Serving New Hyde Park, North New Hyde Park, Herricks, Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Floral Park
$1
Friday, February 10, 2017
Vol. 66, No. 6
N E W H Y D E PA R K
3 I #
FKPKPI IKHV IWKFG
> LÂ?>˜Ž ĂƒÂ?>ĂŒi “i`ˆ> É Â?ÂˆĂŒÂ“Âœ
Ă€ ÂŤĂ•LÂ?ˆV>ĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜Ăƒ ĂƒÂŤiVˆ>Â? ĂƒiVĂŒÂˆÂœ
VALENTINE’S GIFT, DINING GUIDE
MARIJUANA DISPENSARY SOLD
MUSLIMS SEEK UNDERSTANDING
PAGES 35-46
PAGE 12
PAGE 6
˜ U viLÀÕ>ÀÞ £ä] Óä£Ç
New GCP fire chiefs aim to grow ranks Eye community engagement, morale boost to attract members BY N O A H M A N S K A R The Garden City Park Fire Department’s new leaders are launching an eort to rebuild the department’s ranks, they said. Newly elected Chief Augie Carnevale last month activated a Recruitment Committee to develop strategies to grow membership, which is down to 87 ďŹ reďŹ ghters as of last week from about 120 three years ago, he said. Staed by department leadership and two representatives from each of the ďŹ ve ďŹ re companies, the committee will work to get ďŹ reďŹ ghters more engaged with the community to show potential members that “it’s pretty cool to be a ďŹ reman,â€? Carnevale said. “We all joined to protect the ‌ community that we live in, and it’s about getting people that live here also to become enthusiastic about their community and try to help out,â€? Matthew Flood, the department’s ďŹ rst assistant chief, said.
The committee is still in its infancy, but the department plans to do more programs in the New Hyde Park-Garden City Park school district and be present at more community events, Carnevale and Flood said. Garden City Park is not alone with its membership problems, said Carnevale, a 49-year veteran of the department and a former Garden City Park Fire and Water District commissioner. The number of volunteer ďŹ reďŹ ghters per 1,000 people in the United States fell about 18.4 percent between 1986 and 2014, according to a report from the National Fire Protection Association. In Garden City Park, high housing prices force young people to work more, leaving them less time for ďŹ reďŹ ghting, which requires between 70 and 80 hours of training annually, Carnevale and Flood said. The department last year decreased the minimum number of Continued on Page 65
PHOTO FROM THE ST. BALDRICK’S FOUNDATION
Isabella Ieraci, 3, poses with her mother, Jennifer Ieraci of Floral Park. Isabella finished cancer treatment in January after 19 months battling neuroblastoma.
F.P. girl, 3, beats cancer, promotes more research BY N O A H MANSKAR After battling cancer for 19 months, 3-year-old Isabella Ieraci is getting to be a kid again. She and her parents, Jennifer and Peter Ieraci of Floral Park, have gone to some birthday parties and to restaurants
with her sisters, 11-year-old Sophia and 7-year-old Alexa, things they couldn’t do while she was being treated for neuroblastoma, a form of cancer that mostly aects children younger than 6. Since the treatment wrapped up in January, the Ieracis said, they have worried
that the cancer will return. Isabella’s immune system is still weak, and she goes to the doctor for weekly checkups. But Isabella is eager to press on, Peter Ieraci said, and she’s doing her part to raise awareness about childhood cancer by appearing in the St. Continued on Page 65
For the latest news visit us at www.theislandnow.com D on’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow