Great Neck 2023_08_11

PAGES 21-24

IDA OKs TAX BREAKS FOR VGN APARTMENT BUILDING

SANDS LAS VEGAS, WELLNESS CENTER PARTNER

Zoning appeals spark debate in Great Neck

No decision yet on Polo, Steamboat

BY KARINA KOVAC

Two proposals came under intense discussion at the Aug. 3 Village of Great Neck Zoning Board of Appeals meeting which was governed by three out of five members and went on until midnight.

One asked for a subdivision of a property on the highly trafficked, dead-end street of Polo Road and the other sought a continuation of the debate over the construction of a Mashadi mixed-use school and religious building on 187-195 Steamboat Road. Both yielded no decision yet but much discussion.

Millen Cohen, the owner of a ranch house on Polo Road and represented by attorney Paul Bloom of Harras, Bloom & Archer LLP, bought his property in the late 1990s and now wants to add an additional dwelling in the rear of his current ranch-style house. He asked for a subdivision to be granted.

Whether the proposed new dwelling will be subdivided will be determined at a later date by the Planning Board. At the meeting, Cohen asked the Zoning Board for variances affecting building area, floor area ratio, and both the front and side yards. Other

Continued on Page 34

South student’s suspension expunged

BY KARINA KOVAC

New York State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa ordered the Great Neck School District to expunge a Great Neck South High School student’s disciplinary record in a sharply critical ruling released last week.

Rosa called the suspension of the student, 16, in connection with a security breach last December “shocking

to the conscience.”

“Nowhere does it suggest that students are responsible for the security of school buildings—and nor should they be,” Rosa said.

The student had been deemed responsible for aiding armed intruders who entered the school in December and faced suspension for the rest of the school year.

Superintendent Kenneth Bossert

said in a statement to Blank Slate Media that he had received Rosa’s decision, but could not comment “out of respect for our students’ rights and privacy (guided by FERPA).”

He said he would comply with the “Commissioner’s directive.”

Bossert also said “there have been no administrative changes based on this incident. I remain committed to investigating the matter in its entirety and reviewing with all parties involved. Appropriate outreach has been made to review the matter.”

He added that “any and all security/procedural enhancements that are deemed appropriate have already been implemented or will be for the coming school year.”

The suspended student, whose identity was not released, was in the lunchroom when he spotted two of the nine intruders, all teens from Queens. The student assumed the intruders attended Great Neck South, the hearing decision said.

Then, “according to the student, the non-students indicated that they had weapons and would use them against the student if he told anyone,” the ruling reads. “The student further testified that some of the non-students showed him a video of them assaulting someone. At approximately 1:00 p.m., at the request of the non-students, the student. The two intruders planned to visit the girlfriend of one of the students and “confront” anoth-

er student, according to the decision.

After the school day ended, the intruders were discovered by the high school administration and surveillance footage showed the student escorting one of the intruders to the locker room.

Two underage individuals faced charges of felony burglary as well as criminal possession of a weapon.

One of them was charged due to the possession of a butterfly knife, while the other faced charges for being in possession of a stun gun. When searched, one had a TASER and pepper spray while a second had a TASER and a butterfly knife.

The student had a meeting with

Continued on Page 35

PHOTO BY KARINA KOVAC

The Village of Great Neck Zoning Board of Appeals continued their discussion on a proposed Mashadi school and religious center on Steamboat Road.

Tax breaks for Middle Neck Road building

Developers looking to add 60-unit apartment structure

School district ranked 11 in U.S.

Five

from Nassau County in top 20

BY KARINA KOVAC

Five Nassau school districts are among the seven from New York that secured spots in the top 20 of Niche’s 2023 “districts with the best teachers in America” report.

Compiled by the community and school ranking website, the report evaluates various critical criteria such as academics, diversity, college preparedness and sports, assigning distinct letter grades to each of these facets.

The New York school districts that achieved an A+ rating in both the “teachers” and “academics” categories have been ranked within the nation’s top 20.

Syosset Central School District took the 7th position, followed by Great Neck Public Schools at 11th,

Roslyn Union Free School District at 12th, Hewlett-Woodmere Union Free School District in Woodmere at 13th, and East Williston Union Free School District in Old Westbury at 19th.

One notable aspect across these districts is the substantially higher teacher salaries, averaging at least $117,000. This far surpasses the national average of $56,397.

Moreover, these districts show a trend of maintaining lower studentto-teacher ratios compared to the national average of 17-to-1. The best district on the list in this category is the East Williston school district, where the ratio is 9-to-1.

Additionally, all seven of these districts have outperformed the state averages in terms of reading and math scores on standardized tests, according to the report.

BY KARINA KOVAC

After a two-year hiatus, the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency has deliberated and unanimously voted at its July 27 meeting to grant tax breaks to Gesher Center LLC, which is proposing a 60-unit apartment building at 733-741 Middle Neck Road in Great Neck.

Village ofcials approved the architectural review of the structure in May 2021, despite then IDA Chairman Richard Kessel saying at the meeting that he had received dozens of letters from residents stating their opposition to the project.

Gesher Center LLC, owned by Yosef Shemtov, plans to redevelop the property into a four-story apartment building. Among the units, nine will be considered afordable house and available for rent below the market

rate. The breakdown of the 60-units includes 56 two-bedroom spaces and four one-bedroom apartments. The project includes 93 underground parking spaces, a public art gallery on the frst foor, a library and storage space, according to the application.

Demolition of the existing buildings on the now vacant property has been completed and confrmed by IDA spokesperson Greg Gordon. The project is in the Apartment E/Middle Neck Road Multifamily Incentive Overlay District and Residence C zoning districts in the Village of Great Neck. Previously, fve buildings often described as dilapidated occupied the space that the plans encompasses.

The application for fnancial assistance said if fnancing is not received, “the applicant will not be able to proceed with the project and

Nassau County will continue to suffer from a shortage of multi-family housing.”

To achieve the vote, Gesher Center had to overcome hurdles from the Great Neck School District about lost revenue for the district and residents involving tax breaks and the development’s size. Finally, the IDA approved a sales tax exemption of $1,207,500 and a mortgage tax beneft of $198,750, according to records.

Additionally, the IDA agreed to a 23-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes arrangement with a tax freeze for the frst three years, followed by a 5% annual increase for the next 20 years.

Nassau IDA Chairman William Rockensies shared positive reactions to the project in the meeting and said the IDA is always looking for ways to expand the county’s capacity to provide more housing options.

Great Neck Public Schools ranked 11th in the top 20 of Niche’s 2023 “Districts with the best teachers in America” report.

Sue

Deborah Flynn 516-307-1045 x218 dflynn@theisland360.com

RENDERING COURTESY OF OZ BENCETIN

The Nassau County IDA granted tax breaks for a mixed-use proposal on Middle Neck Road

Anti-LGBTQ+ laws drive doc to NHP

Dr. Jake Kleinmahon leaving La. for Cohen Children’s after growing sentiment against community

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Dr. Jake Kleinmahon, a New Orleans-based physician who specializes in pediatric heart conditions, said he came back to Louisiana five years ago to help build a specialty program second to none.

“We really planted our roots in New Orleans because they needed someone to build a heart transplant program,” Kleinmahon, the medical director at Oschner Hospital for Children’s pediatric heart transplant, heart failure and ventricular assist device programs, told Blank Slate Media.

But a growing sentiment in the state sparked by three bills targeting LGBTQ+ people has led Kleinmahon, his husband and two children to pack their bags for Long Island.

Kleinmahon, a Westchester native, said he accepted an offer from Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park to join the hospital in a similar role and plans to move by the end of the month.

“When we moved back down, we knew we were moving to a state that historically has been fairly socially conservative,” Kleinmahon said about returning to the South after working in Colorado. “But New Orleans is an area that accepts all people of all walks of life.”

Earlier this year, Louisiana lawmakers approved anti-LGBTQ bills that included a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, outlining pronoun usage for students and their version of a “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which restricts discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

Louisiana has a Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, who has served since 2016 and is term-limited to the end of this year. Edwards vetoed each of the bills that passed through the

state Legislature, but lawmakers overturned the bill banning gender-affirming care for minors.

Kleinmahon said the bills have created an environment where he and his husband don’t

want to live and raise their children in. Kleinmahon is also one of two pulmonary hypertension doctors in the state.

“We’ve poured our hearts into Louisiana,” Kleinmahon said on his family’s efforts to advocate for underserved communities.

One of just three pediatric doctors with his specialty in the state, he said everyone loses, from Oschner–the only pediatric heart transplant center in Louisiana–its doctors and, more importantly, its patients. Before he arrived, Kleinmahon said complex cases that required heart transplants would be sent out of the state.

“It’s incredibly hard on me and my patients that I try to build strong relationships with when I tell them I have to leave because of the laws that are being passed,” Kleinmahon said. “Seeing their faces and the tears that come out when I tell them I’m leaving, even more so when I tell them why I’m leaving.”

Kleinmahon has said about 50 doctors and medical professionals have had to make similar decisions or are considering them to leave states they feel have discriminatory legislation against them or their family.

At Cohen’s medical center, Kleinmahon will be the director of pediatric heart transplant, heart failure and ventricular assist devices, starting a heart transplant program as he did in New Orleans. The move also brings him closer to family who reside in the Northeast, he said.

“We’re incredibly excited to look forward to the future. The team at Northwell has been incredibly supportive and I feel their leadership is exceptional,” Kleinmahon said. “It should be a great partnership to help build this program.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAKE KLEINMAHON

Dr. Jake Kleinmahon, left, a New Orleans-based physician, said a growing sentiment sparked by anti-LGBTQ+ bills has led him and his family to leave the state at the end of the month.

N. Shore, Langone named top hospitals

U.S. News says hospitals in top 22 in United States, tops in New York with two others

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Two North Shore hospitals earned a place on U.S. News & World Report’s “Honor Roll” of the best 22 hospitals in the country, the publication announced Tuesday.

Northwell Health’s North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset and NYU Langone Health’s hospitals, which has a Mineola facility, are in a four-way tie for the top spot in New York.

The two hospitals are joined by Mount Sinai Hospital and New YorkPresbyterian Hospital-Columbia and Cornell in New York City, which were also named to the honor roll.

Northwell President and CEO Michael Dowling said the rankings are a testament to the network’s team.

“We are proud to see Northwell recognized as New York State’s mostawarded health system,” Dowling said in a statement. “These last few years have been challenging, but we have never stopped working to raise the health of the patients and communities we serve.”

“What remains clear is that NYU Langone Health continues to provide our patients with the best outcomes, as evidenced by the broad spectrum of independent arbiters that consistently recognize our excellence,” said Lan-

gone CEO Robert Grossman. Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park and St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Roslyn

were tied for sixth-best hospitals in New York, according to the publication.

Huntington Hospital, Bay Shore’s

South Shore University Hospital and Stony Brook University Hospital were ranked as the 11th, 12th and 13th best hospitals in the state, respectively.

Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside and Plainview Hospital were tied for 29th best in New York.

U.S. News this year did not give numbered rankings to the honor roll but did for specialties, which the Long Island facilities placed highly in.

North Shore had a No. 10 ranking nationally for orthopedics, pulmonology and lung surgery. The Manhasset hospital had nine specialties in the top 50 rankings.

Long Island Jewish also had nine specialties ranked, with its highest being a No. 11 ranking for obstetrics and gynecology.

Langone’s neurology and neurosurgery specialty ranked first nationally for the second year in a row while nine others had top-10 national rankings.

St. Francis had eight specialties ranked, with geriatrics being the highest at No. 23 nationally.

Charles Lucore, St. Francis CEO said the recognition shows their commitment to providing quality care.

“We take great pride in raising the bar of care for our Long Island community with these outstanding national rankings,” Lucore said in a statement. “Ultimately, our patients are the ones who benefit from these achievements.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset.

Town OKs $40K for flight plan analysis

Town board members, Port Washington residents condemn Q&A held with ‘Patriot Streetfighter’

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The North Hempstead Town Board Tuesday night unanimously passed a resolution to spend $40,000 for a flight plan analysis as a first step in combatting noise disruptions in the town due to low-flying airplanes.

The board also tabled a public hearing on the proposed expansion of the Hillside Islamic Center in New Hyde Park and denounced a recent Q&A in Port Washington with “Patriot Streetfighter” Scott McKay.

Council Member Peter Zuckerman said the airplane noise was a quality of life issue in the town, one that increased after the COVID-19 pandemic, and that the town has received over 500 service requests in the last five years to remedy the issue.

“This resolution is a critical step in identifying the root causes of this noise and exploring effective measures to address it,” Zuckerman said. “By investing in this flight plan analysis, we are demonstrating our commitment to finding solutions that will create a safer and more comfortable future for everyone in our Town.”

North Hempstead in 2019 adopted a resolution to consider legal action against Federal Aviation Administration but efforts were postponed due to the pandemic, Zuckerman said.

Oscar Michelen of Cuomo LLC, which was awarded the request for proposal bid, said the analysis will include looking at the most recent flight plans that were instituted in the last 60 days and evaluating the concerns of incorporated villages in the town on the issue, among other things.

“What we’re seeing now is a de-

mand for more travel and with that more flights at lower altitudes creating noise,” Michelen said.

At the beginning of the meeting, many New Hyde Park residents spoke out against the Hillside Islamic Center’s plans to expand their mosque, citing unsafe parking conditions on the nearby roads.

Donna O’Callaghan, who lives on Hillside Boulevard, said expanding the mosque will put an added strain on nearby residents.

“The safety and community issues that currently exist will only be exacerbated by adding additional square feet on an already crowded corner of our community,” O’Callaghan said.

Additional residents said congregants currently double park, park in front of their driveways and fire hydrants and ignore concerns when addressed by homeowners on Hillside, North 1st, North 2nd and North 3rd Streets.

Jim McHugh questioned the in-

Continued on Page 34

PHOTO BY BRANDON DUFFY

Oscar Michelen speaks to the Nort Hempstead Town Board on Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Northwell, Langone disputes continues

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Northwell Health on Tuesday fled a motion to dismiss a suit brought against them by NYU Langone alleging that Northwell imitated Langone’s color scheme and used a similar shade of purple in their advertising and buildings.

Northwell said Langone does not own a trademark registration for any shade of purple for healthcare services and the “cherry-picked” complaint focuses only on certain advertisements to make false claims.

The healthcare provider said since their 2016 rebrand they have used multiple colors in their advertisements and marketing campaigns.

“Northwell has a history of using a variety of fonts and colors from our copyright-protected Northwell “Constellation” logo along with showcasing our accomplishments in research, education and clinical excellence to diferentiate ourselves from others in the markets,” Northwell said in a statement.

The motion to dismiss the suit said Langone’s side-by-side comparisons of both their advertisements and marketing campaigns are misleading, adding Langone picked examples that Northwell used from diferent periods in time for diferent service promotions.

Langone Senior Director of Media Relations Steve Ritea said in response to Northwell’s motion they are minimizing the issue and the “shameless

mimicry” began when Langone’s presence in Long Island began to increase, posing a perceived threat to Northwell in the region.

“In their motion, Northwell attempts to minimize their brazen copy-

ing of NYU Langone’s distinctive and recognizable advertising – including fonts, layouts, and color schemes – to confuse patients, who deserve the best care and the best outcomes,” Ritea said in a statement. “The side-by-side imag-

es in NYU Langone’s complaint speak for themselves.”

Langone frst fled the suit in June, alleging Northwell intentionally copied their “unique” color and font in multiple forms of advertising–including

billboards and digital ads–to exploit their reputation.

The lawsuit, fled in New York’s Southern District Court, accuses Northwell of engaging in “deceptive trade practices.”

Langone cited its placement in U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-2023 “Best Hospitals Honor Roll”, the top spot in New York and #3 in the nation, as evidence of its goodwill and reputation that Northwell has not achieved.

The lawsuit, which includes multiple side-by-side comparisons, alleges that Northwell has copied Langone’s advertising and marketing campaigns, color schemes, fonts, headline styles and visual identity.

“Northwell’s conduct is not only unfair, but by hitching its brand to NYU Langone, Northwell has created a likelihood of confusion as to the affliation, connection, or association of Northwell with NYU Langone, to the detriment and harm of NYU Langone,” the lawsuit said.

Attorneys for Langone claim that Northwell “has bathed” its Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead as the same or nearly the same purple that Langone uses.

Northwell, which has 16 of its 21 hospitals on Long Island, is the state’s largest health care provider with over 85,000 employees.

Langone is seeking damages, attorney fees and a permanent injunction barring Northwell from using “confusingly similar advertising.”

F.P., Nassau police cited for aid in arrests Sands partners with wellness center

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Sands New York, the newly proposed entertainment facility at the Coliseum in Uniondale featuring a casino, will now include a state-of-the-art spa and wellness amenities to aid in drawing in tourism and making the facility a global health destination.

Las Vegans Sands, the proposed developers of the facility, announced the partnership with Canyon Ranch July 27, which includes plans for a signature spa, ftness and food amenities.

Canyon Ranch provides more than 1,500 wellness services nationally, tapping into ancient techniques and modern technology. Established in 1979, the wellness pioneer has provided over four decades of services catered to nutrition, sports and performance, spa, mental health and spirituality.

“Canyon Ranch is a major draw for tourists who have come to know the brand by its unparalleled reputation in experiential wellness,” Robert Goldstein, chairman and chief executive ofcer at Sands, said.

Continued on Page 32

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The Nassau County and Floral Park Police Departments were two of 29 local and county police departments recognized for their involvement in convicting six members of a crew that committed over 200 burglaries.

New York Attorney General Letitia James acknowledged Friday the work of the Floral Park and Nassau County Police Departments in a 13-month investigation called “Operation Redline.”

Bronx men Willie Baines, Josepher Cartagena, Brandon Collazo-Rivera, Justin Herrera, Douglas Noble and Alexander Santiago, ranging in age from 23 to 47, pleaded guilty to various charges that brought in $3 million worth of goods, James said Friday.

All men received undisclosed prison sentences, prosecutors said, without getting into specifcs.

James said New York is safer after the six men, who were arrested in 2021, were brought to justice.

“The six individuals convicted and sentenced went on a crime spree that impacted businesses and residents throughout downstate New York,” James said in a statement. “These burglars left a trail of broken glass, smashed businesses, and dangerous high-speed chases in their wake. I

Continued on Page 32

Six men were sentenced for committing over 200 burglaries, including cars that were posted to social media, officials said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Advertising used by NYU Langone, left, and Northwell Health, right.

RENDERING COURTESY OF LAS VEGAS SANDS

A rendering of the Las Vegas Sands’ casino and entertainment venue proposal.

St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center®… nationally ranked in 8 adult specialties

St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® is nationally recognized by U.S. News & World Report in eight adult specialties, the most ever.

With exceptional physicians and unrivaled patient experience, St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® is nationally recognized for Heart & Vascular for the 16th consecutive year.

(866) MY-LI-DOC | chsli.org/st-francis-hospital

Woman, 81, receives new heart procedure

St. Francis Hospital performs SESAME six weeks after first operation, first in northeast

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Cardiologists at St. Francis Hospital’s Heart Center in Roslyn successfully performed a pioneering cardiac procedure called SESAME for an 81-year-old woman, the frst time the procedure was conducted in the Northeast.

SESAME is a non-invasive catheter treatment for heart repair through advanced novel techniques and specialized imaging. It was developed by Jafar Khan, director of Interventional Electro-Surgery at St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center, and individuals from the National Institutes of Health and Emory University. The procedure is currently only ofered at three healthcare facilities.

“This innovative therapy gives us an opportunity to save more lives through minimally invasive technology and clinical expertise,” Charles Lucore, president of St. Francis Hospital, said. “Our cardiologists and clinical staf are among the best in their feld, advancing cardiac procedures so patients can heal and recover, getting back to their lives.”

Khan said the imaging technology allows the physician to see where they are as they cut along the heart’s septal area – a wall that separates the right and left ventricles in the heart.

“This is one of the most promising therapies in interventional cardiology, allowing for greater precision than traditional treatment options,” Khan said.

SESAME is a less invasive alternative to open heart surgery, which lends to a diminished recovery process after the treatment.

The treatment was provided for Dorothy Lutgen, an 81-year-old woman from Stony Brook who sufers from mitral valve disease with ad-

vanced mitral annular calcifcation, two conditions that afect the heart’s ability to pump blood.

Traditionally this medical condition would be treated through open heart surgery. Due to Lutgen’s age and condition, she is considered to be high-risk and ineligible for open heart surgery.

“Our patient had no other options,” Khan said. “There are only three hospitals on the planet that ofer this treatment, and St. Francis is the only one in the Northeast.”

Lutgen underwent two procedures – SESAME and LAMPOON – which were conducted six weeks apart.

In April, Lutgen received the SESAME procedure, which opened her left ventricle for increased blood outfow. Then in late May she underwent the LAMPOON procedure in which two catheters are inserted through the patient’s groin and blood vessels and fed up until they reach the heart.

Khan said the combination of the two procedures enables space for more blood fow

through the outfow of the heart’s chamber. Khan also aided in the development of the LAMPOON procedure.

After Lutgen’s LAMPOON procedure, she was able to go home the following day. She said she is looking forward to enjoying her garden again.

Lutgen said she is grateful for the procedures and the care of St. Francis Hospital and Heart Center.

“Everything was so positive,” Lutgen said. “The entire staf knew who I was and answered all my questions. The nursing staf could not have been better! I have never met such caring people in my entire life.”

Khan worked alongside St. Francis Hospital’s expert physicians to conduct Lutgen’s procedure, including the Chairman of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery and co-chair of St. Francis Hospital’s structural heart program Newell Robinson, co-chair of St. Francis Hospital’s structural heart program George Petrossian, Director of Cardiovascular Imaging Omar Khalique, Director of Advanced Echocardiography Lin Wang and interventional cardiologist William Chung.

The procedure also utilized state-of-the-art technology available at the hospital.

Khan said the hospital’s combination of expertise and infrastructure was central to the procedure and provided the foundation for Lutgen’s procedure team to perform with “great agility.”

St. Francis Hospital and Heart Center is the only ACC HeartCARE Center designated facility in the region, including New York City’s fve boroughs, Long Island and Westchester. The facility recently garnered the designation by The American College of Cardiology.

Nassau OKs purchase of text-to-911 interface

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Nassau County is one step closer to implementing 911 text services, allowing residents to text the emergency service provider in incidents where calling is not possible.

The text-to-911 services will transfer text messages to 911 to the Nassau County Police Department’s current Computer Aided Dispatch system.

The text-to-911 service would be available 24/7 and provide for individuals who are unable to call the emergency services number. This includes individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, have a limited profciency in the English language or are in situations where frst responders need to be reached in a discreet manner, such as in an active shooter, hostage or domestic violence situation.

As of now, the only way Nassau County residents can contact 911 is via a phone call.

Penalties for misusing textto-911 services are the same for misuse of the current phone services.

The program’s implementation would be overseen by the Nassau

County Police Department commissioner and the Nassau County Fire Marshal.

This will be done in conjunction with feedback and guidance from disability rights advocates, which includes the Nassau County Disability Advisory Council.

Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D–Glen Cove) introduced the legislation to implement the new services.

“It is essential for our emergency response capabilities to keep up with the latest technology so that our courageous frst responders can protect public safety to the best of their abilities,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “Not only will implementing text-to-911 accomplish that goal, it gives Nassau County residents a powerful and discrete, and accessible tool for alerting police ofcers to a crisis. I am sure that launching a text-to-911 program will save lives, provide language access capabilities and give us all a little extra peace of mind in a tumultuous world.”

Within hours after DeRiggiWhitton fled the legislative proposal, the county administration fled a $106,417 purchase order for Nassau’s text-to-911 custom interface

with the Intergraph Corporation.

Text-to-911 has already been implemented in numerous counties in the state, including neighboring Sufolk County.

Nassau County is required to implement the 911 text services by Sept. 15 due to a May lawsuit settlement that alleged the county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The lawsuit was fled in January 2017 by Disability Rights New York who alleged that the county’s 911 services violated the act as it failed to provide accessible options for individuals with hearing loss.

“911 must be available and accessible to everyone,” Disability Rights New York Executive Director Timothy Clune said in a press release. “Without text-to-911, those who are unable to orally communicate their need for emergency services are left without critical assistance when they need it most. In 2023, this technology should have already been implemented statewide.”

Due to the upcoming deadline, the Nassau County Legislature is on schedule to approve the proposal at its next meeting on Monday.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL AND HEART CENTER

Dorothy Lutgen received the cutting-edge cardiac procedure SESAME at St. Francis Hospital and Heart Center, one of three facilities offering the procedure.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton introduced legislation that would enact text-to-911 services in the county.

Port resident Mullins sentenced to prison

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Edward Mullins, the former head of the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association and a Port Washington resident, was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for stealing $600,000 from the organization.

Mullins, who was first elected in 2002, was charged with wire fraud in February 2022 and pleaded guilty earlier this year, admitting his involvement in a scheme to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars from the association by submitting falsified expense reports.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Mullins stole from the pockets of the NYPD sergeants he vowed to protect and represent.

“Behind the scenes, Mullins stole from the SBA and its members, treating the SBA as his personal piggy bank,” Williams said in a statement. “In doing so, Mullins disgraced his uniform, broke the law, and undermined the public’s trust in law enforcement. As today’s sentence demonstrates, no one — not even highranking union bosses — is above the law.”

Mullins said Thursday he is “a shell of the man he used to be” and must surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prison by Nov. 10, The New York Times reported.

“Life has completely crashed around me, and given me much time to think,” The New York Times reported.

Around September 2017, officials said, Mullins defrauded the association by using his personal credit card to pay for various luxury items and meals at high-end restaurants before submitting the inflated expense reports for reimbursement.

In one instance, officials said, Mullins submitted an expense report to the association’s treasurer for a $3,000 meal at a Manhattan res-

taurant, when the meal had no relevance to police work. Mullins also rarely included receipts when seeking reimbursements, according to officials.

Mullins was ultimately reimbursed for more than $1 million, a majority of which was fraudulently obtained, officials said.

Mullins earned more than $220,000 from his job at the NYPD in 2020, according to public data. The Sergeants Benevolent Association manages a $264 million retirement fund and its 13,000 members make it the fifth-largest police union in the nation, according to the group’s website.

Mullins, who served as a member of the NYPD since 1982, had his Port Washington home and the union’s Manhattan office raided by FBI agents in September 2021.

Mullins resigned shortly after the raids.

Jane Doe No. 7 ID’d as N. Shore native

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Nearly three decades after her disappearance, the FBI has identified Gilgo Beach victim “Fire Island Jane Doe” as former Glen Head resident Karen Vergata, the Suffolk County district attorney announced at a press briefing Friday.

The investigation was conducted by Gilgo Task Force, a multi-agency task force responsible for investigating the Gilgo Beach murders.

“Today we are here to announce that as part of the Gilgo Task Force re-examination of all the evidence in the case, we were able to identify ‘Fire Island Jane Doe’ as Karen Vergata,” DA Raymond Tierney said.

In August 2022, Tierney said DNA that could be used for genealogical comparison was developed from Vergata’s remains. In September, the FBI identified Vergata through a genetic genealogy review. In October, a cheek swab from a relative of Vergata definitively identified the “Fire Island Jane Doe” as Vergata.

Tierney said there are no charges at this time for the murder of Vergata, whose partial remains were found on Fire Island in 1996 and at Tobay Beach in 2011.

as Karen Vergata, a former North Shore resident. Continued on Page 35

Suffolk County District Attorney announced Friday that the “Fire Island Jane Doe” was

WOUNDED WARRIORS

Name

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SBA

Ed Mullins, of Port Washington. pictured in 2017.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SUFFOLK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

identified

DENNIS TUFANO

BOBBY WILSON

MANHATTAN SKYLINE

Nassau GOP silent as democracy is attacked

One of the many things that stand out in the 45-page indictment fled against former President Donald Trump last week detailing his attempt to overturn the 2020 election is the people who have provided the evidence – Republicans.

This includes the former vice president, senior leaders of the Justice Department, the director of National Intelligence, the director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Agency, senior White House attorneys, senior stafers on Trump’s 2020-election campaign, and state legislators and offcials, according to the indictment.

Some voluntarily appeared as early as the House Jan. 6 committee. Others had to be subpoenaed by the special counsel. But all were Republicans, including many appointed by Trump who hurt their professional careers by testifying.

They provided the evidence in the indictment fled by Special Counsel Jack Smith in Federal District Court in Washington showing three conspiracies — to defraud the United States; to obstruct an ofcial government proceeding to certify the Electoral College vote; and to deprive people of a civil right to have their votes counted.

Trump was also charged with a fourth count of obstructing or attempting to obstruct an ofcial proceeding.

The indictment details how Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, knew he failed to win re-election, but in an effort to remain in power spread lies that he knew were false in an efort to overturn the 2020 presidential election – “a bedrock function of the United States government.”

In other words, Trump attempted a coup. Doubt us? Read the indictment.

We are thankful for the Republicans who stood up to defend this country’s democracy.

We wish we could say the same for the many Republicans in Congress in New York and across the country who stayed silent or even defended Trump.

Ignoring what many witnessed in person, GOP members of Congress have

downplayed the indictment as they have two previous indictments against Trump – over hush money in New York and classifed documents in Mar-a-Lago.

House leader Kevin McCarthy (RCA) called Jan. 6 his “saddest day” in Congress and said Trump “bears responsibility” for what happened at the time.

But following the Jan. 6 indictment McCarthy sought to defect the public’s attention by pointing to House eforts to investigate President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, over the family’s fnances, which has yet to fnd any wrongdoing.

New York Republicans, including all Long Island GOP ofcials, have remained mum on the Jan. 6 indictment with the exception of U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, an upstate Republican who is seen as a possible running mate for Trump.

“Today is yet another dark day in America as Joe Biden continues to weaponize his corrupt Department of Justice against his leading political opponent,” Stefanik said in a statement on Twitter.

This is simply untrue.

Unlike Trump, Biden has not been seen to have any role in the operations of the Justice Department.

Stefanik apparently forgets how Trump incited a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as part of his efort to stop the counting of the vote and overturn the election. Do the rest of the state’s Republicans feel the same?

Stefanik’s comment is yet another attack by the GOP on the FBI, the Justice Department and the courts in America. This from a party that once touted itself as the party of law and order.

GOP Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (NY4) and George Santos (NY-3), whose districts include all or some of Nassau County, are among the many Republicans missing by saying nothing yet about the indictments against Trump.

The Republicans’ silence on the Jan. 6 indictments is in contrast with their response to the 37-count indictment fled against Trump for allegedly stealing documents belonging to the American people from the White House and bringing them to his beach club at Mara-Lago.

22 Planting Field Road, Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 Phone: 516-307-1045

The documents included nuclear secrets and military plans for an attack on Iran, which were stored in ballrooms, storage rooms and bathrooms at the resort.

The charges, which stem from the Espionage Act, include obstruction of justice, willful retention of national defense information and more recently a scheme to conceal security footage from investigators.

Trump has repeatedly said the Presidential Records Act of 1978 gives him the right to keep the records. This is the opposite of the truth. The act “establishes public ownership of all presidential records.”

Did New York Republicans point this out? Did they criticize Trump for violating federal law and jeopardizing some of the nation’s most sensitive national secrets?

No, they slammed the indictment as a Democratic “witch hunt” intended to sway the 2024 election.

Long Island Rep. Nick Laota (NY-1) tried to minimize the charges by pointing to former presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s email server.

Former Trump-endorsed New York gubernatorial candidate and Congressman Lee Zeldin – who has already backed the 45th president’s third White House bid – accused the Department of Justice of “double standards.”

D’Esposito, a former New York City detective who has repeatedly cited his support of law and order, remained relatively tight-lipped on the conspiracy charges to overturn the presidential election.

“While our ofce continues to monitor the situation, [the] congressman’s focus remains on delivering meaningful tax relief to New Yorkers and fghting for safe streets,” spokesperson Matt Capp told The New York Post.

Somehow we don’t see how ignoring charges that the former president stole nuclear secrets and stored them at his beach club makes us safer.

And why no comment from Republicans on an attack on the Capitol in which more than 40 police ofcers were injured and the lives of members of Congress and the vice president were threatened?

Santos, who has proclaimed innocence in the face of a 13-count federal indictment for fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements, took a tougher stand in defense of Trump.

“Another indictment of President Donald J. Trump will not gaslight the American People into abandoning the greatest champion of freedom this great young nation has ever known.” Santos tweeted on his campaign account.

Santos was present at the “Stop

the Steal” rally at which Trump urged attendees to march on the Capitol. The congressman said he later gave money to lawyers defending those charged on the assault on the capitol.

D’Esposito was more critical of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, prior to the New York DA’s announcing a 34-county indictment against Trump for lying on his business records about a $130,000 hush-money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in the fnal days of the 2016 presidential campaign.

D’Esposito called the DA’s action to enforce laws against fling false business statements in the fnance capital of the world a “political witch” hunt Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who served as the Nassau County Republican Party’s liaison to the Trump campaign in 2020, described the then-expected indictment against former Trump as a “political and malicious prosecution” – fve days before it was announced by Bragg.

But Blakeman has said nothing about the espionage charges or the Jan. 6 indictments against the man he sought to elect.

His silence is unacceptable. So is the silence of D’Esposito, Santos and the other New York congressmen on the conspiracy Trump is charged with leading to overturn the 2020 election.

Continued on Page 39

Rudy Giuliani: America’s mayor no more

Like most Americans, I found solace in New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s outstanding leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack against America. It led to his well-deserved designation as “America’s Mayor.”

Twenty-two years later and his widely-embraced moniker is tarnished beyond recognition.

No, it is not about political affliation or embarrassing moments like sweating streams of hair dye at a press conference or appearing as a dupe in a Sasha Baron Cohen flm.

None of that invalidates his honorary title. However, targeting innocent election workers by falsely accusing them of election fraud in order to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power is another matter altogether.

His false allegations of fraud against Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and daughter Shaye Moss led to death threats against these women who did nothing wrong. There is absolutely no evidence to support his claims, which have been repeatedly disproven and discredited by Georgia election ofcials.

His false charges were used as fod-

der for Trump in his Jan. 2, 2021 call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Rafensberger, in which he was pressured to “fnd 11,780 votes” to change the state’s election result in Trump’s favor.

During the call, Trump singled out Ruby Freeman, calling the 62-yearold grandmother a “professional vote scammer” who “stufed the ballot boxes.”

“Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States to target you? The president of the United States is supposed to represent every American. Not to target one,” Freeman said. “He targeted me. A proud American citizen who stood up to help Fulton County run an election in the middle of a pandemic.” Like his cold-blooded benefactor, America’s Mayor appears to be unencumbered by guilt or shame.

In their 2021 study “Anatomy of a Death Threat,” Reuters News documented more than 850 threatening and hostile messages directed at election workers and ofcials. The threats were associated with Donald Trump’s false claim that the election he lost was rigged and stolen.

Fast forward to a court fling on

July 25, 2023, America’s Mayor confessed that he “falsely accused Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, of mishandling ballots during the 2020 election. As a result of his accusations, Freeman and Moss fled a defamation lawsuit against Giuliani,” reported Valencia Jones for CW69 Atlanta.

“Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss honorably performed their civic duties in the 2020 presidential election in full compliance with the law; and the allegations of election fraud he and

former-President Trump made against them have been false since day one,” remarked their lead attorney Michael J. Gottlieb.

America’s Mayor, whose law license was suspended in New York, faces additional defamation lawsuits regarding his claims of voter fraud against Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic.

America’s Mayor is a spineless bully who used the power of the White House to crush the lives of two innocent African American women, bringing fear and trauma into their lives. They have been subjected to doxing (publishing identifying information about them with ill-intention), suspicious looks by neighbors, death threats, menacing banging on their doors all hours of the day and night, seriously compromising their peace and mental health.

After reviewing several threatening messages to election ofcials, Georgetown University law professor Erica Hashimoto stated, “I’d be terrifed by some of these messages, but if it’s protected by the First Amendment, there’s basically nothing you can do about it.

How it makes a person feel doesn’t

really make a diference.” However, advises the Brennan Center for Justice, there is a civil rights law that could be used to indict those who interfere with one’s voting rights.

The law (Section 241 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code) dates to the Reconstruction era. Its focus is on criminalizing conspiracies that “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person from freely exercising a constitutional right.”

These were the frst of several Enforcement Acts known as the Ku Klux Klan Acts that were enacted to authorize the federal government to protect the civil and political rights of individuals.

“The law doesn’t require a conspiracy to be successful for it to be considered a crime,” Brennan Center reporters Sean Morales-Doyle and Gabriella Sanchez explain.

“While historically used to prosecute the Klan for deterring Black Americans from exercising their voting rights, the law has been applied to punish broader eforts to subvert election outcomes for over a century,” eforts like those undertaken by America’s Mayor, they said.

America’s Mayor no more.

Summer 2023 reading for political junkies

Here are books I recommend political junkies read while vacationing:

“The Rough Rider and The Professor: The Friendship That Changed American History” by Laurence Jurdem. This is a delightful book that describes the 35-year friendship between President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) and Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge Sr. (18501924).

Lodge, a Harvard professor who went on to serve 24 years in the U.S. Senate, was a renowned Boston Brahmin. He was a subject of the Massachusetts ditty: “And this is good old Boston, the home of the bean and the cod, where the Lowells speak only to Cabots, and the Cabots speak only to God.”

While Roosevelt was a member of New York’s upper crust, he was also a cowboy—literally and fguratively. Unlike the staid Lodge, Roosevelt was impulsive and that trait led to his ill-advised run for president as the candidate of the Bull Moose Party in 1912.

What is surprising is that these two men, despite their diferent personalities, revered each other. Lodge not only advised Roosevelt but helped him obtain

posts in government on his road to the White House.

While they had a political breakup in 1912, it was later patched up due to their mutual distaste of President Woodrow Wilson.

“King: A Life” by Jonathan Eig. This book will be the defnitive life of Martin Luther King for years to come. The previous King biographer, David Garrow, conceded that Eig’s work “will succeed my own, “Bearing the Cross,” published in 1986, as the standard account.”

Eig is a top-rate writer of narrative history—which is rare these days. His work is balanced, utilizing recently released FBI Files.

He gives us a picture of an extraordinarily gifted man. King was a great leader and a brilliant strategist.

During the 12 years he led the Civil Rights Movement, King managed relationships with John and Bobby Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson, to procure passage of civil and Voting Rights Acts.

Unfortunately, after King’s death, at the hands of an assassin in 1968, his movement was taken over by radicals, including Huey Newton, Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis.

It is not too often I agree with Barack Obama, but in this case we both have John Eig’s “King” on our recommended reading list.

“The Biden Malaise: How America Bounces Back from Joe Biden’s Repeat of the Jimmy Carter Years” by Kimberly Strassel. In my judgment, The Wall Street Journal’s Kimberley Strassel is Washington’s top columnist. She has a “jeweler’s eye” when it comes to detecting the fol-

lies of the Capital’s Progressive Establishment.

In “The Biden Malaise,” Strassel persuasively argues that President Biden, like President Carter in the mid-1970s, “has mired the country in weakness, infation, and political unease.” And she lays out a plan of action Conservatives would be wise to follow in the 2024 election cycle.

“Abraham Lincoln: Redeemer President” (Revised Edition) by Allen C. Guelzo. The greatest intellectual historian of our time, Dr. Guelzo, is presently the director of The Institute on Politics and Statesmanship for Princeton’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

We are fortunate that Guelzo has devoted his academic career to examining the role of ideas in Abraham Lincoln’s life. His seven books on Lincoln reveal that the 16th president was a deep thinker concerning the political, religious, and cultural issues of his day.

“Redeemer President,” an awardwinning book, is the story of Lincoln’s faith and intellectual life.

Though Lincoln was, Guelzo writes, “practical as a politician and wise as a ser-

pent while harmless as a dove, he nevertheless took certain principles of natural law (especially the ones captured in the Declaration of Independence) as his nonnegotiables, and regarded the price paid for them as only what we must expect as the price paid for sin to a just God.”

“Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers are Destroying America’s Communities” by Zack Smith and Charles D. Stimson. The two former federal prosecutors vividly describe what radical leftist district attorneys, elected with $40 million of George Soros money, have wrought on their towns and cities.

In the eight Soros DA cities examined in the book, “there have been at least an additional 3,090 homicides, 3,580 rapes, 7,500 robberies, 14,800 motor vehicle thefts, countless thousands of non-fatal shooting victims, and hundreds of thousands of other crimes (and victims) in those cities between 2015 and 2021. And of those 3,090 extra murders over 75% of the victims were minorities.”

“Rogue Prosecutors” should be read by every citizen and elected ofcial committed to the rule of law.

Happy reading during your summer vacation.

Heights,

11577.

Sports, politics is a marriage made in hell

When a team decides to ignore the National Anthem, it’s a problem. And when the stage happens to be an international event, it’s a much bigger problem. I think that’s what the U.S. National Women’s Team discovered this week down in Australia during the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The incident in question occurred during the playing of the national anthem prior to their match against Vietnam. It is customary for the athletes to rise, put their right hand on their heart and sing the national anthem along with the crowd. Apparently beforehand the U.S. Women’s National Team decided to ignore this national ritual out of protest about transgender discrimination in women’s sports.

There are many other astounding examples of professional athletes using their platform to protest injustice.

In recent years we watched as the NFL San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the national anthem before games.

The mother of all sport protests dates back 55 years at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City when John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised black-gloved fsts during the playing of our national anthem. In that case they were protesting the way Blacks were being treated in America. They were immediately expelled from the Olympic Village and returned home to be greeted with death threats.

Comedian Roseann Barr’s reputation was forever tainted after she screeched out the national anthem at an MLB game and fnished the song by grabbing her crotch and spitting at the booing crowd. This was almost as insane as when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in the face during the Os-

cars because Rock made a joke about alopecia, a medical condition his wife sufered with.

When a celebrity professional athlete uses the sporting stage to protest some perceived political injustice, it

EARTH MATTERS

is typically seen to be a display of arrogance, self-indulgence and highly inappropriate.

The audience at any sporting event is there to watch artistry and excellence and not to be taught a political lesson.

My guess is that the U.S. National Women’s Team was distracted enough by all of the political turmoil they created to be ousted by Sweden in the round of 16, a stunning surprise for a team that was supposed to win the whole thing.

The truth of all this is that the corporations and television sponsors that support these teams have no moral stake in any of this. They are uniformly driven by money and the proft motive. And when the viewers who are the customers of these stations and companies are unhappy, that means the corporations are unhappy.

And that means that the athletes who choose to protest publicly this way had better realize that the money and the world stage upon which they perform could be pulled out from under them at a moment’s notice.

When I observe these public relation nightmares unfold, I always sympathize with the agents and handlers who are behind the curtains. The lawyers and agents silently watch in helpless agony as their celebrity stars self-implode before their very eyes. Athletes are usually young. The young are strong and fexible and flled with energy. But youth also comes with a profound lack of wisdom. It’s fne to uphold justice and to be selfrighteous, but you had better have enough saved up for a rainy day. And as far as the U.S. National Women’s Team goes, the rainy day has just arrived.

Is that really toilet paper on the potatoes?

As part of a comprehensive plan to recycle more of the state’s solid waste stream, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed to greatly increase the rate of spreading sewage sludge on New York’s farmland.

Sewage sludge is a semi-solid mix of human excrement, toilet paper, household products that go down drains and industrial waste that water treatment plants produce. It’s expensive to dispose of and nationally about 60% of this partially treated waste product is sold or even given away as “biosolid” fertilizer because it contains nutrients for plant growth.

Meanwhile, the State of Maine proposed and passed legislation to do the exact opposite — to ban sewage sludge fertilizer from being spread on farms after environmental ofcials discovered very high levels of per-and polyfuorinated substances (PFAS) in water, soil, crops, and animals on farms where biosolids had been spread. High PFAS levels were also detected in the milk from cows pastured on treated felds.

PFAS are a class of about 12,000 chemicals used to make thousands of consumer and industrial products resis-

tant to water, stain and grease. They are called “forever chemicals” because they never break down, and they are linked to serious illnesses, including several types of cancer, liver disease, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, and damage to the health of pregnant women and babies.

Currently, Maine is investigating several hundred farms with felds where PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge was spread in recent years. If these farms test positive for PFAS, the land will be considered permanently contaminated and banned for agricultural use of any kind. Several farms have already been shuttered, leaving farmers in fnancial ruin.

PFAS are arguably one of today’s most signifcant public health issues as they are ubiquitous and to date very poorly controlled. Regulatory agencies are scrambling to set standards for drinking water and to limit commercial and consumer usage, but this is no easy task. PFAS compounds are carcinogenic in just a few parts per trillion. That’s comparable to just a few grains of salt in an Olympic sized swimming pool.

While New York is not testing for PFAS contamination on our farms, random testing of biosolids in several

PATTI WOOD Earth Matters

wastewater treatment plants across the state found PFAS in every one. Nevertheless, the Department of Environmental Conservation has not tested the land where this sludge was spread nor has it informed the landowners or farmers of the risk. And it only recently decided to expand its testing of sewage sludge for PFAS.

Farmers in New York today can easily and legally purchase sewage, sludgebased fertilizer and compost products

from private companies. Gardeners, landscapers, municipalities and school districts can do so as well. The DEC provides no warning.

In 2021, New York joined the growing national trend of prioritizing soil health with the Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act that “declared the policy of the Legislature to promote the health and resiliency of New York’s agricultural soils, including the biological, physical, and chemical components of such soils, to sustain agricultural plants and animals, produce a healthy, afordable food supply, promote climate resilient farming and the reduction of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, and further protect and promote natural resources and the health, safety and welfare of the people of this state.” New York State’s current proposal fies in the face of this important and protective declaration.

Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter has produced a comprehensive report outlining the toxicity of PFAS and the irreversible impacts PFAS contamination will have on agriculture and drinking water sources in New York State and the urgency to take protective actions immediately to prevent any spreading of biosolids or sewage sludge on farmland in New York.

Their most urgent actions include, but are not limited to:

Banning the spreading of sewage sludge in any form on felds and farms and end the production, sale and distribution of any products containing sewage sludge due to strong evidence of their widespread contamination with PFAS.Monitoring and testing of wastewater treatment plant efuent for PFAS. Prohibiting wastewater treatment plants from accepting landfll leachate, unless PFAS contaminants are destroyed or removed beforehand.Banning the practice of mixing food waste (a relatively clean organic feedstock) with sewage sludge. Directing the DEC to test for PFAS in soil, water and agricultural products grown where sewage sludge-based soil amendments are known to have been spread.

To see the full version of the report, visit https://atlantic2.sierraclub.org

If you feel passionate about the safety of our water and food, please contact Gov. Hochul by phone (518-474-8390) or e-mail www.governor.ny.gov/content/ governor-contact-form and tell her of the dire consequences of her proposal to address our solid waste excess by spreading PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge across our state.

Nassau GOP officials silent as democracy attacked

Continued from Page 14

As are their eforts to distract the public from charges related to Trump jeopardizing the country’s national security and obstructing the FBI investigation.

In not joining the Republican offcials in Trump’s administration who told the truth, New York Republicans are the former president’s accomplic-

es in this assault on democracy. Yes, they may face a political price for telling the truth.

But what is more important — their careers or our democracy?

The Republican ofcials are joined by MAGA-friendly media, which have helped spread the lies about Jan. 6. Doubt us? Just check Fox News’ $787.5 million settlement

with Dominion Voting Systems and how top-rated hosts lied to their viewers to protect their ratings.

This, in part, explains how nearly 75% of Republicans, according to a recent New York Times/Siena poll, do not believe that Trump committed a serious crime.

Of course, voters are also responsible.

Some are people who have been misled. Others clearly are being fed what they want to hear, true or not. And still others may just prefer autocracy over democracy.

The New York Times/Siena poll also showed that 17 percent of voters who prefer Trump over Biden think either that he has committed serious federal crimes or that he threatened

democracy with his actions after the 2020 election.

They are among those who Trump incited to attack the Capitol. For those who do believe in democracy, don’t listen to the pundits or what you see on social media. Read instead the indictment for yourself. The fate of your country may depend on it.

DR. TOM FERRARO Our Town

Do we need to mask, social distance again?

On the day, July 28, that Newsday reported a doubling in the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations and infections from just the prior month, the Nassau County executive was doing his almost daily feel-good photo op, sending of the 2023 NYS Little League Champion Massapequa Coast team to compete for the Metro Region Championship.

Blakeman took ofce in the midst of the Omnicron spike, declaring “COVID is over. Nassau is back in business.” And his policies since have shown his priorities.

Newsday’s report noted that it is not yet known whether the uptick is due to waning immunity from vaccinations or prior infections or whether this is a new variant. But don’t you think our Health Department should make an efort to fgure it out? And shouldn’t they be encouraging people to get boosted (as of March 2023 only 39% of Nassau residents were fully vaccinated).

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who hopes to become president so he can do to the United States what he has done to Florida, is so proud of his coronavirus pandemic denial, he actually made it illegal for cruise lines to require passengers and crew to be vaccinated and has since signed a permanent ban of COVID mandates. (Note: leprosy and malaria have both inconveniently emerged in Florida.)

A Trump-appointed Florida federal judge went so far as to overrule the concept of “public health” and the government’s ability to keep people safe from a highly infectious deadly disease.

The Brookings Institution, a non-

proft public policy center, estimated that 70 percent of COVID deaths were “needlessly” caused by Trump’s lackadaisical, devil-may-care attitude toward coronavirus (“Not so infectious!” “60,000 die from fu each year, who knew?” “Herd Immunity!”), and his disparaging the very vaccine he spent $10 billion on Operation Warp Speed to develop. But he had no plan to actually vaccinate people and obstructed the incoming Biden administration from getting a head start, while touting horse medicine and drinking bleach.

Trump’s plan, which amounted to “do nothing,” was that herd immunity would end the virus all by itself – no matter that estimates put the number of deaths at 2 million (over 1 million Americans have died for 20% of 5 million deaths worldwide), people can get reinfected and new variants are emerging all the time.

Signifcantly, of the 128 million Americans who have had COVID, 28 percent sufer the often debilitating, life-altering efects of Long COVID (USAFacts.org), as many as four million of whom are too sick to work (https://www.brookings.edu/articles/new-data-shows-long-covid-iskeeping-as-many-as-4-million-peopleout-of-work/)

In fact, despite being the richest nation and the most robust economy, where we all beneftted from free testing, free masks, free vaccinations, the United States lags the world in the rate of vaccination: only 80% of Americans have gotten vaccinated, only 68% boosted, putting us well behind Macau, Brunei, UAE, Qatar, Nepal, Chile, the list goes on. (https:// www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/

KAREN RUBIN View Point

world/covid-vaccinations-tracker. html)

“The diferences in excess mortality by political party afliation after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults suggest that diferences in vaccination attitudes and reported uptake between Republican and Democratic voters may have been a factor in the severity and trajectory of the pandemic in the U.S.,” according to a Yale study cited in the New Republic, “Covid-19 Vaccine Politics Linked to Excess Republican Deaths: Study”. (https://newrepublic.com/ post/174574/covid-19-vaccine-politics-linked-excess-republican-deathsstudy)

A recent New York Times investigation pointed to some 16,000 “excess” deaths and 61,000 hospitalizations in Florida that could have been avoided had DeSantis not discouraged vaccinations (only 60 percent of adults were vaccinated instead of reaching 74 percent) – a number that

READERS WRITE

is likely too low since DeSantis fred and jailed the woman who was keeping score. (The Steep Cost of Ron DeSantis’s Vaccine Turnabout, https:// www.nytimes.com/2023/07/22/us/ politics/ron-desantis-covid.html)

The politicization of the pandemic was due to a calculation that taking steps to protect public health would adversely impact the economy and therefore political success (remember Texas Lt. Governor Dan Paxton saying grandparents would be willing to die to save the economy for their grandchildren?).

But the ongoing impact of the coronavirus – or any future pandemic — has much more damaging impacts on the economy: an actual decline in longevity, the ongoing cost to America’s health care system, not to mention lost productivity of 25 million people aficted with long COVID. These would seem to outweigh the short-term economic impacts of a lockdown, expanded unemployment benefts and economic relief (which actually has helped keep the U.S. economy strong and people in their homes and jobs) of COVID-19.

The $2 trillion in relief funding, the moratorium on evictions and student loan repayments and the increase in child tax credit kept people in their homes and out of poverty, kept them on track to career, college, retirement, as opposed to derailing their future. The U.S. economy has remained the most robust in the world.

On the other hand, ongoing infestation of politicizing public health will impact how this nation, this state, this county and this community handles the inevitable next pandemic.

President Biden who came into

ofce focused on saving lives (he is credited with saving 2 million lives), devising the most expansive vaccination program in history, making vaccinations, tests, masks, treatments widely available at no cost and has created the Ofce of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy to deal with known and unknown biological threats or pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or to signifcant public health-related disruptions in the United States.

We assume we can just go about our lives normally – not wear masks, not bother to get boosted – because, after all, our government would tell us otherwise, wouldn’t they?

We posed questions to both County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Health Commissioner Dr. Irma Gelman about the rise in coronavirus rates, whether there is concern and what the county is doing about it, which were not answered by press time. Gelman’s spokesperson said her ofce was not allowed to answer press queries. (Nassau County has a website but it is not clear what the data is measuring: https://www. nassaucountyny.gov/5339/COVID19-Data-Resources)

What is the role of a health commissioner if not to inform people to either allay concerns or encourage people to take precautions?

I don’t know if there is a need to mask up or keep socially distant. What I do know is that I can’t trust County Executive Blakeman to tell me.

Every candidate for every ofce, from president, to governor, to county executive to town supervisor to mayor should be asked this question: How will you handle the next pandemic?

2023 is the year of congressional hearings

What do UFOs, LIV Golf, artifcial intelligence, and IRS whistleblowers all have in common? They are just a few of the subjects addressed in the more than 1,000 congressional hearings held in 2023 thus far. While the number of congressional hearings held each year can vary widely depending on factors such as legislative agenda, issues requiring oversight and the political climate, the 118th Congress is on pace to be one of the busiest on record.

For most of us, these hearings can be frustrating to watch. The amount of political grandstanding and flibustering that occurs can leave the average person exhausted – and the fact

that few result in a new law causes one to become disinterested in the entire process. Having said all this, congressional hearings play an essential role in promoting democratic principles, accountability and public engagement, and are more than just a distinctive feature of the US government. The frequency and openness of these hearings, combined with their unique scope and powers, distinguishes the U.S. government from all other countries and serve to protect, We the People.

For congressional members, hearings remain an essential part of the legislative process because they allow for lawmakers to gather information useful in their decision-making. For

U.S. citizens, open hearings on policy matters allow us to witness elected ofcials in action and listen to expert testimony frsthand. This level of accessibility underscores the principles of transparency into the legislative process and public engagement.

Equally as important, hearings are a vehicle for congressional members to fulfll their oversight responsibilities. Congressional committees have signifcant powers of investigation, including issuing subpoenas, compelling witnesses to testify under oath, and accessing sensitive documents – all required tools for achieving accountability and providing public awareness.

While other countries may have

their own forms of legislative scrutiny, the scale and visibility of U.S. congressional hearings is unparalleled. We do ourselves a disservice when we fail to appreciate this powerful mechanism

that citizens in other countries would welcome the opportunity to have.

Jim Toes Manhasset

OMNY fare collection system late out of the gate

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA Chairman Janno Lieber’s celebration of the billionth rider using the OMNY fare payment to board the New York City Transit subway system today was premature. In 2017, the MTA awarded a $573 million contract to Cubic Transportation Systems to replace the Metro Card. New OMNY (One Metro New York) fare collection technology was originally promised to be coming on line between 2019 and 2023. This date has come and gone. OMNY was designed to speed up passenger boarding. Its primary purpose is to replace the MetroCard, which New Yorkers have used to swipe since 1993 into the MTA New York City subway, bus and Staten Island Railway transit systems.In 2022, the MTA lost over $600 million to fare evasion. There is no indication in 2023 that this fnancial loss will be signifcantly re-

duced. Neither Hochul nor Lieber is able to explain how the introduction of OMNY in coming years will end routine fare evasion as it continues to fourish today.

Over the past few years, there has been a series of MTA management changes, programming challenges and changing priorities that have all contributed to project implementation delays.

Over time, the base contract cost for installation of the new OMNY fare system has grown to $645 million. It has also fallen several years behind the original agreed-upon base line schedule between the MTA and contractor. The project is currently $130 million over budget.

Who knows what additional costs may be incurred in coming years? The MTA has never made public any agreedupon, detailed recovery schedule from the contractor. This would indicate week by week, month by month and year by

Invisible cities

“The city exists and it has a simple secret: it knows only departures, not returns.” Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino

A full moon shines through the window gnawing at the bones of sleep. The ocean breeze doesn’t always arrive to cool things of, so the window is wide open even in July. It’s simple, no AC where I’m staying which was once an old stable for a manor.

All is silent after the last car drives away, when the din of house parties and the bars farther down in town close you can hear a pin drop. In the stillness, dew dropping softly from the trees rustling the leaves make an echo.

On such nights I’d sometimes stir and walk the 20 minutes to Council Rock, a large white-quartz boulder that’s luminous in streaming sunlight and moonlight. Years later I can still see it with my eyes closed.

I can understand why the Indians gathered on this hill from across the island, overlooking a pond and the ocean, to meet and discuss their important business. Before the last groups disbanded and all was lost to time and memory.

From here they would have seen the frst tall white-mast ships arrive like clouds foating on the water, though of course not known the signifcance. And the idea of cities was unknown to them, beyond living frames of reference.

Something diferent crossed the threshold, like a gripping wind that wanted to swallow everything even the bones. There was no shelter from that wind.

There is no way to see through the haze, like fog rolling in of the ocean it envelops everything. Even the present is distant, far away, hidden in the depths.

I sometimes wonder how we came to be here and am not surprised things don’t turn out as expected. If I had thought to uncover something in the depths that country is beyond me. There are no bones. But there’s always a border and a threshold, just no one knows where.

Stephen Cipot Garden City Park/Montauk, 2006

year how the lost time would be made up. It would include resource allocations by the contractor and the MTA to meet the latest recovery schedule.

The MTA is incurring additional costs for its own project management staf and McKissack, its own independent engineering consulting frm, providing additional oversight of the contractor for several years beyond what was anticipated. Will the MTA fle a claim with the contractor for compensation of these costs?

Costs may continue to grow based upon any change orders due to unforeseen site conditions or last- minute changes in technology or scope requested by maintenance or operations groups to the base contracts during the course of construction. Long Island Rail Road and Metro North Rail Road may not reach substantial completion for installation

and use of OMNY until late 2025.This will be followed by benefcial use, completion of inspection and acceptance for all work to insure it conforms to contract specifcations, punch list items, receipt of asset maintenance plans, followed by release of retainage, and fnal payment to the contractor(s). Contractors may submit delay claims against the MTA for insufcient facility access, NYC Transit, Long Island or Metro North staf support. Commuters and taxpayers may never know the true fnal cost for OMNY for several more years after the system is in full use agency wide.

Another critical failure of OMNY that Gov. Hochul, MTA Chairman Lieber or their predecessors never acknowledge is the failure to come to any agreement for integration of OMNY with NJ Transit, Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) subway and NYC Economic Development Corpo-

ration Private Ferry fare collection systems. The MTA’s previous plans to phase out the MetroCard in 2023 have been delayed until at least 2025. A majority of riders are still using the Metro Card vs. OMNY. While almost 50% of subway riders are using OMNY, far fewer are doing the same for those commuters boarding New York City Transit Bus, Manhattan Bronx Surface Bus Authority and MTA Bus. MTA’s OMNY trials and tribulations will continue for years to come.

Larry Penner Great Neck

Larry Penner is a transportation advocate, historian and writer who previously served as a former Director for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 New York Ofce of Operations and Program Management.

Where is Nassau GOP leading us?

The Republican Party has historically been committed to national security, global stability, law and order, small government and limited regulation as a rational marketplace equilibrium.

Yet today’s Republican Party is taking on water. I am concerned.

Swept into a maelstrom by MAGA extremists and a “get crazy” politics resembling “the Mods” & “the Rockers,” British thug gangs of 1960, MAGA Republicans lie well beyond the pale of rational deliberation and thought. It is a wildeyed pack of sans- culottes which, if they are unchecked, spell disaster for American Democracy.

I am a Democrat and have been since 1972. The MAGA vortex is a startling social and political phenomenon, which has vomited this guy Trump onto the center stage of national and world afairs. As bad enough as that is, I concede this vortex is bad for moderate Republicans who want to work and negotiate with well-intentioned Democrats and Independents. This stands out clearly on a brightly candled political stage in which the current leading Republican contender, Trump, is under state and federal criminal indictment.

Trump, a borderline personality who leaves a trail of destruction in his wake, denies culpability for any and every wrongdoing. His MAGA mob is an infamed rightwing putch who quench their political thirst with a variety of chew liver, spit blood tough guys in the vein of Stallone, Eastwood, Schwarzenegger, Siegel and now, of course, Don the Con. They want to fght and brawl and scowl and punch, but they don’t want to get hurt and they certainly don’t want to be held accountable for their criminal acts. This tact will cut the legs out from under the Republican Party in 2024, alienating moderates and those swing voters who cast their ballots for Joe Biden in 2020.

Let me provide an immediate example.

The MAGA extremists have inserted culture wars into the National Defense Authorization Act. They did this by cutting away travel costs for military personnel who must seek abortions out of state. This is politically toxic for the GOP. Why? There has been steady and far reaching public support for abortion rights throughout the United States. This trend is combined with an ill-advised, rotten efort to stop funding the military with an amendment that has absolutely nothing to do with our national defense. Secondly, the unhindered operation of America’s national security structure has been stymied by Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, a senator whose savaging of reality has put on hold military promotions to key ranking military members.

Why? As mentioned above, Department of Defense travel support for service members seeking out of state abortions. Somehow this is toxic to MAGA world.

In the House of Representatives, MAGA extremists pro-

vided a street theater display by attacking the FBI, terming the bureau “weaponized,” better yet an anti- conservative attack unit. Jim Jordan, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has argued, without solid evidence, that the federal government’s agenda of conservative persecution should result in a punitive slap of the wrist for the FBI in the form of a slashed, greatly reduced FBI budget.

Yet, paradoxically, while most Republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate have not directly opposed and aggressively stood up to Trump, it is clear that Trump is a drag on GOP senators and representatives who have campaigned for election and re- election since 2020. Tuberville and Jordan are part and parcel of the madcap world of MAGA, “let’s out crazy each other” political stunts and inane idiocy. Yet this is tame when compared to a president who spread rancid lies about the validity of a federal election and deploys the national government to overturn the will of the American voter without consequence, similar to the antics of a Banana Republic dictator. The Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves at this. A coup d’etat a la a petty dictator such as Don the Con? Is anyone ready for this?

The men who preceded Trump, from Washington to Obama, had no qualms about accepting the will of the people in a general election. As for Trump, unlike the indictment by the State of New York, based on allegations of covering up hush money payments to a porn actress with whom he had an afair while married to Melania, and unlike Trump’s indictment for allegedly placing our nation’s highest levels of secure documents in deep compromise after leaving his term as president, the charges against Trump leveled on Thursday are the frst to deal with malfeasance undertaken by a sitting president of the United States.

Trump did not have good faith reasons for contesting the 2020 election results. The plain facts are that Trump was pointedly told over and over again by his advisers and administration ofcials that his allegations of voter fraud, tampering and the bold-faced, pathetic lie that he won the election by a lot were false. He lost the election. Period. There was no fraud. Period.

Trump, as clearly indicated in the indictment, tried to defraud the United States with his miserably fallacious and maliciously intended claims. He had every reason to know that they were bogus. All of this was fung at the American people in his bid for and lust for power.

Pathetically, millions of Americans, for whatever reason, have received his arguments and hold them as bona fde. This is a threat to our democracy. Our democracy is under siege, our Constitution is berated, our norms assailed and the MAGA barbarians are at the gates. Please wake up America.

Brian Kilgannon Carle Place

G.N. resident Harvey Granat keeps feet in 2 worlds he loves

BY KARINA KOVAC

In both music and business, Harvey Granat has risen to the top, which he attributes to the art of selling by either pitching to prospects or marketing his vocal talents. Putting his musical ambitions as a performer on hold, he built a successful business career until two decades ago when he started singing professionally in his mid-60s.

Born and raised in the Five Towns and a resident of Great Neck for over 30 years, Port Washington and the Berkshires, Granat’s journey as a cabaret singer, lecturer, Broadway producer and music historian started during his discovery of his “unusual voice” in adolescence.

His experiences in both the music industry and the world of finance have led him to master the art of selling, whether by captivating an audience with his performances or impressing

potential business partners.

“Music has always been an important part of my family,” Granat said. In childhood, the sounds and influence of the Great American Standards shaped his musical interests. This, coupled with his unique voice, paved the way for him to perform at various school events, charity functions and family gatherings.

With a strong on-pitch voice, Granat was a natural performer, but he focused instead on building his business in equipment leasing and beginning his collection of valuable composer manuscripts and letters. Currently, he is a Managing Director of CSG Partners, the country’s leading employee stock ownership plans advisory firm. “I have a lot of partners in that so that

allows me to do more performing,” he said.

His business success enabled him to pursue singing “in a more important way for myself, and I guess one of the first things I did was got involved with C.W. Post,” Granat said. For five years, he led successful programs that combined performances with insightful lectures about the American Songbook. Each program focused on different composers or lyricists, and during this time he was hitting his “own personal bulls-eye.”

Sharing the historical context of the melodies and lyrics made students really listen to the pieces and retain them. Granat often taught

Gershwin, drawing from his own collection of manuscripts and letters that he later donated a portion to the Library of Congress. Dubbed the Granat, George and Ira Gershwin Collection, about 30 items he donated to the library are available for scholarly discussion and analysis.

Describing his journey as both a performer and a collector of musical treasures, Granat recalls the pivotal moment when he shared his collection of precious Gershwin letters and manuscripts with singer, pianist and musicrevivalist Michael Feinstein, his friend and a colleague.

He remembers seeing him at a club in Man-

hattan, about two decades ago before Feinstein started Feinstein’s at the Regency, and told him he had a collection of highly valuable Gershwin letters and manuscripts. The result was Feinstein playing the original manuscript of “They Can’t Take That Away from Me.”

“It was thrilling, that was our connection,” Granat said. Later Granat handed Feinstein a CD of him singing that he would give family and friends. Feinstein told him he should sing professionally.

Six months later, Granat told Feinstein his dream was to perform at his club and asked would it be possible for him to perform there. Feinstein told him he only booked big stars with big audiences, “I have a big family,” Granat replied.

Over the years, Granat has performed as a cabaret singer at venues such as the Stephen C. Widom Cultural Arts at Temple Emanuel in Great Neck, Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA, and numerous other venues.

Drawing parallels between his music career and business ventures, Granat said it’s all about knowing how to sell yourself. “I don’t have an agent,” he said, “I don’t have a manager. And yet I’ve gotten into some of the greatest venues and the most wonderful series and programs. Because in my business career, I’ve learned how to sell, how to get the door open, how to make a presentation.”

A highlight for Granat was his role in arranging a special concert in conjunction with the Sinatra Centennial performed at Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, which was pared with a major exhibit and panel discussions for the occasion.

“I did my homework and found out who was running the whole thing,” Granat recalled, “And I said, ‘How about a show? How about a Frank Sinatra show? I said, you know, I produced Sammy Cahn on Broadway, the four-time Academy Award winning songwriter who wrote more lyrics for Frank Sinatra than any other lyricist. I said if I put a program together, Frank Sinatra with lyrics by Sammy Cahn, would that be of interest? And the woman wrote back to me, and she said, You got it! Let’s book it.”

It was backstage the night of the performance that he thought to himself “you did it, kid.”

As Granat continues to perform and educate, he reflects “I live a good life now,” content in his pursuits and his “wonderful family,” including eight grandchildren. “I’m in a good place and (I’d) like to be able to stay in this place and continue the good balance that I have in my life.”

In childhood, the sounds and influence of the Great American Standards shaped his musical interests. This, coupled with his unique voice, paved the way for him to perform at various school events, charity functions and family gatherings.

Harvey Granat has been performing and lecturing on the great American Songbook for over 20 years.

For family fun where car meets with live music

The Milleridge Village will be presenting four nights of live music, festivities, and entertainment as part of its Rock and Roll Car Meets.

Milleridge Village shops will be open, with entertainment, vendors, a BBQ, and more. This event is free for spectators, so come out and enjoy the live music, entertainment, and some really cool cars.

Our live music lineup is as follows:

Thursday, Aug. 10: The Backseat Devils (Rockabilly)

Thursday, Aug. 24: Retro Replay (Best of ’60s, ’70s, & ’80s)

Thursday, Sept. 7: Walking the Line (Johnny Cash Show)

Thursday, Sept. 21: The Backseat Devils (Rockabilly)

Cars are $10, and you get the $10 back in Milleridge money to spend at the shops. Spectators are free.

Come out to the Milleridge Inn on Thursdays, to stroll the village, see some cool cars, and hear some great music in the village. The event is from 4:00 pm – 8:30 pm. Live music will start around 6:00 pm.

View all events at https://www.dovergroupny.com/events/

CORRECTION

An article last week titled "Selling Singing" inaccurately stated that Harvey Granat was an ex-businessman. Granat is currently the Managing Director of CSG Partners.

ONLINE-ONLY AUCTION with 53 lots

Bidding Ends: Thursday, August 17, 2023 Professional

FCA helps answer Medicare questions

Garden City-based not-for-profit explains what different coverages offer to those over 65

BY BARRY KLITSBERG

Enrollment in Medicare can be a lifesaver, but understanding your coverage can be difficult. Family and Children’s Association’s Free Nassau County Health Insurance Information Counseling and Assistance Program can help you get the most from your Medicare plan with free guidance by phone.

Medicare offers preventive health service coverage for a variety of chronic conditions. For example, Medicare can cover medical nutrition therapy services if you have diabetes or kidney disease, or if you have had a kidney transplant in the last 36 months and your doctor refers you for services.

Only a registered dietician or nutrition professional who meets certain requirements can provide medical nutrition therapy services.

If you have diabetes, you may also be eligible for diabetes self-management training. You pay nothing for medical nutrition therapy preventive services because the Medicare Part B deductible and coinsurance don’t apply.

There are four basic parts of Medicare:

Hospital Insurance (Part A) covers you as an inpatient in a hos-

pital or skilled nursing or rehabilitation facility, or for skilled home care after a hospitalization. Medicare Part A also can cover hospice care if you have a terminal illness. For most people, Medicare Part A is premium free.

Medicare Medical Insurance (Part B) covers physician and other outpatient services. These services include doctor visits, hospital outpatient services, lab tests; physical, speech or occupational therapy; and durable medical equipment for use in the home. The standard Part B premium amount in 2023 is $164.90.

Most people pay the standard Part B premium amount. If your modified adjusted gross income as reported on your IRS tax return from 2 years ago is above a certain amount, you’ll pay the standard premium amount plus an Income Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA) charge.

Medicare Part C You may opt for Medicare Advantage plans instead of Part B. Medicare Part C are managed care plans including Health Maintenance Organizations and Preferred Provider Organizations.

These plans generally have a network of providers. In an HMO, you must use providers in that network. If you join a PPO, you can go

out of the network, but you will have a higher copayment for out-of-network services.

Medicare Advantage plans generally cover prescription drugs, otherwise covered by Medicare Part D, and frequently cover non-Medicare services such as vision, dental and hearing services.

Medicare Part D is prescription coverage. There are 19 drug plans in New York State. These plans vary in premium cost and formularies.

Medigap

There are Medicare supplement plans known as Medigap. These are standardized plans that can fill most of the Medicare gaps such as deductibles and co-insurance.

For more information about these Medicare preventive health services and for any other information pertaining to your health ben-

efits, you can call FCA at 516-4853754 and a trained counselor will assist you.

Barry Klitsberg is an Assistant Health Insurance Information Counseling and Assistance Coordinator at FCA in Garden City and an Aging Services Program Specialist at US Department of Health and Human Services.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FCA Barry Klitsberg

What to know about AFib

The heart has been characterized as the engine that makes the human body run. If that metaphor is not exactly spot-on, it still serves as a good indicator as to just how vital a healthy heart is to the human body.

Despite the importance of a healthy heart, diseases that afect the heart remain the single greatest cause of death across the globe. According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally, claiming roughly 18 million lives each year. Various factors can adversely afect how well the heart functions, and that includes irregular heart beat, also known as arrhythmia. Atrial fbrillation (AFib) is the most common form of arrhythmia, and it behooves anyone to gain a greater understanding of this condition.

What is AFib?

The Cleveland Clinic notes that AFib is an arrhythmia that begins in the upper chambers of the heart known as the atria. When a person has AFib, these chambers beat irregularly, and the American Heart Association reports that, when this occurs, blood pools in the area because not enough blood is being pumped out of the atria. That pooled blood can clot and pose a serious threat.

What happens if a blood clot forms?

The AHA notes that, if a clot forms, the blood can be pumped out of the heart to the brain, which blocks the blood supply to the brain and ultimately results in stroke. In fact, AHA data indicates between 15 and 20 percent of people who have strokes have AFib. In addition, the Heart and

Stroke Foundation of Canada reports that onefourth of all strokes afecting people 40 and older are caused by AFib.

Does AFib produce symptoms?

The Cleveland Clinic notes that some people with AFib experience no symptoms. Such is the case in people whose ventricles are beating at a normal or slightly elevated pace. When ventricles begin to beat faster, then individuals may experience symptoms that can include:

· Extreme fatigue

· Irregular heartbeat

· Heart palpitations

· Feeling of butterfies or fsh fopping in the chest

· Dizziness or lightheadedness

· Fainting

· Shortness of breath

· Chest pain

Can I lower my risk for AFib?

The AHA notes that adopting and maintaining a heart-healthy lifestyle is the best way to control AFib risk.

Such a lifestyle includes:

· Regular physical activity

· Adherence to a heart-healthy diet that is low in salt, saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol

· Controlling blood pressure, including management of high blood pressure

· Avoid excessive consumption of alcohol and cafeine

· Avoid smoking

· Maintain healthy cholesterol levels

· Maintain a healthy weight

The things you love doing are more than just passions. They’re what make you “you.” This is why at The Bristal, our expert team members dedicate their time, attention, and energy to creating customized social activities that ensure each resident continues being the unique person they are. And, in the process, create the one-of-a-kind community we are, too.

See for yourself. Explore all of our locations in the tri-state area. thebristal.com

powered by Fri 8/11

Shawn Hennessey / Leana Song: Bakithi Kumalo and the Graceland Experience @ 5pm Arts In The Plaza, 1 W Chester St, Long Beach

Kenny and Claire: Summer Tour 2023

@ 6pm New Hope Community Church, 1400 Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde Park

New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves

@ 7:10pm

Citi Field, 120-01 Roosevelt Av‐enue, Flushing

New York Liberty vs. Chicago Sky

@ 8pm / $30-$1100 Barclays Center, 620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn

Sat 8/12

Mon 8/14

Saturday

Aug 12th

Joe Bonamassa & Styx with Don Felder, formerly of The Eagles

@ 6pm / $35.50-$249.50

Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, 895 Bay Parkway, Wantagh

Side Cars "Cars Tribute" and Wilde Side “The Smiths Tribute” @ 8pm / $20

Mulcahy's Pub and Concert Hall, 3232 Rail‐road Avenue, Wantagh

Sun 8/13

Basketball Camp at the SYJCC @ 9am

Summer fun for every‐one! 74 Hauppauge Rd, 74 Hauppauge Road, Commack. jwertheimer @syjcc.org, 631-4629800

Total Soccer Camp:

Baldwin Week 2

@ 9am / $175

Aug 14th - Aug 18th

Baldwin Park, Grand Ave, Bald‐win Harbour, Baldwin. 631-7042601

August 14-15 - Bayside

Volleyball Club

@ 9am / $320

Electrify Expo 2023: Long Island, NY @ 10am

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 1255 Hempstead Turn‐pike, Uniondale

Mesha Steele

@ 12:30pm

Ocean, 333 Bayville Ave, Bayville

Just Sixties @ 6pm Join the Town of North Hempstead for its sum‐mer concert series. North Hempstead Beach Park, 175 West Shore Road, Port Washington. feedback @northhemp steadny.gov, 516-8696311

NYCFC II vs. Orlando City B

@ 7pm / $10-$15 Belson Stadium, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica

Aug 14th - Aug 15th

Mitchell Gym, 19 West Rd., Garden City. 856-287-5408

This extraordinary evening will feature full sets from each act, before culminating into a jaw-dropping encore featuring members of all three bands. Fans will experience some of the best blues-rock, clas‐sic rock and guitar mastery ever seen on one stage.

FunDay Monday @ 11am

Join the Town of North Hempstead for its sum‐mer FunDay Monday series. North Hemp‐stead Beach Park, 175 West Shore Road, Port Washington. feedback @northhemp steadny.gov, 516-8696311

Tue 8/15

Jewish Learning Series @ 12:30pm

Join the Mid Island Y JCC and a host of guest presenters for interesting and relevant lec‐tures and discussions related to Judaism and Jewish Culture. Mid-Island Y JCC, 45 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview

SERVPRO of Great Neck/Port Washington Food Drive to help feed our local families

@ 10am

Aug 15th - Aug 31st

St. Peter of Alcantara

R.C. Parish Outreach is in desperate need for food donations to feed our local families and elderly Saint Peter's Parish Social Ministry (St. Peter's of Alcan‐tara) - Food Distribution Center, 1327 Port Washington Boulevard, Port Washington. hf@ servpro9563.com

Wed 8/16

Karen Bella @ 6pm

Teddy's Bully Bar, 46 Audrey Ave, Oyster Bay

Social Singles @ 6:30pm / $12

Join us at the Mid-Island Y JCC for ongoing social programming for singles ages 55+ to connect with one another. Mid-Island Y JCC, 45 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview

Lovesong The Band: Merrick Park @ 7pm Merrick Park (outdoor), Merrick

Brooklyn Cyclones vs. Hudson Valley Renegades @ 7pm Maimonides Park, 1904 Surf Ave., Brooklyn

DC League of Super-

Pets @ 8:15pm Join the Town of North Hempstead for a sum‐mer movie in the park. Martin Bunky Reid Park, Broadway Ave & Urban Ave, Westbury. feedback@northhemp steadny.gov, 516-8696311

Rusty Spurs (Modern Traditional Country) @ 7pm Join the Town of North Hempstead for its sum‐mer concert series. Gerry Park, Roslyn. feedback@northhemp steadny.gov, 516-8696311

Fri 8/18

Write On: Hofstra Offers Virtual College Essay Workshops @ 4pm

The Hofstra University Admis‐sion Of�ce is offering virtual workshops all summer to help high school students learn the skills to tell their story in a way that helps them stand out. Hempstead. Admission@hofs tra.edu

Thu 8/17 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Open House Erev Shabbat @ 5:30pm Cool Off at Temple Beth-El’s Open House Shabbat Temple BethEl of Great Neck, 5 Old Mill Road, Great Neck. info@tbegreatneck.org, 516-487-0900

Elvis Tribute Artist Spectacular, Starring Shawn Klush @ 8pm / $25.50-$79.50 NYCB Theatre at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury

Where Stars Collide NY: Fundraiser of 911 Responders Remembered Park @ 5pm Hoyt Farm Nature Pre‐serve, 200 New Hwy, Commack

Calendar information is pro‐vided by event organizers. All events are subject to change or cancellation. This publica‐tion is not responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in this calendar.

Women’s Health Care of Garden City committed to personalized care

By John L. Gomes, MD

John L. Gomes, MD, founded Women’s Health Care of Garden City in 1995. It has remained an independent private practice, providing personalized obstetrical and gynecological services.

He employs the technical advances of conventional medicine with an integrative approach to navigate women through difcult pregnancies into the menopausal years. He treats a wide variety of OB/GYN conditions and is dedicated to providing the highest quality of care.

All tests are conveniently done on the premises, and a dedicated, compassionate staf is on call 24/7.

He is committed to excellence in patient communication, education and support, as many patients come with anxiety associated with past experiences and future concerns.

Dr. Gomes received his undergraduate degree from Brown University, and his Doctor of Medicine from Columbia University.

He is both Board Certifed and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Women’s Health Care of Garden City is located at 1000 Franklin Avenue, Suite 200, Garden City.

&RealEstate

Empty nester syndrome and 5 documents

Your last child has left the nest and you are somewhat happy and somewhat sad at that same time. Not having them around to converse, complain and argue with is a twoedge sword. You can’t always live with them, but can’t necessarily live without them.

It’s a perplexing situation to have to deal with, but this is your new phase of life and it can be extremely rewarding as your responsibilities have lessened unless there are still current fnancial obligations tied in with your children and possibly other issues. As they say, sometimes you’re never really done until you cross over the fnish line, if you know what I mean.

At this stage of your life are you aware of the four documents besides your will that you truly need? Have you done any estate planning or updated your last will and testament to make sure it is current? Also, if still married, does your spouse have

a will? If not she or her should have one, too. Have you appointed an executor or executrix that needs to be stated in your will? Have you set up a Healthcare Power of Attorney (or Medical or Healthcare Directive) in the event of a terminal illness or you become permanently unconscious?

You should have several people noted in successive order, to make sure someone is there who is authorized to make those decisions for you. Create a Durable Power of Attorney to handle certain types of afairs while you are alive. An administrator will assist you in the event of your not being able to handle daily responsibilities, such as paying bills.

A Revocable or Irrevocable Family Trust would be the ffth necessary document. If you want to avoid going through Probate, which is a costly and lengthy process, this will be necessary to provide total privacy of your assets and other family information. Once you have all those necessary docu-

ments procured and in efect, then you will be able to move on to some other important items to consider. If you are happy where you are living, still enjoying your surroundings

and your costs are manageable, then staying put will be your most comfortable solution. However, if you should decide that it is time to downsize to smaller accommodations and at the same time reduce your monthly costs, then pragmatic and logical planning must be put into action.

Give yourself at least three to six months to accomplish this task, knowing where you will relocate and what amenities you might need or want.

Will you consider a gated community nearby or out of the area? Will it be a consideration to move closer to your children (unless they are already nearby)? I am fortunate my and my wife’s health has held up — much better than being in an assisted-living environment or worse a nursing home. You will now have time to do whatever tickles your fancy and be free to come and go as you please and enjoy your semi or total retirement.

What should you throw away and what will you take with you? What

MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION (MFA)

needs to be repaired in your home, painted, or even upgraded to enhance your most valuable asset? These decisions are crucial to having your home properly prepared when the time approaches to consider putting it up for sale. Downsizing to smaller quarters means you can’t take everything with you. A few may just want the same square footage, but not have to deal with any maintenance, gardeners, roof leaking, plumbing or painting problems. This way they can turn the key and go to work or go out to play and have fewer concerns.

Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. For a free 15-minute consultation, value analysis of your home, or to answer any of your questions or concerns he can be reached by cell: (516) 647-4289 or by email Phil@TurnKeyRealEstate.Com or via https://WWW.Li-RealEstate.Com

President and Founder Sandwire Technology Group

Most likely, you are already using MFA. If you’ve received an email that sends you a code to enter, or a text message that dings to alert you to take action, that is MFA. The common thread is they require additional proof of identity, beyond the log-in, when accessing sensitive information.

With cybercrime now exploding, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) must be proactive to protect their critical data. This includes access to their networks, accounting systems and operational systems, hosted both locally and in the cloud. Every SMB has its own considerations. Some need email encryption, most need secure VPNs to support remote workers.

Sandwire advises and implements robust cybersecurity services to shield SMBs from harm. MFA is but one arrow in our quiver.

Kaiman endorsed by Conservation Voters

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The New York League of Conservation Voters has endorsed Democrat Jon Kaiman for North Hempstead Supervisor.

The organization promotes clean air and water, renewable energy and open space through political action, according to its website.

“I’m proud of my record on the environment,” Kaiman said in a statement. “As Supervisor, I’ll continue to protect our air, water, and soil, so generations to come can enjoy North Hempstead’s beauty.”

Kaiman, who served as supervisor from 2004 through 2013, is running against Republican incumbent Jennifer DeSena, who was first-elected in 2021.

The Great Neck resident currently serves as the Suffolk deputy county executive, where he has served since 2017 under Steve Ballone, who is term-limited.

Kaiman was also a candidate for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, where he finished second in the August Democratic primary behind Great Neck businessman Robert Zimmerman.

Before working as deputy executive, Kaiman served as the head of NIFA, a state oversight board that controls Nassau County’s finances.

He also served as an adviser to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the Superstorm Sandy recovery effort.

Prior to being elected supervisor, he served as a Nassau County District Court judge for three years.

Las Vegas Sands partners with Canyon Ranch in Coliseum plan

Continued from Page 6

Goldstein said the Canyon Ranch location at the Sands New York will cater to the wellness provider’s “loyal following” and provide another destination for them to visit. He said this will place Long Island “on a short list of the most soughtafter wellness destinations in the world” and brings global tourism to the locale.

“Canyon Ranch’s purpose is to inspire people to achieve a well way of life so that they can live better, longer,” Jeff Kuster, CEO of Canyon Ranch, said. “We are proud to be in partnership with

Sands to expand access to our unique approach to integrated wellness to the New York Metropolitan and Long Island area.”

Kuster said the resort offers an experience that is refreshing for guests’ bodies and minds through their fitness and spa services. He said its dining will feature its signature dishes that focus on flavor in tandem with the health benefits of intentionally sourced ingredients.

Canyon Ranch has a past partnership with Las Vegas Sands at the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, an award-winning well-

ness destination.

The wellness company has other resorts located in Tucson, AZ, Lenox, MA, and Woodside, CA.

The Las Vegas Sands proposal to construct the $4 billion resort and casino through a 99-year lease agreement was overwhelmingly approved by the Nassau County Legislature in May.

The resolution’s passage came amid continued pushback and concerns from residents and local groups who opposed the implementation of a casino in the county.

F.P., Nassau police cited for aid in burglary arrests

Continued from Page 6

thank my partners in local law enforcement for their coordination and support as we took down this dangerous crew.”

The crew was connected to over 200 burglaries of car dealerships, cellphone stores and ATM businesses throughout Lower Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island between June 2020 and January 2021.

Along with the $3 million in cash, at least 54 vehicles were also stolen, the state attorney general’s office said.

The crew, who staged multiple robberies in one night, would smash large windows of car dealerships, locate boxes that contained key fobs and drive off with the cars before engaging with police in high-speed chases.

Police were aided in their investigation through multiple social media posts of the crew posing with stolen cars and merchandise, sometimes soon after the crimes were committed.

The Floral Park and Nassau police were recognized for their efforts along-

side multiple departments throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

“This is one of those cases that highlights the extraordinary cooperation across multiple police departments and agencies in the New York Metropolitan area,” said NYPD Police Commissioner Edward Caban. “The NYPD Auto Crime Unit is proud to have worked with the New York State Attorney General and all the other departments involved in bringing this brazen burglary crew to justice.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ISLAND 360 ARCHIVES

Former North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman.

Recent Real Estate Sales in

11 Dorset Road, Great Neck

5 bd, 3 ba, Sold On: 6/23/23, Sold Price: $1,657,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Great Neck

22 Spruce Street, Great Neck

4 bd, 2 ba, 1,523 sqft, Sold On: 6/26/23, Sold Price: $910,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Great Neck

17 North Drive, Great Neck

5 bd, 3 ba, Sold On: 6/16/23, Sold Price: $1,300,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Great Neck

24 Pond Park Road, Great Neck

3 bd, 4 ba, 1,975 sqft, Sold On: 6/19/23, Sold Price: $1,535,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Great Neck

Editor’s note: Homes shown here were recently sold in Great Neck by a variety of real estate agencies. This information about the home and the photos were obtained through the Zillow.com. The homes are presented solely based on the fact that they were recently sold in Great Neck and are believed by Blank Slate Media to be of interest to our readers.

No decision on Polo, Steamboat Rd. appeals

Continued from Page 1

considerations have to be made regarding curb cuts and accessory buildings.

Neighbors came ready to protest the additional dwelling due to the trafc at the deadend location, which has frequent visits on bus passes from multiple schools and organizations. Evelyn Sullivan, who lives on Orchard Street adjacent to the property and said she did not receive notice about the meeting, pointed out her main reason for living in that part of Great Neck was the quietness of it, which may now be disturbed.

“We have lots of trafc on this block,” Sullivan said, “compounded by the houses that are flled with many adults and lots of children, more families. There are 17 houses on Orchard Street. I went and I drove up and down two different times; there are 34 cars on a 17-house block. That’s not counting visitors.”

Despite the resident comments on trafc, which a separate resident considered a preexiting issue, one of Cohen’s attorneys said the new dwelling would conform more to existing block standards.

“This subdivision would actually bring this property more into harmony with the characteristics of the immediate neighborhood with the rest of the properties between Polo and Orchard,” the lawyer said, “and there is one very unique characteristic.” That characteristic, he explained, is that no other properties on the block would be able to be subdivided.

After the comments on Polo Road, board member Charles Segal had to leave the already diminished board of three to attend to personal matters, making it the second meeting in a row Segal departed and returned to. After 22 minutes he returned and the meeting continued.

The resolution this time for debate was the Mashadi complex project, which was set back by a redrawing of the plans from a new architect earlier this year and has received four letters of denial so far. At the meeting, the board and applicant agreed on changes to be made in the application regarding making the glass nonrefective, adding a landscape bufer with trees on two sides of the building, a stockyard fence, and the overall height. More information on the drainage is still needed and was requested at the previous zoning meeting.

Resident Rebecca Gilliar spoke at the meet-

ing and cited trafc and inadequate parking as her biggest concerns.

“What are we going to do? Close down the road so that if an emergency comes along, and sometimes it does, nobody can get through? Why is there inadequate parking here?”

She continued, “Steamboat Road is the access roadway to our United States government’s military facility it’s your job to protect us and protect this community.”

Segal noted that the Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees were the ones to approve the

number of parking spaces and directed Gilliar to speak at their next meeting.

The next step for both cases is writing a new draft with all the decisions made at the meeting refected and another round of comments from the next meeting.

Chairman Dennis Grossman said the board is going to “request our attorney draft up all the changes we made tonight, lock everything in stone, everybody here will read it.” Then at next month’s meeting they will be more time for the board and the public to discuss it before the

board makes the fnal votes

“We don’t want to leave the old plans with things still on there. I don’t want apples and oranges. I want apples and apples,” he said.

Grossman also noted that the board never approves anything the frst night. “We’re doing the best we can, we’re also under a lot of pressure from both sides to get it done,” he told the Great Neck News after the meeting adjourned.

www.theislandnow.com

Town board OKs $40K for flight plan analysis

Continued from Page 5

tegrity of the site plans, specifcally the fre capacity if additional congregants come for worship once the expanded parking lot is full.

Hillside Chairman Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan said expanding the lot and building a third foor will allow the overfow parking to come into the lot and that the recent addition of three centers within a three-mile radius would not lead to an infux of new congregants.

Bhuiyan said the center has worked with the Nassau County Police Department on ticketing parking violators, specifcally on Friday services.

The hearing was tabled to the Sept. 5 meeting and Council Member David Adhami said he will organize another community meeting before then to further alleviate concerns between residents and the center.

In unrelated town news, Port Washington residents asked the town to denounce a re-

cent event at a private business on Aug. 6 in the hamlet where “Patriot Streetfghter” Scott McKay joined for Q&A.

McKay was invited by Port Washington native Jason Shurka, whose family owns Rays of Light, a wellness center on Main Street.

“In this intriguing event, we will dive into the secrets of the Underground Tunnels and explore fascinating insights,” the event’s online itinerary said. “Plus, we’ll address the crucial issue of child trafcking and pledging to protect and safeguard our most vulnerable assets.”

The Port Washington Democratic Club released a statement ahead of the event to boycott it, citing McKay’s online show they said promotes “QAnon, antisemitic conspiracy theories, Christian nationalism, and rightwing militia activity.”

Jef Siegel said the community needs to go beyond telling themselves they are a loving caring community and have to confrm it

by committing to providing a safe and inclusive environment.

“We currently live in an environment where many norms have been broken and where things that would have been considered immoral such as praising neo Nazis are invited to speak in Port Washington,” Siegel said. “In the past, those things would have been unthinkable.”

Doug D’Arrigo said his wife Melanie was doxxed to over 500,000 social media followers by McKay and the business owner with “a direct call to action to their followers to harass us.”

D’Arrigo added his family, children and wife’s LGBTQ+ nonproft Be the Rainbow were attacked and that they were labeled alongside the Democratic club as pedophiles who trafcked children.

Republican Supervisor Jennifer DeSena apologized for the attack on D’Arrigo, saying she is an incredible advocate and how awful

it is for her to be attacked by it.

Democrat Council Member Veronica Lurvey said to D’Arrigo she stands with his family, Be the Rainbow and local synagogues that have spoken against the attack.

Democrat Robert Troiano apologized to D’Arrigo for what his family went through, adding he supports the town issuing a statement against the event and that it needs to be addressed quickly.

Democrat Mariann Dalimonte and state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti (D-Port Washington) released a joint statement against the event, and Dalimonte asked the town for more “Not in Our Town” signs to display throughout Port Washington, she said.

Republican Dennis Walsh said he learned of the event Tuesday night but condemns completely the violent rhetoric and would do anything to help stand against it.

Zuckerman said their hearts go out to D’Arrigo, calling the rhetoric horrible.

PHOTO BY KARINA KOVAC

No decision regarding the proposed Mashadi center on Steamboat Road has been reached by the Great Neck Zoning Board of Appeals yet, but a vote is likely next meeting.

South student’s suspension expunged by state

Continued from Page 1

both the principal and assistant principal on Dec. 19. At the principal’s request, the student drafted a written statement detailing his involvement in the incident.

Subsequently, the principal imposed a five-day suspension on the student.

In response to the security breach, the district initiated an internal inquiry, introduced supplementary security protocols, and terminated the services of a contracted security guard within the district.

On Jan. 3, the district organized a hearing for an extended suspension to address the student’s behavior, charging them with engaging in disorderly/disruptive conduct and endangering the safety, morals, health, or welfare of himself or others.

Following the hearing’s conclusion, hearing officer Richard Thompson determined the student’s innocence regarding one charge but declared the student guilty of the second charge.

Thompson recommended a suspension until June 30. This suggestion was later adopted by the superintendent in a decision dated Jan. 6.

In April, after an appeal from the student’s father, Elmer Rodriguez. to the state, the student was placed back in school against the written wishes of the district. The district then sent him to its alternative high school, but Rosa overruled that decision as well.

Rodriguez argued that the hearing officer improperly determined the student’s testimony lacked credibility, according to Rosa’s decision. He said he was also denied the chance to cross-examine witnesses and present his son’s side of the story.

The father also disputed the reliability and adequacy of the evidence presented by the district, a substantial portion of which was based on hearsay or double hearsay, he contended.

For relief, the father sought the removal of the short-term and longterm suspensions from the student’s record.

The Board of Education said the student’s guilt had been proven and the suspension was reasonable based on the misconduct.

Education Law states that “no student may be suspended in excess of five school days unless the student

and person in parental relation to the student have an opportunity for a fair hearing, upon reasonable notice,

Fire Island Jane Doe ID’d

Continued from Page 11

While the investigation to identify Vergata was conducted by the Gilgo Task Force, the DA did not say if Rex Heuermann, the Massapequa Park resident and Manhattan architect charged with the murders of three of the four women whose bodies were found at Gilgo Beach, is suspected of her death.

Heuermann pleaded not guilty to first and seconddegree murder charges in the killings of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy and Amber Lynn Costello. He is considered a prime suspect in the death of BrainardBarnes, according to police.

Newsday reported that a source familiar with the task force told them that investigators have not been able to link Vergata’s suspected killing to Heuermann, 59.

“We are going to continue to work this particular case, as we did the Gilgo Four investigation,” Tierney said.

The DA said the confidential investigation is ongoing. He would not provide any comment on whether there are any suspects at the time.

Vergata went missing around Feb. 14, 1996 at the age of 34. At the time she was living on West 45th Street

in Manhattan and Tierney said officials believe she was working as an escort.

Newsday reported that Vergata’s stepsister, Brenda Breen. said Vergata was raised in Glen Head and attended North Shore High School. Vergata was born in Roslyn, according to court documents.

The newspaper said Vergata underwent struggles as an adult and was incarcerated multiple times. She lost custody of her two sons, according to court documents.

Her father, Dominic Vergata, last heard from his daughter on Feb. 14, 1996 when she called him from prison on his birthday. He had said she seemed “very troubled,” according to Newsday.

Tierney said no missing person complaint was filed at the time of her disappearance. Newsday reported her father attempted to report Vergata as missing, but his request was denied by the NYPD since she was an adult.

Newsday reported that Dominic Vergata hired a private investigator and submitted DNA to the investigator to aid in finding his daughter. Nothing resulted until 27 years after her disappearance when the FBI was able to extract DNA and identify the Jane Doe.

Dominic Vergata died in December before his daughter’s remains were identified.

Breen told Newsday that “it’s nice to have closure.”

at which the student has the right to be represented by counsel, to question witnesses who testify against

the student, and to present witnesses and other evidence on his or her own behalf.”

At the hearing, the student admitted to walking one of the intruders to a room but said, “If I went anywhere, if I told anybody, if I, you know, escaped from them per se, they might have tried to hurt me later on, like, they had said they would. And they told me to bring him to the locker room. I didn’t go on my own will.”

Thompson said during the hearing that the student’s claim was “not believable.”

Rosa wrote in her ruling that Thompson’s findings are “grounded in unsupported assumptions about what a reasonable student should have done rather than the evidence in the record.”

She also wrote at the end of her ruling that the student was under no legal duty to inform an adult of the non-students presence. And that, “his culpability in this incident was minimal. His escorting of a single non-student under threat of violence pales in comparison to respondent’s inability to prevent, or discover, the unauthorized entry of nine non-students into one of its high schools.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF GREAT NECK SCHOOL DISTRICT

A 16-year-old Great Neck South High School student’s record was expunged last week after he was deemed not responsible for intruders entering school last year.

nassau COMMUNITY

▼ EMPLOYMENT, SITUATION WANTED, CAREER TRAINING, MARKETPLACE

To Place Your Ad Call

Phone: 516.307.1045 x 218 e-mail: dflynn@theisland360.com

In Person: 22 Planting Field Road Roslyn Heights, NY 11577

We’re Open: Mon–Thurs: 9am-5:30pm Fri: 9am-6pm

Deadlines

Monday 2:00pm: Classified Advertising

Tuesday Noon

Legal Notices/ Name Changes

Friday 5:00pm Buyers’s Guide

Error Responsibility All ads placed by telephone are read back for verification of copy context.

In the event of an error of Blank Slate Media LLC we are not responsible for the first incorrect insertion. We assume no responsiblity for an error in and beyond the cost of the ad.

Cancellation Policy Ads must be cancelled the Monday before the first Thursday publication. All cancellations must be received in writing by fax at: 516.307.1046

Any verbal cancellations must be approved by a supervisor. There are no refunds on cancelled advertising. An advertising credit only will be issued.

• Great Neck News

• Williston Times

• New Hyde Park Herald Courier

• Manhasset Times • Roslyn Times • Port Washington Times

Bethpage Newsgram

CARLE PLACE U.F.S.D

Seeking Candidates for the Following Positions:

Special Education Teacher Aides

Salary: $22.48 per hour

Recreation Aides

Salary: $22.48 per hour

Cafeteria Monitors

Salary: $17.50 per hour

Security Aides

Law Enforcement Background Required

Salary: $25.00 per hour

Applications for these positions must be made only through www.pnwboces.org/olas Rolling Applications

THE BELLEROSE TERRACE FIRE DISTRICT is looking for a part-time Treasurer.

The successful candidate should be available for one evening meeting per month and be able to perform other duties as needed during the week.

Duties include writing checks and making electronic payments, preparing budgets, preparing and fling monthly and annual fnancial statements, and other duties as determined and assigned by the Board of Commissioners of the Fire District.

Candidates shall have a bachelor’s degree or higher in Business Management and/or Accounting, and a a minimum of 4 years’ experience in accounting, budget preparation, transactional processing of accounts receivable/payable, and cash management. Candidates must also be profcient in the use of Quickbooks, Microsoft Excel, and Word. Prior experience with a Fire District or other governmental agency is preferred but not required.

Candidates cannot have a conviction of arson in any degree.

Please send resumes to caseypets@aol.com with a copy to alyson.muldoon@gmail.com

WE’RE HIRING

BLANK SLATE MEDIA is a fast-growing media company with 6 award-winning weekly newspapers and a website in Nassau County, a full array of digital services and high-profle events.

We have openings in several categories that we are looking to fll immediately.

n REPORTER. FULL TIME.

We are looking for a versatile, self-starter with good writing and reporting skills, and journalism experience.

You will report on all aspects of your communities including local government, politics, education, business and humaninterest stories.

Excellent opportunity to work with editors with many years of weekly and daily newspaper experience.

n ENTERTAINMENT. PART TIME

We are looking for engaging writers who are familiar with and able to write about music, art and features on Long Island.

n SALES. FULL TIME.

We are looking for a highly motivated. self-starter with excellent communication and customer service skills to sell newspaper advertising, digital services and event sponsorships.

To apply, send your resume to: sblank@theisland360.com.

SITUATION WANTED

CAREER

to get the skills to become a Computer & Help Desk

Professional now! Grants and Scholarships available for certain programs for qualified applicants. Call CTI for details!

(844) 947-0192 (M-F 8am-6pm ET) Computer with internet is required.

TRAIN ONLINE TO DO MEDICAL

BILLING Become a Medical Office

Professional online at CTI! Get trained, certified & ready to work in months! Call 855-543-6440 (M-F 8am-6pm ET) Computer with internet is required.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

DIRECTV New 2-Year Price Guarantee. The most live MLB games this season, 200+ channels and over 45,000 ondemand titles. $84.99/mo for 24 months with CHOICE Package. Some restrictions apply. Call DIRECTV 1-888-534-6918

HEARING AIDS!! High-quality rechargeable, powerful Audien hearing aids priced 90% less than competitors. Tiny and NEARLY INVISIBLE! 45-day money back guarantee! 855-598-5898

NOVENAS/PRAYERS

NOVENA TO THE BLESSED MOTHER

Oh Most Beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven. Oh, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. Oh Star of the Sea, help me herein and show me here you are my Mother. Oh Holy Mary Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor me in my necessity (make request). There are none that can withstand your power. Oh, Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee (say three times). Holy Mary I place this cause in your hands (say three times). Amen. This prayer is never known to fail and is to be said for 3 consecutive days. In Gratitude (M.T.F.)

MARKETPLACE

A.T. STEWART EXCHANGE CONSIGNMENT SHOP

516-746-8900

Antiques-Furniture-Jewelry-Silver-MirrorsLamps-Artwork Come to Consign & Stay to Shop Visit.... Our Shop 109 Eleventh St. Garden City Mon-Fri 10-4 (Wed till 6) Saturday 12-4 Shop Our Online Store ATStewartExchange.org Items to Consign? Email photos (with sizing info) to: store@ atstewartexchange.org All proceeds benefit The Garden City Historical Society Like us on Facebook & Instagram INVITED ESTATE SALES BY TRACY JORDAN is doing VIRTUAL TAG SALES and ONLINE AUCTIONS now!

Sell the contents of an entire house or sell just a few things! You can host your own sale on invitedsales.com and Facebook and Instagram or we can do it for you. We can photograph, advertise and handle the winning pickups for you within a week!

EMPLOYMENT HELP WANTED

Don’t worry about your closing date, we can get your house ready on time! We are a one stop service for all your needs when you are moving or selling a property! Selling, donating, discarding and cleaning out services can be done to meet your time frame with minimal stress. Contact info@invitedsales.com for more information or call 516-279-6378 to schedule a consultation or receive more information. Visit us at www.invitedsales.com for a listing of our upcoming Virtual Tag Sales and Weekly Auctions! Merchandise for Sale Autographed Collectors Baseball Items. Golf balls and useful power tools like new! Best offer. Call 516-514-6026

Merchandise for Sale Autographed Collectors Baseball Items. Golf balls and useful power tools like new! Best offer. Call 516-514-6026

TAG SALE

INVITED ESTATE SALES BY TRACY

JORDAN Monday, August 14, 2023 9:30 a.m. 85 Brook Stree Garden City, NY 11530 Public sale selling vintage pieces of furniture, collectibles, Hummels, lighting, clocks, china,

donating your car or boat: Fast Free Pickup 24hr response Tax deductionEasy to do! Call 24/7: 855-905-4755

REAL ESTATE FOR RENT VACATION RENTAL

MATTITUCK 2 Bayfront Homes For Rent

One 3 BR, 2 BTH, One 2 BR House. Available the weeks of June 24th-July 1st and August 26-September 2nd. 3 BR House $2050-per week. 2 BR House $1850-per week. IDEAL FAMILY VACATION. Call 631-298-8433

REAL ESTATE FOR RENT

OFFICE SPACE GARDEN CITY PROFESSIONAL OFFICE SPACE FOR SUBLET IN LAW FIRM SUITE 1305 Franklin Ave, Third Floor Suite 3 to 4 windowed offices and 2 to 3 Admin Asst. workstations available. Shared reception area and kitchenette, use of conference rooms and copier included. Walk to LIRR Mineola station, courts, government buildings and GC downtown. Ideal for attorneys, accountants, insurance agents.

Available September 1st Contact Michael Sparacino: michael.sparacino@brosnanlaw.com

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE

HOMES FOR SALE

GARDEN CITY STUNNER! Welcome home to this beautifully renovated Colonial situated in the heart of the Mott section of town. This 4-bedroom, 2-full bath and 2-half bath home situated on a 61’x100’ lot features top of the line appliances, hardwood floors, 9 ft. ceiling basement, blue stone patio with built in gas BBQ that is conveniently close to schools, parks, town and LIRR. To schedule an appointment Call/Text 516-305-0895

REAL ESTATE FOR SALE CONDO/CO-OP FOR SALE

CONDOMINIUM FOR SALE GARDEN CITY 1 Bedroom, 1.5 Bath Condominium for sale. Located in Garden City at Wyndham East. Unit comes with 2 parking spaces. Asking $700,000. Call 516-524-3336

SERVICE DIRECTORY

ARE YOU BEHIND 10K OR MORE on your taxes? Stop wage and bank levies, liens and audits, unfiled tax returns, payroll issues, and resolve tax debt FAST. Call 888-869-5361 (Hours:

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

AQUATEC LAWN SPRINKLERS SPRING TURN ONS Backflow Device Tests Free Estimates Installation Service /Repairs Joe Barbato 516-775-1199

BATH & SHOWER UPDATES in as little as ONE DAY! Affordable pricesNo payments for 18 months! Lifetime warranty & professional installs. Senior & Military Discounts available. Call: 866-393-3636 CHIMNEY KING ENT. INC FREE ESTIMATES Stainless steel liners cleaning & repair specialists. Masonry specialist. FULLY licensed & insured. NYC NASSAU SUFFOLK 516-766-1666 or 631-225-2600 Since 1982 chimneykinginc.com

HANDYMAN Careful & Reliable Serving GARDEN CITY and surrounding area since 2003 Repairs & Installations of all types Carpentry, Moldings, Lighting and More 35-yr Nassau Resident References Lic#170101 Phone/Text Friendly Frank: 516-238-2112 Email: Frankcav@optonline.net

CLEANING

CLEANING AVAILABLE EXPERIENCED POLISH HOUSE CLEANER Good references, ability. Very honest, reliable, responsible and hard working. Own transportation. English speaking. Flexible days and hours. Reasonable rates. I will do a good job. Call or text 516-589-5640

PARTY HELP

LADIES & GENTLEMEN RELAX & ENJOY Your Next Party! Catering and Experienced Professional Services for Assisting with Preparation, Serving and Clean Up Before, During and After Your Party Bartenders Available. Call Kate at 516-248-1545 SERVICES

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

MASONRY All types of stonework Pavers, Retaining Walls, Belgium Block Patios, Foundations, Seal coating, Concrete and Asphalt driveways, Sidewalks, Steps. Free Estimates Fully Licensed & Insured #H2219010000 Boceski Masonry Louie 516-850-4886

PAULIE THE ROOFER STOPPING LEAKS IS MY SPECIALTY! Slate & Tile Specialists All types of Roofing Local References Licensed & Insured 516-621-3869

ROOFS, GUTTERS, CARPENTRY, BATHROOMS, KITCHENS, NEW BASEMENT ENTRANCES, EXTENSIONS, MASONRY, FLOORS, WATERPROOFING, DRAINS, LEAKS, STOOPS, DECKS, DRIVEWAYS, DEMOLITION, RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL ARIS CONSTRUCTION 10% Discount w/ad. Call 516-406-1842 www.ArisLI.com

PAINTING & PAPERHANGING

STEPHANIE

MADE IN THE SHADE CUSTOM WINDOW TREATMENTS Blinds, Shades, Shutters, Draperies Top Brands at Discount Prices! Family owned & operated www.madeintheshadensli.com 516-426-2890

MICHELANGELO PAINTING & WALLPAPER Interior, Exterior, Plaster/Spackle, Light Carpentry, Decorative Moldings & Power Washing. Call: 516-328-7499

DISH TV $64.99 for 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply. Promo expires 1/31/24 Call 1-866-595-6967

LEAK REPAIRS Plumbing Repairs Bathrooms, Showers, Kitchen 24 HOUR SERVICE Call 516-668-5624

MAGNUM SECURITY SYSTEMS, INC Serving Garden City for 40 years. Let Magnum Upgrade Your Existing Security System. Burglar & Fire Alarms Cellular Radio 3G Upgrades Remote Access Call: 516-486-5484

PASSION FOR SENIORS Certified HHA’s, Companions & Homemakers. 24 hour care available. Also Nassau Locations. Trained in Dementia and Alzheimer’s care. Call 718-850-3400

HEALTH SERVICES

FAMILY CARE CONNECTIONS, LLC

Dr. Ann Marie D’Angelo PMHCNS-BC

Temple Beth-El offers cool at open house Shabbat

All are welcome to experience Temple BethEl of Great Neck’s incredible community during a special ice cream truck preneg at 5:30 p.m., followed by outdoor Erev Shabbat services in the Rudin Garden at 6:30 p.m., on Friday, Aug. 18.

The greater community can join temple members and clergy to experience all that Temple Beth-El has to offer. Weather permitting, little ones can enjoy the spectacular playground and

guests of all ages can cool off with a sweet treat from the very special ice cream truck.

The event is free and open to all, but attendees should register at bit.ly/3NzS1bX.

Founded in 1928, the peninsula’s first synagogue is located at 5 Old Mill Road in Great Neck. To learn more, call 516-487-0900, visit www.tbegreatneck.org or email info@tbegreatneck.org.

Civic announces its scholarship winners

The Lakeville Estates Civic Association has announced this year’s $1000 Scholarship Award Essay Winners — Ava Frising, Riya Thind and Ryan Lau.

“These exemplary young people, through both their deeds and actions, have demonstrated their positive attitude towards society in general and our New Hyde Park Community

in particular,” the association said in a press release.

The civic association congratulated both the winners and their families.

The Lakeville Estates Civic Association also thanked North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jenn DeSena for attendings the scholarship award ceremony

Within moments of signing on, you will be provided with proofs and confrmations. You will also receive your notarized affdavits in an email once the ad (ads) have been published, expediting your internal paperwork.

PHOTO BY BILL CUTRONE

Award Winners Ava Frising, Riya Thind, and Ryan Lau with North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jenn DeSena

Rabbi Brian Stoller, Rabbi Megan Brumer and Cantor Adam Davis welcome you to an outdoor Open House Shabbat on Aug. 18.

Current Manhasset students, staff okay with order to change

BY MICHAEL J. LEWIS

For 13 years, Lauren Sadeh has been in charge of or a part of team huddles for the Manhasset girls basketball team.

Huddles during practice, huddles during timeouts in games, huddles before and after they take the court.

And Sadeh said that not once in the thousands of team circle gatherings she’s witnessed have any of them ended with one particular phrase.

“We’ve never said ‘Hands in, Indians on three!” said Sadeh, currently the girls head basketball coach. “It’s always been ‘Set on three!” or ‘Let’s go ‘Set!,” something like that.

“It’s just not something you ever heard,” she said. “All of the teams I’ve coached whether it was basketball, softball, golf, if we didn’t do a ‘SET’ cheer, we’ve always said that season’s motto like ‘FAMILY on 3!’ or ‘TOGETHER on 3!’”

The debate over high school, college and professional sports teams using potentially-ofensive Indian-related nicknames and mascots has been a hot topic in America over the past few decades, with both the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins agreeing to change their names in recent years.

Here in Manhasset, the debate has

simmered among older school graduates who believe in honoring the tradition of the past, and newer faculty and students who believe the name should be changed.

In many school districts across the country, superintendents have made local decisions on the issue, but now Manhasset and other New York State schools have no choice in the matter: Last November the state Dept. of Education informed all NYS school districts that all indigenous names, logos and mascots must be removed.

Manhasset Superintendent Gaurav Passi has set into place a plan he presented to the school board last month stating that new team names will be solicited from the community, and a committee of volunteers will review named and put forth a series of mascot names for Manhasset students to vote on, with a result coming “hopefully by end of December of this year,” Passi said in a recent interview.

In speaking with current Manhasset athletes and coaches like Sadeh, it appears the name change just isn’t that big of a deal to them.

“We loved being the Indians, and we love the mascot, but at the end of the day, it’s not about the mascot,” said just-graduated Manhasset football and lacrosse star Matt Cargiulo. “For us, in

my years playing sports, it’s been about your brothers on the team, and competition, and seeing how good you can be on that day. We represent Manhasset, that’s the important thing.”

Johnny Hogan, a junior on the cross country and track teams, agreed

issue has died down a bit, and anger over the name change now is mitigated by the fact that Manhasset didn’t have a choice; like Massapequa and Sachem and others, the state is ordering it to change.

“I think knowing that this was

uniforms,” Steiner said. “And one of my thoughts was I probably have 250 clothing items I won’t be able to wear anymore because they all have the feather on the M in the logo.”

Shea Panzik, a senior who competes for the feld hockey and lacrosse teams, sees the Indians name as a source of pride and isn’t wild about the change.

“I think it’s all about how (the nickname) is presented, and playing as the Manhasset Indians has always given me a sense of pride, of playing for something bigger,” Panzik said. “To me, it’s always felt like representing Indians through hard work and strength is what we’ve been doing.”

with Cargiulo that the nickname issue isn’t one that’s come up a lot.

“It’s never been that big an issue,” Hogan said. “Maybe a few kids think it should stay, but I have never heard anybody I know being mad that (it’s changing). I feel like we run for each other, and for ourselves, and that yes, we’re afliated with the school but really it’s about trying to do the best we can for our group.”

One part of this change that coaches and players interviewed agreed was that the contentiousness around the

coming down the pike has made it easier,” said Steve Steiner, the head track and feld coach for the past 18 years. “People have had time to get used to it, and our students by and large are well-educated and know how to think and analyze situations, and most I’ve talked to can see how the Indians name can be ofensive.

Steiner added with a laugh that the biggest concern/excitement over the issue from his students is a sartorial one.

“They’re excited we’ll get new

The current banners and trophies at Manhasset will be allowed to stay and keep the Indians name, but all visible signage outside the school and on school felds will be changed.

As far as what the new nickname and mascot should be, there was no consensus.

“All I hear (from the players) is that they don’t want it to be something lame,” Sadeh said.

“At the end of the day, it’s about winning, which is what we do at Manhasset,” Cargiulo said. “That’s not going to change.”

“I think it’s all about how (the nickname) is presented, and playing as the Manhasset Indians has always given me a sense of pride, of playing for something bigger,”

— Shea Panzik STUDENT ATHLETE

Town officials attend Night in White event Samba 360 aids Ukraine

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and Council Member Mariann Dalimonte attended the 12th Annual Night in White event on July 20 at the North Hempstead Country Club.

This year’s event honored Daniel Ryan with event proceeds beneftting Spectrum Designs Foundation and the Nicholas Center. Also in attendance was state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti.

Town ofcials recognized Daniel Ryan for his work with his organization, Unsung

Sibling Foundation. His foundation has helped many siblings of special needs individuals along with veterans of military services.

Spectrum Designs Foundation is a non-proft organization that has been dedicated to supporting individuals with Autism and related developmental disabilities in the workforce. Spectrum Designs Foundation is overseen by Nicholas Center. Nicholas Center is an organization that facilitates the services of Spectrum Design.

After many months of collecting soccer gear and packing the gear into heavy-duty boxes designed for shipping, Samba 360 shipped ten boxes last Monday to Ukraine for children who attend the Sherbanksa School in Odessa.

This was only possible through the coordination of working closely with an amazing Manhasset-based Ukrainian family and with the New Jersey-based Dnipro Shipping Company.

The gear should arrive before the middle of September and sent will be used by children who have been impacted by war.

This is the second time Samba 360 shipped supplies to Ukraine. Last March, 9 boxes were sent to Ukraine. Fortunately, they all arrived about a month later and the donations were quickly distributed to children in Odessa.

We can’t say thank you enough to Dnipro Shipping Company.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the staf at Dnipro have put in countless hours receiving, processing, sorting and shipping humanitarian aid for Ukrainian families. Since February 2022, the total weight of humanitarian aid that was shipped by sea and by air exceeds 700 tons!

Samba 360 is an all-volunteer organization based in Jericho. Samba 360 is501c3 nonproft group working in cooperation with many other charities. The primary mission of Samba 360 is to provide under-served children with opportunities by providing them with donated sports equipment.

Samba 360 collects new and used gear for distribution nationally and abroad. Samba 360 is registered with the New York State Charities Bureau of the New York State Attorney General Ofce as a Not-for-proft charitable corporation.

North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and Council Member Mariann Dalimonte honor Daniel Ryan for long time support of the Nicholas Center.

Samba 360 was founded in 2013 by Shawn Brown.

Since 2013, Samba 360 has given away more than 8,000 soccer balls, uniforms, cleats, sneakers and more to under-

served communities.

From communities in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil to Haiti to the Shinnecock Reservation on Long Island to the Dunbar Community Center in Syracuse, New York to West Africa, Samba 360 has made a diference.

Most recently Samba 360 donated more than 200 basketball uniforms to the Washington Heights/Inwood summer basketball program of New York City, more than 200 soccer balls and more 100 soccer cleats to the Open Field, which helps marginalized communities in Pittsburgh, Penn., have access to soccer and sports and last winter Samba 360 provided the Police Athletic League of Hempstead, New York with dozens of new sweatshirts, new running jackets and more than a hundred new t-shirts. For more information, please visit:www.samba360.orgor on Facebook athttps://www.facebook.com/samba360. org or on Instagram at @gosamba360.

SUNY Old Westbury honors employees

More than 200 SUNY Old Westbury employees attended the 2023 Staf Appreciation Barbecue and Service Awards held on Tuesday, Aug. 1.

“The dedication of our staf is a driving force behind our greatest achievements,” said University President Timothy E. Sams. “I am grateful that the University community is able to come together to recognize the professionalism and spirit with which we serve our students — together.”

The afternoon program, organized by the campus’ Ofce of Human Resources and the volunteers of the staf forum, included a lunch for all campus employees, the presentation of new awards honoring staf excellence, and the recognition of employees surpassing signifcant annual milestones in service to the campus.

Four new awards were presented to exemplary members of the campus’ team. Two were selected by the Ofce of the President with another two determined through a campus nomination process and review by the staf forum, a volunteer group that serves as a medium for administrators and staf to discuss pertinent University issues and serves as a liaison for staf members with senior administration of the campus.

The awards presented by President Timothy E. Sams were:

President’s Excellence in Leadership Award: Danielle Collins Groner, director of communications and signature events, Ofce of Communications and University Relations

President’s Excellence in Service Award:

Penny Chin, director of alumni afairs, Ofce of Institutional Advancement

The awards presented through the Staf Forum were:

Facilities Service Award: Claudia Lugo, cleaner, Maintenance and Facilities Department

Cause for Applause Award: Adele Guitierrez, nurse, Student Health Services

For the frst time since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the campus also recognized those team members who, over the past four years, surpassed signifcant annual milestones as employees of SUNY Old Westbury.

More than 100 employees were honored for having surpassed 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30,35,40,45, and 50 years of service.

N. Shore Child Center hosts Krevat Cup

North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, hosted the Jonathan Krevat Memorial Golf & Tennis Classic on June 5 at the outstanding Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove.

The event raised over $136,000 to support the Guidance Center’s work to bring hope and healing to children and families dealing with mental health or substance use challenges.

Almost $17,000 in additional funds were raised for the Guidance Center’s Douglas S. Feldman Suicide Prevention Project, another life-saving initiative that launched in 2020.

“The mission of the Guidance Center is more important than ever before, with children and teens sufering from serious mental health challenges,”

said Troy Slade, board member and co-chair of the event. “We are all so grateful to our many friends, colleagues and family members who came out to support this vital organization that makes a real diference for the children in our community.”

This year’s guest speaker was Rose Ryan, who was a Guidance Center client from the Caregiver Grandparent Respite and Support Program which ofers support, information and resources for grandparents who are the primary caregivers for their grandchildren because the child’s parents are incarcerated, battling addiction, or otherwise unable to care for their child.

Ryan told the audience, “The Guidance Center has been there for me for almost 30 years as a par-

ent, grandparent and now great grandparent, I am grateful for the skills I acquired and the compassion that the clinicians and staf at Guidance Center ofered. It has been a life changer! And now, I am able to volunteer and give back my time to the program. It’s been very rewarding.”

The co-chairs for this year’s Krevat Cup were board members Michael Mondiello, Dan Oliver, Michael Schnepper and Troy Slade.

The event’s sponsors were The Albanese Organization, Americana Manhasset, Aon Reinsurance Solutions, Bahnik Foundation, Canon Solutions America, City National Rochdale, Jef & Susan Krevat, The Levine Group Inc., Newmark, PSEG Long Island and Rivkin Radler LLP.

SUNY

Picture of our 10 boxes of donations (Shawn Brown)

PHOTO COURTESY OF SUNY OLD WESTBURY COMMUNICATIONS

Old Westbury President Timothy Sams (right) congratulates Ann James of the Maintenance and Facilities Department on her more than 50 years of service to the campus.

North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center,