Northwell honors cancer survivors

More than 1,200 attend L. Success event

BY JOSEPH D'ANDREA

Over 1,200 cancer survivors, medical professionals and others attended Northwell Health’s 16th annual Don Monti Cancer Survivors Day celebration at R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center in Lake Success Saturday.

At Northwell’s largest community outreach event encompassing all its cancer centers, two Long Islandbased cancer survivors were invited to take part in the gathering

Billy Joel’s original saxophonist, Richie Cannata, performed “New York State of Mind” for the crowd, and comedian John Ziegler gave keynote remarks, elevating the situation many including the two performers once found or still fnd themselves in, through humor.

Cannata was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2017 and Ziegler was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April 2021. Both spoke of their experiences during hospitalization, their paths to recovery and why they believe raising awareness and encouraging cancer research is important.

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

A group of Queens teenagers with a Taser, switchblade-style knife and pepper spray entered Great Neck South High School in December, according to district ofcials and documents obtained by Blank Slate Media.

The nine teenagers all entered the building Dec. 16, according to an email to the community from South High School Principal Christopher Gitz. Three of the students entered the school in the morning, according to Gitz. It is unclear when the other six entered.

“Approximately nine non-Great Neck teenagers attempted to enter South High School,” the email read. “Most of the trespassers fed the scene and were later caught and detained by Lake Success police ofcers.”

Gitz, in a Dec. 19 email to the community, said a South High student gave the trespassers access into the school. Gitz met with the student, a junior, on Dec. 19 and asked him to write down his encounters with the trespassers.

The student’s written account of the incident, obtained by Newsday, said the teenagers “said that I shouldn’t tell anybody anything or they would come after me next.” The student, according to a transcript from a Jan. 3 disciplinary hearing, said the trespassers wanted to be directed to the locker room.

While no injuries were reported, Gitz said the trespassers came to “visit” the girlfriend of one of the teenagers and to confront another student, according to the transcript from the disciplinary hearing.

Elmer Rodriguez, the student’s father, said during the hearing that the incident and aftermath had taken a toll on his son.

Rodriguez told Richard Thompson, the hearing ofcer, “How is it possible that a child who does nothing but comes to school and run[s] into this problem and be punished?”

Thompson said he found the student’s testimony to “be not credible” during the hearing.

Steven Goodstadt, counsel for the school district, said during the hearing that the student’s actions were “simply unacceptable.”

“It’s crazy that we are having this conversation,” Goodstadt said during the hearing. “But at the same point, at the end of the hearing, there will be no other option but to fnd the student guilty.”

The district ultimately suspended Rodriguez’s son and upheld the suspension in February, according to Newsday.

Gitz said that the student would be subject to arrest if found on school property despite the student’s clean disciplinary record, according to Continued on Page 41

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Recounting the six months of treatment he received at Northwell’s North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, Cannata described what motivated him to push forward in his rehabilitation.

“[Being impaired due to cancer] was an easy way to check out and say, ‘OK, I’ve been around the world 20, 30 times, I’ve played great venues, I’ve brought my family to wonderful places, I made some great music,’” Cannata told Blank Slate Media. “But there was something inside of me — which was God — that said I wasn’t done. That put me in another gear, where I wanted to now prove to myself that I can get better.”

He elaborated on his eight-yearlong path to recovery: “Getting better was, for me, re-learning how to snap my fngers, write my name and play the saxophone again. I made a vow to my wife, Charlene, and my sister-in-law that I would play again. And that being such a strong force for me had me continue the chemotherapy, physical therapy and the hard work of getting back on my feet again and walking.”

Caroline Monti Saladino, president of the Don Monti Memorial Research Foundation, talked about her personal connection to the cause.

“You know, it’s hope, that’s the word,” she said. “[Today is] really a victory celebration, and it’s in my late brother’s name, who died Continued on Page 42

Herald Courier: Brandon Duffy 516-307-1045 x215 • bduffy@theisland360.com

Manhasset Times: Robert Pelaez 516-307-1045 x203 • rpelaez@theisland360.com

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Williston Times: Brandon Duffy 516-307-1045 x215 • bduffy@theisland360.com

Port Washington Times: Cameryn Oakes 516-307-1045 x214 • coakes@theisland360.com