Serving Manhasset
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Friday, December 2, 2016
Vol. 4, No. 49
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL INJURIES BASKETBALL PREVIEW DOWN IN PORT
NIFA REJECTS COUNTY BUDGET
PAGES 29-36, 53-60
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ALL BUNDLED UP
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How pols give millions to fund local projects State legislators in majority hand out grants BY N O A H MANSKAR A new scoreboard for Williston Park’s Little League baseball ďŹ eld. Resurfaced tennis courts in New Hyde Park. A power generator for a theater in East Hills. Performances for children at Landmark on Main Street in Port Washington. These projects and initiatives, along with 102 others on the North Shore, have received money from state grant programs through members of the Assembly and Senate. The lawmakers often pro-
mote them with news releases and appear at ribbon-cuttings when they’re complete — sometimes as they run campaigns for re-election or for another oďŹƒce. Those lawmakers have discretion over who receives hundreds of millions of dollars in grants each year through three programs: the State and Municipal Facilities Program, the Community Projects Fund and supplemental grants to school districts and libraries known as “bullet aid,â€? according to state legislators, their aides and publicly available docu-
ments. More than $1.5 billion has been appropriated for the State and Municipal Facilities Program alone since its inception. North Shore municipalities and nonproďŹ t groups have been designated to receive at least 109 grants worth nearly $6.9 million since 2014, according to lists published by the Senate and Assembly. Ranging in size from $5,000 to $350,000, they are meant to pay for projects from Continued on Page 74
Experienced pair face off for water and fire commish Incumbent Donald T. O’Brien seeks a third term PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SCIENCE MUSEUM OF LONG ISLAND.
Children help landscape a butterfly-attracting garden at the Science Museum of Long Island. See story on page 67.
BY M A X Z A H N Donald T. O’Brien pointed to his experience helping manage the budget of the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water District. Steve Flynn cited his background as a public works superintendent. The two are competing in
an election on Dec. 13 to ďŹ ll a three-year term on the district’s commission. The three commissioners oversee an $18.6 million budget and ensure that residents receive clean, reliable water as well as prompt ďŹ re safety services. The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water District takes in all of Manhasset except for
Plandome, half of Great Neck, and some of northern New Hyde Park. Though the commission oversees both the ďŹ re and water districts, which cover the same geographic area, the two are technically independent of each other. They serve approximately 45,000 people, who use Continued on Page 70
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