Serving New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Garden City Park, North Hills, Manhasset Hills and North New Hyde Park
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Friday, February 9, 2024
Vol. 73, No. 6
N E W H Y D E PA R K
VALENTINE’S DINING & GIFTS
NORTHWELL OPENS NEW SURGICAL WING
COUNTY ANNOUNCES OPIOID MONEY GRANTS
PAGES 23-30
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PAGE 20
Suozzi, Mazi vote for Santos seat begins
C U LT U R A L C E L E B R AT I O N
Nation watches special election amid fight over border, Ukraine BY C A M E RY N O A K ES
p.m. Registered voters can find their assigned polling place through the state’s Voters began casting their ballots Sat- Board of Election’s website. Queens early voting and Election Day urday in the high-stakes special election to fill the seat in New York’s Third Congres- polling locations can be found on the New sional District left vacant by the expulsion York City Board of Elections website. The candidates: Suozzi v. Mazi of Geroge Santos from the House of RepAlthough an abbreviated campaign of resentatives. Former Democratic Congressman Tom about 10 weeks will pre-date the election, Suozzi and Republican Nassau County the race for New York’s Third CongresLegislator Mazi Pilip are facing off in a Feb. sional District has heated up between the 13 special election, which could determine two candidates and drawn national atthe balance of power in the House with Re- tention with the party divide in Congress near an even split. publicans clinging to a tiny Suozzi, who describes majority. himself as a middle-ofSantos was tossed out See related of Congress in December election coverage the-road Democrat, represented the 3rd Congresafter he was found to have PAGES 3, 6, 20 sional District over three repeatedly lied to voters, terms in the House from then later indicted on 21 January 2017 to January federal charges and found to have committed numerous violations by 2023. He previously served as the Nassau County executive from 2002-2009 and the House Ethics Committee. Early voting for New York’s Third Con- the mayor of Glen Cove from 1994-2001 gressional District, which encompasses the – the start of his political career. Republican Pilip is a Nassau County western part of Long Island’s North Shore and a section of northeastern Queens, be- legislator representing the county’s 10th gan on Saturday and will run through Feb. District in her second term. She began 11, with Election Day scheduled for Feb. serving in the position in 2022. Prior to her political career, Pilip, who 13. Polling locations and times vary, but was born in Ethiopia before immigrating a full list of the Nassau County early vot- to Israel at the age of 12 where she served ing locations can be found on the county’s as a gunsmith in the Israeli Defense Force. The campaign has brought an emphaBoard of Elections website. Nassau County polling locations on sis on transparency by the Democrat, who Continued on Page 48 Election Day will be open from 6 a.m.-9
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GREAT NECK PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Great Neck South Middle School hosted its annual Cultural Heritage Celebration, showcasing the cultures of its community.
Islamic center eyes legal action after plan rejected BY C A M E RY N O A K ES The Hillside Islamic Center’s chairman said the mosque is consulting attorneys about legal recourse in response to the town board striking down its site plan proposal, claiming the town’s reasoning is unfounded and inhibits the ability to worship. After more than seven months of public hearings, the Town of North Hempstead voted along party lines last Tuesday night to deny the Hillside Islamic Center’s expansion plan.
The town cited a “concern for safety” in its rejection of the plan because the center’s Friday’s services create traffic congestion in the neighborhood. Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan, chairman of the mosque’s Board of Trustees, said the center is talking to its attorneys about taking legal action following the decision, which will make worshipping harder for the congregants. He pointed out the proposal was compliant with the town’s code, did not require any variances and was put for-
ward when there were not of unsafe incidents. “We worry the council members’ “concern for safety” is not based on facts but is instead being used as pretext to deny this community the opportunity to support its congregation,” Bhuiyan said in a letter to Blank Slate Media last Thursday. Bhuiyan said the town’s decision was based on speculations, not fact, leaving the mosque feeling treated unequally and violated. Continued on Page 49