Serving New Hyde Park, North New Hyde Park, Herricks, Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Floral Park
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Friday, February 12, 2016
vol. 65, no. 7
N E W H Y D E PA R K
Schools & Education guide to
scHool aNd siNgas Big, FaT deMarTiN resigNs edUcaTioN gUide greek iNaUgUraTioN FroM ToWN PosT PAGES 31-38
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2016 • february 12, advertising section itmor publications a blank slate media/l
Floral Park organizes 3rd track fight
PA j A M A D Ay
Community coalition, village task force resurrected last week By N o a H M a N s k a r Residents, elected officials and community organizations in Floral Park have reactivated a group to organize opposition to plans for a third track along the Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line. Citizens Against Rail Expansion, or CARE, so far has more than 20 members committed to stopping the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan, as they did in the mid-2000s. “We’re prepared for a longterm fight here,” said Bill Corbett, a lifelong Floral Park resident and CARE’s spokesman. “We’re raising money and we’re going to fight it to the end.” The MTA and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans in January to add a third track along 9.8 miles of the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville to expand service from New York City to Long Island and ease train congestion. That stretch of the Main Line
is highly congested and services trains along the Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay, Ronkonkoma and Montauk branches. The re-launch of CARE, which lists as allies village mayors, town and county officials, local school boards and other Floral Park organizations, coincided with the reactivation of the Village of Floral Park’s Third Track Task Force last week. Established in 2007, the group assembled more than 140 members in opposition to the MTA’s third track proposal then. A petition it circulated got more than 10,000 signatures from residents along the Main Line, Corbett said. CARE’s organizers expect the organization’s membership to reach its previous level, he said. “We’re all in the same boat here,” Corbett said. “We’re all working together.” In addition to raising funds, CARE is working to get third track Continued on Page 54
PHOTO COURTESY OF LITTLE SPROUTS PRESCHOOL
Students at Little Sprouts Preschool in New Hyde Park celebrated the annual Teddy Bear Pajama Day with lessons about hibernation, snacks and a story. See story on page 46.
F.P. trustees unopposed in Village Board election By N o a H MaNskar The Village of Floral Park’s March election will see re-election bids from two incumbent trustees: one who’s been in office five years, and another for
less than two weeks. Trustees Kevin Fitzgerald and Archie Cheng are running unopposed with the Citizens Party, for a third and first full two-year term, respectively. The elections come as Floral Park is faced with two
proposals — a video casino at Belmont Park, and the Long Island Rail Road’s third track — residents feel are being foisted upon them, Fitzgerald said. “One of the things that makes the battle easier is that Continued on Page 54
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