Serving Manhasset, Munsey Park, North Hills, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Plandome and Flower Hill
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Friday, December 1, 2023
Vol. 11, No. 48
GUIDE TO THE HOLIDAYS
LIRR ADDS GRAND CENTRAL STOPS
SANTOS FACES 3RD HOUSE EXPULSION VOTE
PAGES 21-32
PAGE 2
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Incumbents only in district elections
THANKSGIVING FUN
Sauvigne, Weigand run unopposed for Manhasset Fire and Park BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y Two incumbents in Manhasset’s special districts are seeking re-election next week for another three-year term. Both Mark Sauvigne and Kenneth Weigand are running unopposed for the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and Water District Board of Commissioners
Both Mark Sauvigne and Kenneth Weigand are running unopposed for the ManhassetLakeville Fire and Water District Board of Commissioners and Manhasset Park District Board of Commissioners, respectively. and Manhasset Park District Board of Commissioners, respectively. The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire and
Water District takes in all of Manhasset except for Plandome, half of Great Neck and some of northern New Hyde Park. Though the commission oversees both the fire and water districts, which cover the same geographic area, the two are technically independent of each other. They serve approximately 45,000 people, who use 7.4 million gallons of water a day, according to the water district’s website. The fire district has a $9.7 million budget next year and the water district has a $11.2 million budget, according to the North Hempstead 2024 budget. The Manhasset-Lakeville Water District serves approximately 45,000 customers who use 7.4 million gallons of water a day within the service area of 10.2 square miles, according to the water district’s website. Eighteen wells at 13 locations provide water to Manhasset and portions of Great Neck and North New Hyde Park. Sauvigne, who was first elected in 2014, also serves as Manhasset Park District treasurer alongside Weigand. If re-elected, he would serve alongside Manhasset-Lakeville Commissioners Brian Morris and Steve Flynn. District residents in October voted to approve a $10 million bond to build Continued on Page 42
PHOTO COURTESY OF MANHASSET PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Munsey Park first graders in Mrs. Murphy and Mrs. Klein’s class combined their reading and math skills to make different types of bread (pumpkin, cranberry, and banana) for their Thanksgiving Sharing Breakfast on Nov. 20.
Doc rises like a phoenix after devastating fire BY C A M E RY N O A K ES On the evening of Feb. 4, Dr. Donna Geffner was relaxing in her Florida home when she received a text from a friend: “Are you OK?” Not knowing what her friend meant, she responded affirmatively and asked why. That’s when the news was broken to her: There was a fire in her office building located at 1025 Northern Blvd. in Flower Hill. “It just went up like a Cracker
Jack box,” she said. Geffner then watched an online stream that showed the fire blazing through her office building. In shock at what was going on, she was up the whole night helplessly watching the fire, with nothing she could do thousands of miles away. “And I’m pacing the floor and I’m saying ‘Oh my god, I’m losing my office,’” Geffner said. “And I’m seeing the flames and the flames are raging out of the third floor, which is where my office was, and they’re raging
out the window. And I’m realizing, I don’t have an office anymore.” Geffner said she watched as the flames were bursting through the windows and the roof of the building while firefighters from 37 fire departments dragged their hoses to extinguish them. “I just saw this tremendous blaze and realized everything is gone,” Geffner said. “Everything.” Geffner is a well-established speech-language pathologist and auContinued on Page 43