Rockville Centre
HERALD Patient released after 110 days
18/21 itc FG Demi Condensed
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VOL. 31 NO. 29
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New rabbi joins RVC synagogue
JULY 16 - 22, 2020
Residents protest turf at Tighe Park field By BRIANA BONFIGLIO bbonfiglio@liherald.com
Christina Daly/Herald
CONSTRUCTION HAS BEGUN at Tighe Park on the installation of a synthetic-turf soccer field. Some residents have voiced thei opposition to the artificial turf.
About 40 residents gathered outside Stephen E. Tighe Memorial Park Monday evening to protest the village’s installation of an artificial-turf field there. The protesters posted colorful signs aiming to raise awareness of the environmental impacts of synthetic turf. Resident Marianna Bracco, who organized the gathering, has opposed the installation of turf fields in Rockville Centre since 2012, when the village joined a partnership with Molloy Col-
lege to install one in the village. At the time, Bracco wrote a guest column for the Herald titled, “The true cost of synthetic turf in Rockville Centre,” highlighting what she described as the dangers of the material — its flammability and the health concerns of nitrogen-laced runoff — as well as the necessity of extra fencing and maintenance. Molloy eventually backed out of the deal. Then, in February 2019, the village received a $1 million grant from the state to install the artificial turf at Tighe CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
Front-line support group completes final initiative By JILL NOSSA jnossa@liherald.com
If not for the efforts of a South Hempstead mother of three, staff members at Mercy Medical Center, Mount Sinai South Nassau and other local hospitals might not have been so well fed during the coronavirus pandemic, and several Rockville Centre businesses might not have survived the crisis. When the pandemic brought the economy to a standstill in March, Michelle James Wettstein took action. The small business owner formed a Facebook group, Support for Local Businesses and Frontline Workers, as a way to
keep local restaurants in business and to provide necessities to those working on the front lines. Wettstein began coordinating meal orders from community members for delivery to various units at local hospitals, and at the time she thought the effort would last a week or two, and then life would get back to normal. Four months later, as businesses begin to reopen, she finally decided to slow down and close the group, which has more than 1,500 members. “I never knew, week to week, if it would continue,” she said, noting that she has been receiving an average of 100 messages a day since she formed the group.
“With businesses opening up, there’s less of a need, and I feel like it’s time to stop.” When the economy nearly shut down, Wettstein, 44, had to close her birthday party business during the busiest season, and a new venture in newborn photography was also put on hold. She was soon furloughed from her job as a night-shift worker at LaGuardia Airport. But instead of sitting at home, she spent 15 to 18 hours a day trying to make others’ lives a bit brighter. As the pandemic raged and businesses remained closed or were forced to operate at reduced capacity, the generosity of the community became evident.
Donations poured in, along with requests for food deliveries to specific hospital units. Wettstein’s goal was to honor all requests, and over the course of three-plus months, she delivered meals to every unit during each shift at local hospitals, as well as to local pharmacies, grocery stores, nursing homes, gas stations and the Rockville Centre
police and fire departments. “I hope, at this point, everyone who works in the local area was somehow thanked by us,” Wettstein said. From the start, she coordinated the food orders, payments and deliveries, and implemented a rule to limit exposure to the virus: Someone with access to CONTINUED ON PAGE 18