Thomas Rose, left, Mike Stephan, Eric Juergens, Nick Pellicani and Peter Wyman hit the Rockville Links on Monday, for the sixth annual Golfing for Gabi fundraiser to help raise money for The Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston in honor of Gabriella Pellicani. Photos, story see Page 3.
By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
Parents in the Rockville Centre School District expressed outrage last week that a video on gender identity was shown to a seventh-grade health class at South Side Middle School in May — without prior notice to the students’ parents. In response, more than 400 district residents have signed a petition demanding that the lesson be removed, and that parents be informed before their children have a class focusing on the controversial topic.
“The majority of the signatures were gathered in approximately 10 days, just before the end of
the school year,” Sarah Cooney, a mother of two boys who attend district schools, told administrators at the July 31 Board of Education meeting. “The petition was prompted by the discovery in May that the entire seventh grade was being shown a video on gender identity in health class. In the video, the presenter, wearing a T-shirt stating ‘Science in Progress,’ made unscientific claims such as that there are more than two genders. Children came home with notes on transgenderism, gender fluidity and pansexuality.”
Cooney said that after the district received several complaints from parents, the video was pulled from the class on the basis that it was
By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
Pope Francis has appointed Richard G. Henning, former auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre and the current Bishop of Providence, Rhode Island, as the next Archbishop of Boston. Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, made the announcement on Aug. 5 following the resignation of Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, who has led the Archdiocese of Boston for more than 20 years.
I’m very grateful … and I invoke the Lord’s help, as I look forward to beginning this new ministry.
“I’m very grateful to almighty God for the abundance of life made possible by his love and his grace and I invoke the Lord’s help, as I look forward to beginning this new ministry,” Henning said during a press conference about the announcement. “I am also grateful to our Holy Father (Pope Francis) for his confidence and the gift of this call to shepherd the extraordinary Church of Boston.”
Archbishop-elect of
Boston
Henning, 59, was born in Rockville Centre and grew up in Valley Stream, where he attended the Holy Name of Mary parish. He later graduated from Chaminade High School in Mineola in 1982, and went on to attend St. John’s University in 1986, before studying for the priesthood at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington. He was ordained in 1992 at St. Agnes Cathedral by former Bishop John McGann of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Henning spent the next five years as an associate pastor at the Church of St. Peter of Alcantara in Port Washington, where he ministered to Spanish-speaking Catholics in the area. In addition to speaking English, he is fluent in Spanish and Italian and can read French, Greek and Hebrew.
In 1997, Henning was assigned to attend post-graduate studies in sacred scripture
Continued on page 11
Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Emergency Department has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious Emergency Nurses Association’s 2024 Lantern Award for outstanding patient care and reducing wait times, and for excellence in nurse retention, achieving a zero vacancy rate and one percent turnover rate.
The Lantern Award also recognizes nursing sta commitment to ongoing education and training and fostering an environment of learning and professional growth.
We congratulate Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Emergency Department nursing sta for their commitment to patient care, quality, safety and a healthy work environment.
Learn more at mountsinai.org/southnassau 877-SOUTH-NASSAU.
By DANIEL OFFNER doffner@liherald.com
The sixth annual Golfing for Gabi fundraiser hit the Rockville Links on Aug. 5, to help raise roughly $60,000 for brain cancer research.
The event was named in memory of Gabriella Pellicani, a five-year-old girl from Rockville Centre who died in 2018 of glioblastoma — an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer. Since then the family has raised more than $360,000 for The Jimmy Fund and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.
Following an afternoon on the green, participants attended a dinner reception and silent auction at the Rockville Links, where guests bid on a variety of different prizes and gift baskets, the contents of which ranged from Islanders tickets, to a new bicycle, a video projector and much more.
Among the many prizes up for auction this year, was a majestic storybook dollhouse, beautifully restored by Tara Hackett as part of the “Tiny Doors” campaign and donated by Diane Restivo and family in Gabi’s memory.
Gabi was a student at St. Mark’s Cooperative Nursery School and started kindergarten at Watson Elementary School in Rockville Centre, before undergoing cancer treatment.
Following radiation therapy, Gabi was treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, between April and June 2018, where she was part of an experimental clinical trial that focused on a particular genetic mutation found in Gabi’s tumor.
While in Boston, her parents said, she was in the hands of the best doctors in the country and some of the most caring nurses. Throughout her tenmonth battle with cancer, Gabi was embraced by members of the Rockville Centre community, who wanted to help support pediatric cancer patients and find cures for diseases like hers.
Gabi’s father Nick Pellicani expressed his gratitude for the tremendous show of support and generosity from the community, which once again, made this year’s Golfing for Gabi fundraiser so successful.
“Working to find better treatments for those with brain cancer is (about) more than just continuing Gabi’s legacy,” Pellicani said. “It’s also about giving hope and a future to so many others that deserve it.”
Many forms of pediatric cancer, including glioblastoma, differ from those found in adults. However, according to the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation, only four percent of federal funding for cancer research goes to help stop pediatric cancer.
This figure is even more alarming, specifically, in regards to glioblastoma, which, according to the Brain Tumour Charity, has an average survival time of only 12 to 18 months. Nearly 25 percent of patients survive the diagnosis more
than one year, while only five percent of patients will survive more than five years.
In order to meet this unmet need and accelerate research, all of the funding raised during the golf outing is dedicated to research and clinical trials activities conducted at the Dana-Farber Institute. In addition to supporting clinical trials, like the ones Gabi participated in, funding also goes towards research efforts that identify specific genetic mutations and corresponding therapeutic treatments that can improve and prolong the lives of children with this terrible disease.
For more information on the annual fundraiser visit GolfingForGabi.com. Donations in support of brain cancer research can also be made in Gabi’s memory via Bit.ly/GolfingForGabi.
Sean Adams, 58, of North Williams Street in Baldwin, was arrested by the Rockville Centre Police Department on Aug. 4. He has been charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and other vehicle and traffic offenses following an investigation on North Park Avenue.
Two undomiciled individuals got involved in a verbal altercation on August 1, which turned into a physical dispute on North Village Avenue near Front Street.
A resident of Shellbank Place in Rockville Centre reported on July 25 that someone stole property from a package that was delivered and left on his doorstep.
A motorist reported on July 28 that someone stole property from her unlocked vehicle while it was parked in a lot along North Village Avenue. The manager of a Merrick Road business reported on August 4, that two males stole approximately $500 worth of baby formula.
A motorist reported on July 23, her vehicle was struck by another vehicle which fled the scene while she was parked in a lot on Merrick Road.
A motorist reported on July 24, that her vehicle was struck by another vehicle which fled the scene while she was parked in a lot on Merrick Road.
A motorist reported on July 25, that her vehicle was struck by another vehicle which fled the scene while parked in the parking lot at the Rockville Centre Recreation Center.
A resident of East Rockaway reported on July 29 that his parked vehicle was struck by another vehicle on North Village Avenue, before the second vehicle left the scene.
A bicyclist from Oceanside reported on July 30, that he was struck by a vehicle while trying to cross Merrick Road at Village Avenue, causing him to Ga and injure his wrist. The vehicle then fled the scene.
An employee with the Village of Rockville Centre Department of Public Works reported on July 29, spotting damage to a metal handrail in a vil-
lage park.
A resident of Hempstead reported on August 4, that her vehicle was struck by an errant golf ball while she was driving on DeMott Avenue in the vicinity of Rockville Links.
A resident of Meehan Lane in Rockville Centre reported on July 23 that an unknown person used her EBT card information to make unauthorized purchases.
A resident of Rugby Road reported on July 28, that an unknown person used his personal information to open a loan.
A resident of Rockville Centre reported on July 29 that his estranged sister stopped the electric service to his apartment while he was still living there.
A resident of Rockville Centre reported on August 2, that an unknown person removed money from his bank account.
A resident of Rockville Centre reported on August 4 that someone used his personal information to take out a small business loan in his name.
People named in Crime Watch items as having been arrested and charged with violations or crimes are only suspected of committing those acts of which they are accused. They are all presumed to be innocent of those charges until and unless found guilty in a court of law.
In recognition of his dedicated performance while on duty, the Rockville Centre Police Department have named Sergeant Burnside as cop of the month.
He recently responded to a domestic incident, where he met with the female complainant who expressed her concern for the well-being of her boyfriend, who had already fled the scene.
After checking the whole building and finding the stairwell door locked, Sergeant Burnside climbed the fire escape to check the roof. It was at this time he located the subject, standing on the ledge of the multi-story building. He immediately established a line of communication and convinced the subject to come down safely.
The Village of Rockville Centre commended Sergeant Burnside for his diligence, highly professional conduct, and sense of duty to our residents and thanked him for his continued service.
all know the road to you know where is paved with good intentions. Nowhere is this more true than leaving a vacation or beach home for the children to share after the parents have passed. We have often advised that if they are all happy and get along well this might very well lead to the end of those good feelings and relationships.
Inevitably, some will do more work on the premises than others, some will use the premises more than others, there will be disagreements as to maintenance and repairs. Some may never visit or use it at all.
Initially, all expenses tend to be shared equally, since all are equal owners. The foregoing issues, however, will quickly arise and then it will often be difficult or impossible to determine what each child’s fair share of the expenses should be. The one living across the country who never visits may insist that they be “bought out” or, if that’s unaffordable to the others, that the house be sold so that they can get their share.
Sooner or later, one of the siblings dies
and their share goes to a sister-in-law or brother-in-law who may remarry and bring a stranger into the shared arrangement. Or let’s say an owner of one-third of the house dies, and now their share goes to their four children. How is that going to work?
Vacation homes are an excellent example of why good estate planning is often more social work than legal work. In these cases we anticipate the problems and spend the time to figure out who wants and uses the home and perhaps leave it to those children only and compensate the others with money or other assets. If they all use and enjoy the home, we sometimes require that it be held jointly with the right of survivorship, allowing the last of the joint owners to decide who to leave it to.
While the possibilities are endless, each case should be looked at and thought through so as to keep harmony in the family by preempting any potential conflicts. Otherwise, it’s often a case of the old adage that “no good deed goes unpunished”.
By TONY BELLISSIMO tbellissimo@liherald.com
Sunbathing, surfing and maybe even a few sandcastles took a back seat last Saturday as a wresting tournament with nearly 250 participants dominated a steamy summer day in Long Beach.
The [Reggie] Jones & [Paul] Gillespie East Coast Beach Wrestling Tournament, the second of its kind on the sand at Edwards Boulevard Beach since Superstorm Sandy in 2012, honored those two legendary coaches and “ran smoothly,” organizer Miguel Rodriguez said.
“It was such an incredible day and the city of Long Beach was a huge help,” said Rodriguez, a longtime member of the Long Beach High School wrestling program coaching staff who competed for the Marines from 1997-99 and took part in a handful of beach wrestling events himself.
“We were hoping for 100 wresters and ended up with close to 250,” he added. “It was a lot of work and took a lot of people to make it possible. The day turned out just perfect. We hadn’t hosted one in nine years, but this was the best-run tournament we’ve had in a long time and honored some special people.”
In addition to coaches Jones and Gillespie, the tournament was dedicated to late Long Beach wrestlers and graduates Lazar LaPenna, Joshua Encarnacion and Michael Berube. Three of the event’s four wrestling rings was named in their
honor, Rodriguez said.
While there was no shortage of high school varsity and JV, and middle school-aged competitors, Rodriguez noted the ages ranged from kindergartners through 55.
Dylan Martinsen, a 2019 Long Beach High School graduate, won the 172-pound weight group. His father, Kevin, 55, also competed. “I hadn’t wrestled since high school and it was really cool,” Dylan said. “Everyone did a great job putting it together, and honoring the memories of the guys we’ve recently lost was touching.”
Each match consisted one of three-minute period and began in the neutral position — both wrestlers stood opposite one another in the center of the ring and waited for the referee’s whistle to start grappling. That was also the case for any restart, Rodriguez said. The first wrestler to score three points advanced. In the event of a tie at the end of three minutes, the wrestler who scored the last point was declared the winner.
“Most matches didn’t last the full three minutes, but one of the finals did,” Rodriguez said. “We had 14 different categories and about 50 first-place medals handed out.”
The goal moving forward, Rodriguez said, is to take the tournament up a notch on the beach wrestling stage. “Not only do we want to make this an annual event, but we’re hoping it can be a qualifier for the Beach World Series,” he said.
By DANIEL OFFNER doffner@liherald.com
John Murphy was recently appointed to take on a new role as the deputy superintendent of the Rockville Centre School District.
He was previously given a promotion to the role of assistant superintendent of human resources in 2022. Before that, he spent almost a decade as the principal of South Side High School.
Superintendent Matt Gaven said that since taking on the administrative role, Murphy has continued his proud legacy of service and leadership in the district. He said that under Murphy’s leadership, the schools have implemented new systems for employee evaluation, an employee assistance program, a systemized hiring process and support for all teachers, administrators and students.
“We all know that John (Murphy) is a leader that does not shy away from difficult tasks, that provides empathetic support in times of need and applies his razor-sharp intellect,” Gaven said. “These skills and his impressive record of service to the community of Rockville Centre makes me proud to recommend John Murphy for the position of Deputy Superintendent.”
Murphy has been with the district since 1997 when he first came to South Side High School as an English teacher. In 2001, he switched to teaching part-
time when he became an International Baccalaureate coordinator, and in 2007, he was promoted to assistant principal before taking on the role as principal of South Side High School in 2015.
Members of the Rockville Centre
Board of Education voted unanimously at the meeting on July 31, to approve his contract for a three-year period, ending 2027, at an annual salary of just over $233,000.
“We just keep moving you along to
bigger and brighter things, but the most important point is that you’re still with us,” Tara Hackett, a school board trustee, said. “Thank you for that because you’ve really committed your real blood, sweat and tears to this district and anybody that has had the pleasure of having you as a principal knows that and we truly have been able to see you grow as a central administrator and I’m just really proud of you.”
Donna Downing, vice president of the school board, said that in every position Murphy has had within the district, from teacher to coordinator to principal to district administrator, it has always been clear that his priority has always been toward the students in the school district.
“Congratulations to our new deputy superintendent,” Downing said. “We appreciate your steadfast commitment to (our students’) education and to their development.”
During the meeting, Board President Kelly Barry and Trustees Erica Messier and Janet Gruner would also congratulate Murphy on his new position in the district.
“In addition to always being professional, I think you’re a great example of integrity and character and compassion,” Gruner said. “I’m excited that you’re going to take on this role as well and I’m looking forward to the (new school) year.”
Embracing new technologies like ‘adaptive learning’ is proving to be key to keeping kids engaged
By Nicole Wagner & Danielle Schwab
Continuing a series exploring the presence of artificial intelligence in our schools — and, over time, in society as a whole. Thoughts? Questions? Ideas? Email us at execeditor@liherald.com.
While some educators have gotten acquainted with artificial intelligence hesitantly, many school districts across Nassau County have embraced the technological tool in the classroom. It’s no secret that AI is changing the academic landscape. Educators, parents and students are in a race to keep up with its abilities, and especially about how it can — and will — be used in education. A helpful visual representation of just how AI can help students is a ramp. Ramps are used in buildings to make different levels accessible to people who can’t climb steps. But many of those who can take the steps use ramps as well. AI can be seen as a tool that all students can use to make education more accessible and to serve their individual needs.
students where they are
The Franklin Square school district has embraced AI as a way to help individualize education for students from pre-K through sixth grade. District Superintendent Jared Bloom spoke with the Herald about the multitude of ways AI can help keep students engaged, tai-
loring lessons to their interests.
One tool that district students and parents have used is Goblin.Tools, an AI-powered site that can identify an essay’s key points if a student need to create a Power Point or poster board for a given assignment.
“You can even break those chunks into smaller chunks,” Bloom said. “So it really becomes manageable, and you can really understand what are the key components of that assignment.”
Another way in which AI can help teachers and students is by varying the reading level of a passage. This has been a welcome change for educators in Franklin Square, Bloom explained: 20 years ago, teachers had to find a handful of different reading passages for the various skill levels in their classrooms.
student’s interests, whether it be music, sports, art or anything else. “We know that when students are interested in a topic, they’re going to be more engaged and more open to learning,” Bloom said.
Nassau County BOCES’ Special Education Department, which serves 1,800 students at 10 Nassau BOCES schools, is exploring AI’s potential in special education. Ken Kroog, assistant director of the department, said that AI can help students through what’s known as “adaptive learning.” During online assessments, AI tailors questions based on a student’s performance in real time.
“Now you can take one passage and run it through AI, and be able to hand that reading out to kids all on the same topic without having to go out and get new material,” Bloom said. “And that’s very helpful for students.”
The promise of personalization in any subject excites Bloom about AI. A fourth-grade math problem can be plugged into AI and personalized to a
“So let’s say if I answer correctly or achieve a certain level of proficiency, the subsequent questions will challenge me at a greater level,” Kroog explained. “So you get a real clear picture of where, exactly, I’m performing across the different skill areas.”
Students who are visually or audibly impaired can use tools like Otter.ai to transcribe a lecture to better understand what is going on in the classroom. Katherine Lewis, a disability counselor at Nassau Community College, said she uses this tool to help students. AI can be a great help for students who are strug-
gling to understand a topic — and for families who can’t afford a home tutor.
“To be able to sit with your child and utilize some of these tools that are out there, free of charge, helping support an understanding of a particular topic, is pretty magical,” Bloom said.
Students at NCC can benefit from AI when the college’s learning centers are unavailable. Genette Alvarez-Ortiz, vice president of academic affairs, said she hoped it could be used around the clock to help students when staff are not accessible.
“In terms of availability, there are challenges with the evening coverage and weekend coverage,” Alvarez-Ortiz said of the college’s learning centers. “We may be able to look at AI as a possibility to help support our learning centers.”
Benefits that AI offers educators
Staff in the Franklin Square school district have reported that personalization and customization of lessons for students can “support students in new and different ways that we wouldn’t have been able to do as easily” without AI, according to Bloom. These tools help teachers save time when creating lesson plans.
“I’m really hopeful that we’re going to be able to get to that point where we’re utilizing AI to make everybody’s life a little bit better and easier,” he said,
“and as a result of that, we’re customizing and personalizing for kids in ways that we wouldn’t have been able to do as quickly before.”
kind of both.”
Student reception
WBOCES educators have not only used AI tools as time-savers when creating lesson plans, but have also used them as “thought partners,” Kroog said. “It allows special educators to differentiate learning for students, customizing instruction for specific learning needs and leveraging their strengths to give them a very personalized, individualized learning experience,” he said.
This helps teachers in the Special Education Department at BOCES as they work on time-demanding aspects of their jobs, such as report writing and individualized education programs, or IEPs.
As an elementary-focused school district, Bloom said, Franklin Square’s students are using AI differently than a kindergarten-through-12th grade district would. However, the students who are able to use AI prompts have been very excited to embrace the tool. The district has been trying to give students a variety of opportunities to learn how to program, prompt AI, design video games and more to increase their exposure to different technologies.
e know that when students are interested in a topic, they’re going to be more engaged and more open to learning.
JAred Bloom Franklin Square superintendent
Rockville Centre school district Superintendent Matthew Gaven said he also believes AI can be used to tailor lessons to students’ needs.
“Computers and teachers have always given the diagnosis, but not always the prescription,” Gaven said. “Like, ‘How do you get better?’ So AI is
“That’s the world that they’re growing up in,” Bloom said. “We have to be preparing our kids for their future, for their tomorrow.”
In Rockville Centre, students in middle and high school have the chance to enroll in an elective AI course that uses the coding program kidOYO. Gaven said that students have embraced the elective courses that teach AI research at the middleschool level and prompting at the highschool level.
“Our students are going to have these tools embedded in their lives,” Gaven
said. “They need to know how to use them responsibly. They need to know what they’re good for and what they’re not good for. And then they need to know, you know, how do you take the stuff that AI generates and add value on top.”
AI does have its limitations. Teachers still need to vet its output to see what’s applicable and what’s not. It’s a process that Kroog believes requires human expertise to navigate.
The technology must comply with New York State Education Law 2-D, which protects students’ and teachers’ personal information.
“Educators need to know how to use them right for their own instruction, and then teach students how to use them responsibly to support their learning,” Kroog said. “And with that comes a lot of learning, a lot of training on our part, and then a lot of understanding of what AI can do and what it can’t do.”
Maintaining academic integrity while using AI is something Bloom is passionate about. “I believe that with enough support and with enough training, just like with the calculator, we’re going to be able to help students to see how it is a tool to improve learning, and not a tool to just get you the answer,” he said.
As Gaven sees it, the future looks
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bright for the ways AI will be used to help students in the years to come. “If AI truly allows individual pathways for students — you know, really specifically tailored instruction, with the resources that support it,” he said, “then I think it’s going to be a tremendous help for all of our students, particularly our students with special needs.”
By ANDREW FRANCIS Herald Intern
Kate Karamouzis of Rockville Centre, a scholar-athlete at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., was recently selected by College Sports Communicators to join the Academic All-District softball team. This designation recognizes Karamouzis for both her academic achievement — having maintained a grade point average of at least 3.5 — and her success behind home plate.
She graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in 2019, after which she decided to attend Babson College, which she explained stuck out to her because of its great combination of athletics and academics.
“I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to study coming out of high school, and Babson has a very strong business program,” Karamouzis said. “I thought that would give me a good foundation for education (while I continued) looking for something that I wanted to do while getting to play softball.”
She joined the Babson Beavers NCAA Division III softball team as a catcher in 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of games played were greatly reduced. Despite only making one start that year, she would continue to strive towards success, both on the field and in the classroom. In 2021 the team went on to claim the NEWMAC tournament championship crown.
Karamouzis started in all 48 games during her junior year in 2022, amassing an impressive batting average of .324 with 20 RBI and 32 runs scored.
She was a senior captain of the team in 2023, when she batter a career-best of .348 along with nine doubles, five home runs, 24 RBI and 27 runs scored,
Upon receiving her undergraduate diploma in business, she decided to return to Babson in 2024, to complete her master’s in business analytics at Babson.
This season was the third consecutive year that Karamouzis had been named to the Academic All-District team.
She started in all 39 games in the 2024 season, concluding her collegiate softball career with a batting average of .274. Karamouzis exhibited her mastery of the field, leading the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference in walks with 30 and had the third highest on-base percentage with a .508 clip. Karamouzis started her playing career as a youth playing with the Rockville Centre Little League, and played competitively throughout her formative years in middle school and high school. She was about 5 years old when she joined her first Little League team, where she played various positions.
She eventually found her softball calling at the catcher position while in high school and has primarily been playing there ever since.
Although proud and honored for her third nomination for the Academic All-
Karamouzis slides in safely to score a run for Babson.
Kate Karamouzis, in her catcher’s gear, displays passion on the field.
District team, Karamouzis shared that the award that is the most meaningful to her came from her Babson teammates.
The softball program uses the acronym, “TRAITS,” which stands for trust, respect, accountability, integrity, toughness, and selflessness — a school of thought that reflects the various qualities that each player should strive for.
Based off these traits the team votes and chooses players at the end of each season for the Babson Player of the Year Award. Karamouzis has also won this award for the past three consecutive seasons.
“(This award) has been probably the most meaningful award that I could ever get in my career because it was voted by a group of girls that mean so much to me each year, and to know that I was chosen to lead them and that they think of me as such a good teammate is all I’ve ever wanted,” she said.
When asked to reflect on how she was
Karamouzis making contact with the ball during an at-bat.
able to be such a productive student while an incredible student simultaneously, Karamouzis explained how the student-athlete experience is quite a balancing act.
“It really takes a lot of hard work and being able to find a good balance. It’s definitely difficult … but it is really rewarding at the end of the day,” she said.
Karamouzis said she plans to continue working in athletics while pursuing a career in business analytics. She also said that this summer she will work with the Cape Cod collegiate baseball league in Massachusetts as a junior operator.
Karamouzis sets up behind home plate.
and went on to earn a licentiate in biblical theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. and a doctorate from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He would later teach scripture at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception for more than 10 years, while assisting on the weekends at St. Patrick’s parish in Bay Shore. He later provided pastoral work at the Catholic Mission at Our Lady of the Magnificat on Fire Island.
In 2012, when the Diocese of Rockville Centre merged its seminary program with the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Archdiocese of New York, then-Monsignor Henning was tasked to lead the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception through its transition into the largest retreat house in the Northeast. The ordinaries of all three dioceses also charged him to establish and lead the Sacred Heart Institute for the ongoing formation of Catholic priests and deacons.
Rhode Island in 2022, after being appointed coadjutor bishop by the Pope, and in May 2023, following the resignation of the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, he became the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Providence.
“I also want to express my gratitude to the bishops, priests and people of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and Providence, who really have formed me and taught me and uplifted me in the faith,” Henning said. “But I hope you’d understand, those of you in Boston, that I do feel a special tug in my heart today for my beloved Rhode Islanders. This has been an extraordinary year with them. I have only been with them for a brief time, but it’s been a very intense and joyful time, so I will miss the state of hope and its really good people.”
Henning will continue to serve as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Providence for the time being, until his installation in Boston on Oct. 31.
richard Henning was ordained at St. a gnes Cathedral in rockville Centre in 1992, which serves as seat of the roman Catholic diocese of rockville Centre.
Henning was appointed the fourth auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre in June 2018, nearly a year after former auxiliary bishop Nelson Perez moved to the Diocese of Cleveland. He would later relocate to Providence,
Through the years, Henning has been noted for his work with the Parresia Project, a grant-funded initiative working to improve processes for international priests serving in the United States. He is an active participant in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,
where he serves on the doctrine committee, subcommittee for the church in Latin America and chair of the subcommittee for the translation of the sacred scriptures.
“Rich is our brother and our friend,” the Most Rev. John O. Barres, bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, said in a letter to the priesthood following the
Pope’s announcement. “He has modeled so many beautiful things about the priesthood for us over the years. His passion for the Sacred Scriptures as a seminary professor and formator, his pastoral dedication to our Hispanic community, his evangelizing pastoral charity and creativity were and are great inspirations to us.”
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By MELISSA BERMAN mberman@liherald.com
The Emergency Nurses Association has awarded the prestigious 2024 Lantern Award to Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Emergency Department.
The department staff received the award for reducing wait times and for demonstrating commitment to exceptional and innovative leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research.
The award is named in honor of Florence Nightingale, a trailblazing nurse and the founder of modern nursing, who was known by the nickname “Lady with the Lamp.”
MSSN’s Fennessy Family Emergency Department, along with emergency departments at Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West, are three of only 94 emergency departments across the United States that met the Lantern Award criteria this year, according to the hospital.
Colleen Schaefer, quality operations coordinator for South Nassau’s Emergency Department, submitted the application and the necessary data.
“This was brought forward by our former director, Christina Salucci, and another Mount Sinai emergency department received the award last year,” Schaefer said, “so we really pushed and came together as a department to apply for the award this year.”
For its teamwork and an enduring commitment to service excellence, Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Emergency Department was awarded the Emergency Nurses Association’s Lantern Award for reducing wait times and for innovative leadership, practice, education, advocacy and research.
The Emergency Department nurses found out they had won early last month.
in a key measurement of patient satisfaction and performance.
“This is a testament to the ED staff, especially the nurses, for the amazing work they do on a daily basis,” Itzkowitz said. “Talk about the care they provide to all the patients, the patient experience and the patients who want to come here. We are providing a service to the community that they want in that area.”
MSSN’s emergency room simultaneously reduced the “left without being seen” patient rate to below 2 percent and handled a significant increase in post-pandemic patient volume.
“It goes without saying how proud I am and excited to be part of this,” Itzkowitz added. “We know the amazing team that we have — it’s just a matter of time till we’re recognized for the amazing work that the nursing team provides.”
The Lantern Award also recognized the ongoing education and training of the nursing staff to provide the necessary skills and knowledge to adapt to societal needs.
Dr. Adhi Sharma, the hospital’s president, who is an emergency physician by background, said he was immensely proud of the ED staff and leadership.
The 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av (Mon. night and Tues., Aug. 12-13) is the saddest in Jewish history, commemorating the destruction of the Jewish Temples (which were on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, now occupied by the Dome of the Rock). The Western [retaining] Wall, the Temple’s remnant, is the holiest place accessible to Jews today. Through the millennia, Jews have recited Psalm 137: ‘If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither; let my tongue stick to my palate if I cease to think of you, if I do not keep Jerusalem (Zion) in memory even at my happiest hour.’ Jews are not ‘settler colonial’ interlopers in the Land of Israel; Jews are the indigenous nation of the Land, having returned home to the Jewish state of Israel and to Zion (which is Jerusalem).
Dr. Jay Itzkowitz, clinical chair of the department, helped implement a series
“I think for both leadership and staff, it just signifies how hard we’ve worked together as a department, and we experience growth and change,” Schaefer said. “Our staff is adapting excellent to that, and we’re making sure that we’re growing our team and providing safe patient care for all our patients.”
“It’s very rewarding to see it — it’s a good reflection on the culture in the ED and organization,” Sharma said. “This award is a great milestone, but the best
developmentally inappropriate, but she expressed concern that the district could substitute other material on the topic that it deemed appropriate for students.
“There is no New York state mandate to teach gender identity in public schools,” Cooney said. “Any attempt to create one would be met with widespread opposition on the basis that this ideology not only ignores human biology and scientific fact, (but) that it’s contrary to commonly held religious beliefs that God created us as male and female. Arguably, teaching it is a violation of the First Amendment regarding freedom of religion. Nevertheless, this district appears to have already taken the momentous decision to teach it without consulting parents.”
The video, entitled “Every Sex & Gender Term Explained,” is part of a YouTube video series that was hosted by podcaster and producer Trace Dominguez in 2015. The film is roughly 10 minutes long, and explores the topic by defining genderrelated terms.
Because of the film’s sensitive subject matter, several of the petitioners who attended the board meeting voiced concerns that parents were not notified first.
“All at once, I was saddened and vexed that a lesson on a controversial topic like gender fluidity was introduced to seventhgraders without first having obtained permission from parents,” Kenneth Middleton, one of those who signed the petition, said. “The Boards of Education of school systems are an adjunct to parents, not a substitute. It is far beyond their purview to educate our children about alternative lifestyles (and) introduce them to sexually explicit material and literature.”
Shannon Lutz, a former elementary school teacher and the mother of three children in the district, said she signed the petition hoping that it would put an end to discussion of the topic in an educational setting and allow parents to teach their children about such things when and how they see fit.
“There is enough propaganda in the media I have to shield my children from
already,” Lutz said. “They do not and should not be privy to this type of false and, quite frankly, confusing information being taught in school. School should be a safe place for children.”
She indicated that the petition also had several silent supporters who felt unable to sign either due to their occupation or out of fear of being labeled “transpho bic.”
“How very sad the times we are living in, when people are afraid to speak up for what they believe, especially when it comes to our children, in fear of hostile retaliation,” Lutz said.
District Superintendent Matt Gaven said that the video had previously been brought to his attention, and that it is not part of the official curriculum or based on New York state standards.
“A few years ago, there were a bunch of students that had asked questions related to the topic — unprompted — not related to a lesson,” Gaven said. “The teachers tried to be proactive and put that lesson together. When it was brought to my attention, I told the teachers it was inappropriate — both age level and topic — because it’s not based on New York state standards.”
According to Gaven, the middle school health teacher did not have permission from the district to show the video to students. Asked what the district was doing to address the matter, Gaven replied that the administration and school board do not discuss disciplinary actions in public.
He further explained that when school starts in September, the district would introduce a new health, athletics and physical education director, who will be tasked with reviewing the district’s current health curriculum with community stakeholders. They will then return to the school board to present their recommendations publicly, in order to keep the process as transparent as possible.
One option, when dealing with sensitive subject matters like maturation and puberty, Gaven added, is to consider sending a letter to parents, allowing them to review the material and opt their children out if they choose.
By JOSEPH D’ALESSANDRO jdalessandro@liherald.com
Law enforcement agents, state legislators and experts on human trafficking met at a conference at Nassau Community College on July 31.
The Assembly Minority Conference Task Force on Human Trafficking was created to help Nassau and Suffolk investigators, policy makers and safe houses share what they need to protect victims.
The Interagency Task Force on Human Trafficking — the state organization responsible for providing annual reports on the topic — is three years out of date, resulting in a critical lack of data since coronavirus lockdowns eased. Since then, organizations that help victims have strained to mitigate the harm done by human traffickers.
“It is a problem that is everywhere, but nobody is actually seeing it,” Assemblyman Brian Curran said.
The participants discussed state financial support, law enforcement tools, aid for exploited migrants, and educational programs to help New Yorkers recognize when someone is a victim of trafficking.
Attorneys and law enforcement personnel considered the effects of changes in trafficking-related charges — some are not officially “sex crimes,” so perpetrators don’t end up on the state’s Sex Offender Registry — and proving a victim was exploited is difficult for prosecutors, Christine Guida, deputy chief of the Nassau County Special Victims Bureau, explained.
The difficulty of bringing cases to trial can begin much earlier. Trafficking victims are often young — high school and college students — or struggle to communicate due to a language barrier. In virtually every case, they are threatened by traffickers not to come forward.
“People think that in order to do the unthinkable, there has to be some kind of torture involved,” defense
Joseph D’Alessandro/Herald
The task force is composed of local law enforcement, legislators and members of organizations that provide services to people in need, representing a range of groups that deal with different aspects of human trafficking.
attorney Diane Clarke said. “That’s not the case.”
The goal of training and education programs is to demystify what human trafficking is and how it works. Deepening the public’s understanding of trafficking can make tools such as simple hand signals for help increasingly viable for victims to escape their captors.
The Empower, Assist and Care Network is one of many organizations that provide housing, case management and other forms of aid to victims across Long Island and New York City.
“It is my hope that these conversations are going to continue in a way that is coordinating and enhancing our services, and advocating for funding,” said Neela Mukherjee Lockel, president and CEO of the EAC Network. “We’re going up against giant criminal enterpris-
es. That’s what human trafficking is, and we need money and resources to do that.”
Dr. Jeffrey L. Reynolds is president and CEO of the Family and Children’s Association, which has been providing shelter for runaway, homeless and trafficked children for over 140 years. It also has a mental health program that serves about 400 young people, in addition to programs for those suffering from addiction.
“We’re here today to make a couple suggestions about ways to improve systems of care,” Reynolds said. “This would include educating health and human service workers about how to spot the signs of trafficking, what to do about it, and how to intervene.”
The conference was the first step in renewing the fight against trafficking, Assemblyman Brian Maher said.
By Danielle Schwab
There’s a special “day” for everyone and everything it seems. So it’s certainly fitting that the helpful yet often misunderstood honey bee gets its due. And that brings us to Aug. 17, aka “National Honey Bee Day.” Long Island Children’s Museum goes all out to celebrate the hard-working insect with two days of “Honey Hoopla” activities, Aug. 16-17.
The museum has been home to over 20,000 honeybees year-round since 2012, when a hive was introduced to the Feast for Beasts exhibit, which opened in January of that year. The museum welcomed visitors to the first “Honey Hoopla” that year so that everyone could experience the first harvesting of honey from the then newly active hive.
Now Honey Hoopla returns — in a big way.
Families can check in on the busy bugs from an observational beehive, still located in the Feasts for Beasts exhibit. There, honeybees travel in and out of the hive, pollinating flowers in the museum’s pollinator garden and working together to create a productive thriving colony.
“They all have an important task to do, and they really stick to that role. And then, of course, there’s the queen, the leader of the hive,” says Ashley Niver, the museum’s director of education.
The fruit of their labors? Lots and lots of honey, of course Color, aroma, and taste can change based on the nectar of the flower. Families are welcome to taste many different varieties of honey, including, of course, from the museum’s honey harvest. And for those interested, the museum’s honey is available for purchase in the Museum Store.
“A lot of people maybe don’t know that honey can taste different from different varieties of flowers or the location. We’re offering different honey varieties that the kids can taste test and try to match up,” Niver says.
Bees certainly give us more than that sweet treat. Families become fully involved in exploring the role of honey bees in our ecosystem through hands-on activities.
• Friday and Saturday, Aug. 16-17, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.)
• $17 museum admission, $16 seniors 65 and older
• View the LICM events calendar at licm.org for additional information or call (516) 224-5800
• Long Island Children’s Museum, Museum Row, Garden City
Visitors will learn that honeybees are responsible for pollinating some of Long Island’s most abundant crops including melons, pumpkins, tree nuts, and berries; and that the honey bee population is in danger and decreasing rapidly. Without these pollinators, we would lose some of our favorite foods such as chocolate, grapes, apples, and pears.
‘Families can also explore the use of honeycombs, from which wax is made. The “Happy Beeday” activity is an opportunity to make and decorate beeswax birthday candles.
“They’ll have a strip of colored beeswax and wicks they’ll wrap and roll up to create the candle, and then any scrap pieces of wax can be used to decorate it,” says Niver.
A local beekeeper will be on hand to demonstrate how honey is harvested from those honeycombs. In addition, kids can get involved in bee-themed crafts throughout the galleries that highlight how we can help the bees so that our fruit and vegetable crops can be healthy.
After some time buzzing around, visitors might want to take a break, with a free theatrical reading of Gay Thomas’ book, “Beezy County Fair: A Bee Tale,” at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The charming story engages families with adorable illustrations and an uplifting message about cooperation and the great benefits of working together for a common goal, along with plenty of bee facts.
While we understand that honey bees do so much for our environment, climate change and pesticides put the insects at risk of colony collapse disorder, where worker bees will exhibit abnormal behavior that leads to the destruction of the colony.
“They’re in danger of continuing to decrease due to different environmental factors,” Niver explains. “If we don’t have the bees here to help us pollinate, then we don’t have the abundance of crops that we can use for our food, and we’ll lose the success of our crop.”
To that end, the museum has launched its Name a Honey Bee Campaign so that visitors can join in bee preservation efforts. A donation of $10 allows families to name one of the museum’s bees, to be recognized on a visual display featuring the bee’s new name and the donor’s name through year’s end.
“It’s very easy for people to feel fearful of bees because they don’t want to be stung, and maybe they assume that all bees are looking to sting and cause harm,” Niver adds. “But the reality is that the honey bees are very docile, and they are just looking to make their honey. They’re really our friends.”
Photos courtesy LICMl
The industrious honey bee buzzes into the spotlight to captivate museum visitors. Participate in a theatrical reading and meet Gay Thomas, author of the “Beezy County Fair: A Bee Tale,” and explore an observational beehive during the event.
Gladys Knight
Hop aboard that “Midnight Train to Georgia” when the legendary soul chanteuse brings her Farewell Tour to Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair. Gladys Knight is without a doubt one of the most influential, and beloved living singers on the planet. And while the Empress of Soul may have been in the business for more than 60 years now, that hasn’t stopped her from continuing to rock that beat as only she can do. She’s bringing her classic Motown-style R&B to fans one last time before she bids us farewell. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s fierce vocal power, elegant precision, and heartfelt performances have cemented her as one of music’s true icons. If you’re enjoy her classic Motown-style R&B, then you’ll surely want to see her perform — one more time. “That’s What Friends Are For,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” — you know the hits, now hear her bring them to life once again.
Friday, Aug. 9, 8 p.m. Tickets start at $63. Tickets available at LiveNation. com. Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair, 960 Brush Hollow Rd., Westbury.
The iconic comedian Paula Poundstone is known for her smart, observational humor and a spontaneous wit that’s become the stuff of legend. When she isn’t collecting hotel soaps while on tour or panel-ing on NPR’s #1 show, “Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!,” she hosts the popular Maximum Fun podcast, “Nobody Listens to Paula Poundstone.” “Nobody” is a comedy field guide to life, complete with taste tests, cats of the weeks and leading experts in everything from beekeeping to prosopagnosia. Her stand-up credentials are endless, along with numerous TV appearances. Her second book, “The Totally Unscientific Study Of The Search For Human Happiness,” in which she offers herself up as a guinea pig in a series of thoroughly unscientific experiments, was recognized a semi-finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor (the highest recognition of humor writing in the U.S.).
Friday, Aug. 9, 8 p.m. $55. $45, $35, $30, $25. The Paramount, 370 New York Ave., Huntington. Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com or ParamountNY.com.
The 1970s and ‘80s come alive when Double Vision brings their “Foreigner Experience” to the Paramount Stage, Saturday, Aug. 17, 8 p.m. Whether you’re a lifelong Foreigner enthusiast or a newcomer eager to experience the magic of their music, Double Vision promises a night of electrifying entertainment that will leave you singing along and craving more.
Theatre Playground returns to Long Island Children’s Museum with “Dramatic Play!,” Monday, Aug. 12, 1 p.m., taught by Lisa Rudin, Director of Theatre Playground. In this interactive, theater-inspired workshop, children will act out an original story and help choose how it unfolds. Music, props, and sound effects create a theatrical world where participants are immersed.
Movie Night
Drawing inspiration from Foreigner’s unmistakable sound and stage presence, Double Vision delivers a performance that pays homage to the band’s legacy while infusing their own charisma and enthusiasm. Their commitment to authenticity is matched only by their unwavering dedication to creating an electrifying experience for every audience member. With an impressive catalog of classics at their fingertips, Double Vision transports audiences to an era when arena rock ruled and Foreigner reigned supreme. Each show is a testament to their musical prowess, transporting fans to a time when anthems were born and memories were made. Sing along to some of the greatest hit tunes , including “Juke Box Hero,” “Hot Blooded,” “Cold As Ice,” “I Want To Know What Love Is,” “Urgent,” “Double Vision,” “Head Games,” “Feels Like the First Time,” and more. $60, $40, $25, $20. The Paramount, 370 New York Ave., Huntington. Tickets available at Ticketmaster.com or ParamountNY.com. Aug. 17
Composed of some New York City’s top professional rock musicians, the band delivers the highest level of integrity and technical prowess in bring audiences all the hits from the band that you’ve come to love, while honoring Foreigner and its audience, with a show second to none. The spirit of rock ‘n’ roll lives on, one unforgettable performance at a time, with this group of talented musicians and die-hard Foreigner fans. Double Vision has perfected the art of bringing to life the unforgettable hits that have defined generations. From “I Want to Know What Love Is” to “Cold as Ice,” their renditions are a harmonious blend of passion, precision, and nostalgic energy.
Children are encouraged to express themselves as they create characters, explore different worlds, stretch their imaginations and build self-confidence. This week’s theme: The Amazing World of Bugs and Butterflies. Costumes encouraged. $5 with museum admission. Museum Row, Garden City. (516) 224-5800 or LICM.org.
Construct a collage image of a still life at this summer workshop for adults at The Art Studio, Thursday, Aug. 15, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Use paper, scissors and glue.The goal is to understand methods of choosing, arranging and affixing pieces of paper to recreate an image in a unique and creative way. $40. For registration and more information visit TheArtStudioRVC.com. 221 N. Long Beach Road.
Enjoy a family film outdoors on Eisenhower Park’s big screen, Wednesday, Aug. 14, dusk, at the Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre. See Disney’s recent animated musical comedy “Wish.” Audiences are welcomed to the magical kingdom of Rosas, where Asha, a sharp-witted idealist, makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force, a little ball of boundless energy called Star.
Together, Asha and Star confront a most formidable foe, the ruler of Rosas, King Magnifico, to save her community and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen. Eisenhower Park, Lakeside Theatre, East Meadow. For information, visit NassauCountyNY.gov.
Reading night on the lawn at Riverside
Enjoy a good book this summer at Riverside Elementary School as it hosts the Rockville Centre School District’s summer reading night on the lawn, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 6:30 p.m. 110 Riverside, Dr.
Bring the kids to Old Westbury Gardens for a Seasonal Sprouts session, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 11 a.m.-noon. Children (ages 4 to 6) can tour the gardens with guided activities exploring smells, sight, sound, and touch, even taste in planting a tasty veggie. $8 per child, $15 adult. Registration required. Old Westbury Gardens, 71 Old Westbury Rd., Old Westbury. For information, visit OldWestburyGardens.org or contact (516) 333-0048.
Enjoy a tribute to ‘70s radio hits with 45 RPM, at Eisenhower Park, Friday, Aug. 9, 8 p.m.
The New York City-based band of vocalists and musicians recreates the songs and their era with the C’mon Get Happy show, an entertaining and visually engaging evening that has you singing and dancing along. It’s a whole night of “wow, I remember that one” moments. Get “hooked on a feeling” with 45 RPM. Bring seating Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre, Eisenhower Park, East Meadow. For information, visit NassauCountyNY.gov.
Kids ages 5-10 are invited to a session with art therapist Elizabeth Carnaval at Rockville Centre Public Library, Friday, Aug. 9, 4-5
p.m. Make a craft exploring themes of mindfulness, emotions, empathy, and kindness. Together, read “The Glow Show” and explore the difference between confidence and boasting. Create neon jellyfish that will glow under blacklight as a reminder that we truly shine when we work together and support one another. Registration required. 221 N. Village Ave. To register, visit RVCLibrary.org.
The Village of Rockville Centre’s Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center invites all to Community Day, Saturday, Aug. 17, noon-4 p.m., with fun activities for all ages including music, dance performances, food and more. 150 N. Centre Ave.
Get in on the action with I.FLY Trapeze, Long Island’s only flying trapeze and circus arts school. Families will enjoy “Wild West Circus,” Saturday, Aug. 17, at 8 p.m., at Eisenhower Park. I.FLY Trapeze puts spectators up close to the aerialists who perform amazing feats of athleticism and agility 25 feet in the air. Performances include Chains, Silk and Lyra, with comedy and on the grounds acts with Balancing and Baton, also a Flying Trapeze Finale. Next to the Nassau County Aquatic Center off Merrick Ave., East Meadow. Free parking available in lot 1A adjacent to the trapeze. For more information, visit IFlyTrapeze.com.
Rockville Centre Public Library welcomes families to meet some of the heroes who help keep the community safe, Friday, Aug. 16, 10-11:30 a.m. Learn about what they do and check out their fire trucks and vehicles in the parking lot. This event is free and open to all ages. 221 N. Village Ave.
Items on The Scene page are listed free of charge. The Herald welcomes listings of upcoming events, community meetings and items of public interest. All submissions should include date, time and location of the event, cost, and a contact name and phone number. Submissions can be emailed to thescene@liherald.com.
Nassau County Museum of Art ‘s latest exhibition “Seeing Red: Renoir to Warhol,” reveals the many meanings, connotations, and associations of this powerful color in art. Evoking strong emotion, red can represent the human condition. Its myriad variations have come to signify authority as well as love, energy and beauty. Red warns us of peril and commands us to stop, but it can also indicate purity and good fortune. Red boldly represents political movements and religious identities. From the advent of our appreciation for this color in antiquity to its continued prominence in artistic and popular culture, this exhibition will span various world cultures through a range of media. It features more than 70 artists, both established and emerging, ranging from the classical to the contemporary. American portraitists such as Gilbert Stuart imbued red in their stately paintings of prominent individuals to conjure authority.
Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt, and other major abstract painters displayed a deep fascination with red in their commanding compositions that evoke a sense of chromatic power. And, of course, Andy Warhol is known for his bold and imposing silkscreened portrait of Vladimir Lenin saturated in bright red to his signature Campbell’s Soup Cans. On view through Jan. 5. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Dr., Roslyn Harbor. (516) 484-9337 or NassauMuseum.org.
Plaza Theatrical presents a showstopping tribute to the legendary Patsy Cline, Sunday, Aug. 11, 2:30 p.m. Through a colorful tapestry of iconic songs and witty personal storytelling, Carter Calvert uses her award-winning vocal talents to create this captivating musical tribute. Calvert, a Broadway star and title character in Always… Patsy Cline (opposite Emmy Award winner Sally Struthers), has gained rave reviews and triumphant accolades for her heartfelt portrayal of this legendary country recording artist.
She vocally captures Cline’s musical stylings pitch-perfectly in mega hits including “Crazy,” “I Fall To Pieces,” “She’s Got You” and “Walkin’ After Midnight.” Both captivating and endearing, this fastpaced entertainment delights audiences of all ages. It’s performed at Plaza’s stage at the Elmont Library Theatre, 700 Hempstead Tpke., Elmont. $40, $35 seniors. Elmont. For tickets, call (516) 599-6870 or visit PlazaTheatrical.com.
Simply
Darcy, left, joins Carol Ruchalski at the Rockville Links for the sixth annual Mary Cup swim meet and fundraiser.
Swimmers at the Rockville Links and Hempstead Golf and Country Club came together on July 23, to compete in the sixth annual Mary Cup.
The annual interclub swim meet and fundraiser is held each summer in honor of Mary Ruchalski, a seventhgrade student at St. Agnes Cathedral School in Rockville Centre who died in March 2018 of rhabdomyosarcoma — a rare form of pediatric cancer.
She is remembered as a talented multisport athlete who played lacrosse, softball, basketball and soccer, but most of all she loved the water, and was a talented swimmer.
The reason that the competition centers around these two teams is because Mary was a competitive swimmer for both organizations. Carol said that when she was only eight, she won the club championship for Hempstead, surpassing competitors nearly twice her age and size.
Her mother, Carol Ruchalski, created the Mary Ruchalski Foundation in 2018 in memory of her daughter, with the
LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY. NAME: Mila Assets LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of New York, (SSNY) on 05/23/2024.
NY Office location: Nassau County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of the process to: 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228 Purpose: To engage in any lawful act or activity.
LEGAL NOTICE
Public Notice to Bidders
Sealed Bids will be received by the Purchasing Department of the Village of Rockville Centre, One College Place, Rockville Centre, New York for the matter stated below until 11:00 am prevailing time on AUGUST 29, 2024 at which time they will be publicly opened and read aloud. The contract will be awarded as soon thereafter as practicable for:
MARLBOROUGH COURT SEWER PUMP HOUSE BUILDING GENERATOR / ELECTRIC UPGRADES and MISCELLANEOUS INTERIOR ALTERATIONS
Bid No. 2408CP1(1121)
Award of Contract will be made to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with applicable provisions of the law. The Village reserves the right to reject all bids or make such determination as in the best interests of the Village, as provided by law. Purchasing Department Lisa Strazzeri Purchasing Agent 516-678-9213 148380
LEGAL NOTICE Village of Rockville Centre Nassau County, New York Notice of Board of Zoning Appeals Hearing Date: August 14, 2024 Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 340 Rockville Centre Village Code NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Appeals of the Village of Rockville Centre will hold a Zoning Appeals Hearing at the Eugene J. Murray Village Hall 1 College Place, Rockville Centre at 7:00 p.m. LEGAL NOTICE August 14th, 2024 at 7:00 PM Case # 12-2024Reiffman Holdings LLCAdjourned from June 12th, 2024
Case # 28-2024 - Chetan & Amber Sarva
To construct a covered front porch, two story side addition, second story addition over existing first story, and second story addition over rear open porch with a proposed front yard setback of 14.2 feet where the average front yard setback is 26.08 feet and is the minimum required, and a side yard setback of 5.0 feet where 8.0 feet is the minimum required within a Residence A district.
Premises known as 153 North Forest Avenue Case # 29-2024 - Alyssa Diemer
To construct a second story addition over existing first story with a proposed side yard setback of 6.8 feet where 8.0 feet is the minimum required, within a Residence A district.
Premises known as 12 Denton Court August 2, 2024
BOARD OF APPEALS OF THE VILLAGE OF ROCKVILLE CENTRE, Rockville Centre, New York
amount of the bid. All questions should be directed to the Purchasing Department. Please contact Lisa Strazzeri via email only at Lstrazzeri@rvcny.us. Questions must be submitted no later than August 15, 2024. Award of Contract will be made to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with applicable provisions of the law. The Village reserves the right to reject all bids or make such determination as in the best interests of the Village, as provided by law.
Purchasing Department Lisa Strazzeri Purchasing Agent 516-678-9213 148379
LEGAL NOTICE
goal of raising awareness and funding for critical pediatric cancer research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
“It was a perfect day. It was sunny. It was hot. Just like she liked it,” Carol said. “It’s really nice because, while most of the kids now don’t know Mary, they do know Mary from this, so it keeps her spirit and her message alive.”
This year, more than 300 swimmers and parents gathered at the Rockville Links for the 2024 Mary Cup competition. Swimmers went head-to-head in a friendly competition to determine who would take home the 2024 Mary Cup. In the end, it was the Rockville Links who came out victorious this year.
To learn more about the Mary Cup or to help donate to the foundation’s fight to find a cure for rhabdomyosarcoma and other forms of pediatric cancer, visit TheMaryRuchalskiFoundation.org. And be sure to RSVP to the second annual Hearts of Gold Gala on Saturday, September 14 at the St. Agnes Parish Center.
–Daniel Offner
The contract documents, specifications and plans can be examined on the Village’s website at www.rvcny.gov. Follow the link to the Purchasing Department. Each bid must be accompanied by a certified check, bank check or bid bond payable to the Incorporated Village of Rockville Centre in the amount of five (5%) percent of the gross amount of the bid. All potential bidders of this contract are required to attend a mandatory site visit of Marlborough Court Sewer Pump House Building prior to submitting bids. Location: 1 Marlborough Court, Rockville Centre. Date: August 15, 2024 at 10:00am All questions should be directed to the Purchasing Department. Please contact Lisa Strazzeri via email only at Lstrazzeri@rvcny.us. Questions must be submitted no later than August 22, 2024.
To construct a professional medical building, within a “Business A District” which requires ten-foot setback on Sunrise Highway where Zero feet is provided and is subject to a Substantial Occupancy Permit from the Board of Appeals. Premises known as 486, 490, & 500 Sunrise Highway Case # 22-2023 - Colleen Gunn - Adjourned from July 10th, 2024
To maintain a roofed over patio with a proposed lot coverage of 30.18% where 30.0% is the maximum allowable, impervious surface coverage of 50.25% where 45.0% is the maximum allowable, a setback of 2.5 feet to the rear property line where 4.0 feet is the minimum required, a setback to the main dwelling of 1.0 feet where 8.0 feet is the minimum required, and a setback of 2.83 feet to the pool water line where 6.0 feet is the minimum required within a Residence A district.
Premises known as 43 Shellbank Place
J. Robert Schenone, Chairman Patrick D. O’Brien, Secretary Information and records for appeals cases are available at the Office of the Secretary of the Board of Appeals, 110 Maple Avenue, RVC, NY 148381
LEGAL NOTICE
Public Notice to Bidders
Sealed Bids will be received by the Purchasing Department of the Village of Rockville Centre, One College Place, Rockville Centre, New York for the matter stated below until 11:00 am prevailing time on AUGUST 22, 2024 at which time they will be publicly opened and read aloud. The contract will be awarded as soon thereafter as practicable for:
EMERGENCY SEWER REQUIREMENTS
Bid No. 2408CP2(1123) The contract documents, specifications and plans can be examined on the Village’s website at www.rvcny.gov. Follow the link to the Purchasing Department. Each bid must be accompanied by a certified check, bank check or bid bond payable to the Incorporated Village of Rockville Centre in the amount of five (5%) percent of the gross
Public Notice to Bidders Sealed Bids will be received by the Purchasing Department of the Village of Rockville Centre, One College Place, Rockville Centre, New York for the matter stated below until 11:00 am prevailing time on AUGUST 22, 2024 at which time they will be publicly opened and read aloud. The contract will be awarded as soon thereafter as practicable for: 2024 GMC SIERRA 4WD WITH DOUBLE CAB PRO PICKUP TRUCK WITH SNOW PLOW PACKAGE FOR THE SEWER DEPT. or Equivalent Bid No. 2408DPW1(1122) The contract documents and specifications can be examined on the Village’s website at www.rvcny.gov. Follow the link to the Purchasing Department. All questions should be directed to the Purchasing Department. Please contact Lisa Strazzeri via email only at Lstrazzeri@rvcny.us. Questions must be submitted no later than August 15, 2024. Award of Contract will be made to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with applicable provisions of the law. The Village reserves the right to reject all bids or make such determination as in the best interests of the Village, as provided by law.
Purchasing Department Lisa Strazzeri Purchasing Agent 516-678-9213 148361
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SALE
David’s in Elmont. Asking for $6,500. Please contact Michele Flanigan at 518-546-9550
room and home office, also wet bar. Guest quarters. Taxes: $12,508.44 Franklin Square $905,000 Hoffman Street. Duplex. 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms. Finished basement. Eat-in kitchen with granite countertops and pantry. Formal dining room. First floor master bedroom. Updates include cathedral ceiling and skylight. Taxes: $12,430.17
Lido Beach $1,289,000
Gerry Avenue. Hi Ranch. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. Eat-in kitchen with granite countertops. Den/family room and home office, also wet bar and guest quarters. Master bedroom with walk-in closet. High end finishes include skylight. Security system.
Taxes: $15,290.87
Malverne $692,000
Morris Avenue. Colonial. Fully renovated and move-in ready. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms. New eat-in kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. New bathrooms, roof and windows.
Taxes: $14,800
Merrick $1,350,000
Valerie Court. Split Level. 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms. Partial finished basement. Large custom eat-in kitchen with granite countertops and high-end stainless steel appliances. Formal dining room. Den/family room. Custom upgrades include 2 fireplaces, skylight and radiant heated flooring in main bathroom. All large rooms. Upper level Trex deck leads to paved yard with built-in pool. Security system.
Taxes: $29424.24
Oceanside $1,212,500
Oceanside Parkway. Colonial. 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms. Finished basement. Eat-in kitchen. Formal dining room. Den/family room and home office. Master bathroom with walk-in closet. High end finishes include cathedral ceiling. Security system.
Taxes: $23,265.16
Rockville Centre $850,000
Hamilton Road. Split Level. 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms. Partial finished basment. Eat-in kitchen. Formal dining room. Den/family room. Expansive home on a beautiful block is meticulously maintained and filled with period charm and elegance. It features four spacious levels of living space, including all oversized bedrooms and light filled sunroom with backyard access. Ensuite master bedroom. Private backyard with pavered patio and mature landscaping throughout.
Q. We’re doing a major house lift, making changes to our existing first floor and adding a second floor. We thought it made sense to get a design and then stop, because this way we didn’t spend a lot of money on full construction plans and then end up disappointed that it was over our budget. Simple turned into complicated, as it often does. The contractor and the architect agreed that the house should just be reconstructed (nothing saved) and the estimators insisted on much more information to give us a price. Are we going about this the right way? We’re already disillusioned that we aren’t going to be able to build within our budget, and we don’t even have numbers to make a decision. What should we do?
A. Your house project isn’t sounding too “uplifting,” and frankly, from your description, you shouldn’t be lifting the original house. You may spend more than $50,000 just trying to save the little bit of the original house, moving plumbing and wiring, trying to work around the existing materials and reconstructing old ones. Money is the driving factor in most construction projects, and although it’s frustrating, you must either politely persist with evaluating costs with the contractor, or get to the finish line with plans to give estimators something to work with.
First, though, you should recognize that the current first floor will become a second floor, and the new floor above will be a third floor if you plan to have a lowest level high enough to park cars underneath or use for accessible, stand-up storage. Federal guidelines require that the new lowest level not be used for anything but car or general storage, and the state requires indoor sprinklers.
It’s really up to the contractor working with you, and the architect, to reach predictable costs for the total project. You need to pay both of them to spend the time necessary to hit a targeted budget. The contractor will then work with getting together material, labor and overhead costs, with profit and a cushion for issues that can arise, like weather, material delivery delays and scrambling when something isn’t available or a truck breaks down.
While it’s not completely unreasonable for estimators to want more information, putting together a preliminary budget isn’t a mysterious, unheardof request. My concern when this happens is that all parties need to cooperate. The reason for the architect’s involvement is to answer questions and guide decision-making about sizes of structure, material choices and code compliance. If the contractor or a subcontractor makes projections on the design of structure, for example, it must be understood that the architect makes the final decision about wall thicknesses, insulation values, structural components, and even window and door sizes. These are safety and code-related conditions that are governed by law.
The costs can escalate when plans are completed, so reducing the project to meet a budget, up front, is important. Good luck!
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Scorching, sweltering, suffocating. We’re all struggling to keep our cool these days, as a dangerous heat dome hovers over much of the country and threatens lives and livelihoods. Here in Nassau County, we’ve experienced successive weeks of extreme heat that has disrupted everything from our transit systems to our enjoyment of the outdoors.
This after last summer, when historic wildfires in Canada brought barely breathable, smoky air to our state. We can choose to stay indoors all summer, or we can be honest about how we got to this overheated moment. We know exactly what is causing this dizzying change in our climate. Emissions from burning fossil fuels — oil, gas, coal — produce greenhouse gases that blanket the globe and trap the sun’s heat. And we know that global carbon emissions have been steadily increasing, warming our oceans and atmosphere.
But even in the face of damning evidence, the fossil fuel industry won’t
back down. Companies continue to drill new wells, build new pipelines and sell oil, gas and coal to burn, trapping us all under heat domes that aren’t just unbearable, but lethal.
Why haven’t we moved away from burning fossil fuels?
Because fossil fuel corporations have used their resources to block necessary climate action at every turn.
The industry
Decades ago, the fossil fuel industry documented a sophisticated scientific understanding and predicted with uncanny accuracy how the globe would heat. Next, its leaders developed a multipronged effort to undermine the scientific data they themselves had uncovered, so they could stymie policies that would reduce the use of fossil fuels. Part of that campaign was a sustained effort to frame climate change as a matter of individual actions (like recycling or turning off the tap while brushing your teeth) instead of structural policy change.
Rather than investing in solutions, these corporations spent billions of dollars on the systems that have enabled them to continue to frack, mine, extract and, most important, pull in constant, breathtaking profits — even while the
iplanet got hotter and hotter. This included investing in policymakers and politicians, from state houses to the halls of Congress to the Supreme Court, as well as universities. Today, legislation that would — and should — enable us to invest in clean-energy solutions is routinely quashed because of the powerful sway of the fossil fuel industry. Its profits are valued over our very lives. So where do we go from here?
Simply put, to the streets: to the state houses, to Congress, to the ballot box. And we need to do it together. Amid a summer that is already one of the five hottest ever, we need to wield our collective power as voters, as citizens, as consumers. We need millions of people to stand up to those billions of dollars. We need to demand the kind of big, systemic changes that are our only hope to slow the pace of change and give us a chance to survive. Because, make no mistake, we have the means to change course on this path of destruction. Just as humans created coal-powered trains and oil furnaces, we have invented clean-energy solutions such as solar-, wind- and water-powered electricity.
But we need to demand this change.
That’s why I’m joining other people of faith and climate activists from all over at the ongoing Summer of Heat protests, which take place outside the headquarters of the major financial institutions in Manhattan. If we can persuade the executives of these institutions how much we care about this, and manage to cut off funding to the fossil fuel industry, we will be taking a huge step toward dismantling that industry.
People of all backgrounds need to show up with spiritual audacity, educating, energizing and mobilizing our communities to act. When people realize that generations to come may face ever more devastating disasters — droughts, fires, floods, famines — they need the inspiration to turn despair into action.
Bottom line? If we want to beat the heat, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, unburned. Which means challenging the fossil fuel industry with moves to cut off funding from banks, asset managers and financial firms.
I think of the quote from Deuteronomy: “It is not beyond us in heaven.” Indeed, humans can make a new future. We have the capacity. We have the science, the resources, the people and the power. It is in our hands and in our hearts, and we can do it. We must.
Lauren Krueger is the co-leader of the Nassau County Dayenu Circle. She lives in Merrick.
Momalas for Kamala, a thread to unite us
n a world where news breaks instantly on our phones, cracking the world open in an instant, behold the weekly newspaper, the tortoise of the news business. As I write, I realize it’s not all bad to have time to think between 72-point headlines.
When I wrote last, almost a month ago, President Biden was still the presumptive Democratic nominee, although there was plenty of chatter about his slow walk and whispery talk. He was adamant: He would not step down. He was ready to fight. Many of us who think Biden has done an outstanding job in office came to believe he was not up to another four years. He looked frail. He appeared to overestimate his ability, at age 81, to meet the demands of the job. It felt disloyal to urge him to make way for a younger contender, but loyalty to our democracy had to come first. I celebrated his willingness to relinquish power, wished it had come sooner, but we had a potential new candidate.
Three weeks ago, Kamala Harris was (and still is) the vice president, and at that point her own presidential dreams were on hold. Donald Trump was salivating like a lion at the Roman Forum, waiting to take on Biden in the next debate. After the president’s shockingly poor performance in the first one, the Donald was closing in for the kill.
J.D. Vance? Barely a twinkle in Trump’s eye a month ago. He’s the guy who wrote “Hillbilly Elegy.” Suddenly he morphed into a mega-MAGA, with extreme, creepy ideas about women’s rights and personal freedoms. Trump thought Vance would make a perfect addition to the ticket.
That was July 13. Then, curtains up on the Republican National Convention, just days after the attempted assassination, with a buoyant Trump telling the world he was still standing.
i hope all the disparate political identities will form a cohesive movement.
A few weeks back, Thomas Matthew Crooks was a shy kid from rural Pennsylvania who got it into his head to kill the former president. And he nearly did, grazing Trump’s ear as he stood at the podium at an outdoor rally. I saw it happen, and time stopped until Trump was hustled to safety. I lived through the years of JFK, MLK and RFK dying in heartbreaking eruptions of political violence. Those murders scarred the political landscape forever.
Those were enough big news items for five years, compressed and pounded under pressure into just days, until the whole country, burnished like a diamond, seemed brilliant and raw. You could hear us, an entire nation, sucking in deep calming breaths, trying to steady ourselves.
Then, on July 21, Biden announced that he was stepping out of the presidential campaign and endorsing Harris to be the Democratic nominee.
I’m writing this all down because after some amount of time, nobody will believe that it all happened just like this over the past few weeks.
Then the head of the Secret Service stepped down because of her agency’s failure to stop the assassination attempt.
Then a kind of organic political wave swelled out of nowhere, pushing people forward to support Harris in a tsunami of relief and joy. Black women for Kamala. White Dudes for Kamala. White
Women for Kamala.
That’s where I lost the thread. Aren’t we all supposed to be coming together as Americans to choose our president? Can’t we be Citizens for Kamala? Am I a Short Woman for Kamala or a CR-V Driver for Kamala or a Yasso Pop Fanatic for Kamala? We’re dividing and subdividing into micro cells.
Then that changed, too. I decided to embrace the political moment.
Momalas for Kamala is born. Momala is Harris’s nickname in her family, but it’s more than that. According to the Urban Dictionary, “A momala is a trusted guardian. Outside of the family, a momala is the mother of a neighborhood. In a village, she is mother and healer. In a state, she is the mother of health, knowledge and creativity. For a country, she is the mom of compassion and strength.”
We all have mothers or are mothers or value mothers. Momalas are us, men and women, young and old.
I hope all the disparate political identities will form a cohesive movement to elect Harris president. I hope Trump will summon the courage to meet her toe to toe in a debate. I hope the young voters in this country will shed their indifference and get into the fray.
Copyright 2024 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.
Fax: (516) 569-4942
as we mark the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on Friday, it’s crucial for us here on Long Island to reflect on the rich indigenous history that shapes our communities and landscapes. From the Shinnecock and Montaukett to the Unkechaug and Setauket, Native American tribes have been integral to Long Island’s story since long before European settlers arrived.
The names of our towns and landmarks echo this heritage: Montauk, Quogue, Peconic, Ronkonkoma, Hauppauge, Patchogue, and many more. These names aren’t just relics of the past, but living reminders of the peoples who stewarded this land for millennia. They represent a deep connection to the environment and a complex cultural tapestry that continues to influence our region today.
But we must also confront the painful history of exploitation and displacement that followed European settlement. The original inhabitants of Long Island, like indigenous peoples across the Americas, faced immense challenges as their lands were seized, their populations decimated by disease, and their cultures suppressed. The Shinnecock Nation, for instance, was engaged in a long struggle for federal recognition, and continues to make its case for the return of ancestral lands.
Despite these hardships, indigenous communities have shown remarkable resilience. The Shinnecock Nation continues to maintain its cultural practices
To the Editor:
and advocate for its rights. The Unkechaug people, on the Poospatuck Reservation in Mastic, have preserved their language and traditions. These communities serve as a living link to Long Island’s past and as vital contributors to its present and future.
Nationally, Native Americans have made countless contributions to American society, often unrecognized. From agricultural techniques that feed millions to democratic principles that influenced the U.S. Constitution, indigenous knowledge and practices have shaped the nation in profound ways. Native American code talkers played a crucial role in World War II, using their languages to create unbreakable codes. In science, medicine, arts, and sports, indigenous Americans continue to excel and innovate.
Globally, indigenous peoples are at the forefront of environmental protection efforts. Their traditional knowledge and sustainable practices offer valuable insights for addressing climate change and preserving biodiversity. From the Amazon rainforest to the Arctic tundra, indigenous communities are often the most effective guardians of critical ecosystems.
As we commemorate this international day — which is followed in October by Indigenous Peoples’ Day, observed just in the United States — it’s essential to move beyond mere recognition to active support and engagement. On Long Island, we can:
1. Educate ourselves about local indige-
Imagine if residents of the five boroughs dumped tons of toxic wastes in the South Shore district represented by Congressman Anthony D’Esposito. Imagine further that a New York City politician loudly denounced a plan to protect the health of D’Esposito’s constituents.
The congressman would surely be outraged. So why does he support a permanent ban on congestion pricing in Lower Manhattan? (“Congestion pricing may be paused, but the fight continues,” July 25-31.)
Car commuters whom D’Esposito defends spew pollutants every day in the congestion-pricing zone. The fact that these tailpipe emissions are invisible does not make them less deadly than mounds of toxic garbage.
Studies suggest that 153,000 fewer cars would enter the zone once congestion pricing takes effect. And that will result in sharp decreases in nitrogen oxide emissions and particulate matter.
nous history and current issues facing Native communities.
2. Support indigenous-owned businesses and cultural events.
3. Advocate for the protection of sacred sites and the return of ancestral lands.
4. Incorporate indigenous perspectives in local decision-making, especially when it comes to environmental issues.
5. Promote the teaching of Native American history and cultures in our schools.
Recognizing indigenous peoples isn’t about dwelling in the past, but rather about creating a more inclusive and just future. It’s about acknowledging that the first inhabitants of this land have valuable knowledge, perspectives, and rights that deserve respect and consideration. As Long Islanders, we have a unique opportunity to honor the indigenous heritage that surrounds us daily. From the shores of Peconic Bay to the bluffs of Montauk, we walk in the footsteps of those who came before us. Let’s ensure that their stories, struggles and triumphs are not forgotten, but celebrated as an integral part of our shared history. This International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, let’s commit to building stronger relationships with Native communities, supporting their rights and aspirations, and benefiting from their wisdom. In doing so, we enrich our own lives and communities while taking a step toward healing historical wounds and creating a more equitable society for all.
when legendary quarterback
Tom brady announced his retirement (for the first time), i was the editor in chief of my college’s news magazine, the Campus Slate, at the New York institute of Technology. We covered a wide range of subjects, driven by the interests of our reporters, and one of my staff writers asked me if he could write something summarizing his thoughts on what it was like to watch “the greats” — the famed athletes of his childhood — retire. i liked the idea, and it came together nicely. Although i wasn’t the biggest sports fan in my youth, i could relate to the story.
but for me, the epitome of athleticism didn’t come in the form of an epic home run or, in brady’s case, so many game-winning touchdowns. For me it was the whoosh of a soccer ball hitting the net at the back of the goal.
Like millions of other youth around the U.S., i grew up playing soccer, and some of my fondest memories from my
adolescence and teenage years are of my days on the field.
So when i think of the greats, i don’t think of people like Derek Jeter or brady. i think of women like Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Hope Solo, Tobin Heath and Carli Lloyd, among many others.
in this country, female athletes don’t get the same attention, or respect, as their male counterparts, and that’s almost understandable. Men’s sports have built entire industries from the ground up over the past century. but there is much to be said about how hard women have worked to make sure they can have their moments of glory. Kathrine Switzer famously ran the boston Marathon before women were allowed to; thousands have fought the wage gap that still affects sports today; and, of course, superstars like Serena Williams have cemented the idea that women athletes deserve the spotlight, too.
w
hen I think of the greats, I think of Megan Rapinoe, not Tom Brady.
that over the past few years, the U.S. women’s soccer team has gone through changes. They performed poorly at last year’s World Cup, losing early in the tournament to Sweden. And in the lowest of moments for some of our players, many of whom are previous World Cup winners and Olympic gold medalists, they were not welcomed back to our country with open arms. instead they were hit with this: “WOKE EQUALS FAiLURE,” which Donald Trump posted to his Truth Social account last summer.
“Nice shot Megan, the USA is going to hell!” (This was in reference to a penalty kick Rapinoe missed in the game against Sweden.)
i’m old enough to have thick skin, to read things like Trump’s comments and brush them off with an eye roll. but i can’t help but think about the little girls whose shoes i was once in. i think it’s fair to say they’d be genuinely affected by seeing something like what Trump wrote. i think about how difficult it must be for them to see their heroes, their greats, subjected to cruelty.
The Paris Olympic Games will be wrapping up this weekend, and there have been many female athletes, not just soccer players, representing our country. Their successes and their setbacks — their journeys — are so important. We need to remember that.
it’s always nice to see our athletes win, and our teams bring home gold. but if they don’t? Think about what you say before you say it, and think about who you’re saying it to.
Women’s soccer isn’t the same, and i’m not sure at what point it became cool to tear down some of our country’s best athletes, but alas, it is our reality.
All teams, in every sport, have their ups and downs, and i’d agree with many
Levels of that latter type of pollution are now 60 percent higher in Manhattan than the upper limit recommended by the World Health Organization.
The congressman shows no respect for the New York City elected officials who decided, after years of debate and voluminous research reports, to impose a fee on drivers who poison the air breathed by Manhattan residents and workers.
D’Esposito should practice goodneighborliness by dropping his opposition to an initiative that will save many lives.
KEviN J. KELLEY Atlantic Beach
To the Editor:
As the administrator for the Emergency Department at North Shore University Hospital, i would like to extend our heartfelt wishes to Rosemary King for a swift recovery following her recent surgery with Dr. Tamayo. Additionally, i want to express our deepest gratitude for the kind words her husband, former Congressman Peter King, shared in his column in the July 18-24 issue of the Herald, “ i n a medical emergency, we were in experts’ hands.”
Our team was deeply moved by Mr. King’s account of his family’s experience.
LANDON WiTz, MHA Senior manager, Operations Emergency Medicine North Shore University Hospital Manhasset
To the Editor:
Thanks to Jerry Kremer for his op-ed, “if you like horror stories, read Project 2025,” in the July 18-24 issue. i am so grateful when our local newspapers are able to bring national issues to the forefront. i t’s so important to get this kind of information to local communities that are sometimes insulated within their own little world.
Project 2025 hasn’t received much attention until recently — despite the Heritage Foundation’s in-depth involvement in the Trump presidency and this year’s Trump campaign. it is so important that trusted local public servants sound the alarm on this extremely dangerous agenda, and that people are made to realize it is indeed very real.
ELizAbETH MURPHY Franklin Square
it should come as a surprise to no one that conservative America hates the women’s national team. Why? Simply because for decades, its players have expressed “progressive” opinions about equal pay, social justice and LGbTQ rights, among other things that are largely unliked by the far right. When the women are winning, the keyboard warriors are quiet. but when they lose? Well of course it’s because of their political and social beliefs.
As we’ve cheered for those athletes, we’ve been reminded that their worth isn’t measured solely by their victories, but also by their power to inspire. Let’s be careful in what we say, and ensure that our words foster encouragement, not disillusionment, for the next generation of greats.
Jordan Vallone is a senior editor who writes for the Bellmore, East Meadow and Merrick Heralds. Comments? jvallone@liherald.com.
