Bayville stolen car found submerged
Planting Fields beauty online too
Town shelter to euthanize dogs
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VOL. 122 NO. 23
JUNE 5 - 11, 2020
Hundreds protest at Legislature By JENNIFER CORR, RONNY REYES, DARWIN YANES and SCOTT BRINTON jcorr@liherald.com, rreyes@liherald.com, dyanes@liherald.com, sbrinton@liherald.com
Andrew Garcia/Herald
MANY LONG ISLANDERS took part in a demonstration in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola on Monday, protesting the use of excessive force by Minneapolis police officers that led to the death of George Floyd.
“We’re scared whenever we see a police car behind us,” said Teria Cunningham, of Glen Cove. “We don’t know if we’re going to be pulled over and if we’re going to get attacked.” Cunningham came to a demonstration in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building, the seat of Nassau County government, in Mineola on Monday to protest the use of force by Minneapolis police officers that led to the death of George Floyd. And though Cunningham said that peaceful protests on Long Island, like the one on Monday night, were a long CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Coronavirus pandemic is more than a medical issue By MIKE CONN mconn@liherald.com
With the focus largely on physical health during the coronavirus pandemic, Glen Head resident Andrea Macari, a clinical psychologist with a practice in Manhasset, said that mental health has been neglected. “There’s a lot of talk in the media about flattening the curve,” Macari said, “but we also need to talk about flattening the mental health curve.” She has seen her patients change, she said, usually in one of two ways. Some have exhibited an improvement in mental
health because key stressors, such as school and work, have been removed. But how they will react when society returns to normal, Macari added, is difficult to predict. Others, she said, are having serious psychological problems. Front-line workers, immunocompromised people and parents trying to help children manage distance learning are among them. Their problems arise not only because of the short-term issues the pandemic presents, she said, but also because of the uncertain future. “Not knowing when it’s going to end really contributes to the
N
ot knowing when it’s going to end really contributes to the hopelessness a lot of people feel. ANDREA MACARI Clinical psychologist
hopelessness a lot of people feel,” Macari said. While the pandemic has affected all aspects of life, she said, its effects can show up in
different ways.
Signs of stress in children
As children grow, Macari said, they reach a variety of developmental milestones under nor mal circumstances. But because of the social and emotional disruptions caused by the pandemic, they may not meet those milestones. The regression of academic skills is frightening, she said, but the lack of socialization is even more so. Socializing plays a key role in children’s development, and being forced to stay home, separated from peers, can impede their growth. Barbara Rakusin, executive
director of the Youth & Family Counseling Agency of Oyster Bay-East Norwich, said that disruption of routine can be very stressful for children. Having grown comfortable with the dayto-day progression of their lives, and having it change so drastically in such a short time, can be traumatizing. The struggles of their parents can also have a deleterious effect on children during a pandemic, Rakusin said. As parents deal with medical or financial problems and their emotional wellbeing becomes more fragile, their children’s lives change draCONTINUED ON PAGE 8