Williston Park 2020_05_29.

Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown

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Friday, May 29, 2020

Vol. 69, No. 22

SUOZZI TOUTS ADVOCACY FOR L.I. PAGE 8

BELOVED CHAMINADE COUNTY INFECTIONS DROP TO 51 FOR WEEK TEACHER DIES PAGE 4

Nassau to aid small business in loan program

PAGE 6

FA L L E N H O N O R E D

Cuomo gives county, L.I. green light to begin first phase of reopening

BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z As Long Island began the first phase of reopening on Wednesday, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced the “Boost Nassau” Loan Program, which will secure up to $10 million in loans for the county’s small businesses hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a news release sent out by the county, the program was made possible by a $500,000 investment by Nassau County and the Nassau County Local Economic Assistance Corp.

“Small businesses employ our neighbors, family, and friends and are the heart of our once vibrant downtown communities – now struggling to stay alive,” Curran said. “We will pursue a robust outreach strategy through our minority outreach offices, local chambers, and partners to ensure businesses in hard-hit communities that missed out on other pro-

grams can finally get the relief they need.”

The program is part of the state’s “NY Forward Loan Fund,” a program that targets the state’s small businesses with 20 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, nonprofits and “small landlords” that have seen a loss of rental income. According to state figures, 90 percent of all businesses throughout New York have 20 or fewer full-time equivalent employees.

Businesses can obtain up to $100,000 in loans with less than $3 million in annual revenue.

Nonprofits have a 2 percent interest rate on the loan, while small businesses have a 3 percent rate, officials said.

Businesses or entities that obtained funding through the Paycheck Protection Program or an Economic Injury Disaster Loan are not eligible for the state’s lending program, officials said.

Continued on Page 28

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE’S OFFICE

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran attended a Memorial Day celebration at Eisenhower Park on Monday.

Kamberg touts track record over Del Maestro

BY R OB E RT PELAEZ

er Raymond Del Maestro in the board elections on June 9.

“As the board president, East Williston Board of Ed- I have set high expectations ucation President Mark Kam- and hold people accountable,” berg said he has high expecta- Kamberg said. “I know that tions for the school district, but this approach works because I first he must fend off challeng- treat people with respect and

as a result the staff continues to work towards accomplishing our shared goals.”

Kamberg is running for his fifth term, having served on the board since 2008. He has lived in Albertson for 19 years and is Continued on Page 29

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The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

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Weinstock, D’Arrigo Mineola seniors take aim at each other seek closure

Suozzi challengers exchange charges

BY R OB E RT PELAEZ While U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) has spent the past three months aiding in coronavirus relief for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, two of his challengers for the Democratic congressional nomination have been caught up in litigation and controversial comments.

The district includes Manhasset, Roslyn, Port Washington, Great Neck and Floral Park, among other areas. Suozzi, the former mayor of Glen Cove and former Nassau County executive who was first elected to the seat in 2016, won re-election in 2018 and is seeking another term this year.

One candidate for the party nomination, Michael Weinstock, was sued by another, Melanie D’Arrigo, and former congressional challenger Josh Sauberman in an attempt to disqualify “fraudulent” and “out-of-district” petition signatures, according to D’Arrigo.

Weinstock sought to quash the suit by invoking a state law which states it is illegal to serve legal papers to an observant Jew on the sabbath or Shabbat.

According to state law, people who deliberately serve observant Jews with legal papers on Saturdays can be prosecuted with a misdemeanor.

“Serving a Jew on Shabbat is a bone-headed error,” Weinstock said. “You learn that in law school.”

“I had no idea, nor did Melanie, that he was an observant Jew, not that having a package dropped off at one’s door constitutes some violation of his religious beliefs,” D’Arrigo’s attorney Arthur Schwartz said.

An appellate court in Albany ultimately dismissed the lawsuit, claiming it was filed one day late.

“We filed on [Friday] April 3 and the judge who signed the order to show cause on April 3, required service by overnight mail on or be-

Valedictorian, salutatorian look back

BY E M M A J ON ES

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL WEINSTOCK

Congressional challengers Michael Weinstock (shown above) and Melanie D’Arrigo have been caught up in litigation and controversial comments in the past month. fore April 3, 2020, which is what I did,” Schwartz said.

“I’m relieved Melanie D’Arrigo is a very wealthy woman and she’s allowed to spend her money however she wants, but every time she files one of these lawsuits, she not only keeps me from campaigning but she endangers the lives of the Board of Elections staffers who are required to leave their homes and work on her lawsuit,” Weinstock said. “I think maybe she’s not the best wellness coach around.”

Schwartz told the Jerusalem Post in April that Weinstock is a “non-observant Jew and a BS artist.”

Weinstock is a former sex crimes prosecutor and a rescue

worker in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A Great Neck native, Weinstock would also be the first openly gay person to represent New York City or Long Island in Congress.

D’Arrigo classifies herself as a progressive Democrat who hails from Port Washington. She is a community activist and said she served as the campaign manager for state Assemblyman Anthony D’Urso (D-Port Washington) in 2018.

Schwartz said Weinstock only remains on the ballot due to committing fraud, and that the effort to get him thrown off the ballot was thwarted by the judge’s error.

Schwartz and D’Arrigo claim that Continued on Page 29

Mineola High School valedictorian Ankita Patel and salutatorian Valerie Mallon, like all seniors graduating in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, are grappling with new ways of finding closure.

Patel, who will be studying biology at the University of Michigan starting in the fall, is striving to find the silver lining.

“To look at the bright side, it’s so important to value what you have, and that’s what these last few months have taught me,” she said.

“You have to understand that COVID-19 doesn’t define us as a class,” she commented. “There’s so much that Mineola has given us.”

Throughout her time at Mineola High School, Patel was involved in Mathletes, Athletes Helping Athletes, the Student Service Center, Yearbook, World Language Club and Key Club. She was in the National Honor Society as well as the Science National Honor Society. Patel also played junior varsity volleyball, junior varsity basketball and varsity winter track.

“Mineola provided me with so many different outlets, whether it was participating in different clubs,

meeting different teachers, working with different minds,” she said.

“Mineola was a melting pot for all of these things, and being exposed to all of these different viewpoints helped me be prepared for the outside world.”

“The amazing teachers there truly shaped the way I see the world now,” she added. “They helped me see beyond your basic English, your basic science. They showed me the world of critical thinking. And that’s what the world is, it’s not just straightforward things, it’s more abstract, it’s a zigzag.”

Patel said that her best memory of high school is spending time with her friends during their free period.

“This year me and my friends all had the same free period, and we would congregate in the Blue Room and just talk for hours,” she reminisced. “Every single day for maybe a month, we planned a promposal and proposed to different people just sitting in the library.”

One of her other favorite memories of Mineola is science research class with Dr. Ellen McGlade-McCulloh, said Patel.

Continued on Page 28

PHOTO COURTESY OF MINEOLA HIGH SCHOOL

Mineola High School valedictorian Ankita Patel and salutatorian Valerie Mallon will be attending the University of Michigan and Georgetown University, respectively.

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The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

WT

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Chaminade seniors look toward future Valedictorian Derek Lekhwani and salutatorian Liam Brown discuss post-grad plans

BY E M M A J ON ES With graduation fast approaching, Chaminade High School valedictorian Derek Lekhwani and salutatorian Liam Brown say that leaving Chaminade is bittersweet.

Lekhwani plans to attend Hofstra University’s physician’s assistant B.S./M.S. dual degree program, an accelerated five-year track.

“I’m very excited, but obviously sad too, to leave friends and all of the wonderful faculty at Chaminade,” he said. “But it’s definitely something I’m excited about, to venture out and see what happens in the future.”

While Hofstra overall felt like the best fit, the uncertainty that the coronavirus pandemic has brought with it definitely influenced his decision to stay close to home, he said.

Throughout his time at Chaminade, Lekhwani played the cello in the school orchestra and was involved in the Emmaus Apostolic Program, Senior Leaders Program and Latin Club. He served as the president of the National Honor

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LIAM BROWN AND DEREK LEKHWANI

Chaminade High School salutatorian Liam Brown (left) and valedictorian Derek Lekhwani (right) will be attending the U.S. Naval Academy and Hofstra University, respectively.

Society during his senior year. He also played baseball during his freshman and sophomore years.

Lekhwani did not have a traditional high school experience.

In the middle of his junior year, he was hospitalized with sepsis, which led to septic shock and necrotizing fasciitis. He spent 46 days

in the hospital, including six days on life support with multiple organ failure.

“That’s where the drive to go into health care came from,” he explained. “They saved my life, and after going through this, I want to help people.”

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tion that he received at Chaminade, Lekhwani said he values the community of brothers that were there for him, particularly during his battle with sepsis. Members of the school community not only prayed for him during this time, but frequently came to visit him in the hospital.

“My top [memory] has to be the first day I came back to school after missing three months,” he reflected. “That was really special for me.”

Some of his other favorite memories include orchestra concerts and winning the baseball championship during his freshman year. While he has been able to start playing cello again, despite sepsis-related permanent damage in his right index finger, he has not been able to return to baseball.

Although the coronavirus pandemic has drastically reshaped his plans for the end of his senior year, Lekhwani chooses to look on the bright side.

“Obviously there’s some anxiety surrounding it,” he said. “But it’s been a time where I can help other people, especially with mental health and anxiety, with being stuck at home, because it’s sort of a similar scenario [to what I went through last year]. I can use that to help other people going through it.”

Brown plans to attend the United States Naval Academy. He is considering studying chemistry Continued on Page 29

RE-ELECT TRUSTEES

JIM GOUNARIS and HENRY ZANETTI

✓ Presented budgets that on average have had a 1.57% tax increase since the inception of the 2% tax cap requirement. ✓ Passed a New Bond with a zero-tax differential for our residents, to provide facilities upgrades to our District. ✓ Achieved new labor contracts with our various unions to provide long term savings and financial stability. ✓ Changed the High School start time, and the plan to adjust the new Middle School schedule for all students. ✓ Achieved National Blue-Ribbon Status for our High School. ✓ New Security measures which include interior doors, 1000 new security cameras, and windows. ✓ New state of the art High School Cafeteria and Courtyard. ✓ New High School All-Purpose Athletic Field which includes bleachers, bathrooms, concession stand, re-surfaced track, and triage room. ✓ Five-Star Helmets and new uniforms for our players. ✓ Wellness and mindfulness training and programs for our students and staff. ✓ New Libraries and Media Centers. ✓ Upgrades to 21st century technology, and planned Wi-Fi upgrade at the High School. ✓ New science classrooms completion. ✓ New Instruments and performing uniforms for concerts. ✓ New Life skills classrooms at the Middle and High School.

HERRICKS SCHOOL BOARD HERRICKS STRONG!

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The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

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Beloved Chaminade teacher dies Rev. Ernest Peter Lorfanfant, who taught at alma mater for nearly 50 years, was 82

BY R O S E W E L D ON

The Rev. Ernest Peter Lorfanfant, who taught at his alma mater, Chaminade High School in Mineola, for nearly 50 years, has died. He was 82.

Lorfanfant died in the hospice unit at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre on May 19, according to Brother Stephen Balletta, the vocations minister for the Province of Meribah and a religion teacher at Chaminade. No cause of death was given.

Born in 1937, Lorfanfant attended St. Catherine of Sienna Grammar School in Saint Albans, Queens. He graduated from Chaminade in 1955 and went on to the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio, a Catholic university run by the Society of Mary, or the Marianists.

Lorfanfant took his first vows with the Marianist order in 1956, before graduating from Dayton with a bachelor’s in theology.

His first job as a teacher was at Purcell Marian Catholic High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he taught from 1958 to 1963, and

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHAMINADE HIGH SCHOOL

The Rev. Ernest Lorfanfant, S.M., who taught at Chaminade High School in Mineola for nearly 50 years, has died at age 82. he went on to pursue graduate studies in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome before finishing at St. John’s University in Queens, being awarded a master’s degree in education in 1975.

He was ordained a priest at the Marianist international Seminary in Fribourg, Switzerland, on

March 30, 1968. Later that year, he began a nearly 50-year career as a teacher at Chaminade, leading classes in language, music, mathematics and religion.

Lorfanfant also worked in the school’s guidance department college placement office and led set construction for the school’s theatrical productions. Chaminade

MEET THE CANDIDATE: RAYMOND DEL MAESTRO My name is Raymond Del Maestro. My wife Jane and I have been residents of East Williston since 2013. My daughter, son-in-law and grandson also live in the school district.

While I have a personal interest in the future of our children, I have had a long, successful career in teaching and educational leadership that qualifies me for the position of trustee to the Board of Education.

I have more than 36 years of experience in public education, mainly with the Yonkers Public Schools. I served in the capacity of teacher, assistant principal and principal at the elementary and secondary levels.

During my tenure as an administrator, I was a recipient of the following awards: • New York State Pathfinder Award honoring educational improvement • New York State Honor Roll Award • Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Award • Leadership in Education Award • Yonkers Administrator of the Year Award Currently I serve as an adjunct associate professor of education at St. John’s University. I hope my background will best serve the children of our district.

announced Lorfanfant’s retirement from full-time teaching in 2016, just two years shy of his 50th anniversary as a teacher.

Balletta, who had been a student of Lorfanfant’s at Chaminade, recalled in a phone interview that he had called his rowdier students “bandits,” and wrote in a Facebook post that “Fr. Ernie’s affection shone on both the ‘good kids’ and the ‘bad kids,’ perhaps with a slight preference for the latter.”

The school’s post on his death on social media was flooded with comments from alumni, parents and former colleagues remembering the years that “Father Ernie,” as some of them called him, spent at Chaminade.

One alumnus recalled dedicating the 1983 edition of the Crimson and Gold yearbook to him, writing, “It didn’t take much of a debate. One of the most real, interesting people you will ever meet. A huge loss for all of us.”

Another cited his time working alongside Lorfanfant as a set builder and said that he pursued architecture with the priest’s en-

couragement. Others spoke of his role as a guidance counselor, remembering college decisions he helped them make.

Dozens of other former students recalled Lorfanfant being the celebrant at their weddings or christening their children years after they graduated.

“To be sure, Fr. Ernie saw the hidden possibilities in everything and everyone he encountered,” Balletta wrote. “Many of his former students remember Fr. Ernie fondly for the hidden potential he discovered in them and the selfconfidence he instilled in them.”

Lorfanfant is survived by his sister, Jacqueline Klimkowski, a former science teacher at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, also run by the Marianists. He is also survived by his nieces Christine and Margaret Klimkowski, both graduates of Kellenberg, and by nephews Benjamin and Richard Klimkowski, both Chaminade alumni.

Neither Chaminade nor the Marianist order has yet announced plans for a memorial service.

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The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

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Port doc, prof author COVID kid’s book Lauren, Adam Block explain coronavirus, social distancing, safety measures to children

BY R O S E WELDON A Port Washington doctor and a health economist have created a book that explains the causes and effects of the coronavirus for the youngest people it affects.

Dr. Lauren Block, a primary care physician and associate professor at Northwell Health’s Zucker School of Medicine, and her husband, Adam Block, Ph.D., a health care economist and assistant professor of public health at New York Medical College, are the authors of “Kelly Stays Home,” a book that describes the virus, social distancing and preventative measures, to children.

Lauren Block said that part of the inspiration for the book came from seeing how the new normal affected the couple’s three children, twins Elise and Brandon, 7, and Jordan, 5.

“We saw our kids’ lives really turned upside down by coronavirus, and very quickly they went from going to school and going to play dates and going to activities to really being stuck at home,” Block said.

“Their lives were really changed profoundly, and naturally they had a bunch of questions about why they couldn’t see their friends anymore, why they couldn’t go to school in the school building anymore, and we wanted to provide them answers in a way that made sense to them and brought out the science behind the virus, as well as the rules and why we’re doing the things we’re doing.”

She added that their two oldest children are interested in math and science, and while they understood some of the more advanced scientific concepts, the first draft of “Kelly Stays Home” was “a bit too much” for their youngest.

the same concepts and illustrations, but with fewer words and a little bit lower-key language so that he could understand and follow along,” Block said.

The book features 8-year-old “junior scientist” Kelly, who learns from her mother, a health care worker, about all the ways the virus is affecting the world she knows, from not being able to visit her grandparents, to efforts to create a vaccine, to ways to help those in need during the pandemic.

Detailed illustrations for concepts like social COVER ART BY ALEX CRISSENDEN distancing, germs and vaccines were created by UnitThe children’s book “Kelly Stays Home,” authored ed Kingdom-based artist Alex Brissenden, whom the

by Port Washington residents Dr. Lauren and Blocks met through a FaceAdam Block, seeks to inform children on the book group for children’s causes and effects of the coronavirus. book illustrators.

“We wanted someone That finding resulted in the another for little ones. who would be quick, beidea to publish two differ“We wanted to provide cause time is of the essence, ent editions of the book: the younger kids, and our and communicative, and one for older children, and little one in particular, with really bring some of these

scientific principles to life in ways that both kids and parents could relate to and hopefully learn from,” Block said. “Alex had done work illustrating scientific concepts like nutrition and things for public health in the past, so we thought she would do a great job and she did.”

The Blocks self-published the story over the course of a month, and made the completed books available for free in PDF form on the website kellystayshome.com, where they say they have been downloaded nearly 10,000 times.

In addition to the PDFs, e-book versions of “Kelly Stays Home” are available from Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords, and a paperback edition is available on Amazon.

“Our goal was to make this a free resource for the community,” Block said.

“So many people in the Continued on Page 28

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Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

North Shore sees fewest new cases 51 residents tested positive for coronavirus over the past week, the lowest number since March

BY R OB E RT PELAEZ

week in March, according to statistics provided by the Nassau County Department The number of North of Health.

Last week, the conShore residents who tested positive for the coronavirus firmed number of coroover the past week, 51, was navirus cases throughout the fewest since the third North Shore communities

was 4,140. That number increased over the week to 4,191.

The Village of Roslyn still had the most cases per 1,000 residents in Nassau County, according to figures provided by the county De-

partment of Health.

The figures, broken down by community on the county’s interactive map, were the most up-todate figures available as of Wednesday morning.

According to figures

CHART CREATED BY ROBERT PELAEZ

More than 4,100 North Shore residents had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Monday night, according to figures provided by the Nassau County Department of Health.

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provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, the estimated population of the Village of Roslyn was 2,882 in 2018.

According to the county figures, Roslyn’s 145 cases amount to 50.8 cases per 1,000 residents.

New Cassel has the second-highest rate per 1,000 residents in the county but still had more than five times as many cases as Roslyn. Roslyn Heights had 124 cases as of Monday, but that translated to a rate of 18.7 cases per 1,000 residents. Roslyn Harbor’s 16 cases resulted in a rate of 17.1 cases per 1,000 residents.

Municipalities that stretch into more than one North Shore area such as Flower Hill, Herricks, Albertson, Garden City Park, Searingtown and North Hills were counted separately and accounted for 627 cases, an increase of 10 from last week.

According to the map, the New Hyde Park area had a total of 1,067 confirmed

cases of the virus. North New Hyde Park, just south of Manhasset Hills and Lake Success, is the area with the most confirmed cases at 424, an increase of just one from the previous week.

Mineola, Garden City, Williston Park and East Williston combined for a total of 706 confirmed cases, which accounts for almost all of the area’s total of 729 cases.

Port Washington accounts for 379 of the North Shore’s cases. Of that total, 215 are from town-governed areas and 96 in Manorhaven.

A total of 777 residents throughout the Great Neck peninsula had tested positive for the virus, an increase of 15 from last week. The Great Neck peninsula saw the highest number of new cases throughout the North Shore over the past week, according to the figures.

The centralized villages, such as the Village of Great Neck and Great Neck Plaza, account for 387 of the Continued on Page 23

Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

!""IMPORTANT ELECTION ALERT !

June 23

Democratic Primary For Congress

Everyone Will Receive An Application To Vote By Mail At Their Home

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When your APPLICATION to vote by mail arrives, fill it out and REMEMBER to check “temporary illness.”

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Don’t forget to sign the application before mailing it in the postage-paid envelope no later than June 16th.

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Next you will receive the Ballot in the mail.

Please fill it out.

Remember to sign the smaller envelope before inserting it in the larger postage-paid envelope. You must mail your ballot by June 22nd.

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Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

A congressman in the time of COVID

Rep. Tom Suozzi, who faces primary on June 23, presses federal coronavirus aid for New York

BY R O S E W E L D ON Among all of his Twitter and Facebook posts since the coronavirus pandemic took off, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) says he gets the most reactions on an oddly specific variety.

“The thing I get the most feedback on is when I travel to Washington, D.C., and I’ll do a video about what I’m going to do, and I’ll take a picture and show how the train, plane or station is empty,” Suozzi said. “It’s kind of this eerie feeling of traveling out there in the midst of all this.”

The former Nassau County executive and former Glen Cove mayor’s 3rd District includes Manhasset, Roslyn, Port Washington, Great Neck and Floral Park, among other areas, and after winning terms in 2016 and 2018, his seat is again up for election this year.

Suozzi is being challenged in the state’s Democratic primary on June 23 by Michael Weinstock of Great Neck and Melanie D’Arrigo of Port Washington, with the first wave of absentee ballots being sent out this week. The winner of

SCREENCAP BY ROSE WELDON

U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), whose Democratic primary is next month, says his biggest priority is bringing money back to New York. the primary will face Republican nominee George Santos of Queens for the seat in November.

One of the two halves of Suozzi’s schedule is spent in Washington.

“I’ve got the Washington, D.C., part of my life, where I’m trying to get legislation passed,

holding Zoom calls with the Ways and Means Committee to talk about doing hearings virtually going forward,” Suozzi said. “Every week I have a couple phone calls with all the Democrats, a caucus call with [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi, [Rep.] Steny Hoyer, a couple hundred of us.”

The congressman says he has also held Zoom meetings with the Problem Solvers Caucus, various guest speakers and groups, and that he “fields calls with the governor’s office and the [Nassau] county executive.” His main priority, he says, is seeing that funds in the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or HEROES Act recently passed by the House, are distributed to the states based on rate of infection.

“I’m trying to bring money back to New York. That’s my big focus right now as part of the HEROES Act,” Suozzi said. “I fought very hard to get money distributed to NY based on rate of infection to all the states. It started out with the hospitals, when they were first distributing money for the hospitals, they were doing it based on 2019 Medicare data, not very helpful. As a result, Texas, which at the time had 2.5 percent of the cases, got more money than New York, which had at the time over 35 percent of the cases.”

Suozzi says he recruited “every Democrat and every Republican from New York and New Jer-

sey to sign a letter to Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell” stating a need for a special fund that would be distributed in such a way. The fund, totaling $10 billion, was added to the act.

“New York hospitals got $4 billion of that money, so that by itself will address a lot of the hospitals’ money problems,” Suozzi said. “So now we’re doing the same thing with the states. We got a $49 billion fund put in the HEROES Act, so that by itself would generate $10 to $12 billion for New York. New York State would get about $22 billion overall based on population and unemployment rates, but $12 billion is just from this special fund for $49 billion that I helped to advocate for.”

The $49 billion is “non-negotiable,” Suozzi says, but he has hopes that another priority of his could be put in the act, that being expanding the state and local tax (SALT) deduction for 2020 and 2021.

“It’s my legislation that was passed [by the House] in December to reinstate the SALT deduction,” Suozzi said.

Continued on Page 35

Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

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10 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

Port-Manhasset org aids peninsula

BY R OB E RT PELAEZ

Commissioner of the Port Washington-Manhasset Office of Emergency Management, Peter Forman, said he recalls telling his volunteer co-workers years ago that a pandemic would strike, he just didn’t know when.

Now, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Forman and the Office of Emergency Management staff and volunteers have played an important role throughout Port Washington and Manhasset in responding to the coronavirus.

“I hate being right,” Forman said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. “We’ve lived through the Spanish flu, the plague and other pandemics, so statistically speaking, it was bound to happen again.”

The Office of Emergency Management has served the areas of Port Washington and Manhasset for around nine years, according to Forman. The organization is a coalition of villages and the Town on the peninsula. Its mission is to serve the community before, during and after emergencies and important civic events.

Forman said the first largeprofile emergency that the organization dealt with was Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It was then that the

dents who did not have masks and delivered them to their doorsteps if needed. The organization has also helped local municipalities by going through their social distancing and safety procedures.

According to Forman, funding for the personal protective equipment donations is a combination of monetary donations from the public, along with the organization’s budget. Forman also offered a special “shout out” of thanks to the Port Washington Public Library for their 3-D printed face shields.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PETER FORMAN “Part of the success of the [Office of Emergency Management] is the brain trust that is the product of The Port Washington-Manhasset Office of Emergency all the mayors, trustees, emergency Management held a meeting in January to prepare for the managers, and volunteers of the coronavirus pandemic. participating villages,” Forman said.

That brain trust was on display, organization was able to show how as masks, gowns, face shields, saniinstrumental it could be in ensuring tizer and surgical masks. One of the Forman said, during a meeting in the safety of the residents it serves. more shocking requests came from mid-to-late January at the organization’s war room. Forman said “People depended on us for a local hospital, Forman said.

“A representative from a local that the meeting exemplified the mass notifications and communication services,” Forman said. hospital said we were doing such value that the organization and all “We were an early adapter to that a great job with the PPE provisions municipalities bring to the table.

“A crisis is a terrible time to type of technology, which is called and asked if we could provide them NorthShoreAlert.org. We use the with body bags,” Forman said. “We meet people in other organizations alert system to communicate with jumped into action, found an out- with whom you need to work,” Forresidents, who can sign up for the of-state supplier, quickly built a re- man said. “We discussed topics of lationship with them, and had them preparations for PPEs and emphaservice at no charge.”

The organization has been overnight shipped and then handed sized, long before it became a mehelping first responders, hospitals, them over to the hospital that day.” dia topic, the need for each municiForman said the organization pality to operate with limited staff.” and villages with various levels of Aside from being the organizapersonal protective equipment such has been getting calls from resition’s commissioner, he is also the

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deputy mayor of Sands Point and chief police commissioner of the Sands Point Police Department.

Forman touted the people he works with on the Police Department.

“I’m highly honored to be the chief police commissioner,” Forman said. “The Sands Point Police Department is truly a superb group of individuals who are very dedicated to serving the Sands Point community and do so in a supremely qualified way.”

Unfortunately for the department, the coronavirus took the life of one of its officers, Joe Spinosa, more than a month ago. While the department was not able to honor Spinosa in a traditional manner, Forman said, a procession and motorcade was conducted from NYU Winthrop Hospital, past his mother’s house in Hicksville, and ended up at the funeral home.

“Never ever did I think we would lose one of our own,” Forman said.

Though the virus has altered the collective realities of everyone throughout and beyond the Port Washington Peninsula, Forman said, the Office of Emergency Management, Sands Point Police Department and officials from all the villages will continue to advocate battle to keep residents safe.

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Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

STILL THE RIGHT CHOICE FOR MANHASSET

PAT AITKEN

Our schools and our community need PAT AITKEN to continue as a member of our Board of Education. Pat believes in an excellent education for our children and fiscal responsibility for our community. With her 15 years of experience on the Manhasset School Board, Pat is the right person to help guide our schools through the difficult and uncertain times ahead.

Pat is honest, intelligent and an independent thinker. She has consistently demonstrated her integrity and her thoughtful and caring commitment to doing what’s best for our children and our community. She knows what's important in educating our children. Beyond her professional qualifications and proven track record in business and finance, she's the proud mother of three graduates of the Manhasset Public Schools.

For the past 15 years, Pat has worked collaboratively with other Board members to help get our school district back on sound financial footing, invest in our building infrastructure, and improve educational programs for all of our children. This benefits every homeowner and every taxpayer.

We are fortunate to have such a qualified and experienced candidate who continues to make this commitment to our community.

We urge you to re-elect Pat Aitken Neil Gillis & Donna Cullinan-Gillis DeeDee Spirocostas Carlo Prinzo Jon & Karen Wesson James & Eileen Krach Ann Marie & Tom Fruhauf Karen & Edward Smaldone Ann & Patrick Hance Nancy & Kevin Carey Karmen & Greg Dadourian Beth & Mike Miller Jeanette & Brian Reilly John & Heather McCusker Joshua Mulholland Trish & Charlie Mack Andrew Whalley Susan & Paul Baumgarten Sylvia & Paul Aversano Bob & Genevieve Babaian Wendy & Scott Cozzens Sharon & Frank Messina Lori Keurian Alonso & Rich Alonso Adriana Demirciyan Rob & Nadya McIntyre Rosanna & Carlo Massaro Ken & Gale Lind Didier Siffer Ira & Zari Ginsburg Blaine & Jill Klusky Christine Monterosso RJ & Marianne Filipski Maureen Lavin Suzanne & Bill Mills Annie & Michael Vetrone Jill & Christopher Pullano

Marc De Leeuw Melinda Smotkin Diane & Ross Gershkowitz Ann Dorogoff Syndey Ginsburg The Kiess Family Datev & Jeanne Pidedjian Alexis K. Lowe Tricia & Stephen Cash The Ciamician Family Jen & Ralph DeSena Kristin & Dan Purcell Douglas Longobardi Mr. & Mrs. James McCarney Tommy Fruhauf Zaghig Callian Derek Mulholland Lisa C. & Sean J. Grygiel Mary Jane & Bob Reilly Paul Petras Doug & Talar Aprahamian Sue Auriemma Peter Aitken Erika & Jason Craven John Fruhauf Dr. & Mrs. Kevork Boyadjian Alana Ginsburg Rob & Trish Weber John B. (Jack) Grygiel Daniele & Anthony Cacioppo Charlene & Mike Prounis Lisa & Randy Sloan & Family Kim & Terry Kuester Jane & Jim Russell Carlyn & Bill Casey

Kristen & Mike Ryan Whitney Godfrey Allison & Tim Wong Mike & Argy Mantikas Gary & Rosa Stein Fiona Galbraith Debbie Jurgens Mulholland Liam Cash Mary Villani & Peter Henry Oriana & Nicholas Cyprus Chris Roberts Raffi Khatchadourian Kathleen & Scott Katzmann Evans Cyprus Kylie Mulholland Steven & Eileen Koufakis Bianca & Rob DeGaudenzi Laura Dilimetin Tim & Meghan Fulton Arda & Stephen Haratunian Seval & Dante LaRocca Adam Rubin Irene & Dmitri Dellis Dr. & Mrs. Evan Held Elise & Steve Kline Marguerite Dilimetin John & Clare Clarke Peggy & Mark Attanasio Tom Quaranta Regina Green Rule Steve & Anne Schneider Tim Reilly Margo & Roger Coleman Heidi & Jeff Franchetti

David & Cathy Chiang Dr. John & Maria Frankis Christine & Kevin O'Connor Aline & Mano Khatchadourian Gracie Wang Danielle Georghakis Ellen & George Duran Carlo & Barbara Calcagni Sean & Kim Haggerty Lia Khatchadourian Bill & Kristen Mitaritonna Diana Cava The Kurkjian Family Patrick & Kate Tracy Nancy & Eric Schlaefer Matthew Horowitz & Lisa Zornberg Timmy Fruhauf Christine & Shaun Hogan Anna-Karin Demirciyan Drs. Edmond & Nyeree Demirdjan John & Leslie Ghize Sabrina Tellalian Huffman Joseph & Colleen Williams Kristin & Dan Mulholland Anthony & Jen Johnston Scott R. Christensen Joseph Dessi & Tricia Dessi Jack Cyprus Debra & Scott Arenare Margaret & Lawrence Bourguet Pam & Glenn Smith Steve & Shaz Panzik Sal & Lisa Mancuso Elizabeth & Peter Spinelli Paid for by Friends of Pat Aitken

11

12 The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

WT

READERS WRITE

Trustee Gounaris a dedicated public servant

I

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am writing to ask you to support my friend Jim Gounaris, Herricks School Board trustee and past president.

I have known Jim for eight years and am continually impressed with his ability to understand the needs of the community and to try to solve those needs. He continues to collaborate with the community for mutual inclusive goals.

As a Herricks trustee he continues to serve as one of our finest and honest public servants each and every day.

He has been working hard to address issues that are important to you, me and

especially the students and families that reside in Herricks. He is open, transparent, and responsive to all its residents. He has served Herricks with honesty, integrity, tolerance, and remains committed to doing the right things for all.

For those reasons and more, I ask you to cast your ballot to re-elect Jim Gounaris to the Herricks School District, so he can keep supporting the Herricks community.

Peter Zuckerman Uniondale

Check us out on facebook at www.facebook.com/ TheIslandNow

The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

WT

13

READERS WRITE

Gounaris delivers learning tools for Herricks

I

have known Jim Gounaris for more than 20 years. In all that time he has proven to be a genuinely great family man. He is a hardworking businessman and has been an even harder working Herricks School Board trustee. As a dedicated parent, he is always involved in all his chil-

dren’s education and well-being, as well as the education of the students, families and residents of Herricks. Although he has a hectic schedule, he is always at their functions. He has also been very instrumental in all our kids getting all the 21st century learning tools for our classrooms.

I’ve been living in the Herricks School District for more than 35 years. All my children have been students in this district. I have had the pleasure of personally witnessing Jim’s passion for education and the success of its students.

I won’t hesitate to re-elect him for Her-

ricks School Board. I am proud of all his accomplishments while a member of the Herricks Board of Education and equally proud to count him as a friend and neighbor.

Dr. K.V. Krishnasastry New Hyde Park

Herricks needs re-election of Gounaris, Zanetti

I

t is our pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Jim Gounaris and Henry Zanetti for re-election to the Herricks Board of Education. Our community is extremely fortunate to have these two dedicated and selfless individuals on the board as I have no doubt that the growth of the quality of education and educational opportunities in the Herricks school district has been enhanced through their tireless efforts.

We initially met Jim over 20 years ago volunteering for the Denton Avenue PTA,

and as a coach for our son’s T-ball team.

Jim had a gift for making sure each member of the team felt recognized and important to the team, no matter their skill. Over the years, we have seen this unique quality in Jim, as a member of the Board of Education, bringing parents, teachers and administration together, each feeling recognized and important to the overall success of the district.

Over the course of the last several years we have also gotten to know Henry Zanetti through the Music Boosters. His tireless sup-

port of the Herricks students is evident in everything he does. Our district is incredibly lucky to have such experienced, dedicated and smart people listening and guiding the Herricks community.

Jim and Henry have high expectations for the Herricks school district’s continued growth and success. Through their years of dedication, their efforts as members of the board have unquestionably brought about beneficial changes, which have enhanced not only the quality of the education at Herricks, but also the quality of life for the en-

tire community.

Our school district needs leaders like Jim and Henry whose experience, intelligence, and determination to always do better and push forward will continue to make the Herricks School District a premier school district in our county and in our state. We, therefore, without hesitation recommend that you vote for Jim and Henry to the Board of Education.

Cliff Katz and Meryl Z. Katz New Hyde Park

Send Gounaris, Zanetti back to Herricks board

W

e have known Jim Gounaris for over 30 years, and nine of them as a member of the Herricks School Board. While he has proven to be one of the most unselfish and caring individuals we’ve ever met, he is also the most restless. He tirelessly gets things done, running on pure adrenaline, dedication and focus.

“Where there’s a will there’s a way” has always been the code by which Jim has lived. In our early 20s, an uninsured friend of ours needed surgery for a staph infection that had settled in his heart. In a matter of three weeks, Jim and a small group of us,

arranged a massive fund-raiser to help his family pay for the surgery. Jim helped mobilize many in the community to donate to the event so we could maximize our proceeds.

That evening, hundreds of people from all over the Northeast attended to support the cause. At the end of the night, and through his efforts, we raised over $20,000 for his parents.

Thirty years later, he still hasn’t stopped, as we’ve witnessed an amazing transformation of our Herricks School District over the last nine years. While some people may not have noticed, every parent of every student who attends our schools are forever grate-

ful to Jim, and fellow board member Henry Zanetti, for the changes they’ve helped implement.

Just some of highlights: installation of new security measures, including new doors and over 1,000 security cameras throughout the district, upgrades in technology, new bleachers, new fields, a resurfaced track at the high school, new science classrooms, a new state-of-the-art HS cafeteria, the creation of a Parent Portal, and much more. But don’t forget, this was all done while being fiscally responsible by achieving new costsaving labor contracts with unions, averaging a 1.57 tax increase since inception of the

2 percent tax cap requirements and passing a new bond with a zero-tax differential for our residents to provide these upgrades.

These are not ego-driven bureaucrats, but men of action, doing incredible things for the betterment of the entire Herricks Community. In these uncertain times we need something certain and stable, eager and proactive. We need Jim Gounaris & Henry Zanetti to continue their momentum and be re-elected to the Herricks School Board. Our children not only depend on it, they deserve it.

Jim and Niki Lolis Manhasset Hills

Gounaris a passionate trustee for Herricks

W

e met Jim Gounaris and his wife Georgia 20 years ago when his oldest daughter and our son began kindergarten at Denton Avenue. Since that time, we have become close family friends as our middle sons became very friendly. We were actually pregnant with each of our fourth children at the same time and our two daughters became the best of friends participating in the Herricks Language Immersion. How amazing it is that these two young girls participated in the program and laughed all the way through it. Jim was one of the driving forces for this program.

Fifteen years ago, when the Language Immersion program concept was brought up for discussion and implementation, Jim immersed himself in trying to get the program

started. He regularly attended board meetings as well as committee meetings in an effort to have the program begin. Unfortunately, certain restraints halted the program at that time.

When we asked Jim why he felt so passionate about the program, he told us that it was the concept of a new educational program that would be available for any child who wished to join. It was not reserved for any one specific category of student; all could participate in this. He felt strongly that we needed to begin moving the district into new programs that would continue Herricks’ education excellence. He was disappointed but told us not to worry — that in time a great program like this would come back for implementation, which now we know it did a few years later.

Jim’s passion for all the children of Herricks is clear. He does not believe that the accolades bestowed upon the Herricks School District belong to any one particular group.

He believes it starts with all the families that live in the district that provide a magical support system for the students. Whether they are “empty nester” retirees, families with children, or our wonderful Herricks employees, Jim thinks everyone together deserves the credit.

We have worked together with Jim on several PTA events and functions. He was an important facet of the Cub Scouts as one of its local co-sponsors. He has offered his time to the Girl Scouts, soccer clubs, baseball teams and to anyone in need. He has served all in this district and the community in a way that very few have and deserves to be

re-elected for another term to the Herricks Board of Education.

We feel there is no better candidate for the Herricks School Board than Jim Gounaris. His business skills, honesty, integrity as well as his humanity are exactly what we need as a trustee of the Herricks School Board. Join us in voting for the best candidate in this election for Herricks School Board.

Cast your absentee ballot in supporting the budget, re-electing our good friend Jim Gounaris and his teammate Henry Zanetti as soon as you receive them. Jim Gounaris is HERRICKS STRONG, and a friend for one and all!

George Jr. and Jeanne P. Theodoropoulos New Hyde Park, NY

14 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

Opinion

OUR VIEWS

‘You’re gonna need a bigger boat’

T

o their credit, the Town of North Hempstead, Nassau County and the state of New York have all presented programs intended to help small businesses threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic.

North Hempstead rolled out four ideas last week, including extended hours for commercial construction, preference for Nassau County businesses in purchasing goods and services and allowing additional outside seating for restaurants to compensate for the reduced density requirements.

We don’t see the point of giving Nassau County businesses an advantage in the purchasing process. If Suffolk County did the same, the advantages would more or less cancel each other out and if New York City did the same, Nassau businesses would probably lose out. And like other trade protections, Nassau would probably end up paying more for goods and services Allowing restaurants to have more seating, on the other hand, could be very helpful – provided the legislation allows for more than some tables in a parking lot.

The town, working with local villages, should encourage the closing of streets on certain nights to permit outdoor dining. Or the reduction of car lanes to give restaurants additional room for dining tables. Or both.

We would add the suggestion that a plan be developed to rezone business districts to permit retail and residential buildings. The caseby-case basis now used by villages across the North Shore serves to chase away developers.

This was bad before the pandemic. It is now malpractice during a pandemic and its aftermath.

Richard Kessel, the chairman of Nassau’s Industrial Development

Agency, has called on the state Legislature to grant IDAs “temporary” authority to aid clothing stores, dry cleaners, restaurants, bars, diners and other Main Street mainstays.

This is another of those longoverdue ideas. IDAs have been assisting just about everyone but Main Street businesses for years with construction tax breaks. Kessel suggests the IDA be given the powerto award grants or loans to Main Street businesses.

Nassau County also said it will offer $500,000 in loans to help small businesses, nonprofits and landlords in a bid to distribute up to $10 million from a new state lending program.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the launch of a $100 million loan fund to provide flexible and affordable loans to help small businesses, focusing on minority and women-owned enterprises.

Our only suggestion is to expand the businesses qualifying to all businesses that are truly small – 150 employees or less – and add more money.

Most, if not, all of these ideas will help businesses in New York, the hardest-hit state in the country.

But as the captain said in “Jaws,” upon seeing the great white shark “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” than the proposals put forth by the local governments.

The epic economic devastation caused by the Trump administration’s botched response to the COVID-19 pandemic is going to require more money and some imaginative thinking to help get the economy back on its feet as we reopen.

Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, warned last week that the economic damage from the pandemic could stretch through the end of 2021.

Over the past nine weeks, new

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jobless claims have hit 39 million, and the official unemployment rate is expected to approach 20 percent this month. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the real rate may be closer to 25 percent.

These Depression-level unemployment rates reflect the carnage taking place among retail businesses large and small.

And devastation to the hospitality industry – bars, restaurants and hotels – is even worse. They accounted for 60 percent of the jobs lost in March and estimates about how many will shutter their doors for good range from 30 percent to 50 percent.

Restrictions are being lifted, but protocols already being readied in most states will limit indoor business to 50 percent of prior capacity and restrict seating to safe distances of six feet.

Congress approved $660 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses retain employees. The first $350 billion went mainly to customers favored (read big customers) by the big banks that processed many of the loans for the SBA. Small businesses didn’t really see any money until the second round and the program only provided loans that could be converted into grants for employees for eight weeks. Congress is now consider-

ing proposals to cover expenses for 16 weeks and possibly 24. That would be a big win for small businesses.

The Democratic-led House passed a $3 trillion relief package in May. It was not perfect, but it did include nearly $875 billion in needed money for states, counties and cities.

The legislation also included a special fund based on the “rate of infection” pressed by New York House members of both parties and the elimination of a $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes approved by Republicans that took aim at New York and other blue states with relatively generous services.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, turned down the House proposal and said he’s in no hurry for the Senate to offer its own proposal.

In the meantime, legislators have begun to get creative in finding ways to keep businesses open and people employed.

U.S. Rep. Pramilla Jayapal, Democrat from Washington and a leader of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has gained bipartisan support for a proposal for the federal government to guarantee workers’ salaries.

The bill would cover salaries and benefits for workers making

REPORTERS Rose Weldon, Robert Pelaez, Emma Jones

up to $90,000 a year for as long as six months – allowing businesses to rehire furloughed and laid-off employees – and distribute grants to businesses to cover operating costs.

It would cost $654 billion over six months and benefit more than 36 million workers.

This concept, used by several European countries, eliminates the need for many people to apply to state employment systems illequipped to handle the volume of claims resulting from the pandemic. It also allows more businesses to keep their doors open. And addresses the expected length of the economic downtown.

The pandemic may also force the federal government to re-evaluate some hot-button issues such as universal health care and immigration reform. The COVID-19 virus offers stark proof that the inability of people to afford health care or the fear of getting treatment can have deadly consequences for you as well.

These ideas may be difficult for some to swallow.

But it is worth considering that, according to Trump administration scientists, we are only facing the first wave of a pandemic that has already cost 100,000 lives and sunk the economy.

Clearly, we are in a new world that needs new thinking.

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Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

15

KREMER’S CORNER

I

The clear madness of Donald Trump

t is hard to catalog all of the crazy things that President Donald Trump is doing these days.

In the space of 48 hours, he launched attacks on former President Barack Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, China, the U.S. Post Office, Jeff Bezos, and anyone in the media who asks him a tough question.

It is hard to rebut his craziness in any one column, but I have selected three of his targets for comment.

Every current poll shows that Barack Obama is still one of the most popular past presidents and his favorable numbers far exceed those of President Trump. He has broad public support and has deep affection from black voters.

It would seem that this president would be anxious to keep minority voter turnout to a minimum, but he is doing the opposite.

I don’t know whom he is getting his advice from but he is definitely helping Vice President Biden’s election effort.

I am not an expert on China

and the twists and turns of America’s relationship with that country. It seems that on Monday Mr. Trump is madly in love with President Xi and on Friday he is busy bashing China and its leaders.

According to former National Security adviser to President Obama, the president praised the Chinese leader 21 times between January and February. He has called President Xi “president for life” and has proclaimed his “respect and friendship with President Xi is unlimited.”

The revised message from mid-May right through Election Day is that China is populated by a “lot of bad people and President Xi presides over an evil empire.”

Back in December, Trump agreed to a new trade pact with China that supposedly helps American farmers sell soybeans and other farm products to China. Critics of the deal have pointed out that China is still able to steal the technology of any company that does business in their country.

At this very moment, the United States doesn’t have a plan for

JERRY KREMER Kremer’s Corner

anything.

There is no written document on how we are going to deal with another fatal flare-up of the Covid-19 virus because all the president cares about is getting people back to work.

China, on the other hand has a 50-year plan on how to dominate the world and it is working. They own ports in 30 foreign countries and have established railroads that give them access to precious minerals in Africa.

President Trump threatens to stop funding for the World Health Organization and China offers billions to poor countries to help them cope with the pandemic.

The president threatens our European neighbor’s financial systems and China sets up a zero-interest loan program for any country that needs cash and cannot afford traditional terms.

China is the new Trump election-year target and they in turn eat our lunch and dinner.

There are two things that are sacred to the American public and any elected official who tampers with Social Security and Medicare does so at their own risk. I am adding a third category. The United States Post Office.

The nation knows that the postal system is desperately in need of an overhaul, but neither political party is willing to reform it. In fact, Congress goes crazy when the Postal Service proposes to do away with Saturday delivery.

The madness of Trump’s attack on the postal system has to do with his dislike of Amazon and its

founder Jeff Bezos.

If Amazon stopped using the postal system, it would collapse overnight. However, the president is constantly threatening to privatize the system or just shut it down. He has also threatened to raise postal rates through the roof to get back at Bezos.

The U.S. Postal Service employs 500,000 people. Its employees earn $2 billion dollars. There are 141,900 collection boxes scattered around the country. The agency buys 579,000 tires each year as well as 750 million rubber bands. There are 2,733 self-service kiosks serving all 50 states. It handles 48 percent of the world’s mail volume.

Can you imagine this president or any other one, messing with the postal system?

The greatest fear of any elected public official is that the voters will reject them when their job comes up for renewal. Vice President Biden can stay in the Delaware basement until Election Day and win hands down if President Trump keeps on his current path.

A LOOK ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

The view from inside a pandemic paradox

T

he view from inside a Pandemic Paradox When I was a child, the worst nightmare I ever had was of riding around in the backseat of my father’s car, but when I looked at the driver’s seat to see who was driving, it was empty.

That was the scariest thing I could imagine.

Never in all my days did it occur to me that there could possibly be anything worse.

And yet here we are. We are all at the mercy of a president who insists continually on his “absolute right” to do virtually anything, whether that’s firing an ambassador, building a wall or issuing himself a pardon — but who then says, “I don’t take responsibility at all.”

He insists on his powers to close down the country — only to then instigate rebellions against the governors who followed his advice.

He even reminds the nation of specific powers that accrue to the presidency under the Defense Production Act. But when people are literally begging him to use them to order production of desperately needed medical tests, ventilators, masks, gowns and other protective gear, he has refused.

What we are going through as a nation is completely insane.

And things were plenty insane already.

Every morning I wake up in a panic, only to realize that the true nightmare isn’t the one I am waking from, but the one I am waking INTO. I feel the walls closing in on me as I realize afresh that my husband and I are essentially under house arrest — but with no visitors and no termination date.

I feel terribly alone.

That’s when I must forcibly remind myself that, in fact, everyone else I know is in the exact same situation. That is the crowning paradox of this pandemic — that we all feel so alone, together.

Even during World War II, a war that was truly waged all around the globe —even then, some places had it worse than others. Yet everyone everywhere right now must deal with masks, death counts and social distance.

It made me think about Winston Churchill. He is the subject of a new book, “The Splendid and the Vile,” by Erik Larson. It’s one of the most compulsively readable history books I have ever encountered.

In a recent NPR interview, Larson listed three things that made Churchill’s speeches so inspiring.

JUDY EPSTEIN

A Look on the Lighter Side “First of all,” said Larson, “he would begin with … a sober assessment of the reality of the threat. And he would not sugarcoat. He would state as frankly as he could what was actually happening.”

By contrast, Mr. Trump has told us, “We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China,” and “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.”

Churchill’s second step was to “follow with cause for optimism …

Not happy talk, but a real, rational appraisal” of what was getting done.

So, then NOT something like:

“Now, the virus that we’re talking about … Typically, that will go away in April with the heat.”

Third, “Churchill would end his speeches invariably with a rhetorical flourish that would bring listeners out of their seats, just feeling like they, too, were emboldened and they were ready to do whatever was next. That’s leadership.”

Ah, leadership. Just imagine Churchill saying this to his House of Commons: “Even though large tracts of Europe … have fallen, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surren- Oh, never mind, my golf cart is here.”

I don’t know what Churchill might say about these times. But I know what I need to hear: “This is the worst time I can remember. Not only are we facing a vicious infection that has traveled around the world and stolen from us so many precious lives. But in order to fight it, we have plunged ourselves and much of the world into an economic crisis, besides.

“The economic picture is serious — but not hopeless. The good

news is that, thanks to our recent experience with the recession of 2008, we know how to come back from that.

“As for the virus — it would be dangerous to try to fool ourselves.

What we are up against is real, and it is deadly, and we must treat it with the respect it demands. There is no arguing with a virus.

“But we are still America, and we are fighting back. And I am proud of you, my fellow Americans, for all the changes you have mastered in such a short time. We have people from every walk of life making huge sacrifices, but it is also true that every one of you is sacrificing something. Wearing masks, staying home, social distancing — these things seem simple, but they are hard. Unbelievably hard. And you are doing it.

“It is crucial that you know that it is not for nothing. Every time you put on that mask, every time you close your door, every time you tell someone you love ‘better not come any closer’ — with every sacrifice you make, just remember you are helping to bring us closer to that blessed day when we can look back at this time and say, ‘Truly, we have accomplished something historic — and we did it together.’ ”

16 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

E A R T H M AT T E R S

The Earth matters. But does it? And to whom?

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was in a meeting this week and one of the participants commented that he hopes we take this time in which we are living so differently to question and consider how we want to live going forward. I’ve heard a similar sentiment from others, but how widespread is the desire to take advantage of our current situation to make changes?

On May 10, the New York Times published their report on 98 rules the current administration has revoked or rolled back or is in the process of doing.

It covers seven areas: air pollution and emissions; drilling and extraction; infrastructure and planning; animals; water pollution; toxic substances and safety; and other. Just reading the categories was devastating. The details are terrifying.

For example, fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for passenger cars and light trucks have been weakened. The transportation sector is among the top sources for greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Living on Long Island this is no surprise. Typically, these standards aim to increase the average fuel economy of passenger cars and light trucks. Cars getting more miles per gallon release less carbon emissions over their lifetime.

According to the state Energy and Environmental Impact Center at the New York University School

of Law holding mileage standards at present levels will increase greenhouse-gas emissions by 16 to 37 million metric tons, the equivalent of an additional 3.4 million to 7.8 million cars on the road.

California can no longer set its own tailpipe emissions standards if they’re going to exceed federal standards.

These emissions standards regulate the maximum amount of pollutants allowed in exhaust gases discharged from diesel engines.

These emissions impact air quality and contribute to adverse health conditions and climate change.

They have been adopted by many states including New York.

The rollback of these rules in California alone is the equivalent of putting 9 million vehicles on the road.

Oil and gas companies no longer need to report methane emissions. People breathing in methane emissions can experience headaches and dizziness, nausea and vomiting, weakness, loss of coordination and trouble breathing. But now you may have no idea you’re being exposed to such a threat.

The news is similar for toxic emissions from major industrial polluters who now have looser limits on releases.

Agencies no longer need to provide the data to estimate the long-term economic benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

They can act in complete igno-

LYNN CAPUANO Earth Matters rance of the climate change impact of their decisions.

This includes ignoring projected sea-level rise along Long Island’s coast of between eight and 30 inches caused by warming oceans resulting from an increase in heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Drilling is now allowed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Say good-bye to the polar bears and caribou that call the fragile coastal plain home. Say hello to the equivalent of approximately a million more cars on the road annually in released carbon dioxide.

Don’t expect to be able to have grilled fish or seafood in future summers as the gas and oil exploration industry can now use seismic air guns that kill marine life and disrupt fisheries. Consider

research showing seismic air guns impact the immune systems of lobster and increase mortality rates of scallops.

Other studies show the resulting noise pollution negatively impacts 20 species of commercially valuable fish among as well as other marine species like whales and dolphins.

Say goodbye to wildlife threatened by climate change as the Endangered Species Act will no longer protect threatened species not already declared endangered and curtails the designation of critical habitats.

Be extra careful where you swim as pollution protections for certain tributaries and wetlands under the Clean Water Act have been scaled back. And coal companies can dump mining debris into local streams.

If you have breathing issues, they might get worse. A rule to reduce pollutants including air pollution at sewage treatment plants has been withdrawn.

Hopefully you’ve been to the Grand Canyon already because 1,500 acres just outside it are now open to nuclear production.

Watch your children closely if you’re around golf courses, turf, or utility poles. A ban on the pesticide chlorpyrifos was rejected. This pesticide is used on golf courses, turf and to treat utility poles in addition to agricultural applications.

Chlorpyrifos has been linked to

developmental disabilities in children.

Live near an electronics manufacturer? Copper filter cake, a byproduct of electronics manufacturing made of heavy metals, is no longer a hazardous waste requiring proper disposal. Heavy metals are highly toxic and present significant public health risks if not managed carefully.

You should be even more worried if you live near a chemical plant as the requirements to improve safety at facilities using hazardous chemicals were mostly rolled back. The rollbacks include a reduction of measures to prevent accidents like explosions.

Don’t expect to experience the full glory of any of our national parks after reversal of restrictions on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks that successfully reduced plastic pollution in the parks.

Some people may see an opportunity for individual and community change while we respect stay at home orders. Let’s make it change for the better; for the better of all of us; for the better of the entire economy; and for the better of the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the earth we walk upon.

In my next column I’ll offer suggestions and ways to challenge the negative actions outlined above.

VIEW POINT

COVID-19 exposes college tuition hike scam

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or years I have been dumbfounded by the blind acceptance of the scam that colleges – and financial advisers – have run for decades about the inevitability of higher tuitions year after year and the need for parents to start their college funds from their baby’s first day out of the womb. No one questioned annual increases at two or three times the inflation rate because of the essential article of faith that a college degree is crucial to that precious child’s success in life, and a degree from a prestigious, name-brand college is even more of a lock on riches. Price did not matter.

What families are really paying five-figures a year for is not an education, but a certification that accelerates some “into the upper echelons of what is a caste system that is largely dictated by your college degree,” chides Scott Galloway, a business professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

“Other than health care, no industry has raised its prices faster than education We have become drunk on exclusivity.” Colleges, he told Christiane Amanpour on PBS, have become less of a social good than a luxury brand.

For the first time, that high cost of college, even the value of a college degree, is being scrutinized as the country faces the most significant economic downturn since the Great Depression and the most significant public health crisis since the Spanish Flu of 1918-19. This is happening as outstanding student debt has reached $1.6 trillion – a lifetime albatross that inhibits the ability to raise a family, buy a home, even choose a fulfilling career that is not relieved by bankruptcy or death.

Now, with college campuses under lockdown and making their own early decision as to whether reopen, families are making their own crucial decision: whether to

KAREN RUBIN View Point

accept placement at that exceedingly expensive brand name college, go instead to a community college or public school and transfer later, or take a gap year and do something that might be useful, even life-changing during this time of crisis and despair. In fact, for the first time student consumers have leverage over colleges, which are going deeper into their wait-list

to fill their classes (yet another example of how disasters create their own set of winners and losers).

One part of the calculus has to be the fact that what one learns in a college classroom is only a piece of the college learning, growing experience.

But so much of college is the campus experience — for many students, their first opportunity to engage in a diverse society populated with people very different in culture, class, outlook than the people they grew up with, build lifelong friendships, even find a mate. Also, the opportunity to discover the plethora of new talents and interests through clubs and activities that simply aren’t available in the real world they will graduate into.

Many colleges – like hospitals which are going broke because they can’t do elective surgery – are facing financial calamity. The cashcow for colleges – foreign students

who pay full freight – has been completely shut off, as have all the other sources of revenue, from dormitories to food services to book and event sales, study abroad and alumni donations. Parents are suing to reclaim money for a less than complete college experience; colleges are refunding dormitory fees. Galloway is predicting that COVID-19 will force disruption and consolidation in the higher education industry, much as Amazon and Walmart will cement the demise of Main Street.

But here are some thoughts about how colleges and students might get through these next couple of years until the coronavirus pandemic is no longer an all-consuming threat: Faculty and students who are in vulnerable categories – age or medical conditions – can continue with online classes (postpone the classes that must be conducted in Continued on Page 32

Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

17

OUT OF LEFT FIELD

Federalism stumbles during Covid-19 calamity [Part I] Times of crisis quickly dramatize what is effective and what is not working. America’s celebrated federalism has fallen woefully short of competence during the coronavirus pandemic.

In fewer than three months, 100,000 Americans have died (that is almost double U.S. military deaths during the eight-year war in Vietnam).

Where does responsibility for failures rest? Are there ways we could have done better to prevent grief with such loss of lives? Is it feasible to do better going on from this point as we enter June?

During its 1987 Bicentennial, our Constitution was celebrated with federalism as a key feature.

Like many other historians, I adopted the effective defining caption of “That Delicate Balance.” It spoke to the challenges of dividing powers between a national government and the individual states that had preceded it.

For most of modern history, countries moved to nationalism; it made establishing unity (and uniformity) more feasible and efficient. My great Columbia University teacher, Henry Steele Commager,

taught a course on nationalism.

When I worked as a teaching assistant, I vividly recall Commager reaching into his pocket to pull out a watch. Then holding it aloft, he said at this moment every fourthlevel class in France is doing the same assignment.

That may have been an exaggeration of the uniformity of national power. But, in contrast, states in America (often local school districts) can determine their own education paths and many other policies. We have had extended debates concerning state sovereignty. How independent can individual states be — a right to withdraw from the Union? (there were 750,000 deaths during the Civil War, 1861-65) Our federalism paths reflect dynamic developments that even preceded the “Spirit of 76.” Historians accurately note that British colonial policy was the parent of American federalism. For a century and a half, the Mother Country dealt in different ways with each colony. Indeed, a major factor during the American Revolution was that colonies saw themselves as separate entities that cooperated during crisis in a “Battle for Home Rule” (“Redcoats Go Home”). They mostly wanted to be

MICHAEL D’INNOCENZO Out of Left Field left alone to continue nurturing political and social arrangements that had become the most advanced in the world.

For a while, the British had accepted “salutary neglect,” signifying that the colonies were benefiting while the Mother Country also benefited. However, British leaders were long unaware of how the colonies were outpacing them and developing more advanced societies.

It should come as no surprise to be reminded that American federalism was shaped by two crises. The first one was the responses to the British effort to exert more controls

(after all the American colonies had largely become self-governing, separate units). With several reservations, all 13 colonies came together in 1776 to form a confederation (a version of national government) in order to have a better chance to oppose Great Britain, the most powerful nation in the world.

Even in the midst of uncertainties about success and survival (crises that extended for eight war years), Americans had differences and concerns about how much authority to grant the “national” government.

The second major federalism crisis came with the immediate aftermath of winning the Revolutionary War (or did the British lose it?). Historians properly refer to the years of the 1780s (Peace Treaty of 1783 through ratification of the Constitution and first national government in Philadelphia) as “The Critical Period.”

Many of the heroes we celebrate in our history believed that the new nation would collapse and fail unless the national government could be strengthened. They saw the situation as a series of crises.

The interactions among leaders for independence during the 1780s in-

cluded profound differences about how power should be distributed and exercised. This is a highly distinctive feature of U.S. history.

It was not surprising that leaders who opposed strong national power did so after leading a rebellion against Britain’s extreme centralizing authority. However, the most notable leaders (Washington, Franklin, Madison and Hamilton) prevailed in persuading their countrymen that more centralized national power was vitally needed during the time of extended crises.

At what point are crises so severe that they approximate a state of war?

Key aspects of debates in any crisis consider which leaders get to exercise significant power. Would there be checks on such authority?

Would there be sufficient opportunities for review and revision?

As Progressive Party leader Robert Lafollette would later emphasize: Could individual states serve as laboratories for democracy, providing models of leadership for other states and for the national government?

[Coming next: Part II, Evaluating Pandemic Crises’ Leadership in the U.S. system of federalism]

OUR TOWN

Famous athlete, girl in distress and a punchline

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s a child I’ve always liked storytellers. I was a quiet and well-mannered child who listened with rapt attention to the tales my father weaved about his many adventures with celebrity athletes.

One of my favorites was the story of a round of golf he played with Eddie Arcaro who was the best and most well-known jockey of the day.

On this particular Sunday morning my dad was playing a round with Arcaro at Hempstead Golf and Country Club which is a private golf course adjacent to Hempstead Lake State Park.

They were on the 7th hole and as they walked down the fairway Arcaro could see through the fence there was a young lady who was having trouble mounting her horse which had apparently just thrown her.

Trying to be a Good Samaritan, Arcaro walked over to the fence and asked “Hey darling, do you need any help?” to which the girl looked at him and retorted “Get lost squirt, what the hell do you know about horses anyway?”

Good story. It has all the ingredients. It contains a famous athlete, a girl in distress and a great punchline.

Well once again the days of sto-

rytelling are upon us. We all need a moment of levity and escape given the unremitting horror which is currently upon us.

As luck would have it I was playing golf with two friends this weekend and one had invited his son to join us. The son was the prototypical son of a well to do and successful father. He was tall, handsome, athletic, well-groomed, welleducated and well-mannered.

As we played that day I realized that he most likely was as lucky as I was growing up and had traveled around the world and met a number of famous people through his father’s contacts.

On the 16th hole as we strolled down the fairway together I asked him who was the most famous person he had met.

He thought for a moment and said “Maybe the most famous person I met was Derek Jeter when I was about 12 years old.

A friend of mine had invited me to some big occasion at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan with all the Yankees in attendance so I got to meet Jeter, Mariano Riviera and Yogi Berra. It was fun.”

But I wanted him to embellish upon this childhood memory. After all, Derek Jeter carried the torch of the Yankee’s legacy starting with

DR. TOM FERRARO Our Town

Babe Ruth who handed it to Joe DiMaggio who gave it to Mickey Mantle who had no one to give it to until Derek Jeter bent down and picked it up in 1995. Don Mattingly was not quite on this level and Reggie Jackson and Alex Rodrigues seem tainted.

But Jeter was a true mythic figure on a par with Ruth, DiMaggio and Mantle and the fact that my friend’s son had actually met him makes it necessary for this young man to make a story out of this event.

So I asked him to tell me more about Jeter and he said “He was way bigger than I expected. He must have been 6’ 3” with great big shoulders, short hair and a nice smile.”

That seemed to satisfy me

more.

I had met a number of ballplayers in my time and they all are way bigger than one expects. Years ago I met Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves. On TV he looked skinny and slight but in person, he too was 6’3,” had huge hands, big shoulders and towered over me when we met.

The time I met the NFL running back Emmitt Smith at an Ann Liguori party I came away with the distinct impression that this guy couldn’t be knocked over by a Mack truck.

Did you catch a look at this weekend’s “The Match” starring Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in another charity golf match with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are big guys. Tiger is 6’1” and Phil is 6’3” but when they stood next to Tom Brady they both looked like little munchkins.

Good stories need to have a surprise to it or have some wit or contain some wisdom or some pathos.

Gay Talese’s story “Frank Sinatra has a cold” is widely considered to be the best celebrity story ever written with his “The silent season of the hero” about Joe DiMaggio also a masterpiece.

Both elaborate on the loneli-

ness and sadness of the fame.

However the only way to dig deep enough for pathos is to do what Talese would do which was to hang with these guys and their compadres for a month or so. But who has the time or the access to do that?

The best we can do if we are lucky enough to meet a superstar is to take away a memorable first impression.

When you meet star athletes you always wind up saying to yourself wow these guys are not like you or me. They are really big, really tall, really well-dressed, always have really good teeth and make powerful eye contact.

Over a lifetime we all get to meet a few of these superstars. We are forgotten by them but they are never forgotten by us.

I hope that when our heroes retire they fare better than Sinatra and DiMaggio who seemed to have embraced loneliness and depression.

Let us hope that when our current heroes retire they live in joy and contentment knowing that they gave the world all of its magic and its wonder. That goes for Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and all the rest.

18 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

F R O M T H E D E S K O F S TAT E A S S E M B LY M A N E D W A R D R A

Opening needs common sense, consistency

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ith all of the neatlymanicured PowerPoint slides populated with very official-looking charts and graphs illustrating neat, tidy trendlines, it seems like the state’s reopening process is being handled with a disciplined, dispassionate focus on the data.

That notion would fall apart pretty quickly, however, if the benchmarks for re-opening were recalibrated on a completely random basis.

That’s what happened this weekend.

One of the key metrics the administration marked as a major prerequisite for reopening was de-

clining COVID-19 related hospitalizations and deaths.

Regions had to show either a sustained 14-day decline or show they’d never had a spike of 15 new hospitalizations or five hospital deaths on average over any threeday period since the outbreak started.

The Democrat and Chronicle reported that the Capital Region and Central New York were both more than 10 days away from reaching those benchmarks over the weekend, so the administration simply (and arbitrarily) re-set the clock to start on May 15. Both regions are reopening after hiring more contact tracers.

EDWARD RA

State Assemblyman How can we be expected to take this approach seriously when metrics which had previously been

gospel can suddenly be changed?

The more you examine the details of this re-opening plan, the less comprehensive it feels and the less sense it makes.

For example, Phase One allows expanded curbside pickup for small retailers. That might seem like progress until you realize that their big-box competitors have been allowed to have huge volumes of people crowd into their stores since the pandemic began.

Why are social distancing policies, mask-wearing and aggressive cleaning practices good enough to protect hundreds of people in a Home Depot, but not the regular customers of a local mom-and-pop

business?

Sending mixed messages to New Yorkers by handpicking seemingly random industries to reopen based on metrics that can be recalibrated at your administration’s whim is not a solid reopening strategy.

It’s time to allow our small, family-owned businesses the opportunity to reopen across the board by enforcing occupancy limits and stringent cleaning, social distancing and personal-protection practices. It doesn’t mean that we’ll get back to normal overnight. Itdoes mean that we can level the playing field and start our economic recovery off on the right foot.

KIDS F IRST

Every day is Memorial Day during pandemic

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s I write this on the morning of May 25, 2020, I’m struck by what a different Memorial Day this is compared to what we have become so accustomed to. For the most part, there are no large gatherings on the beach; no parades led by high school bands; no throngs of people lining the streets, standing shoulder to shoulder and cheering on our war veterans; no big blowout shopping sales for furniture, home décor, cars and lawn equipment; and no family and friends’ barbecues without masks and social distancing (for those committed to practicing safety and sanity over vanity).

Yet Memorial Day remains the one day each year that we as a nation explicitly honor the more than one million Americans who died defending the United States beginning with the Revolutionary War of 1776, all the way through recent wars launched in response to the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on America.

For the uninitiated, I learned firsthand after my father died in 1994 that funeral flags are presented to the next of kin of deceased

veterans who served honorably in the U.S. Armed Forces to honor their military service to his or her country.

It is a tradition among the family members to preserve their loved one’s flag for display. This year and every year on Memorial Day, in honor of all those who made the ultimate sacrifice, I display the burial flag that I was presented at my dad’s funeral in 1994.

I imagine my father, who was a part of what has become known as the Greatest Generation, would be proud to know that his flag, now faded from years of use, has been displayed again this year, at a time when the term memorial has additional meaning for hundreds of millions of Americans.

According to MilitaryTimes. com, “The fatality rate among Veterans Affairs patients continues to rise, with a significantly higher percentage of veterans stricken with the illness eventually succumbing to the disease than in the rest of the general public.”

Let me be clear that most of those who are dying and were lost to the pandemic, including our

ANDREW MALEKOFF Kids First

brave front-line medical personnel, are not casualties of armed conflict and their losses should not be conflated with the sacrifice of the war dead. Yet who can help but not think about them today, if even fleetingly.

Death is in the air.

Their loved ones have suffered a traumatic loss as have our Gold Star families, compounded by the fact that many could not be at their loved ones’ bedside in the end or partake in routine customs and rituals that typically follow a loved one’s death.

A variation of a line attributed to Joan Didion comes to mind: When a single person dies, the whole world is empty.

Grief is in the air.

Traumatic loss refers to the traumatic reaction an individual may have after a sudden and unexpected death or even a death that was expected. It involves both the yearning generated by the deep distress of separation as well as the disbelief and loss of hope that traumatic stress can generate.

Grief never goes away. Which is why days like Memorial Day that affirm it are so important, even though such days are never quite enough.

Each year this national day of mourning brings us together in body, mind and spirit, close up or six feet apart, to talk about and remember those who sacrificed everything. It is a day that offers the bereaved communal support and helps to reaffirm and re-establish a sense of community that is so critical to restoring a sense of hope.

Although there are the familiar social rituals that can help to support mourners through the process

of normal bereavement, there is no custom or common ritual that recognizes the mourning that follows traumatic life events like armed combat, a terrorist attack, a natural disaster or the invasion of a microscopic mass killer.

Memorial Day alone is not enough to remember and honor our fallen heroes.

Remember them every day.

And whenever the day comes that we look back and remember those who perished in the pandemic of 2020, it will not be enough for a national holiday to incidentally evoke their memories.

Get a head start. Say a prayer or meditation for them today and every day.

Andrew Malekoff is the executive director of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, the leading children’s mental health agency on Long Island. The Guidance Center is seeing new and existing clients via telephone and video during the COVID-19 crisis. To make an appointment, call (516) 626-1971. Visit www.northshorechildguidance.org for more information.

READERS WRITE

Trump right to reopen houses of worship

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resident Trump has said houses of worship should reopen this weekend and the governors should do this or he will. Now this means churches, synagogues and mosques.

As a Catholic and as grand knight of St. Anastasia Knights of Columbus in Douglaston, I agree, but this must be done carefully as to protect all worshipers. I, like President Trump, believe religious faith has made America stronger

in times of many trials and tribulations both personally and nationally. And many of us need to worship in our houses of worship.

Therefore to worship where we choose is a essential service.

In the Constitution the First

Amendment in part states that Congress cannot establish a religion nor prevent free exercise of religion. Meanwhile, Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan and the Diocese of Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, have laid out

a five-phase plan for reopening.

I hope and pray this comes to pass, so shall it be written, so shall it be done !

Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Mineola Letters Continued on Page 25

Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

Rice seeks re-election, advocates federal relief

BY E M M A J ON ES U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) is running for re-election unopposed in the Democratic primary on June 23. If elected, this will be her fourth term in office.

District 4 comprises central and southern Nassau County, including Floral Park, Garden City, Hempstead, Mineola, Carle Place, New Hyde Park and Westbury.

In the Republican primary, Cindy Grosz and Douglas Tuman are vying for the chance to go up against Rice in the general election.

Tuman is the commissioner of engineering for the Town of Hempstead. His campaign platform centers around infrastructure

PHOTO COURTESY OF REP. KATHLEEN RICE VIA TWITTER

Rep. Kathleen Rice is running unopposed in the June 23 Democratic primary.

improvements, making the community more livable for new families and the elderly and implementing solutions to global warming that align with capitalism.

Grosz, a Long Island native who attended the Hewlett-Woodmere schools, is a columnist, radio personality and Jewish activist. She has written for publications including The Times of Israel and The Reactionary Times, and is a contributor and co-host on “The Jersey Joe Show.”She is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump.

Rice’s top priority is helping school districts, small businesses, hospitals and nursing homes recover from the coronavirus pandemic, she told Blank Slate Media in an email.

She said that beyond providing these entities with “targeted financial relief,” she seeks to help them develop and implement plans to avoid recurrent coronavirus surges, as well as to combat future pandemics.

“Long Island is getting ready to re-open, and that’s a good thing,” Rice said. “But we need to make sure that our critical services and local municipalities have the tools they need to operate safely and successfully in the weeks and months to come.”

“We have to do more than just bounce back from this crisis, we need to learn from this experience and become more resilient in the same way that we did after Superstorm Sandy.”

She added that robust federal investment is necessary for this to happen. This federal Continued on Page 35

Rice challenger stresses swift reopen

BY E M M A J ON ES Douglas Tuman, the Town of Hempstead commissioner of engineering, is running against Woodmere resident Cindy Grosz in the Republican congressional primary election on June 23. The two are competing to go up against incumbent U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) in the general election.

Grosz, a Long Island native who attended the Hewlett-Woodmere schools, is a columnist, radio personality and Jewish activist. She is a contributor and co-host on “The Jersey Joe Show,” and an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump.

Tuman is backed by the Nassau County Republican Committee.

His campaign platform centers around infrastructure improvements, improving representative democracy and making Nassau County a more affordable place for young families to live, he told Blank Slate Media on Tuesday.

He said he believes that he would be more attuned to his constituents than Rice is, if elected.

“I don’t think she’s in the community

very much,” Tuman said. “She’s in Washington, and not really in her district anymore.

I would be in my district, and then going to Washington to represent my people.”

Since Tuman is the commissioner of engineering for the Town of Hempstead, which comprises much of the district, he is highly familiar with the communities that he would be representing, he said.

In particular, he emphasized that he is familiar with the infrastructure of the communities, which he believes needs improvement. If elected, he would push to fortify the south shore by implementing measures such as installing floodgates. Such initiatives would save the district billions of dollars in potential damages from storms, he said.

Tuman stressed his belief that a congressperson should act on behalf of constituents.

“At the end of the day, what really separates me is first and foremost what a congressperson is supposed to do is advocate for their people, and I think we’ve lost sight of that,” he said.

If elected, he plans to implement a textContinued on Page 24

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20 HEALTH & WELLNESS • Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

How to stay fit when social distancing Many people consider their gyms much more than a place to exercise.

A gym can be a great place to socialize while trying to stay healthy. Having friends or fellow fitness enthusiasts around also can provide the motivation many people need to stay the course and achieve their fitness goals.

The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association says more than 70 million consumers visited health clubs in 2017. That marked a record high since IHRSA began tracking data in 1987. Fitness memberships also are popular in Canada. GoodLife, the largest fitness club in Canada, has 400 different locations and more than 1.5 million members.

Fitness centers were among the

many non-essential businesses forced to shutter as a result of COVID-19, forcing fitness enthusiasts to find new ways to stay mentally and physically fit. Many creative ideas have surfaced. · Online classes: An internet connection is all that’s necessary to find a number of workouts that can be streamed from the comfort of home. The streaming website YouTube can be a gold mine for free workouts. Some cable service providers also may have On Demand fitness channels or rentals that can mirror some of the classes taken at the gym. · Social apps: Gym-goers can inquire whether their gyms are offering alternative programs. For example, Jersey Strong, a fitness chain in New Jersey, began live-streaming many of

its popular group fitness classes via a special Facebook page. Class instructors guide classes from their own homes or from empty gyms. Other gyms may provide links to subscriber-based gym training workouts free of charge. · The great outdoors: Even though some parks, beaches and trails have been closed, workouts can take place in and around the neighborhood. Jogging or walking can be excellent cardiovascular exercises, as can taking a bicycle ride for a few miles down neighborhood streets. People who live in rural areas can run through forested land or even farmland. Pushups, sit-ups, planks, and other body weight exercises can be done right in the backyard. Before making a decision about whether or not to

be active outside, be sure to check the latest guidance from your local health department and community or state leaders. · Remote sports: Videos of city dwellers playing tennis across roof tops for much-needed air and exercise have emerged in recent weeks. Similar benefits can be achieved with a game of catch, volleyball or racquet sports over fences with neighbors, provided limits on participants are placed and social distancing is maintained.

Staying fit during COVID-19 restrictions takes some ingenuity, but it’s certainly possible to maintain your overall health. In fact, some people have found they now have more time to exercise than they did before.

A B LA N K S LAT E M E D I A S P E C I A L S E C T I O N • M AY 29, 2020

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22 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

Advocates urge accountability in Nassau jail

BY E M M A J ON ES “As we can see with the meatpacking plants, the jail health is the same as the community health, and the ways things are handled at the jail is going to impact how things are out here,” she added. “So we all have a stake in making sure that the people in the jail are healthy, and not only that, but because we are human, we need to care that the people inside the jail are healthy.”

The Nassau chapter of the ACLU has held car rallies as well as virtual Zoom rallies and news conferences to advocate the release of vulnerable incarcerated people as well as more accountability and transparen-

cy on the part of the county. At the state level, the ACLU is fighting to end solitary confinement across the board, as well as for greater protective measures within jails and prisons during the coronavirus crisis.

Dzurenda has put out messages outlining increased safety measures, such as providing personal protective equipment and cleaning the facility. These are not sufficient to keep those within and outside of the facility safe, however, Gottehrer said.

She said that this is not necessarily a shortcoming on the part of the sheriff, who has been responsive to the group’s concerns.

“The county needs to have safety plans in place for nursing homes, jails, workplaces,

and they apparently don’t have any,” she commented. “And that’s a part of governing.”

Efforts to reach Curran were unavailing.

Advocates are also calling for families to be notified immediately if their loved one is taken to the hospital after showing COVID-19 symptoms.

When someone in the Nassau County jail who has tested positive is transferred to a hospital, the family is not notified until the person is officially admitted to the hospital, according to Gottehrer.

“If family members have to wait to find out until their loved one is admitted, then it might be too late, because their loved one might have already been intubated,” she

said.

New Hour is part of the Justice for Women COVID-19 Task Force, a group of “women, mothers, academics, religious and non-profit leaders, health care providers and formerly incarcerated advocates” across the state fighting for the release of pregnant women, elderly women and men and anyone who is medically vulnerable, according to an open letter that the task force addressed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

As a result of their organizing, Cuomo allowed the release of six pregnant women who were within six months of their Continued on Page 38

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Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

N. Shore hits lowest weekly COVID increase Continued from Page 6 area’s confirmed cases, an increase of 12 from the previous week. Kings Point still ranks third in the area’s confirmed cases with 98.

Manhasset, with 235 confirmed cases, has closer proximity to areas with more positive cases but had the lowest increase of cases over the past week with five.

The town-governed parts of Manhasset, with 122 confirmed cases, along with North Hills, Flower Hill and Herricks, made up a majority of the area’s cases. The villages of Manhasset Hills, Munsey Park, Plandome, Plandome Manor and Plandome Heights accounted for 114 cases, a number that did not see any growth from the previous week.

As of Tuesday night, according to figures provided by the county Department of Health, 39,907 county residents had tested positive for the coronavirus, an increase of 612 from the previous week. This week was the first time since late March that the number of new cases in one week did not exceed 1,000.

A total of 2,103 people have died in the county, an increase of 43 from the previous week. Total hospitalizations, 410, and patients on ventilators, 127, both have significantly decreased over the past five weeks, according to the figures.

The encouraging decline in positive cases, deaths, hospitalizations and patients on ventilators led Nassau to begin the first

phase of reopening on Wednesday.

The first phase of the plan, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will include opening construction and manufacturing functions with low risk, so long as the health trends continue to meet the guidelines.

Phase two, Cuomo said, is a more indepth look at each business on a case-bycase analysis, and finding the best ways to reopen. He said officials will determine a business’ essential service to the community, the risks of reopening and the importance of its reopening. Phase two would include retail, professional and administrative services, and real estate.

Phase three includes dine-in restaurants, and phase four would include large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events.

Cuomo said business owners must analyze the precautions and safeguards that will need to be potentially addressed for each business.

Two weeks must pass before the next part of the plan is implemented, Cuomo said, in order to effectively monitor its impact. He said two weeks covers the incubation period of the virus.

No more than 50 percent of the maximum capacity of a workplace can be used, protective equipment such as masks and gloves must be worn, and social distancing must be adhered to for all phases, according to the guidelines.

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24 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

Rice challenger stresses swift reopening Continued from Page 19 based polling system.

“A core pillar of my platform is to improve representative democracy in America, and I want to do that right here with this district first,” Tuman said.

He explained that he would poll his constituents via text about issues that affect the district, and would use that to determine how to legislate in Congress. Tuman is implementing a text-based system with his campaign to demonstrate how it works, and would continue to use this system if elected, he said.

“Really at the end of the day, a congressperson should be like an attorney, who’s there to represent their people,” he commented.

Tuman also plans to take action to make Nassau County a more affordable place to live for young families living in the district or considering moving to the area.

“Nassau is a tough place to live, especially as a young person,” he said. “It has become difficult for young people to start here or to stay here, and I think it’s eroding the fabric of our community. There’s starting to be a bit of a brain drain, as people leave Nassau County and go elsewhere.”

He added that this is unfortunate for older generations in the district, who do not necessarily get to be near their children or grandchildren.

“It’s unfortunate for families as a whole.

I think it’s important to make Nassau more affordable so families can stick together,”

PHOTO COURTESY OF DOUGLAS TUMAN

Douglas Tuman is running against Cindy Grosz in the Republican congressional primary election. said Tuman.

In order to work toward this goal, he suggested measures such as simplifying the tax code and eliminating the federal tax cap on state and local property deductions.

“A lot of it has to do with the supplydemand problem with housing,” he added.

“There simply isn’t enough housing.”

Tuman said that if elected, he would consider creating incentives to develop downtown areas so that additional housing can be built and young families will want to, or be able to, live there.

In terms of returning to daily life in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Tuman advocates moving swiftly to reopen the economy to “allow our open and free society

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to flourish again.” He has been pushing for the county to reopen for many weeks, and has participated in “Reopen Nassau” rallies.

“It is controversial to be a proponent of reopening things fast but in the end I think we will look back and say we did not reopen soon enough,” he said. “We could have let the resilient practice common sense while protecting the vulnerable. Instead we kept our economy shut down, keeping healthy people that want to work home and allowing small businesses to go bankrupt, while enriching big box stores and not even protecting our most vulnerable – the elderly in nursing homes.”

“Kathleen Rice has not said much on this,” he added. “Cindy Grosz has not attended the [rallies]. Voters should look at who actually took a stand to right the ship in times of turmoil.”

He added that he does not believe the financial crises that the pandemic has caused can be fixed by simply handing out money. While the government should put money toward protecting vulnerable classes, those who are “resilient” and able should be allowed to resume normal activities.

When asked why voters should choose him over his opponent in the primary, Tuman responded that he would do a better job listening to his constituents and representing all parts of the community.

“Cindy is a one-issue candidate,” he said of Grosz. “She’s an activist for the Jewish community, and I think we overlap – I

would equally support the Jewish community – but I would also be as open to supporting all other communities.”

Tuman added that he believes Grosz is more concerned with national concerns than local issues.

“She’s more concerned about promoting Donald Trump than being her own person,” he commented. “I’m a supporter of Trump as well, but I don’t think running for Congress is about saying, ‘I agree with everything Trump says.’ It’s about being your own person, being your own leader, and listening to what your constituents have to say.”

Tuman added that he works very closely with a lot of Republican groups in the community.

“Cindy didn’t get the nomination but ran anyway, which is representative of who she is,” he said. “Instead of being aligned with the local party, she’s running against the local party.”

Tuman pointed to his campaign slogan, “Build a Brighter Future Together,” to explain why he believes voters should choose him.

“I won’t bring biases or favor any groups when considering an issue,” he said. “I will simply look to solve the problem that our community collectively cares most about.

I will also make sure all people are heard so that minority opinions in our communities are given a voice too. Additionally, I will bring people together by focusing on what unites us as opposed to what divides us.”

Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

25

READERS WRITE

Don’t count on a fast employment recovery

A

s we begin to work our way through this crisis, a few things are becoming clear. One thing that is perfectly clear is that we have no idea how this crisis ends up.

At the beginning of the lockdown period in mid-March, there was the sentiment that we could hit a “pause” button on the economy, and hit “play” again once the “all clear” sounded, perhaps in 8 weeks or so.

Stimulus checks, grants, cheap loans and some employee arrangements would tide us through with little collateral damage. But the end game is beginning to look murkier, and not so clear cut. This could get ugly, again.

There’s been a lot of damage done to the labor force, and like the last washout in 2008, the jobs recovery may be every bit as tortuous this time as it was then.

The fall down the economic ladder is a lot quicker than the climb back up. Ratcheting up aggregate demand, and then hiring enough labor to satisfy it, is a time-consuming process. Even if some astounding hiring numbers are produced, by say, over 1 million workers with every monthly Department of Labor report, it would still take three years to get back to pre-COVID employment levels.

And while one million sounds great (as well as the sharp rise in comparative GDP that will surely follow) there’s still going to be plenty of pain out there for millions more as the process continues. And that presumes

Chart: All Employees, Non Farm, Trailing Twelve Months we don’t have any recurring flare-ups.

The cause for instantaneous mass layoffs and a slow revival of employment stem from one factor: fear.

When faced with an immediate cessation of demand, businesses are quick on the trigger to cut costs and survive. When back in growth mode, they will be cautious in adding headcount and payroll costs, lest they get ahead of themselves. They’re going to want to see some sustained demand that will support future hiring. We lived through

this dynamic during the recovery from the last crisis.

I don’t see any reason for things to be any different this time around, no matter what the monthly job gains are. We’re in a far deeper hole this time around, and while there may be an initial snap-back effect, I wouldn’t count on that continuing at the same torrid pace.

Many companies, thankfully, have resorted to the use of furloughs for employees.

That means pay is suspended but corporate

health insurance is still kept in force, and often paid for.

Unemployment benefits are available while this lasts, so people aren’t completely washed out. At least for now.

Emergency UI lasts until July 31st. If things don’t bounce back, it needs to be extended. But even so, that furlough scheme can’t go on in perpetuity.

If things do recover, the employer has a trained workforce at the ready without the need to interview and try out green hires.

Operations can re-spool quickly. But again: the ride back up will not be a mirror image of the fall down, not everyone will get called back, and certainly not all at once. And that spells trouble for millions of breadwinners.

Labor slack on this scale is bad news for wages and salaries. But with over 36 million on unemployment, and currently rising, labor will not enjoy any leverage for some time to come. That will have a knock-on effect on employment as well. Less spending power becomes a self-fulfilling drag on both the economy at large as well as future labor demand.

So while we wait for some semblance of normalcy, we have some challenges ahead. I hope we can handle them.

Donald Davret Roslyn

Back Gilliar, Epstein Honoring fallen vets for Port board: Sloan this Memorial Day

I

am writing in support of Rachel Gilliar and Julie Epstein for the two open positions on the Board of Education.

I had the privilege to serve on the Board of Education with Rachel Gilliar and saw firsthand that she is everything you need to see in a school board trustee.

Rachel takes nothing at face value but will dig in and do her research on each question and issue.

She has the ability to quickly see to the heart of the issue but the patience to give every aspect its fair review. She has a rare combination of being willing and actually wanting to learn but able to stand her ground when she believes it necessary.

I have seen Rachel take the time to speak, and to listen, to anyone that wants to be heard, even when it is a very different point of view than her own.

Rachel is very clearly an advocate of the children at all times, but very much aware of her responsibility to every stakeholder. We need to continue to have Rachel representing us on our school board.

I have served with Julie Epstein in many capacities in the school district. I can honestly say that over my 12 years as a trustee on the Board of Education I have never encountered anyone that would be better prepared to begin as a trustee and hit the ground running. She knows the work and procedures necessary and the

role of governance in the school district. I have seen Julie resolve many difficult situations because she is both willing to listen and willing to take the strong stand, always demonstrating her respect for others.

Julie takes any and every responsibility she takes on with utmost concern to detail and procedure and will do whatever is necessary to make sure that the job gets done, and gets done correctly.

Both Rachel and Julie demonstrate that they seek these positions because they have the desire and commitment to best serve the school district of Port Washington. Neither of these people put forth the time and effort necessary for their own interest but rather for the good of all the stakeholders and are very clear on the role of trustee.

To some, this might seem like a small thing, but we see many people make promises. We need leadership that can deal with whatever the reality of the day, and still accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

A great deal of uncertainty lies ahead for all of us, and we as a community need to know our schools are being governed by the best possible people. I hope you will join me in this effort by voting for Rachel Gilliar and Julie Epstein.

Karen Sloan Port Washington

I

n Memorial Today as I honor the many who have fallen, I know They were people like us. They had lives, just as we do.

They had families and friends, mothers and fathers, Sisters and brothers. They grew up to learn practical skills And hold trades; to attend college to be doctors and engineers, Scholars and teachers, artists and musicians, for the Greater benefit of loved ones and society.

They did not set out to die and be celebrated as heroes, Suffering the dehumanizing indignities of war and mass death, These were thrust on them as the terms of service to keep us safe.

And as they rose to the grim challenge their promising lives Were brutally stripped away to deal with the nefarious machinery Of those who only view things adorned in power, subjugation, Conquest and spilled blood—enemies, us versus them at all cost.

I wonder about the fallen, who they were, What happened, how their lives were erased.

And that millions and millions in so-called advanced Enlightened countries across continents fell for it not wanting To know the horrors committed in their name until too late.

The big questions always apply, what it means to be human, And how people might find the ways to live in peace.

I dream of a world without hatred and conceit.

And I realize, realize, the monstrosity that leads to war is Everywhere with us, reaching out in all directions.

Nothing less than the same somber black shadow under our feet Rises enormous in front, what you can’t see your way around.

We are at one end, not even the ground is safe or solid.

I am very, very, grateful for our fallen heroes.

I thank them all, knowing full well that until we can make A better world we’d be nowhere without them.

Stephen Cipot Garden City Park

26 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

READERS WRITE

Sam wants to share his virus with you

T

en-year-old Sam rides his bicycle near my home.

As I quickly cross the street to maintain social distance, I hear him say, “Hi, I’m Sam. I have the virus. Want some?”

Wherever did he learn to say that?

A child his age may be mimicking the words of parents, siblings or friends.

I ask you: Is the prospect of human suffering and potential loss of life amusing to some people? Is that why some folks are still refusing to invest and wear face masks? Is that why there

continues to be so little respect and regard for one another?

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19, to date, is 100,000 lives.

I wholeheartedly agree there is a time and place for sarcasm and dark humor. That’s why the classic television program, Saturday Night Live, is celebrating

its 45th season.

Still, dark humor, with respect to a life-threatening virus and emanating from the mouth of a child, feels tragically wrong.

Wise up Long Island. A face mask is the most cost-effective preventive medicine money can buy. When you wear it, you

are PROTECTING YOURSELF from the Sams and Samanthaswho are running, biking, skate-boarding and spitting on a neighborhood block near you.

Nike was right. “Just do it.”

Judy Shore Rosenthal Great Neck

Sassouni offers inclusiveness to G.N. board

R

ebecca Sassouni is different from me in many ways. She is Persian and I am Chinese. She is Jewish and I am Christian. Her children go to North and my kids go to South. This may make you think that I wouldn’t even consider her as a candidate to represent me and my interests in Great Neck. Nevertheless, I am voting for her as incumbent

trustee of Great Neck Board of Education because it is not about race, not about religion, not about social-economic status, not about political views, it is about what’s best for Great Neck children and Great Neck town as a whole.

Let me explain further: Rebecca is a student advocacy lawyer. For many years she has volunteered as executive board

members of various PTOs and UPTC. From all the years that she has held these positions, her focus has always been what’s best for the children. Three years ago, she won the election as trustee of BOE in a landslide decision and it was well-deserved. One thing I love about her is that she does not try to push any personal agenda, she just wants to serve.

Rebecca is a woman of faith and her goal is and always will be doing the right thing for the community. She shares our values: to provide the best quality education to our children, and make Great Neck one of the best towns for a family to live in. Was this not the reason we all moved to Great Neck? Furthermore, she embodies the spirit of inclusiveness that makes Great Neck

great — she is a team player as well as a leader, willing to listen to different opinions and communicating her ideas clearly to everyone involved. I am voting for her on June 9 and you should, too.

Joanne Chan Great Neck Parent of four children ex-co-President of United Parent Teacher Council

Islanders’ Belmont Arena faces serious delays

Y

our story “Justice dismisses Belmont lawsuits” (Robert Pelatz — May 22) may be true, but there are still many old and new issues remaining to be resolved.

Several months ago, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that due to the coronavirus outbreak, non-essential construction work would be suspended. As a result, construction of the new Islanders’ Belmont Arena has been halted for eight weeks. Rumor has it that construction will resume within the next few weeks.

In January, the MTA awarded a contract to Judlau Construction Inc.for $65.07 million. This is for construction of the new Elmont Long Island Rail Road Station to support the arena.Did the MTA ask the contractor to stop work on this project as well?If the contractor proceeded, there would have been the usual groundbreaking ceremony attended by MTA, LIRR and elected officials

who support the project. There has been no such event to date Whatever happened to the other $40 million worth of MTA LIRR capital work which makes up the balance of $105 million for transportation improvements to the Belmont Arena.With less than 17 months to go, how will all of this impact the previously promised opening of both the Belmont Arena and Elmont LIRR Station’s eastbound platform by October 2021?

The Belmont Park arena project promises all sorts of service options that are already available. Many of these may not be financially viable now as a result of COVID-19. How many of the several thousand new jobs may actually not be created?

Many of the promised new stores and boutiques in the “retail village” may never open.The same is true for the proposed new dining options, sports bars and restaurants.

Next, there will be less need for conference centers and meeting rooms along with movie theaters and concert facilities. All of these so-called benefits would just compete against existing shopping malls, upscale stores, restaurants, sports bars and end up stealing some of their customers. There are already plenty of hotels and colleges which offer conference centers. The same is true for movie theaters and smaller, more intimate concert facilities.

How much seating capacity may be lost due to the longterm ramifications of COVID-19?

Since there are fewer than 60 Islanders home games, the facility will have to be leased out for another 100 events to turn a profit. Why would any rock band appear there, when they can go to Jones Beach Theater, Westbury Music Fair, Nassau Coliseum, Shea Stadium, Arthur Ash Stadium, Forest Hills Stadium.

Madison Square Garden, Barclay Arena or Radio City Music Hall?

The same is true for World Wrestling Federation, circuses, college sports or other events requiring space for several thousand participants.

When will the LIRR determine whether tickets will be priced at Zone 3 or Zone 4?What about offering Queens residents weekday Atlantic Pilot or weekend City Zone discount tickets?

What is the current status as to who is going to purchase, operate and maintain the new fleet of shuttle buses, which will connect the Elmont LIRR Station with the Islanders’ arena? Bus manufacturers have a backlog of up to two years for orders already placed by transit agencies.

Will they be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act?Who will build a facility for maintenance, storage and powering up electric shuttle buses?

Building such a facility can easily

require two years. What are the capacity of these electric buses, which could range from 20 to 60 riders?

It will be a major challenge to complete all of the above in time to support the first hockey puck hitting the ice in October 2021. Don’t be surprised if the Islanders play their 2021 — 2022 season in the Nassau Coliseum.

Larry Penner Great Neck (Larry Penner —transportation historian, writer andadvocate who previously worked 31 years for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Office.

This included the development, review, approval and oversight for billions in capital projects and programsfor the MTA, NYC Transitbus and subway, Staten Island Rail Road,Long Island andMetro North Rail Roads,MTA Bus, New Jersey Transitalong with 30 other transit agencies in NY & NJ).

Return Gilliar as trustee to Port ed board

P

lease join me in re-electing Rachel Gilliar to Port Washington Schools’ Board of Education.

Over the past three years Port schools have benefitted from Rachel’s thorough, thoughtful leadership. She carefully considers the needs and concerns

of all stakeholders while keeping her focus on the students and the quality education that Port schools are proud of.

Rachel’s attention to the diversity of our community of students, families and residents reflects her understanding of the uniqueness of Port Washington.

As chair of the curriculum committee, Rachel has encouraged continued growth and innovation while recognizing the varied needs represented in Port’s rich diversity.

I have personally seen Rachel prioritize the voices from the community, the needs of the

taxpayers and the mission of our schools. She researches the issues, seeks input and communicates her positions after thorough review.

Good schools are the bedrock of a community. At this uncertain time, our district’s future would be well served

by Rachel’s experience, careful leadership and continued dedication to our students.

A vote for Rachel is a vote for Port Washington.

Nanette Melkonian Port Washington Letters Continued on Page 27

Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

Business&RealEstate

27

Cuomo should not have shut real estate Consumers have obviously slowed down plans to purchase their, homes, condos and co-ops throughout the United States, especially in those states where Realtors haven’t yet been able to physically go out in person and show the property. Some 34-million-plus people are currently unemployed, so it’s no wonder that the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, Lawrence Yun, predicts sales for the second quarter will be off by 39.5 percent but will pick up sometime in the third quarter.

It’s an unfortunate circumstance of Covid-19 and to keep everyone in place to stay safe.

However, even though we could take advantage of using videos and 3D virtual tours to showcase our properties, it’s definitely not the same as actually visiting the property and walking through, opening doors, inspecting cabinets and getting a firsthand feel of the home. As a result, many purchasers put their buying plans on hold over the last several months.

It could take a considerable amount of time for the typical consumer to be comfortable making their largest “lifetime” purchase via a virtual tour or video. Maybe over three to five years they would be more used to it, but can we wait that long? I doubt it! There are those who have been fortunate working from home and getting paid, which many in the IT business have been doing for the last two months. But I believe working at home and being sequestered and using zoom.com or the

gotomeeting.com type services to stay in touch can never replace the workplace environment, the group, one-on-one relationships and contacts that many have built over the years. But they still received a weekly paycheck as Realtors didn’t, unless we were fortunate to receive a stimulus check or were able to do a deal.

Many IT companies are realizing, however, that business can be done successfully remotely while being able to minimize or eliminate their space as a way to reduce costs. The other choice to return the office involves current requirements to have desks spaced six feet apart, which could increase costs by needing greater spaces to work within. That doesn’t seem probable. Another logical possibility is striking a balance by having a percentage of employees work from home as they have been and reduce the necessary work areas and/or increase spacing for others to work from the company’s office.

But the remaining scary and sad options are layoffs of those who no longer fit into the corporate template and culture of the necessary efficiency and profitability due to the lingering effects of Covid-19.

There are choices, but due to the catastrophic loss of income over these weeks, most companies are figuring out what will work best to become profitable once again.

We should have been offered these options from the get-go in having a certain number of agents within an office space and the rest working from home, but still being allowed

PHILIP A. RAICES Real Estate Watch

to meet clients at properties.

There are numerous major retailers and other well-known businesses that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection: Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, J.C. Penny, Modell’s sporting goods, Pier 1, Gold’s Gym, Fairway supermarkets, and most recently Hertz car rental.

Who knows which ones will survive, but many have closed a multitude of their locations throughout the United States, laying off millions of workers and setting the stage for a huge reshuffling of how their businesses can be operated efficiently to be able to come back. It appears that Wal-Mart and Home Depot (they were considered more essential than real estate) have succeeded with everyone at home and ordering all their merchandise online from Amazon and many other online entities, which has given them a greater advantage.

Although Gov. Cuomo initially did briefly consider real estate as

essential, he then rescinded his decision the very next day, making our our industry non-essential and just shutting us down. But he allowed us to do videos and virtual tours to market and sell our properties. My opinion is this decision was wrong when we could have had the necessary guidance in place to wear our masks, gloves,(and booties), and carry our disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizers. Could our exposure have been any worse than a big box enterprise?

How many clients would we have met at our properties — maybe one to three at most? Our liability would have been much much less than a store environment. Our current options to me haven’t really been very beneficial. We would have had more control over our clients (who would have been told to come prepared with masks and gloves or we could have provided them) than those who have been in the stores.

I have experienced firsthand some employees who weren’t consistently enforcing or requiring everyone to wear masks and gloves, putting that many more people in jeopardy of contracting Covid-19.

Those leaving the stores were discarding their masks and gloves on the ground when trash cans were nearby, not caring about anyone else’s safety or health! Who would have cared more about the safety of the consumer, those in our real estate industries who work on a commission basis or a store employee earning a “somewhat guaranteed salary or wage per hour?

Shutting us down had a very serious impact on our incomes as well as buyers’ and investors’ ability to purchase capital goods, e.g. refrigerators, stoves, dishwashers, washer/dryers, etc. for properties that they would have bought. Our local and national economy, due to the lack of home sales and other businesses being closed down and the expenditures of the federal, state and local governments for Covid-19 casualties, have suffered immensely, too, and will have unimaginable consequences on our real estate taxes many years into the future. How many of our Realtors will have to declare Chapter 11 protection bankruptcy and what percentage of them will not recover to be able to come back into the business?

Only time will tell as to the ramifications of keeping us Realtors at home.

Philip A. Raices is the owner/ Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He 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). Just email or snail mail (regular mail) him with your ideas and suggestions on future columns with your name, email, and cell number and he will call or email you back. For a consultation, he can be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email: Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.

Com to answer any of your questions or concerns.

READERS WRITE

Town’s curb- Pools can impact neighbors side recycling I questioned I read your “Earth Matters” column printed May 22 and would appreciate some clarification regarding the Town of North Hempstead’s curbside recycling program.

Columnist Hildur Palsdottir mentioned that only plastics marked as types 1 and 2 were accepted by the Town of North Hempstead for recycling. I had no idea that this was the case.

Back in 2013, our elected officials made a big deal about the town expanding its recycling program to also include plastics marked as types 4, 5 and 6. From what I can tell, although the town has recently released recycling guides that only mention types 1 and 2, there was never any formal announcement that the recycling program had been rolled back.

Continued on Page 38

nstalling a large pool of any kind is a substantial project—one which may have a major impact on one’s neighbors. The first thing that comes to mind is what happens if the pool should develop a leak. If the neighboring properties happen to be downhill of the property in question, there is a good chance that serious flooding will occur as the water flows downhill. Such flooding could take place as well if the pool owners do not know (or care) how to properly drain their pool.

Flooding alone is not the only issue. Almost every pool has chlorine in it. As we all know, chlorine is a poison and if not properly dealt with, it can do serious damage to surrounding soil, plants and animals. Chlorine may splash into a neighbor’s yard when children are playing in the pool. Chlorine also has a very noticeable odor,

which can disturb neighbors, even it is dealt with properly.

Another potential intrusion relating to pools is the likely installation of bright lights, which are very likely to shine onto the neighboring properties at night. Another probable result of installing a pool is the destruction of trees and other flora. Aside from having a negative impact on the environment and on the beauty of a particular property, the loss of trees can have a serious negative impact on neighboring properties as well. Many homes are provided with shade and protection from the wind by trees on their neighbors’ properties.

Let’s remember that most of the properties in the Village of Great Neck are small—houses are very close to one another. This is not Kings Point.

Any large project such as a pool installation will be very readily noticeable

to all neighbors and may have various impacts on their ability to enjoy their own backyards. If something should go wrong, you can guarantee that the neighbors will sue the pool owner and the village as well.

If you agree with me that swimming pools should go through a rigorous review process, and that neighbors should be informed right at the start, please log into the Village of Great Neck Zoom meeting on June 2, at 7:30 p.m.. The link should be available on the Villages web site. If you can’t log in, please write in to this paper, and to the mayor and trustees.

Post your views on Facebook. Our voices need to be heard!

Amy Glass, Ph.D. Great Neck, NY Letters Continued on Page 30

28 The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

WT

Curran announces loan program

Continued from Page 1 Loans must be paid back over five years, with interest-only payments for the first year, and principal and interest payments for the remainder of the reimbursement period. The loan, according to officials, can be used for reopening expenses such as redesigning or layout changes to comply with the state’s social distancing mandates, rent, property taxes or operating costs.

Richard Kessel, chairman of the Nassau Industrial Development Agency, had been suggesting that the agency use some of the fund balance to provide loans to small businesses prior to the announcement made by Curran.

“This program will help small businesses in Nassau County recover from this economic downturn and aid in their reopening,” Kessel said. “These loans will breathe new life into our downtowns and help bring back and boost Nassau County’s recovery.”

The program, according to officials, will also provide financial aid to minority/women-owned business enterprises.

“The Boost Nassau Small Business Loan Program will provide much-needed capital to small-business owners in Nassau County and help in the county’s recovery efforts to strengthen the local economy,” Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce President Phil Andrews said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE’S OFFICE

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced the implementation of a loan program to aid small businesses throughout the county.

As of Tuesday, 39,907 people in Nassau County had tested positive for the coronavirus, according to statistics provided by the county’s Department of Health. Of that total, 2,103 had died, and 410 were hospitalized as a result of the virus.

Despite almost 40,000 residents testing positive for the virus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced over the weekend that the county, and all of Long Island, could begin the

first phase of reopening on Wednesday.

The first phase of the plan, according to Cuomo, will include opening construction and manufacturing functions with low risk, so long as the health trends continue to meet the guidelines.

Curran touted the significance that the first phase of reopening will have on Long Island.

“Phase one for us means a lot of people

will be coming back to work,” said Curran.

“Seventeen percent of total jobs on Long Island are in construction, manufacturing and wholesale trade.”

Phase two, Cuomo said, is a more indepth look at each business on a case-bycase analysis, and finding the best ways to reopen. He said officials will determine a business’ essential service to the community, the risks of reopening and the importance of its reopening. Phase two would include retail, professional and administrative services, and real estate.

Phase three includes dine-in restaurants, and phase four would include large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events.

Cuomo said business owners must analyze the precautions and safeguards that will need to be potentially addressed for each individual business.

Two weeks must pass before the next part of the plan is implemented, Cuomo said, in order to effectively monitor its impact. He said two weeks covers the incubation period of the virus.

No more than 50 percent of the maximum capacity of a workplace can be used, protective equipment such as masks and gloves must be worn, and social distancing must be adhered to for all phases, according to the guidelines.

Mineola seniors seek closure amid pandemic Continued from Page 2 “She really changed how I see the science field,” she said. “She changed for me what research meant. Just being able to sit in her classroom every day, whether it was talking about science or talking about the world beyond school I have a lot of fond memories.”

Mallon is committed to Georgetown University. She is currently undeclared, but is considering studying environmental policy and potentially going to law school.

She has been involved in string ensemble, peer tutoring, Environmental Club, Robotics Club and Literary Society. She was also a member of the National Honor Society and Science National Honor Society.

Additionally, Mallon has worked at a law firm for the past four summers, while working simultaneously at a restaurant.

Mineola High School helped her realize what she was looking for when choosing a college, she said.

“Mineola is such a diverse school,” Mallon said. “I love to be surrounded by people of all different walks of life and all different cultures, and that was one of my objectives, to go to a [college] where I’m

surrounded by all these different people.

That is a big factor for me, which Mineola helped me with.”

She added that Mineola also taught her what she didn’t want.

“I wanted to branch out and do things that would take me beyond the little social circle, ‘the bubble,’” she said.

Throughout high school, the best part of her day was orchestra class, she said.

Mallon plays the cello, which she said she “absolutely adores.”

Another highlight of her high school career was traveling to Detroit with her robotics team.

“I don’t think I would’ve met a more interesting group of people if I hadn’t joined that club, and it’s not a club I would’ve necessarily seen myself being a part of,” she said.

She reflected that while she has many fond memories of Mineola, the fall of her senior year was difficult.

“They always say senior year ends up being a cruise, but for me it was probably the busiest year of my life, especially the first half,” she commented. “I applied to 22 schools. The weight of that was a little

crushing for me.”

“I’m not going to lie, it was a rough few months,” she added. “It was definitely a slap in the face for how I should be preparing for college.”

Although losing the end of her senior year has been tough, Mallon reflected that being in quarantine has also helped her find balance.

“Being as busy as I was, it’s hard to find time for self-care and balance,” she said. “Now, being at home all the time, I’m learning how to cook, exercising. I love movies and classic literature, and I’m going back to all my interests.”

She added that no other senior class in recent years has had as unique a situation as the current graduating class.

Patel also said that the pandemic had changed her perspective.

“The past couple of months have been quite interesting,” Patel said. “I can say that I definitely value having an in-person education. Throughout the year we say that we don’t like school, that we wish we could stay home, but if I had to go back I would never complain about school. It’s just different, because you realize that in-person

interactions change your whole perspective. You can see people’s faces, you can hear their voice clearly. That’s something that I miss.”

“Now, with everything going on, it’s just sort of a melancholy feeling, looking back and thinking about all of the things I could’ve done if I’d had the rest of my senior year,” said Mallon. “I was really ready to go [to college], but now I’m a little sad, considering everything.”

“There isn’t that sense of closure that I was expecting,” Patel said. “Everyone said, ‘first semester of senior year, you work hard,’ but then there’s that second semester, where you get to hang out with your friends and your teachers and reflect on your time there. Having that ripped away from you you watch all of those coming-ofage movies, and you realize that you don’t get to have that.”

Mineola is tentatively planning to hold a live graduation in August, Patel and Mallon said.

“Mineola has given me so many memories, and I wish I could just go back and relive it, but I have new memories to make,” said Patel.

Port doc, prof author children’s book on virus Continued from Page 5 New York area have been affected by the pandemic, and most of us have friends and loved ones and colleagues who have family members get really sick or even die. Our goal was to make this a free resource, es-

pecially for families with parents as health care workers or even front-line responders, to help kids understand what their family members are doing and how they’re protecting themselves, going to work, in the midst of this pandemic.”

Block adds that feedback has been so positive that Kelly’s adventures in science may continue in a future work.

“We recognize that this is an evolving situation, and our plan is certainly to update as the next chapter rolls around for all of

us,” Block said. “We hope that this will be the first in more books to come to follow Kelly as she ventures out into the world in a controlled and planned way, as we all figure out how the reopening process starts to happen in the next few months or even year.”

The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

WT

29

Kamberg touts experience in E.W. election Continued from Page 1 the president of S. Kamberg & Co., a food ingredients company based in Great Neck that his father founded.

Del Maestro, an adjunct professor in the St. John’s University education department, touted his 35 years of experience in educational and administrative positions at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

“I feel like I can make a positive contribution with the knowledge and experience I have gained throughout the years,” Del Maestro said. “I have a feeling I can offer my services to the district in a very progressive way.”

Kamberg said he hopes that his track record with the East Williston school district will speak for itself when voters send in their absentee ballots before the June 9 election date.

“Twelve years has meant 36 moving up and graduation ceremonies, over 160 concerts, and plays, multiple academic award ceremonies, 600-plus board, committee, and PTO meetings and countless other, community, state, and even national events on behalf of our district,” Kamberg said. “It has allowed me to celebrate the successes of our children as well as continue to learn more about what I can do for our district.”

Del Maestro emphasized that his campaign for a trustee position is not a result of

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BOTH CANDIDATES

East Williston school board President Mark Kamberg (left) is running to retain his seat on the board against challenger Raymond Del Maestro (right). any personal vendetta against any current member.

“I wouldn’t tell people to vote for me rather than someone else, but I would tell them that I offer the expertise that comes with me,” Del Maestro said. “Sometimes it’s not a bad thing to put some new, fresh blood into the system.”

Kamberg said some of the decisions that have been made throughout his tenure on the board helped improve the core curriculum.

“Academically we have implemented a cohesive K-12 balanced literacy approach, added technology, innovation and STEM into all aspects of learning while increasing our AP offerings,” Kamberg said. “We have increased our focus on the whole child, adding initiatives that support the social and emotional development of our students.”

Del Maestro said one of the main points he would address if elected to the board is building closer cooperation with all of the stakeholders throughout the district.

“Through my style of hands-on leadership, with an emphasis on accountability, I will maintain the sensitivity to the needs of students and be accessible to ideas and concerns,” Del Maestro said.

Kamberg said that despite his efforts to prioritize safety, education and transparency for the students and district residents, he understands some will not agree with the decisions that have been or will be made.

“The laws can at times delay and even hinder what needs to be done but what I bring is experience, consistency, transparency, availability and trust,” Kamberg said.

“Not everyone always agrees with decisions that are made, but nobody can take away from the time, passion and commitment that I have given back to our community.”

Del Maestro spoke of how the coronavirus pandemic has adversely impacted the district stakeholders and what can possibly be done going forward in a time of uncertainty.

“The social, emotional and economic impact of this pandemic is unprecedented,” Del Maestro said. “Now, more than ever before, we will need to develop creative solutions to handle the financial implications of this uncertain time and make the best efforts for our children’s future.”

Ballots for the Board of Education election and the school district’s budget must be received by the district on June 9 by 5 p.m.

Weinstock, D’Arrigo take aim at each other Continued from Page 2 Weinstock collected signatures for election petitions on a Saturday and that some signatures were written down in the same handwriting as others, along with some signers not residing within the 3rd Congressional District.

“He cheated his way on and is now using it to attack Melanie, a candidate who collected 3,500 signatures, has broad support, and has been endorsed by numerous progressive groups,” Schwartz said.

“So despite submitting fraudulent, out of district and non-Democrat signatures, he cheated his way onto the ballot, because the judge didn’t rule on the merits of the case,” D’Arrigo said.

“When I was meeting with voters and collecting signatures my first priority was protecting everyone’s safety,” Weinstock said in response. “A handful of older voters didn’t want to touch my pen or get too close to my clipboard, but they wanted to support my campaign and they wanted my name on the ballot. When this happened, I wrote down the person’s name, and their address, and I included a note at the bottom of the page, describing the interaction. For some inexplicable reason, Ms. D’Arrigo believes my conduct was objectionable. She believes that I should have coerced these seniors into holding my pen and signing their names, despite the obvious risks to their safety.”

After the court ruled in Weinstock’s fa-

vor, D’Arrigo provided Blank Slate Media with a screenshot of Weinstock speaking with constituents on Facebook and commenting, “Melanie’s little stunt that requires me to leave my house every day, during a pandemic, is a different matter altogether.

The woman deliberately put me and my family at risk. If she were a man, I would consider giving her a good old-fashioned throat punch.”

“Normalizing violence against women is heinous and he has no business running for office,” D’Arrigo said. “We already have enough liars and misogynists in government, we don’t need another one.”

“The use of such brutal language perpetuates a culture of violence against wom-

en,” said Patricia Pastor, legislative lead for the National Organization for Women of New York State and president of its Nassau chapter. “Weinstock’s attacks are particularly reprehensible given that he is a lawyer who claims to have fought for women victimized by sexual predators when he worked as an assistant district attorney.”

Weinstock apologized for the “crude joke.”

“While chatting with a friend on Facebook, I made a crude joke,” Weinstock said.

“I’m sorry that I did that. I hope to become the type of elected official that kids admire.

I am optimistic that Ms. D’Arrigo will finally apologize for the Jewish vulgarity expressed by her legal team.”

Chaminade seniors reflect on high school Continued from Page 3 and then pursuing a career in medicine, but said that he is keeping his options open.

Brown was on the football team throughout his four years at Chaminade and served as captain during his senior year.

He was also on the wrestling team during his junior and senior years. He was active in the Parish Religious Education Program, through which he taught third-graders at Saint Aidan Parish in Williston Park, as well as Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow, through which he spoke at an alumni board meeting and helped with various events. Additionally, Brown served as vice president of

the National Honor Society during his senior year.

He considers winning the football championship during his senior year and attending football camp with his team last summer to be his best memories of high school.

“We go to camp every year, and it’s just a great time with your teammates, and to get to know the juniors,” he explained.

Brown said that Chaminade provides students with a very well-balanced experience.

“There’s really rigorous academics, but on top of that, all sorts of activities, whether it’s sports or participation in clubs,” he said.

“From what the teachers expect of you, you become more responsible on your own. At the end of the day, you do have a lot to do, but nothing that you can’t handle.”

Chaminade has tentatively scheduled a live graduation for Aug. 1. Brown, who is supposed to deliver a speech at graduation, is unsure whether he will be able to attend, since he leaves for the Naval Academy on July 2.

“You plan how you want your senior year to end, but at the end of the day, it’s out of your control,” he said. “You kind of just have to make the best of it.”

He added that although his class mem-

bers missed out on events that they have looked forward to since their freshman year, being quarantined for the past two months has allowed him to spend more time with his family and prepare himself physically for the Naval Academy.

Graduating from Chaminade is a bittersweet experience, he said.

“These past four years at Chaminade have been probably the best of my life,” he said. “I had a great time — the friends I’ve met, the experiences along the way. But I’m also excited to take the next step, and particularly to see what the Naval Academy has to offer, and what the future has in store.”

30 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

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Gilliar cites promises made, carried out

T

hree years ago when I decided to run for the Port Washington Board of Education, the educational landscape felt troubled. Our schools were being squeezed between two very different pressures: providing a good education and paying for it.

Parents (I, among them) wanted better communication from our schools, better education for our children, and more for our money. Parents wanted excellence in the core curriculum, while they also believed (I, among them)that education should encompass teaching children how to respond to their instincts to be creative and innovative thinkers, to be the people our nation and our world will need in the future.

Three years ago I promised voters I would dedicate myself to change, and I have. For example, I promised I would improve communication. The Board of Education’s morning meetings are now podcast, so community members can listen to our discussions at their convenience. We formed a website task force to make information easier to access. We added a district Facebook page and hired a new public relations firm.

I promised to advocate for the return of staffing for the enrichment program. With more PEP/e-steam teachers, the schools can provide more whole-class enrichment. This vital program was at risk this year from the financial shortfall from the state caused by the pandemic. I made it clear that gutting enrichment is not an option. With the same vigor, I will defend the arts, music, sports, auto shop, technology, and all the offerings outside the core curriculum that allow children to find their own gifts.

I promised to listen more. I saw parents who were worried about being branded a squeaky wheel and parents worried about having their concerns dismissed. I have stood on street corners, at birthday parties, in the pool, and once in the middle of an ice skating rink to listen to my fellow parents talk about their experiences and seek my advice. I tell parents they have an absolute right to advocate for their children and to expect we will hear them.

I promised fiscal responsibility. This year, I and my fellow trustees have voted for a budget with a tax levy increase of only 1.99 percent, well under the 3.36 percent levy that is allowed by New York state law.

The global pandemic of the year 2020 brought our schools to a screeching halt, as though a crevice opened in the earth, leaving the past behind us and no longer accessible across an unbridgeable chasm.

In response to the sudden closing of our schools, our district swung into action, first making sure the children who receive free and reduced lunches would not go hungry. The district provided nearly 750 iPads and Chromebooks to children in families with no such devices, all sanitized. The school district instituted professional development for our teachers and moved schooling for 5,395 children online.

To enumerate these tasks belies the complexity of each one and the army of effort it took to accomplish them. Change in education is usually slow,but now these things had to happen at breakneck speed.

I measure the challenge to our teachers on the same scale I measure the challenge to myself in these last few months. Each day is an experiment in living and learning. At the same time, I know how demanding this has been for parents because I, too, am living your reality.

Continued on Page 35

Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

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Continued from Page 16 person to another semester), but these faculty would be dedicated to this purpose and work with only one or a few students, which would make up for the difference between classroom and on-line setting. This would also help provide the extra space/capacity in classrooms to meet social distancing requirements. (This works for K-12, too.)

Indeed, there could be a tier of students who sign on for distance learning at a lower tuition. In this way, colleges, even the brand-name ones, could dramatically expand their student body and tuition revenue without undermining quality in the classroom.

Lectures – those giant gatherings – can be done online without losing anything and may be improved by the ability to integrate other learning materials into the presentation.

Classes that need to be conducted in person – labs, research, engineering – can be smaller with social distancing in well-cleaned and sanitized rooms (UV light fixtures during nightly cleaning?) with improved ventilation and reducing the amount of exposure time.

Everyone on campus should be tested and know if they have the virus or the antibodies, much as schools require proof of vaccinations, just as all workplaces need to be.

Then you could also have team sports and even people in stadiums more properly spaced. But until fans are allowed back, college teams, along with professional teams, can get back some of that stadium revenue by turning parking lots into tailgate parties, with big screens and boxed meals for sale, to preserve that rahrah atmosphere (and revenue).

Students who don’t want to miss out on campus life should be able to take a gap year – and there should be an expansion of National Service programs like AmeriCorps, Peace Corps and the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps, where students could get credit toward their degree, as an added benefit for the life-enhancing experience while performing essential work for communities; colleges could even organize it like an internship. Perhaps colleges could get a fee (like an application fee) to hold a space in the class or sponsor the service.

Get rid of student debt. Either refinance the whole lot to the near-zero rate of interest that banks are paying or like Obama did during his term allow people to pay a percentage of income and have the whole thing disappear over a 10-year period. Give students more opportunities to turn loans into grants in exchange for, as example, working in a rural clinic or school for a couple of years. More colleges should make tuition a sliding scale based on income (as Yale has done). Sallie Mae loans enable parents to pay tuition in monthly installments without interest.

And restore higher education as a social good rather than a luxury brand.

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COMMUNITY CLASSIFIEDS To advertise here call:516.307.1045

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“VIRTUAL” SHOPPING A.T. STEWART EXCHANGE CONSIGNMENT SHOP 516-746-8900 Antiques-Furniture-Jewelry -SilverMirrors-Lamps-Artwork Visit our website: www.Tgchs.org to view merchandise under The Exchange Toolbar Call or email: store@atstewartexlj9u9 uouijoijiokuhjuikyjhkjiukuykichange.org Order & Pay by phone Pick up in parking lo All proceeds benefit The Garden City Historical Society 109 Eleventh Street, Garden City Like us on Facebook & Instagram

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34 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

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A congressman in the time of coronavirus Continued from Page 8 President Donald Trump capped the deduction at $10,000 in a 2017 federal law that reduced taxes for corporations and most wealthy and middle class families, with Long Islanders and other Northeastern residents having to pay more in income tax.

Suozzi’s bill to increase the cap to $20,000 for the 2020 tax filing year passed in the House of Representatives in December, with bipartisan support from U.S. Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), but has not yet passed in the Senate.

Meanwhile, at home in Glen Cove, Suozzi says his offices are flooded by calls from constituents.

“We get hundreds of calls a day and often I’m having to talk with people to try and help them navigate the bureaucracy to figure out how to get this done,” Suozzi said. “We get people calling every day to my New York and Washington offices, which are working re-

motely, saying ‘I can’t get through to unemployment,’ ‘I need help with my payroll protection program,’ ‘I haven’t gotten my stimulus check yet,’ maybe they’ll want to push for a certain kind of legislation that has nothing to do with what’s happening.”

Coronavirus itself hit the congressman particularly close to home. In mid-April Michael Wrotniak Jr., father of Suozzi’s wife, Helene, died of the virus at Glen Cove Hospital, less than two days after testing positive. Wrotniak’s widow, Carol, later tested positive for the virus as well.

Also paramount to the congressman is sending money to local municipalities, villages, towns and cities, “regardless of their population size all the way down to the smallest ones.”

“In the past five years, [New York] taxpayers have sent $125 billion more to the federal government than we’ve gotten back in

federal aid or help,” Suozzi said.

“We’re the biggest net donor in the entire country. [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell, from Kentucky, his state has received $150 billion more than they paid in, they’re one of the biggest net takers of all the states. It’s the height of hypocrisy for him to be talking about a ‘blue state bailout’ when we bail out his state every year.”

“The stimulus money is where people get a check, the PPP and the unemployment insurance,” Suozzi said. “The question is whether that’s going to work and if we need to do more than that. Every economist says, ‘you can’t make a mistake by doing too much right now. You can only make a mistake by doing too little.’ And that’s the fight between the Democrats and Republicans right now. Nobody knows the answer yet, and nobody knows what’s going to happen as we reopen.”

Among his major accomplishments in office, Suozzi lists increasing funding for Long Island Sound cleanup by 400 percent as co-chair of Long Island Sound Caucus and increasing funding to clean up the Bethpage plume of toxic chemicals in the ground. He has also earned A grades or their equivalents from organizations such as the National Education Association, the Children’s Defense Fund, End Citizens United, the League of Conservation Voters, the Humane Society, the AFL-CIO, Planned Parenthood, Communications Workers of America, NARAL Pro Choice America, American Federation of Government Employees, Alliance for Retired Americans, Federally Employed Women and the National Association of Police Organizations.

“I’ve demonstrated that I’m very hard working, I’m committed to getting things done for my district, and I get things done for my

district,” Suozzi said. “I’ll always fight for New York, and I’ll always fight for all the things people care about, whether it’s better health care, a cleaner environment, gun safety, immigration reform, whatever the issue may be, they know that I’m fighting to get those things done for my constituents, for my state and for my country. I’m not just someone who’s saying, ‘I believe this,’ or ‘I believe that.’ I can do it because I’ve done it.

“I’ve got a record for every single issue. I’m going to stand up for the things I think are right based upon what’s best for my district and what I think is the right thing to do, and when it comes to the politics of it, I’m going to try and beat them in the election.”

The last day to apply for an absentee ballot for the June 23 Democratic primary is June 16, and the last day to postmark such a ballot is June 22.

Rice seeks re-election, advocates federal relief Continued from Page 19 aid should be used to help create jobs, provide relief to local businesses and help the families that have been most affected, said Rice.

Specifically, she has pushed for expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan, which aid small businesses struggling as a result of the pandemic. Rice said that she has also advocated for the expansion of unemployment insurance for gig workers, independent contractors and self-employed workers.

Low-income areas and communities of color were disproportionately hard hit by the coronavirus crisis. Hempstead, Elmont and Freeport have been severely impacted by the outbreak, Rice said.

“The most important thing we can do to address this is to increase testing capacity, and I have supported local efforts to open up new testing locations in these communities that are free and easy to access,” she said.

Acknowledging that the cost of housing is also an issue that families in low-income areas are facing

right now, Rice supported a provision in the HEROES Act passed last week that would increase short-term rental assistance by expanding the Emergency Solutions Grant Program. She also fought for a provision that would broaden forbearance relief for all homeowners, regardless of whether they have a federally owned or backed mortgage, and ban servicers from demanding a lump sum payment immediately following the forbearance period.

The next round of federal funding needs to include relief for state and local governments, said Rice.

“Supporting state and local government means addressing lost revenue and providing relief for health care workers, first responders, police officers, firefighters, teachers, and other public workers on the front lines,” she said, adding that her district desperately needs this aid.

“We need another injection of federal funding across the board,” she said. “Families need more stimulus payments, small business programs need more funding, and

our hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care facilities need more resources to ensure they can keep fighting this virus.”

Rice added that the focus on rebuilding after the coronavirus does not mean that she has lost sight of the issues facing her district prior to the pandemic that continue to affect her constituents.

“That includes the need for immigration reform and gun control legislation, action to combat climate change, and of course, repealing the harmful cap on SALT deductions,” she said, referring to a $10,000 cap on deductions for state and local taxes when calculating federal income taxes.

Rice explained that the House has passed measures to address many of these issues over the past year and a half, but the Republicancontrolled Senate has refused to act on any of these bills.

“Nevertheless, I will remain committed to fighting for these priorities in the next Congress,” she said. “Many of these issues, especially common-sense gun control legislation, have broad support among both the Democratic and

Republican electorate. There is no reason why we should let politics get in the way of saving lives.”

This past year, Rice worked with a bipartisan group made up of House and Senate members to introduce the Younger Onset Alzheimer’s Act, in order to help families struggling with the disease access the resources and support that are currently offered to citizens age 60 or older under the Older Americans Act. The bill recently passed the Senate and was signed into law

by President Donald Trump.

“The original idea for the bill came from a constituent of mine here on Long Island who lost her husband to Younger-Onset Alzheimer’s disease,” Rice explained.

“It’s been incredible to watch this process develop from one meeting with a constituent to a bill on the floor of the House and Senate that will ultimately help hundreds of thousands of families across the country.”

Rice said that one of her central responsibilities as a Congress member is to act as a liaison between her constituents and the federal government.

“I’m incredibly proud of how successful my office has been in helping my constituents navigate this vast and often overwhelming system,” she said.

She said that over the past five years, her caseworkers have helped her constituents secure more than $10 million in Social Security, VA, FEMA, disability and 9/11 victims compensation fund benefits and savings. Additionally, they have assisted constituents with the immigration process and helped local Jewish organizations secure more than $4 million in federal grant money to increase security.

“In recent years, we’ve seen an alarming increase in attacks on houses of worship across the country, including the tragic Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh and the Monsey Hanukkah stabbing here in New York,” Rice said.

“It’s critical that we provide every worshipper in our community with the security and peace of mind they rightfully deserve and I will continue to advocate for this funding on behalf of any organization in my district that needs it.”

Gilliar cites promises she made and carried out Continued from Page 30 With almost three months of remote learning behind us, some parents tell me they think the schools got it just right, while some parents are disaffected or downright angry. I believe parents have different opinions because they are having different

experiences for many reasons.

Going forward, the school district needs to take responsibility for these disparities and make sure remote learning works for every student. This is an institutional problem.

Teachers are the linchpin of education. The district must sup-

port them, as they use the new platforms to connect with their students. Whether in-person or online, it is our responsibility as trustees to make sure our schools have the tools to give every student an education as tailored as possible to their talents. Every student should have ready access

to the support he or she deserves and the activities that set their minds alight. We must ensure their futures are kept on course and are not dimmed by crisis.

I have the experience to navigate these difficult times for our district. As a neighbor, a fellow parent, and a member of the

Board of Education, you have put your trust in me. I will be honored to serve the Port Washington community for the next three years.

Rachel Gilliar Port Washington

May 29, 2020 36 The Williston Times, Friday, y

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The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

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37

COMMUNITY NEWS

Onboarding real estate North Hempstead agents virtually building dept. reopens Compass, the real estate technology company, announces that it has opened three offices across Long Island in Manhasset, Huntington, and Roslyn.

The firm’s expanded footprint in Long Island comes at a time when veteran agents are seeking the best digital tools to operate in today’s market.

In recent weeks, Compass has launched new digital tools to enhance the way agents operate including an exclusive marketing suite, Virtual Agent Services. It includes enhanced 3-D staging, virtual open houses, and live postcards — each enables agents to optimize how they engage with their target audiences in highly customizable ways.

All agents joining Compass at this time are welcomed with a seamless and personalized virtual onboarding experience that

comprises the use of innovative tools such as the Enboarder platform.

Aside from industry-disruptingtechnology, Compass offers agents dedicated support staff and exclusive programs likeCompass Concierge, which covers upfront costs of home improvement services such as roofing repairs, painting, moving, and storage costs.

Recent new hires include long-time Long Island agents with deep roots in the communities they serve include:Angela Dooley and Nick Colombos(The Colombos-Dooley Team);Michael Stanco and Michael Misti (Stanco Misiti Team), Mark Leventhal; Maria Lanzisero and Donna Spinoso-Gelb (The Maria & Donna Team); Liza Bendett; Shelley Scotto and Margaret Trautmann.

The Town of North Hempstead reminds residents and contractors that the town’s Building Department services are still open and accessible remotely.

In order to maintain and facilitate the adherence of social distancing guidelines, the town’s physical facilities, including the Building Department, still remain closed to the general public.

While town buildings are currently closed, the town’s essential services continue to operate in order to maintain the continuity of government.

New Applications: New applications can be submitted to the Building Department by mail.

Documents can be mailed and addressed to: Town of North Hempstead, 210 Plandome Road, Manhasset, NY 11030.

New Permit Applications: Requests to schedule appointments to file new permit applications can be made by emailing: buildings@northhempsteadny.gov or by calling 311 and requesting to speak with a representative from the Building Department.

Active Applications and Permits: For active applications and permits that have already been assigned to a Plan Examiner, Clerk or Inspector, you may continue to directly contact and work with them.

For any additional questions or information, residents and contractors can call the Town’s 311 Call Center by dialing 311 or 516-869-6311.

N. Hempstead to host Port Washington plasma, blood drive repaving completed The Town of North Hempstead has announced the launch of an upcoming blood donation drive to prepare for the reopening of the region by increasing the dangerously low blood supply.There is also a need for plasma donations from individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 to aid in the treatment of people who have tested positive for and are currently battling the coronavirus. The Town of North Hempstead is encouraging its residents, town employees, and the public at-large to donate now.

“We have been inspired by the bravery and selflessness of men and women here in North Hempstead and beyond who have donated their plasma to help patients battling coronavirus during this pandemic,” said Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth. “Due to an unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations in response to the coronavirus outbreak, there is a severe blood shortage. We recognize the importance of doing our part to combat that, and we want to make sure the town is doing everything it can to provide any relief possible to those currently in need.”

To help ensure the safety of town residents and employees, plasma and blood donations will be taken by appointment

only.

The New York Blood Center has a convenient donor center located in Lake Success. You can schedule an appointment there or at any other donor center by visiting the New York Blood Center’s website at nybc.org. Individuals wishing to donate plasma must meet the New York Blood Center’s eligibility requirements, which are listed on their website.

The town is offering its employees four hours of leave time to make a plasma or blood donation at the Lake Success Donor Center or another donor center due to the current need.

“We thank our Town employees who make a blood or plasma donation to show their support for the community we serve,” said Supervisor Bosworth. “Given the nature of the current public health crisis, we are doing what we can to assist our employees in this extremely important endeavor.”

The town has plans to host a separate blood and/or plasma drive at one of our facilities when social distancing guidelines are relaxed.

For more information about the upcoming plasma and blood donation drive, the Town encourages residents to call 516869-6311 or 311.

@TheIslandNow

In response to a request from state Assemblyman Anthony D’Urso, the state Department of Transportation is completing milling and paving the last remaining stretch of Port Washington Boulevard (State Route 101) from Revere Road to Campus Drive. D’Urso had contacted the NYSDOT two years ago in response to numerous calls and emails from his constituents about the poor condition of Port Washington Boulevard.

The DOT began repaving the entire length of Port Washington Boulevard from Northern Boulevard up to Harbor Road last year but had to halt work until National Grid finished their work on area gas mains.

National Grid completed their work in November, but due to the cold weather work on the final stretch was suspended until now.

“This resurfacing was a much-needed project,” said D’Urso. “Port Washington Boulevard is the main heavily traveled thoroughfare to get to and from Port Washington and for residents like myself and for all the people who come to visit and shop this repaving makes the drive a more smooth and comfortable one. I would like to thank the NYSDOT for their efforts and commitment to this project and I would like to thank the residents for their patience.”

Assemblyman D’Urso applauds New York State Department of Transportation finishing repaving Port Washington Boulevard.

38 Blank Slate Media Newspapers, Friday, May 29, 2020

Advocates urge accountability in Nassau jail Continued from Page 22 release in state prison, according to Liguori.

“We would really like to see that kind of relief being provided to men and women in the [Nassau] jail, because most of the folks who are in jail are serving smaller sentences, 80 to 90 percent are there for nonviolent offenses, and it’s just safer for all of us for them to be home rather than in a highly populated environment where they may not be able to social distance, and they may not be able to receive the medical care they need if they have an underlying medical condition,” she said.

She added that women behind bars are disproportionately impacted by domestic violence, and that many suf-

fer from domestic violence and mental health issues. The advocates are calling for increased mental health support within the facility, she said.

“These women are already highly vulnerable and have been victimized even before their incarceration,” she said.

“So if you’re a mother sitting in the jail, you’re unable to see your children because there is no contact visiting any longer, and you may be isolated if you are showing signs of COVID – for all of us it is hard to be isolated, but for somebody who may have a mental illness, being put in isolation for 14 days may have really dire, life-threatening consequences,” Liguori said. “So we’re calling for increased mental health sup-

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW HOUR FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN–LONG ISLAND

Advocates for people incarcerated in the Nassau County jail held an action on Thursday to demand more accountability and increased safety measures.

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port, which is so needed. We all know what the impact of isolation feels like at this point.”

Advocates say they have heard from incarcerated people inside the facility that the jail is implementing “keep-lock” in order to slow the spread of coronavirus. Under keep-lock, incarcerated people are isolated for up to 23 hours a day.

“Keep-lock is not a good solution,” said Liguori. “Putting someone in a cell for 21, 22, 23 hours a day, by United Nations standards, is considered torture after 15 days.”

“Keep-lock means that they get to say that they don’t do solitary confinement. But keeping people in their jail cells for an extended period of time is the same thing. And our response to that is that keep-lock is not a medical plan.

It’s inhumane, it goes against human

rights laws,” Gottehrer said.

“And while we know quarantine lasts 14 days, there should be added mental health support so that everyone who is being quarantined understands what that process is, and is being communicated to about what to expect during that time,” Liguori said.

The county has not yet responded to the the action network’s call to action.

“I would imagine that the county executive, [who’s] been forthcoming about the hard work that they’ve been doing to keep the community safe, will consider this and take this seriously,” commented Liguori. “We also know that the new sheriff of the Nassau jail is very committed to creating support for both the officers and the inmates there. So we’re hopeful that there will be a step taken in the right direction.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW HOUR FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN–LONG ISLAND

Advocates for incarcerated people held an action outside the Nassau County jail on Thursday calling for the release of vulnerable people as well as more transparency on the part of the county.

Hempstead’s curbside recycling questioned Continued from Page 27 In fact, in its most recent curbside trash and recycling guide (revised 12/26/2019), the company that the town has contracted to pick up trash and recycling from my neighborhood still lists plastics 4, 5 and 6 as “mandatory” recyclables.

I understand town officials are likely not proud that they had to roll back this expanded recycling initiative, but a simple press re-

lease making it clear when the change took effect would have been appreciated.

Perhaps someone from the town’s Solid Waste Management Authority could write in and confirm, once and for all, what types of plastics are currently accepted for curbside recycling. I’m sure our environmentally conscious residents would greatly appreciate it.

Matthew Zeidman New Hyde Park

The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

WT

39

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FAMILY FUN NIGHT PIZZA KITS - $15.00 ! - 18” Dough ! - Tomato Sauce ! - Mozzarella Cheese

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For curbside pickup just call (516) 294-6565 and place your order. Let us know the make and model car you are in, the license plate number, and we’ll deliver right to your car!

40 The Williston Times, Friday, May 29, 2020

WT

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516-739-2747

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