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the annual election of the qualified voters of the Great Neck Union Free School District Nassau County, New York will be held on May 16, 2023 in the following election districts:
ELECTION DISTRICT NO. 1: Great Neck E.M. Baker School, 69 Baker Hill Road, Great Neck, N.Y.
Western Boundary: Middle Neck Road from Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR) to Wildwood Road, to Cherry Lane, to Horizon Way to the Long Island Sound.
Southern Boundary: Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR) from Middle Neck Road to East Shore Road.
Eastern Boundary: East Shore Road and Manhasset Bay to the Long Island Sound.
Northern Boundary: Long Island Sound.
ELECTION DISTRICT NO. 2: Great Neck South High School, 341 Lakeville Road, Great Neck, N.Y.
Northern Boundary: Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR) from South Middle Neck Road to East Shore Road.
Western Boundary: Stewart Avenue from Hillside Avenue along the NYC/Queens Border to the Long Island Expressway (LIE) to Lakeville Road to South Middle Neck Road to the Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR)
Eastern Boundary: New Hyde Park Border from Hillside Avenue to Union Turnpike to Continental Drive and the Herricks Border to the Manhasset Border to the Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR).
Southern Boundary: Hillside Avenue from Stewart Avenue to the Herricks Border.
ELECTION DISTRICT NO. 3: Great Neck Saddle Rock School, 10 Hawthorne Lane, Great Neck, N.Y.
Northern Boundary: Horizon Way to Cherry Lane to Wildwood Road from the Long Island Sound to Middle Neck Road.
Southern Boundary: Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) tracks from Little Neck Bay to Middle Neck Road.
Western Boundary: Little Neck Bay/Long Island Sound from the Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR) to Horizon Way.
Eastern Boundary: Middle Neck Road from the Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR) to Wildwood Road.
ELECTION DISTRICT NO. 4: Lakeville School, 47-27 Jayson Avenue, Great Neck, N.Y.
Southern Boundary: Long Island Expressway (LIE) from the NYC/Queens Border to Lakeville Road.
Eastern Boundary: Lakeville Road and South Middle Neck Road from the Long Island Expressway (LIE) to the Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR)
Western Boundary: NYC/Queens Border from the Long Island Expressway (LIE) to the Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR).
Northern Boundary: The Long Island Rail Road Tracks (LIRR) from the NYC/Queens Border to South Middle Neck Road.
The annual election on May 16, 2023 shall be held for the following purposes:
A) To vote upon the annual school budget for the school year 2023-2024 and to authorize the levying of a tax upon the taxable property of the district for the foregoing purposes (PROPOSITION NO. 1).
B) To vote upon the following proposition (PROPOSITION NO. 2):
RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of the Great Neck Union Free School District, Nassau County, New York, shall pay to the Great Neck Library, Great Neck, New York, a sum to be requested by the Board of Trustees of the Great Neck Library, Great Neck, New York, such sum to be raised by tax on the taxable property of said district for the support of said Great Neck Library for the year beginning January 1, 2024.
C) To elect for a three‑year term, a member of the Board of Education to fill the vacancy occasioned by the expiration of the term of Rebecca Sassouni, the new term to begin July 1, 2023.
D) To elect for a three‑year term, a member of the Board of Education to fill the vacancy occasioned by the expiration of the term of Jeff Shi, the new term to begin July 1, 2023.
E) To vote upon such other propositions as may properly come before the meeting.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that the Board of Education will hold a public budget hearing on May 3, 2023 at 7:30 p.m., at Great Neck South Middle, 349 Lakeville Road, Great Neck, NY 11020, (a Zoom link will also be posted on the District website homepage www.greatneck.k12.ny.us) for the purpose of discussing expenditure of funds and the budgeting thereof relative to the appropriation of necessary funds to meet the necessary expenditures of said school district for school year 2023-2024 at which time and which place all persons interested in the subject matter thereof will have an opportunity to be heard.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that the annual election shall be conducted by voting on propositions and candidates on voting machines on May 16, 2023 from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that a copy of statement of the amount of money which will be required for the ensuing year for school purposes (school budget) exclusive of public monies, and copies of propositions involving expenditure of monies for the operation of the school system for the ensuing year, may be obtained by any resident in the District during the 14 days immediately preceding the annual election, on the District website or by contacting the office of the District Clerk by phone (516)441-4007 or email districtclerk@greatneck.k12.ny.us The aforesaid budget statement shall contain the amount of money to be paid to Great Neck Library for library services for the year beginning January 1, 2024.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that pursuant to Section 495 of the Real Property Tax Law, the District is required to attach to its proposed budget an exemption report. Said exemption report, which will also become part of the final budget, will show how the total assessed value on the final assessment roll used in the budgetary process is exempt from taxation, list every type of exemption granted by the statutory authority, and show the cumulative impact of each type of exemption, the cumulative amount expected to be received as payment in lieu of taxes and the cumulative impact of all exemptions granted.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that nominations for members of the Board of Education shall be made by petition signed by at least 140 qualified voters of the District and filed in the office of the District Clerk between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m, not later than the 30th day preceding the election at which the trustees shall be voted upon, except that on the 30th day, this year, April 17, 2023, such propositions may be submitted between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Such petition shall state the residence of each signer and shall state the name and residence of the candidate and must describe the specific vacancy for which the candidate is nominated, including the length of the term of office and the name of the last incumbent. The candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for each specific vacancy shall be considered elected to office. However, a nomination may be rejected by the Board of Education if the candidate is ineligible for the office or declares his or her unwillingness to serve.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that registration is permitted at the office of the District Clerk on school days, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, up to and including May 11, 2023. A register will be prepared and will be filed in the office of the District Clerk, 345 Lakeville Road, Great Neck, NY, and such register will be open for inspection by any qualified voter between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on each of the five (5) days prior to the day set for voting on the budget and election, except Sunday, and between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon on Saturday by appointment only, and at each polling place on election day.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that a person shall be entitled to vote at the annual election who is a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age, a resident of the School District for a period of 30 days next preceding the election at which he/she offers to vote and registered to vote for said election. A person shall be registered to vote if he or she shall have permanently registered with the Nassau County Board of Elections or with the School District's Board of Registration. Only persons who shall be registered shall be entitled to vote. Said register shall include (1) all qualified voters of the District who shall present themselves personally for registration, and (2) all voters previously registered for any annual or special District election and who shall have voted at any annual or special District election held or conducted at any time within the four calendar years (2019-2022) prior to preparation of said register.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that the Board of Registration will meet during the hours of voting at the Annual District Election on May 16, 2023 at the polling places in each of the election districts to prepare a register for District elections to be held subsequent to May 16, 2023.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that the Board shall convene a special meeting thereof within 24 hours after the filing with the District Clerk of a written report of the results of the ballot for the purpose of examining and tabulating said reports of the result of the ballot and declaring the result of the ballot.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that applications for absentee ballots for the school district election are to be completed on a form prescribed by the state board of elections and may be obtained from the New York State Education Department’s Website (http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/common/counsel/files/absentee-ballot-application-and-instructions-english.pdf, http://www.counsel.nysed.gov/common/counsel/files/absentee-ballot-application-andinstructions-spanish.pdf), or by contacting the office of the District Clerk by email districtclerk@greatneck.k12.ny.us or phone (516-441-4007) Completed applications must be received at least seven (7) days before the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the applicant, or the day before the election if the ballot is to be delivered personally to the applicant or to his or her designated agent. Absentee ballot applications will not be accepted by the District Clerk before April 17, 2023. A list of all persons to whom absentee ballots have been issued will be available at the office of the District Clerk on each of the five days prior to the day of the election except Sunday, and between the hours 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon on the Saturday prior to the election by appointment only.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that pursuant to Education Law §2018-d, any person serving in the military, including spouses and dependents, may register to vote in the upcoming school district election. A military voter who is a qualified voter of the school district may obtain a registration form by visiting the District website (http://www.greatneck.k12.ny.us/voting) or contacting the office of the District Clerk by phone (516)441-4007, facsimile (516) 4414994, email districtclerk@greatneck.k12.ny.us, mail at Great Neck Public Schools, 345 Lakeville Rd, Great Neck, NY 11020, or in person during regular office hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. A military voter who is duly registered may apply for a military ballot by requesting an application by also visiting the District website or contacting the office of the District Clerk. Completed registration applications and completed military ballot applications must be personally delivered or mailed to the District Clerk and received no later than 5:00 p.m. on April 20, 2023. Military ballots must be received by 5:00 p.m. on May 16, 2023 if signed and dated by the military voter and one witness thereto with a date which is not later than the day before the election, or not later than the close of the polls on May 16, 2023 if postmarked or endorsed by an agency of the United States government. A military voter may designate a preference to receive a military voter registration form, military ballot application or military ballot by mail, facsimile or electronic mail in the request for such registration, ballot application, or ballot. For purposes of this school district election, a military voter is a qualified voter of New York State, who: (i) is in actual military service, and by reason of such military service is absent from the school district in which he or she is qualified to vote on the day of registration or election; or (ii) is discharged from such military service within 30 days of an election; or a spouse, parent, child or dependent of a such voter, accompanying or being with such voter, if a qualified voter of New York State and a resident of the same school district as such voter.
NOTICE IS ALSO GIVEN that the Board of Education has adopted rules governing the election, which include the following:
a) Any proposition or question to be placed upon the voting machines (except propositions or questions which are required to be stated in this Notice) shall be submitted in writing by petition subscribed by at least 351 qualified voters, and filed in the office of the District Clerk between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., not later than the 30th day preceding the election at which such question or proposition shall be voted upon, except that on the 30th day, this year, April 17, 2023, such propositions may be submitted between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
b) All petitions submitting questions or propositions shall clearly and concisely state the proposition or question to be submitted to the election, but the form and language of such question or proposition shall be determined by the Board of Education.
c) The Board of Education shall examine each petition filed with the office of the District Clerk for the submission of questions and propositions and may reject said petition if its purpose is not within the power of the voters, or where expenditure of money is required by the petition, if the proposition fails to include the necessary specific appropriation.
Dated: March 8, 2023
Great Neck, New York
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION GREAT NECK UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT PATRICIA McSHANE, DISTRICT CLERKPLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the Assessor of the Village of Great Neck, Nassau County, New York, has completed and verified the final assessment roll of the Village for the fiscal year beginning June 1, 2023 and ending May 31, 2024.
A copy of the aforementioned final roll has been filed with the Clerk-Treasurer at his office, 767 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, New York. Such copy may be examined on the Village’s website at www.greatneckvillage.org and comments and questions may be submitted via email to info@greatneckvillage.org or by calling the Village Hall at (516) 482-2000, during business hours, 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., Mondays through Fridays, from April 3, 2023 until April 17, 2023.
Abraham Cohan
Village Clerk-Treasurer
Dated: March 24, 2023 Great Neck, New York
LEGAL NOTICE
VILLAGE OF KINGS POINT ASSESSMENT ROLL
NOTICE OF COMPLETION
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the
Assessment Roll for the Village of Kings Point, Nassau County, New York, for the fiscal year 2023/2024 has been completed and will be filed in the office of the Village Clerk-Treasurer at the Village Hall, 32 Steppingstone Lane, Kings Point, New York on March 31, 2023, where the same is open for inspection during regular business hours, by all interested parties for fifteen days (15).
Gomie Persaud
Village Clerk/Treasurer
March 31, 2023
NOTICE TO BIDDERS NB-1
GREAT NECK LIBRARY - PARKVILLE BRANCH INTERIOR RENOVATION SED# 28040703-0013-009
Notice is hereby given that SEALED PROPOSALS for: INTERIOR RENOVATION AT GREAT NECK LIBRARY – PARKVILLE BRANCH
10 CAMPBELL AVENUE, NEW HYDE PARK, NY 11040
Contract G – General Construction Work will be received until 4:00 pm EST on May 3, 2023 at the Business Office of the Great Neck Library located at 159 Bayview Avenue, Great Neck, New York, 11023 at which time they will be publicly opened and read.
The scope of the General Construction Work includes the Interior Renovation. The renovation is to include the work as directed in the contract documents.
All work shall be completed during regular business hours, no overtime will be accepted. All labor costs shall be calculated based on NYS Department of Labor Prevailing Wage Schedule for a Public Work Project. The Great Neck Library is exempt from Federal, New York State and local sales and use taxes. All proposals shall exclude all such taxes.
A USB containing the electronic files of the Contract Documents (including Construction Drawings, Bidding Instructions and Requirements, Form of Contract, and Prevailing Wage Rates) is available to bidders for a non-refundable purchase price of Twenty Dollars ($20.00) for each USB, at the Business Office of the Great Neck Library. Deposit checks for USB’s are to be made payable to the “Great Neck Library”. The USB drives of the Bid documents may be obtained beginning 10:00pm EST on March 31, 2023. Bids must be made in the standard proposal form in the manner designated and as required by the Specifications that must be enclosed in sealed envelopes bearing the name & address of the bidder on the outside, addressed to: GREAT NECK LIBRARY- PARKVILLE BRANCH, clearly marked on the outside: Bid For INTERIOR RENOVATION.
Each proposal submitted must include the following completed forms:
- Bid Proposal Form and List of Subcontractors (Proposal Forms and SCL)
- Contractor Background (QB)
TAX LIEN SALE
VILLAGE OF GREAT NECK
NOTICE OF SALE OF REAL ESTATE FOR UNPAID VILLAGE TAXES FOR THE YEAR 2022-2023
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT, pursuant to the provisions of the Village Law and the Real Property Tax Law of the State of New York and a resolution of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Great Neck, Nassau County, New York, the Treasurer of the said Village will sell at public auction in the manner provided by law on the 14th day of April 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at the Village Hall, 767 Middle Neck Road, Great Neck, New York 11024, so much of each of the following parcels of real estate upon which Village taxes remain unpaid for the year of 20222023, as will be sufficient to discharge the tax, fees, interest and charges which may be due thereon respectively at the time of such sale and continue the same from day to day until the said sale shall be completed.
The Village of Great Neck reserves the right to except certain parcels, to the extent of all, from such sale, including, but not limited to parcels, of property on which the Village of Great Neck owns and hold one or more unredeemed certificates of tax lien.
The following is a list of the real estate to be sold for unpaid taxes for the year 2023 with a statement of the amount of all charges thereon April 14, 2023, the description of the properties being those on the Tax Map of the Village of Great Neck:
NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF NASSAU, DEUTSCHE BANK
NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY AS
TRUSTEE FOR WAMU
MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH
CERTIFICATES SERIES 2003AR10 Plaintiff, vs AMINA
KHORDIPOUR A/K/A MINA
KHORDIPOUR, ET AL., Defendant(s).Pursuant to a
Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale
duly entered on October 18, 2017 and an Order Appointing a Successor Referee to Conduct the Sale duly entered on November 8, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the front steps on the north side of the Nassau County Supreme Court, 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, NY on April 20, 2023 at 2:00 p.m., premises known as 14 Farmers Road, Kings Point a/k/a Great Neck, NY 11024. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Incorporated Village of Kings Point, Great Neck, Town of North Hempstead, County of Nassau and State of New York, Section 1, Block 156 and Lot 10.
Approximate amount of judgment is $1,593,910.81 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 012764/2012. This foreclosure sale will be held on the north side steps of the Courthouse, rain or shine. COVID19 safety protocols will be followed at the foreclosure sale. If proper social distancing cannot be maintained or there are other health or safety concerns, the Court Appointed Referee will cancel the sale.Cristina Prieto, Esq., Referee Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, 10 Bank Street, Suite 700, White Plains, New York 10606, Attorneys for Plaintiff
- A certified check or bid bond, made payable to the Great Neck Library, in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the total amount of the bid, as a commitment by the bidder that, if its bid is accepted, it will enter into a contract to perform the work and will execute such further security as may be required for the faithful performance of the contract. Certification of bonding company is required for this bid – see Bidding Instructions and Requirements.
Each bidder shall be bound by its bid price for forty-five (45) days after the formal bid opening. A mandatory pre-bid meeting and walk-thru at the site of the Parkville Branch is scheduled for 9:30 am EST, April 11, 2023. Potential bidders are asked to gather at the site, wearing a face mask for safety, at which time they will be escorted to the area of work. THIS MEETING IS MANDATORY; ALL POTENTIAL BIDDERS MUST ATTEND.
It is the Board of Trustees’ intention to award the contract to the lowest qualified bidder who can meet the experience, technical and budget requirements. The term bidder refers hereinafter to “the firm, any affiliate, any predecessor company or entity, or any” owner, director, officer, or partner of the firm. The Library reserves the right to reject any or all bids, waive any informality, and to accept such bid which, in the opinion of the Board of Trustees, meets all requirements and is in the best interests of the Library.
Bids include all costs associated with the project. By submitting a bid, the bidder represents that it is familiar with the site and project conditions and has met the experience requirements. Prior to submitting its bid, Contractor shall make the Architect and Owner aware of any problems and/or inconsistencies encountered in review of the bid documents.
Great Neck Library, Board of Trustees Dated: March 31, 2023
Notice
Notice of Formation of SPARROW CAPITAL, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on 202207-12. Office location: Nassau County. SSNY designated as agent of Limited Liability Company (LLC) upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY should mail process to New York State : 64 Mackey Avenue Port Washington NY 11050.
Purpose: Any lawful purpose
FCA, a leading health and human services not-for-profit organization on Long Island, recently held a baby shower for new mothers and mothers-to-be as part of its Parents and Children Together program.
About 20 mothers, and some fathers, including clients from FCA’s Lynn Vanderhall Nursery Co-op, its Immigrant Resource Center, and students from Hempstead High School, attended.
In addition to receiving gift baskets of baby care supplies, the young women were able to ask questions
while learning about breastfeeding and baby care from Yasmin Santiago, Community Health Educator at Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield.
They also were treated to a free photo session, courtesy of Michelle GT Photo Studios. FCA organized the special event with help from Lidi Flores of Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus.
Erica Schifano, assistant VP of family support at FCA, explained the importance of the PACT program in underserved communities.
“Our case managers provide
in-person cultural and educational enrichment opportunities to young people, ages 10-21, who are at risk of unprotected sexual activity and early pregnancy and provide support and educational activities to parenting and pregnant teens. Babies are always welcome to attend.”
PACT works directly with Hempstead High School, offering prevention workshops and individual counseling. The program is also available for young women in all of Nassau County.
“Many young people don’t
understand how to navigate parenthood and need support,” Schifano continued. “We work with the whole family, including parents and their children. We take an openminded, culturally sensitive approach to support our community’s needs and choices.
PACT events like this one help to organically create a community among our young moms. They support each other, sometimes watching each other’s children. These positive results demonstrate the power of the program.”
Council Member Dennis Walsh announced that the Town of North Hempstead will be sponsoring a defensive driving course offered by Empire Safety Council on Tuesday, April 11, 2023.
Empire Safety Council is New York State ap-
proved and recognized by all insurance companies. The course will be held at Town Hall, 220 Plandome Road, Manhasset from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The registration fee to attend the class is $30.
To make a reservation for the course please
email WalshD@northhempsteadny.gov.
Please be sure to include your name, address, phone number, and email to hold your reservation.
By taking Empire’s Defensive Driving Course
you can save 10% on your auto insurance for the next 3 years and reduce up to 4 points from your driving record.
For more information, please call: 516-8697703 or email: WalshD@northhempsteadny.gov
The Long Island Invasive Species Management Area is excited to announce their 2023 Invasive Species Prevention Poster Contest.
All K-12 students on Staten Island and Long Island are invited to enter to showcase their creativity and express their thoughts on conservation and invasive species. Prizes will be awarded to 15 winners, including cash prizes provided by Long Island Natives, gift cards to local nursery Heritage Farm and Garden, spotted lanternfly swag, PlayCleanGo handheld boot brushes, and plants from the Long Island Native Plant Initia-
tive.
Students are tasked with creating educational posters that illustrate ways to prevent the spread of invasive species that threaten native biodiversity. Invasive species are any plant or animal that spreads to a new area and causes harm to the environment, humans, or the economy.
They are often spread by people unintentionally, such as through ornamental plantings, on recreational equipment, or by moving firewood or dumping fish tanks.
“This year’s theme of invasive species preven-
tion was chosen so kids would be equipped with specific ways to reduce the impact of invasive species on our local ecosystems. We hope this will inspire young people to take action to help prevent the spread of invasive species and encourage others to do the same,” said Kassidy Robinson, LIISMA’s education and outreach manager.
The LIISMA poster contest is sponsored by the Long Island Native Plant Initiative, Heritage Farm and Garden, Long Island Natives, and PlayCleanGo/NAISMA. For the contest application and guidelines, please visit: https://liisma.org/
A pharmacology researcher at the Old Westbury-based New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine has co-authored a new study that makes a strong case for why a golden spice commonly found in curry could enhance ovarian cancer treatments.
Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynecological cancer among women in the United States, with an estimated 20,000 women in the U.S. expected to receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer this year.
Unfortunately, the five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer remains below 50 percent and, to further complicate matters, diagnosis can be very challenging; symptoms are often vague, resembling other common medical conditions, and no screening test currently exists.
Treatment for ovarian cancer typically consists of surgery and chemotherapy, but these powerful chemotherapy drugs can have harsh side effects, like hair loss and vomiting. In addition, later-stage ovarian cancer tends to develop chemotherapy resistance, rendering treatments less effective and, in turn, worsening patient prognosis.
Now, in a new medical review paper published in the journal Pharmacy Times, NYITCOM Associate Professor
Maria Pino, Ph.D., and two Pharm.D. candidates from St. John’s University discuss why the cancer research community should seriously explore the benefits of the spice curcumin in the treatment of ovarian cancer.
Curcumin is a golden, natural compound derived from turmeric, a plant in the ginger family that is, perhaps, best known as a curry spice ingredient. The compound has been used in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine for thousands of years and has more recently gained attention in western medicine as a potential tumor suppressant.
In fact, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute notes that early-phase clinical trials using curcumin-containing products yielded promising outcomes when used in combination with treatments for colon, oral, and liver cancers.
“The interest in curcumin came from the students I mentored. We went through various publications on this spice for managing inflammatory conditions and its action as an antioxidant,” said Pino, who is an expert in pharmacology and toxicology.
Pino and her co-authors note that curcumin offers diverse therapeutic benefits, including anti-inflammatory and
analgesic (pain-killing) effects, with few negative side effects. The researchers also document existing studies of ovarian cancer cells and cancer in animals, which have both found that curcumin helped to suppress tumor cell spread and growth.
They write, “Curcumin, when combined with chemotherapy, is more likely to enhance the synergistic effect of cancer cells to drug therapy. The addition of this phytochemical to current ovarian cancer chemotherapeutics may enhance drug cytotoxicity while reversing multiple drug resistance.”
In other words, when curcumin is used alongside chemotherapy, ovarian cancer patients may respond better to treatments.
“Treating ovarian cancer is challenging. The standard chemotherapeutic drugs have many adverse effects and I know that from my experience in patient care,” said Pino. “What I found interesting is that there are some studies showing that adding curcumin reduced these adverse drug effects.”
Pino adds that these positive findings merit additional scientific research.
“More studies will be needed to see if curcumin can consistently enhance the standard of ovarian cancer treatment and if so, at what dose,” she says.
events/liisma-invasive-species-prevention-poster-contest/ .
LIISMA is a partnership of more than 30 governmental and nongovernmental organizations working together to reduce the spread of invasive species and protect local ecosystems on Staten Island and in Brooklyn, Queens, and Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Funding for LIISMA is provided by the New York State Environmental Protection Fund, as administered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and Town Clerk Ragini
Srivastava announce the date for the 30th Annual May W. Newburger Women’s Roll of Honor Breakfast to be held Friday, June 23, 2023 at the Clubhouse at Harbor Links in Port Washington.
“Town Clerk Srivastava and I are proud to continue the 30-year tradition of honoring the incredible women in our Town with this year’s planned event in June,” DeSena said. “The town is so fortunate to have an abundance of outstanding women who exemplify the strength and service it takes to be a community leader. I look forward to this year’s Women’s Roll of Honor ceremony to further shine a light on our amazing and selfless community members.”
Srivastava spoke of the exciting plans for the event which in the past was a highlight of the March Women’s History Month celebrations.
Supervisor DeSena and Town Clerk Srivastava are calling for nominations for the 2023 Women’s Roll of Honor now until Friday, April 28.
Srivastava noted, “During our
month-long celebration of Women’s History Month, we should reflect on the many dedicated and talented women in the Town of North Hempstead who are deserving of public recognition. Their contributions are worthy of note and continue to make a difference in the quality of life that we enjoy. I encourage our residents to consider that special person in their community as a nominee and to submit their recommendation to the Clerk’s Office without delay.”
The breakfast and ceremony will take place Friday, June 23, at the Clubhouse at Harbor Links, 1 Fairway Drive, Port Washington. Guest reservations will be accepted starting May 20 through June 2.
The Women’s Roll of Honor history, photos, videos, news releases, nomination forms and past honorees can be found on the TONH Website, www.northhempsteadny.gov under Town Clerk’s Office. See Women’s Roll of Honor.
For event information and nominee submissions write to Office of the Clerk at WROH@northhempsteadny.gov or call the 311 or 516-869-6311.
Knowing the health care system is complex and often creates anxiety for patients newly diagnosed with cancer, the Northwell Health Cancer Institute has launched Cancer Care Direct, a comprehensive program to connect patients with clinical registered nurse navigators who can provide expert guidance to patients and caregivers from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship.
The program will be offered at Northwell’s 10 cancer centers in communities across Long Island, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island and Westchester.
“As an integrated health system, Northwell’s Cancer Care Direct program can truly navigate patients through the entire continuum of cancer care and other medical disciplines,” said Dr. Richard Barakat,physician-in-chief and director of the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, and senior vice president of cancer services. “A cancer diagnosis is devastating. We want to provide our patients with every level of treatment and support they need and our trained nurse navigators will be there every step of the way. We want to help alleviate stress so patients can focus on getting well.”
In January 2023, Northwell Health Cancer Institute piloted Cancer Care Direct to its 83,000 employees across its health system, offering staff and their family members access to nurse navigators.
The Northwell Cancer Care Direct navigation program provides expert guidance in nearly every type of cancer. Within the first two months, Cancer Care Direct received over 100 referrals.
Nurse navigators are the ultimate patient advocates. When Devyani Kamdar received a diagnosis of an aggressive type of breast cancer in November 2022, she was shocked because no one in her family had cancer before. The 69-year-old accounting clerk was overwhelmed.
“I went numb and had trouble processing the information,” said Kamdar, who lives on Long Island with her husband of 42 years. “My family doctor referred me to Northwell and I was glad to be connected with a nurse navigator to help me with everything.”
Maria Jose Conway, nurse navigator for Ms. Kamdar, met her and her husband for the first time at the end of November at an initial consult with a breast surgeon at the R. J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center in New Hyde Park.
Trained as an oncology nurse, Ms. Conway attended the meeting with the surgeon at her patient’s request, coordinated social work meetings and arranged an appointment with a medical oncologist to set up chemotherapy sessions.
Kamdar has had several rounds of treatment and in the coming months will have breast surgery to remove her tumors.
“I try to prioritize steps for patients to make things less stressful for them,” said Conway. “Handling a wide range of logistics is essential but it’s helpful for patients to talk with someone when they are frightened.” Ms. Conway said she will follow Ms. Kamdar through her entire cancer journey.
“I’m thankful for Maria, she makes my life eas-
ier,” Ms. Kamdar said. “I call her to save time and stress. She puts her heart and soul into her job and always has a big smile on her face.”
A review of 29 patient navigation studies showed that patient navigation reduced the time to diagnosis and treatment, improved treatment adherence, improved patient quality of life and improved patient knowledge regarding their cancer and helped improve their communication with their health care team.
Prior to creating Cancer Care Direct, the Cancer Institute offered navigation to breast cancer patients in January 2022, said Rita Mercieca,senior vice president and chief administrator at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute. The launch of the breast navigation program demonstrated the need to replicate this type of service for patients being treated in all cancer specialties; with 500 patients being navigated in the first year.
Over the months, Mercieca and her team worked with chairs of cancer departments, physicians and others to develop the program. Currently, 10 dedicated nurse navigators are on staff, who speak five languages to focus on key patient populations across the region. Those include: English, Spanish, Mandarin, Bengali, Vietnamese, with a language interpreter service available for others.
“Our promise to patients at any Northwell cancer center is if you have cancer and would like a navigator to help you through any part of your journey, we will connect you with a clinical nurse navigator,” said Mercieca. “We strive to not only provide our patients with the most advanced cancer treatments, but also provide patients with concierge service and support during one of the most challenging times in their lives.”
Since early 2022 nurse navigators helped over 1,200 patients in various cancer specialties. Dr. Karen Kostroff, chief of breast surgery at Northwell Health, was involved in developing the health system’s nurse navigation system.
“Breast cancer has been a multidisciplinary disease for decades, so it’s natural to have a team in place,” said Kostroff. “Northwell created the larger navigation program because of the great need in the region to serve people with cancer both physically and mentally, blending caring and quality outcomes.”
For more information about Northwell Health’s Cancer Care Direct, please call 833-2234732; or email: cancercaredirect@northwell.edu
On March 17, soon-to-be physicians from New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine‘s Class of 2023 learned where they will spend the next several years completing their medical residencies after graduation.
NYITCOM, which is based in Old Westbury and has a second location in Jonesboro, Ark., trains future doctors of osteopathic medicine.
This year the medical school achieved an impressive 100 percent match rate, with all members of the Class of 2023 placed into residencies. This was well above the 93.7 percent national av-
erage for U.S. M.D. seniors.
The annual event, known as “Match Day,” takes place on the third Friday of March, with NYITCOM students joining thousands of medical students across the country in discovering the next chapter of their medical education journey.
The event is one of — if not the most — anticipated days in a student’s medical school career.
After completing medical school, physicians must undergo a residency to obtain their license to practice medicine in the United States. Residencies typically last three to seven years, depending on
the specialty.
During their final year of medical school, students apply and interview for residencies. Once they have completed their interviews, students rank their preferred programs, and the programs rank the preferred candidates they have interviewed.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education then uses an algorithm to “match” candidates with programs based on rankings. Results are kept top-secret from both the future doctors and the matching hospitals until they are opened.
This year, graduating students from NYITCOM’s Long Island campus gathered at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, where they received sealed envelopes containing their much-anticipated results.
At 11 am, the envelopes were ripped open to the sounds of raucous cheer.
Residencies were secured at impressive institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic (anesthesiology), DartmouthHitchcock Medical Center (multiple specialties), University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (neurology), Duke University Medical Center (pediatrics),
and many others.
NYITCOM students also matched in to some of the most competitive specialties, including interventional radiology, dermatology, radiation oncology, urology, neurological surgery, and ophthalmology.
Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine, or D.O.s, complete four years of osteopathic medical school, with an emphasis on preventive medicine and comprehensive patient care.
They are trained to recognize the interrelated unity among all systems of the body, each working with the other to promote overall health and wellness.
The debate about reparations in the United States remains a heated one, but a movement towards more and greater compensation for Black Americans for the lasting legacy of slavery, racism and discrimination in the nation continues to grow.
Robin Rue Simmons, founder and executive director of FirstRepair and a Pritzker Fellow at the Institute of Politics of The University of Chicago, will visit campus to discuss with students and faculty the role young people can play in that movement and the importance of continued discussion, and vigilance, in the search for fairness for all citizens of the United States.
Organized by the Politics, Economics and Law Club, a student organization on campus, her visit will take place on Thursday, April 6 at 1:00 p.m. in the multipurpose rooms of the Student
Union,Simmons is the former 5th Ward Alderman for the City of Evanston, Ill, where she led, in collaboration with others, the passage of the nation’s first municipally-funded reparations legislation for black residents, which began disbursements in January 2022.She served as an alderman from 2017-2021 and prioritized improving the lived experiences of and expanding opportunities for Black residents in Evanston, most notably through her work on reparations. To date, $20 million has been committed to reparations by the city.
She serves as the chairperson of the city’s Reparations Committee which oversees its initial Restorative Housing Program, which began disbursements in January 2021. Several other governmental entities across the country are actively seeking to follow Evanston’s example.
After declining to run for reelection, she founded FirstRepair, a not-for-profit organization focused on helping state and local governments shape reparations initiatives.
Simmons has received numerous awards for her reparations and other public service work including a proclamation from the Evanston City Council recognizing her reparations work, the Urban One Honors’ Reparations Ambassador Award (Stacey Abrams and Nikole Hannah-Jones were among those also being honored); the Dearborn Realtist Board’s Vernon Jarrett Legislative Award; the Democratic Party of Evanston’s Liz Tisdahl Award; the Route Fifty Elected Official of the Year Award; the Realtist Women’s Council of Illinois’ Community Impact Award; and the Family Focus Community Leadership Imani Award.
She has also been featured in numerous national and international publications, on television and radio, and in podcasts for her work on local reparations including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Public Radio, The Guardian, ABC’s Nightline, and CNN. Rue Simmons is also featured in The Big Payback, a documentary codirected by Erika Alexander and Whitney Dow which premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June 2022.
Further, Rue Simmons is a commissioner of the National African American Reparations Commission, a lifetime member of NCOBRA, a board member of Evanston’s Connections for the Homeless, and she previously served as a board member for the National League of Cities’ National Black Caucus of Local Elected Leaders and the President of the Evanston Black Business Alliance.
The St. Mary’s girls basketball team is a Long Island juggernaut.
The Gaels routinely dominate the opposition, and their talent and reputation are intimidating for almost every opponent they face, whether it’s a public school team or a Catholic League foe.
This season, a perk of winning its second straight CHSAA state title, St. Mary’s got to compete in the Federation Tournament, held at three Albany-area high schools.
And for the first time in a long while, it was St. Mary’s who came up against a bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced foe.
After squeaking by White Plains in the semis on Saturday to advance to the title game, the Gaels were simply overwhelmed by one of the top teams in the nation Sunday.
Long Island Lutheran, ranked No. 3 in America by ESPN, raced out to a big first-quarter lead and removed all doubt from the outcome, cruising to a 99-58 win in the Class AA title game at Shaker High School in Latham, N.Y.
“They’re No. 3 in the country for a reason,” White said Sunday after the game. “They’re long, they’re athletic, and they’re very, very physical. They manhandled us at times.”
One night earlier White said it was a “David vs. Goliath” matchup, with St. Mary’s (26-5) being in the extremely-unusual position of David.
Lutheran, though, recruits from all over the country and has multiple Division I prospects on its team.
In the championship game St. Mary’s, so used to being the heavy favorite, was the decided underdog against No. 3 nationally-ranked Long Island Lutheran. LuHi defeated Brooklyn’s South Shore in its semi, and boasts a roster filled with talent.
And Sunday the Crusaders showed their superiority from the start, racing out to a 23-7 first quarter lead, and stretching it to 54-22 at halftime.
The biggest bright spot for St. Mary’s was an incredible game from senior Taryn Barbot, who along with sister Taylor is headed to Division I College of Charleston next season. Barbot was unstoppable Sunday,
scoring a career-high 42 points.
“That kid competes 110 percent of the time; it doesn’t matter what the score is,” White said. “She’s playing against bigger, stronger kids, but she rebounds, defends, does everything. We’re going to miss her and the other seniors a lot.”
Indeed, White appropriately focused on the big picture from the weekend that ended the career of the Barbots, and fellow seniors Cayla Williams and Tara Murray. The quartet had a four-year record of 110-9, with two state titles the past two years.
“Myself and my coaches loved going to practice every day, because
we have such a good group of kids,” White said. “And that started with the (four) seniors. These kids listen to what you say, they enjoy basketball. It’s hard to find groups of young ladies that are so focused, so we are very lucky.”
The Gaels came in to the Federation Tournament, the first time it has been held in three years, off a dominating CHSAA state title game performance, a 66-49 win over Buffalo Nichols, at Fordham University.
Just to get to the championship game of the Federation Tournament Sunday, St. Mary’s had to hold off a very stubborn White Plains team, 53-50 on Saturday.
White Plains, from Westchester County, didn’t expect to be playing this weekend. It lost to Rochester Webster Schroeder, 49-41, in the Class AA public school championships on March 18, and thought its season was over.
But Webster Schroeder withdrew from the Federation Tournament when it realized most of its players would be unavailable to compete this weekend.
The Tigers certainly looked like champs, giving St. Mary’s everything it could handle.
“There were a bunch of spurts, a few opportunitieswe could’ve gotten a little momentum,” White said
after Saturday’s win. “We got steals and then we gave it right back to them. But sometimes you need a little luck to win these games.”
The Gaels had a strong start on Saturday at Shaker High School, jumping out to a 17-7 first-quarter lead. St. Mary’s never trailed the rest of the way, but White Plains stayed aggressive in a foul-filled semifinal, and kept the score to within six points just about the entire contest.
Taryn Barbot had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Taylor Barbot had a “do-everything” game with nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Freshman Kayla Solomon poured in 14 points as well, while sophomore Sky Priester added six.
“Sometimes (Kayla) plays like a freshman, but she’s pretty resilient,” White said. “Our kids hung tough when the game was close, and played solid defense in the end.”
Still, it was never easy for St. Mary’s Saturday. They led 30-25 at half, and by the final minute of the third, after Taryn Barbot sank two free throws, St. Mary’s led by a dozen, 47-35.
But in the fourth quarter White Plains picked up its defense, and St. Mary’s had trouble scoring. Two Tigers free throws at 2:25 left cut the deficit to 53-50.
The last two minutes were wild, with turnovers and missed shots galore, but in the final moments, with White Plains looking for a tying 3-pointer, St. Mary’s freshman Scarlet Cubero helped force two misplays by the Tigers, and they never got off a shot.
“You always want to play in the last possible game of the season, and we got a chance to do that by winning (Saturday),” White said.
Despite the final game of the season not going as planned, White said it was a remarkable season with much accomplished.
“We have so much to be proud of,” White said. “To win back-toback Class AA titles, a small school of 315 kids, you have to be proud of what we did. And I told the kids after the game, they accomplished a lot and did so many great things this season. And the future looks bright, too.”
The ornate wooden podium that stood center stage on the bimah of Temple Beth-El’s magnificent chapel for more than 50 years, but had been relegated as a display piece in the temple museum, has been beautifully refurbished and will be rededicated and relocated to its former place of honor during the Erev Shabbat Service on Friday, April 7, at 7 p.m.
After years as a showpiece in the museum, the completely refurbished podium will once again serve Temple BethEl, thanks to the Crisses family. In honor of their children and in support our holy community, congregants Abby and Andy Crisses generously arranged to have the podium restored and returned to the chapel.
“We always felt a special connection to the chapel, which is where the podium had been,” said Abby and Andy Crisses. “During a major capital improvement campaign for Temple Beth-El in the late ’90s, we chose to endow the podium as part of that project. It was especially meaningful to us, as both of our children, Alexander and Amanda, had become Bar and Bat Mitzvah at that podium.”
For four decades, from 1930 to 1971, Rabbi Jacob Philip Rudin addressed congregants from the historic podium, built during the construction of the chapel—now known as the Rudin
Chapel—under his rabbinate.
A towering figure during his tenure at Temple Beth-El, Rabbi Rudin established Great Neck’s first temple as a leading synagogue in the American Jewish community. The podium carries a great legacy.
“Knowing that the podium represented an important part of Temple Beth-El history, as it was the platform where Rabbi Rudin gave many of his inspiring sermons as head rabbi of our congregation, we were hoping that it could once again be used by the congregation,” they said. “We knew that the lectern had been replaced and that the podium was not being used, and we were hopeful that a new life could be found for it.”
After speaking with the temple’s current rabbi, A. Brian Stoller, it was brought to their attention that the podium needed some refurbishment.
The work was supervised and the restoration was completed under the direction of Stoller and Executive Director Stuart Botwinick. The Crisses family was honored to fund the process.
“We have had a relationship with Temple Beth-El for more than 40 years,” noted the couple. “Our children attended Hebrew school there; they became Bar and Bat Mitzvah there. Rabbi Jerome Davidson and Cantor Lisa Hest presided over both of our children’s weddings,
and they were there when we celebrated the births of each of our five grandchildren. Rabbis Tara and Meir Feldman and Cantor Adam Davis were there for us during our family losses. We have always enjoyed the beauty and sanctity of the High Holy Days services, under the guidance of all the clergy, as well as the joy of Shabbat and holiday services, and the power of yizkor services.”
The temple family is grateful for the continued support of the Crisses family, which previously also endowed a stained-glass window in the chapel.
“Temple Beth-El is a focal point for the life of a family, as it grows and evolves and experiences different life cycles,” the couple explained. “You realize that the temple is a source of education for children and adults, a forum to share and celebrate joys and milestones, and a platform for reassurance and guidance during times of sorrow. Celebrating Shabbat, experiencing the holidays through song and prayer, and furthering Jewish study only enrich a family.”
The community is welcome to attend the rededication of the refurbished podium on Friday, April 7, at 7 p.m. Temple Beth-El, the peninsula’s first synagogue, which was founded in 1928, is located at 5 Old Mill Road in Great Neck. To learn more, call 516-487-0900, visit www.tbegreatneck.org or email info@tbegreatneck.org.
Temple Isaiah of Great Neck and the Lion’s Club of Great Neck will co-sponsor a presentation by Greta Guarton, executive director of the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless on April 16 at 2:00 P.M.
The two organizations invite the community to discuss what homelessness looks like on Long Island, how the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless is working to end it and what we can do to help.
The Long Island Coalition for the Homeless was founded in 1985 as a grassroots local advocacy effort to bring non-profit organizations and other community partners together to unite around the cause of homelessness.
The coalition seeks to expand and enhance services to meet local needs. Their mission statement is “To end homelessness on Long Island and alleviate the issues associated with homelessness and poverty for homeless and at-risk persons in Nassau and Suffolk Counties”.
The presentation is free and open to the public but donations of necessary toiletries for the families served by the coalition are welcome and appreciated. Though not a complete list, some of the needed items include toothbrush/toothpaste, mouthwash,
body wash, deodorant, washcloths, lotion, shampoo/conditioner, razor/shaving cream and toilet paper.
The program will take place at Temple Isaiah of Great Neck, located at One Chelsea Place, Great Neck on Sunday, April 16 at 2:00 P.M. The telephone number is (516)487-5373 for further information.
