Serving Great Neck, G.N. Plaza, G.N. Estates, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Thomaston
$1.50
Friday, April 1, 2022
Vol. 97, No. 13
GUIDE TO SPRING
MARTINS TO CHALLENGE KAPLAN
KAIMAN TO KICK OFF TOWN HALL SERIES
PAGES 29-36
PAGE 3
PAGE 9
P I D AY
Academy chief to step down in June Buono sought to create ‘climate of respect’ amid scandal BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z Vice Adm. Jack Buono, superintendent of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, will retire from his post in June, school officials have announced. “I’d like to thank all those involved in the day-to-day operations at the Academy,” Buono said in a news release. “From the staff, faculty and coaches, to the alumni and the parents, to the support staff members that keep the lights on and the water running, I want each of you to know how proud and thankful I am to have served as the leader of this great institution.”
Buono, whose maritime career has spanned more than 45 years, took the post in 2018. A 1978 graduate of the Merchant Marine Academy, Buono has graduated two classes and navigated the school and its cadets through the coronavirus pandemic, while trying to implement parts of a five-year strategic plan he introduced in 2018. The 11-page plan, academy officials said, has become “the benchmark for day-to-day operations.” Aspects of the plan that have been introduced include focusing more on “transparent communication,” modifying cadets’ education and increasing the academy’s public awareness.
“During his change of command ceremony, he challenged the regiment to be strong supporters and advocates for one another,” officials said of Buono in the news release. “He implored them to take care of one other as shipmates, setting the groundwork for improvements in institutional culture at the Academy.” Part of the plan focused on creating a “climate of respect” among the cadets, which officials said Buono aimed to provide through his leadership. Last year, the academy experienced an instance of sexual harassment that became widely publicized. Continued on Page 41
G.N. Starbucks management allegedly threatened workers Employees file complaint to labor board looking to unionize BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK SCHOOL DISTRICT
North Middle School celebrated Pi Day with a fundraiser for the America Cancer Society.
employees at the Starbucks at 6 Great Neck Road signed a letter to The managers at a Great Neck Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Starbucks were accused of engaging Johnson informing him of their deciin unfair labor practices by workers sion to unionize. The Great Neck loattempting to unionize, according to cation was one of several in the New York City area to call for unionizing a complaint. In February, more than a dozen and 72 throughout the country.
“Our goal in unionizing is to make you hear us, and to let us have power in relation to our labor, rather than alienation from it,” the letter to Johnson said. “We, as partners, are the ones building the wealth of Starbucks, a company worth billions of Continued on Page 42
Th e I s l a n d360.co m Come visit for the latest in breaking news.