Rockville Centre Herald

Page 1

Rockville Centre

HERALD At Molloy, farewell to Drew Bogner

Car parade held for retiring rabbis

Lawn signs honor 2020 grads

Page 3

Page 8

Page 10

VOL. 31 NO. 23

JUNE 4 - 10, 2020

Villagers attend protest honoring George Floyd By SCOTT BRINTON, RONNY REYES, DARWIN YANES, JUSTIN DYNIA and BRIANA BONFIGLIO sbrinton@liherald.com

Andrew Garcia/Herald

GIOVANNA FONTE AND Emma Lopez-Fonte, of Rockville Centre, attended Monday’s protest.

People started to stream into the demonstration in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola nearly an hour before the scheduled 5:30 p.m. start time on Monday. They had come to protest the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Shouting “I can’t breathe!” and brandishing handmade signs, they arrived from towns

across the county and beyond. A coalition of Nassau advocacy groups, including some from Rockville Centre, planned the protest, “Justice for George Floyd.” Village resident Deana Davoudiasl, an organizer with Indivisible Nassau County and Young Progressives of Nassau County, helped plan the event, and introduced each speaker at the protest. “We are emphasizing that Black Lives Matter across the country and on Long Island,” she told the Herald in an email. “We are demanding that police CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Rockville Centre discusses plans to reopen businesses By JILL NOSSA jnossa@liherald.com

As Long Island began to emerge from lockdown last week, business and community leaders gathered in Rockville Centre to discuss the best way to reopen village businesses. About 60 people attended a meeting organized by the Chamber of Commerce in the gym of the John A. Anderson Recreational Center on May 28. “Everyone I talk to is so eager to support the businesses in town,” chamber President Brian Croutier said. “We’re trying to provide resources to help the businesses and keep the lines of

communication open between the business owners and the local government.” Croutier told business owners that the purpose of the meeting was to get feedback from them so that Mayor Francis X. Murray could relay their concerns to Nassau County Executive Laura C u r r a n a n d Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “We’re here as a resource for you,” Croutier said, “and we will try to do our best to help each and every one of you so that your businesses succeed.” Murray said he has met weekly with chamber members throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and has also been in regu-

lar contact with the other mayors in the Town of Hempstead as well as Curran, U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice and Cuomo to determine how to reopen the village. “We want to make sure, as businesses open up, the village can do everything we can to make them successful,” Murray said. He added that he had heard a range of opinions on how to open businesses safely, with differing ideas on the benefits of street closures, which other villages in Nassau County have proposed to provide restaurants and shops with more space. “I don’t think we should close the streets,” Murray said. “I think that when we get the green light

and can open up the restaurants and stores, everyone’s going to be down there.” The key to a successful reopening, Murray said, is to continue to practice social distancing, and that could be less likely to happen if streets are closed. “Closing the streets brings a carnival atmosphere,” he said. “It’s not a festival . . .

people need to do their shopping, eat and go home.” He emphasized that that was simply his opinion, and that no decisions on the details of reopening had been made. One model the village is considering, Murray said, involves allowing restaurant owners to have tables on the sidewalks or CONTINUED ON PAGE 9


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Rockville Centre Herald by Richner Communications, Inc - Issuu