Serving Roslyn, East Hills, Roslyn Estates, Roslyn Harbor, Roslyn Heights, Greenvale, Old Westbury and North Hills
$1
Friday, June 25, 2021
Vol. 9, No. 26
HEALTH, WELLNESS GERARD TERRY RYDER REJECTS CALLS MANORHAVEN MYSTERY TO STEP DOWN AND BEAUTY PAGE 23-26
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
Wheatley grad’s speech met with furor
MOVIN’ ON UP
Reference to ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians draws heated criticism BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z AND SAMUELE PETRUCCELLI A Wheatley School senior’s graduation speech led some attendees to shout racist remarks and make aggressive gestures, and has sparked accusations that administrators provided false information to members of the school community. “Speak for those who don’t have a voice, and stand up for any injustice that you see,” the senior, Huda Ayaz, said in her speech at the school’s graduation Sunday afternoon. “Educate yourself about international dilemmas, including the ethnic cleansings of Palestinians and Uighur Muslims. Families are continuously torn apart and real human lives are being lost but ignored.”
After giving the speech to her fellow students and parents at the ceremony, Ayaz was reportedly booed and told to “go back to Pakistan,” by a parent, Ayaz’s lawyer, Ahmed M. Mohamed, said in a phone interview with Blank Slate Media. Another male adult parent became aggressive at the ceremony, yelling and making gestures, causing him to be removed from the campus by a police detective, Mohamed said. “Immediately after the ceremony was over, two or three men came up to me to tell me my speech was ‘b*llshit’ and ‘a piece of crap’,” Ayaz said in a letter to the community following the graduation. “They were extremely aggressive and security had to hold them back.” Continued on Page 44
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROSLYN SCHOOL DISTRICT
The Roslyn school district held its annual Moving Up ceremony last week.
E. Williston water meter opt-out comes at cost BY S A M U E L E PETRUCCELLI
they do not upgrade their water meters. If they haven’t already, hoApproaching the finish line meowners must purchase at of a years-long initiative, East least part of a new meter under Williston residents could face a modernization effort taken hundreds of dollars in fees if up by the village. Though resi-
dents can opt out of the installation, they will be faced with annual fees upwards of $250. Mayor Bonnie Parente said East Williston was among the last villages not to have water Continued on Page 34
Support local journalism and get real news Subscribe to the Blank Slate Media newspaper of your community https://theislandnow.com/subscription/