Serving The Willistons, Albertson, Herricks, Mineola, and Searingtown
$1
Friday, May 29, 2015
vol. 64, no. 22
guide to
health&beauty
GUIde To HealTH aNd BeaUTy
PorTeGUese day CeleBraTIoN
HarBor TraIl oPeNs
PaGeS 29-36
PaGe 2
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2015 ection • may 29, cations special s dia / litmor publi a blank slate me
SOLeMN triBute
trustees approve Village Green project Cusato casts lone dissenting vote for mixed-use plan By Ja m es G a l l o w ay The Mineola Board of Trustees voted 4-1 last Wednesday to approve a contentious high-rise planned for Second Street, calling it an important step toward revitalizing the village’s downtown. The project, an eight-story mixed use building referred to as the Village Green, had been the subject of a series of heated public hearings at which many residents opposed the project, raising concerns about traffic, building size, aesthetics and the impact tax breaks could have on Mineola school district. Four board members, in-
PHOTO (C) 2015 MARTHA GORFEIN PHOTOCONCEPTS
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5253 in Albertson hosted a Memorial Day tribute Monday to salute the America’s fallen soldiers. See story on page 42.
cluding Mayor Scott Strauss, voted to approve the project at the village’s Board of Trustees meeting, citing studies that suggested the Village Green would benefit local businesses and have minimal impact on traffic and school enrollment. The four board members called it an important step toward realizing the Master Plan, which the village enacted a decade ago as a roadmap to revitalizing the downtown. “I think we have done our due diligence in following and implementing the Master Plan,” Deputy Mayor Paul Periera said at the board meeting. “I believed in that vision of 10, 15 years ago. And I think [the Vil-
lage Green] is part of that, and I think it’s an important component of that.” Trustee Paul Cusato, the most outspoken trustee at the public hearings, voted no, saying developer Lalezarian Properties’ amended plan to reduce the building by one floor and 30 apartments did not go far enough. “For me, this building is too big in size and mass, and I am voting no,” Cusato said. He said that he supported residential development of the property but hoped it would be no higher than the nearby Winthrop-University Hospital research center. Continued on Page 50
Mineola lacrosse falls one win shy of championship By Ja m es G a l l o w ay Mineola High School’s boys varsity lacrosse team lost 16-8 to Cold Spring Harbor Tuesday in the Mustangs’ first appearance in the Nassau County finals since 1962. “We gave it our best, and we ended up coming up short,
but we had a great year,” Mineola head coach Glenn Cocoman said. “That’s a really, really great team we played yesterday. Their three attack guys are tremendous.” Mineola (14-4) kept the game close through the first half, falling behind 1-0 at the end of the first quarter and rallying with two unanswered
goals to enter halftime down 5-2. “We had chances early on in the first quarter but didn’t convert,” Cocoman said. “They finally broke through and scored late in the first quarter, then they started to get away a little bit in the second quarter.” Cold Spring Harbor (15Continued on Page 51
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