Roslyn 2022_09_30

Dems block DeSena’s ethics picks

Appointment of 3 board members voted down along party lines

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Town of North Hempstead Democrats voted to block appointments to the Town’s Board of Ethics and table resolutions on dates for public hearings on the town budget to discuss dates that work for all seven members during the Sept. 22 meeting.

The five-hour meeting saw a resolution to authorize the execution of an agreement with the law offices of Leventhal, Mullaney and Blinkoff, LLP for legal services tabled on a vote of 4-3 along party lines.

Resolutions to set public hearings in October on the tentative town budget were tabled to the Sept. 28 meeting to make sure all seven members can agree on dates.

Resolutions appointing Francisco Vazquez, Melissa Slobin and Derek Chan to the ethics board were voted down 4-3 by the Democrats, who hold a majority.

Without specific counsel to the Board of Ethics, the town attorney’s office will act in that capacity, which currently also serves the town board.

There was no discussion during the vote to table, except questioning by Republican Supervisor DeSena before her vote.

“Why are you moving to table this?

This is something we have talked about for months. Mr. Leventhal would provide counsel to our ethics board, he’s very well-known and basically wrote the book on ethics,” DeSena said. “We are in a situation where our ethics board that’s supposed to be rendering decisions possibly on the town board is being advised by the town attorney, who also represents the town board.”

“The appointment of Mr. Leventhal as special counsel to the Board of Ethics is not being requested by the Board of Ethics. This is yet another instance of overreach by the Supervisor, and frankly a waste of taxpayer funds.

Democratic Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey said in a statement to Blank Slate Media outside counsel can be called when needed.

“The Board of Ethics can request the appointment of outside counsel as the need arises. Indeed, I’m told that they have appointed outside counsel — including Mr. Leventhal — in the past,” Lurvey said. “I see no need to change that arrangement just because the Supervisor wants it. ”

DeSena said in a statement the votes a tactic to prevent investigations.

“The Town attorney has a legal responsibility to represent his clients,

Continued on Page 51

Firefighters from the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department contain a house fire in North Hills. According to authorities, no one was injured in the early Sunday morning blaze. See story on page 4.

Little change in state rearrest rates

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

New York’s bail reform laws, enacted at the beginning of 2020, have not resulted in significant changes in rearrest rates, according to a new

report from the state’s Division of Criminal Justice Services.

Statistics showed that outside of New York City, rearrest rates in 2019 were 16%, followed by 23% in 2020 and 21% in 2021. The city’s 2019

rearrest rate was 19%, followed by 22% in 2020 and 20% in 2021, according to the statistics.

Additionally, roughly 80% of suspects who were arrested through-

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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MANHASSET-LAKEVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT

North Shore ed board tackles capital reserves

District will seek out tips on short and long-term needs

BY STEVEN KEEHNER

The North Shore Board of Educa tion took on the role of lecturers as they explained what a capital reserve is during a meeting on Thursday.

The board said there have been misunderstandings over the capital reserve and its procedures. Their pre sentation aimed to clarify and explain why they think it may be a useful tool.

Over the coming months, the district will speak with community members to establish immediate and long-term infrastructure needs. The board did not ofer an exact timeline on when residents may vote on a po tential capital reserve.

James Pappas, assistant superin tendent for business, said a capital re serve can pay for larger-scale projects.

“Many projects are too big to fund in one, single year,” he said. “So you utilize a capital project and you fund a portion of a certain project or many projects over a number of years and you do them as you create enough

funding or save enough funding to do those projects. Then you move for ward and you start to do those proj ects.”

Pappas said that by planning, the district can complete projects without having to resort to borrowing.

Voters must approve the creation of a capital reserve. The proposal must specify the goal of the fund, its maximum amount, its use and where the money will come from. Addition ally, the district may only fund the purposes for which voters established the capital reserve. The district can fund other purposes with voter ap proval.

Budgetary appropriation or trans fer from the fund balance, transfer from the unused share of a beforeformed capital reserve or transfer from another established reserve where the school board has the power to transfer may fund a capital reserve.

The district most recently estab lished capital reserves in 2008 and 2016. They both included several

projects that could be fnanced over a 10-year period, which is a typical funding duration.

Superintendent Christopher Zub lionis said a capital reserve wouldn’t incur any extra expenses on the tax payer.

“It’s a public process that involves working of of an initial list that we’ve developed that we do currently have based on recent information from construction we’ve done, from the input we’ve gotten from some of our committees,” he said. “But we need to keep that process going to get ad ditional feedback from the public, meet with stakeholder groups and we would also need to get more commit tee input from committees.”

After discussions on the capital reserve concluded, the board later ap proved their district goals for the year.

The frst is an evaluation of the instructional strategies. This entails assessing the efectiveness of the 2018–2023 strategic plan and creat ing a

E. Hills awarded for preservation efforts

BY STEVEN KEEHNER

Preservation Long Island has awarded the Village of East Hills for its work in preserving John Mackay III’s Happy House.

Preservation Long Island’s goal is to safeguard and celebrate his toric places. Its biennial Preservation Awards honor outstanding success in historic preservation on Long Island.

The event was held last Wednes day at the John Mackay III House at 2A Melby Lane in East Hills. Attend ees included members of the Roslyn Landmark Society, residents and East Hills ofcials. Mayor Michael Koblenz received the honor from Preservation Long Island Executive Director Alexandra Wolfe and Direc tor of Preservation Sarah Kautz.

“History is a part of the fabric of our society,” said Koblenz. “Through this resolution, we preserve our past and embrace it as part of our culture in East Hills.”

Happy House was built in 1929 for John Mackay III, grandson of John Mackay. John Mackay was one of the discoverers of the Comstock silver mines in Nevada, where the country’s frst signifcant deposits of the ore were found in the 1870s.

His father, Clarence Mackay, controlled the 648-acre Harbor Hill estate, which included a sizable por tion of East Hills, from 1902 through

the 1940s. During this time, Clarence Mackay gave his son the frst 28-acre property as a present in May 1929.

Clarence Mackay died in 1938, leaving Harbor Hill to his son John Mackay III. Neglect and vandalism caused the estate to deteriorate. Lat er in the 1950s and 1960s, real estate developers purchased the property.

Then, in 2017, the property owners sought to demolish the house and subdivide the land into four units. Eventually, East Hills reached an arrangement to save the structure in September 2021. It enabled two buildable lots on the property.

According to Preservation Long Island, the village’s commitment to performing a complete environmen tal evaluation protected the house.

“The resulting agreement emerged from a rigorous review pro cess,” the group said, “including the preparation of a detailed Environ mental Impact Statement, acknowl edgment of the concerns of local community members and identifca tion of more sensitive alternatives to the four-lot subdivision as initially proposed.”

Furthermore, the preservation agreement did not reduce the prop erty’s market value. The group said East Hills has established an “ef fective model” for other communi ties to recognize, reduce or avoid

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‘Happy House’ built in 1929, nearly junked in 2017

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

North Shore High School

PHOTO BY GREG APISSON

East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz is presented with the Preserva tion Award. The Village has been recognized by Preservation Long Island for its efforts in maintaining John Mackay III’s Happy House.

East Hills honors cemetery revival

settlers from 1790 to 1926

BY STEVEN KEEHNER

On Sept. 14, the Village of East Hills celebrated the frst stage of the Townsend Cemetery restoration.

Roslyn Landmark Society mem bers, Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSe na, Councilmember Peter Zuckerman and others were in attendance.

Six families — Townsend, Jack son, Horsfeld, Titus, Willis and Boerem — were among the 31 early English and Quaker settlers buried there. The cemetery was in operation for 136 years from 1790 to 1926 and is the only one in East Hills.

Notably, Ezra Cornell, the found er of Cornell University, was a de scendant of the Townsends.

A resident contacted East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz about the dilapidated cemetery next to their home 10 years ago. Then Koblenz contacted the then-Town Historian Howard Kroplick. Kroplick, now the Roslyn Landmark Society’s co-presi dent, said the burial ground was in ruin.

“Thanks to the cooperative ef forts of ofcials from the Town of North Hempstead, Village of East Hills and the Roslyn Landmark So ciety, the surrounding neighbors and grant support from the Robert D.L. Gardiner Foundation, the frst phase

of its restoration has been success fully completed,” he said. “Everyone

associated with this project should be very proud of this accomplishment.”

Throughout the summer, the Town of North Hempstead’s Depart

ment of Highways cleaned the area. The Burying Ground Preservation and the Stewart Preservation Ser vices restored 16 headstones, 11 footstones and over 200 fragments. Additionally, they identifed 21 of the 31 grave sites.

A $10,000 grant from the Rob ert D.L. Gardiner Foundation to the Roslyn Landmark Society from De cember 2021 made the restoration possible.

“Historical preservation is im perative to allow future generations to learn from the past and I’m proud that the Town has completed the frst phase of this important restoration project,” said DeSena. “As American historian David McCullough once said, ‘History is who we are and why we are the way we are.’ Restoration projects like this one go a long way towards helping preserve our Town’s rich past.”

Descendants of the Townsend and Jackson families were also in at tendance. Zuckerman expressed his gratitude for their presence.

“Restoring historical landmarks is so important to preserve the history of these families and of the Town,” he said. “North Hempstead is proud to be able to assist with these eforts and ensure that historical cemeteries are preserved and well cared for.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROSLYN LANDMARK SOCIETY

Roslyn Landmark Society members, town historian Ross Lumpkin, Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, Councilmember Peter Zuckerman and others. The Village of East Hills commemorated the first stage of the Townsend Cemetery renovation on Sept. 14.

DeSena endorses Santos for Congress

Town supervisor ‘confident’ Republican will improve quality of life for 3rd District

BY BRANDON DUFFY

North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena has endorsed Re publican George Santos as he makes a bid for the 3rd Congressional Dis trict in November.

DeSena, a registered Democrat who ran as a Republican, is currently serving her frst term of public ofce.

“I formally endorse George Santos for Congress in New York’s Third Con gressional District. I was elected North Hempstead’s Town Supervisor to bring some desperately needed change, and my administration is getting things done for our residents,” DeSena said in a statement. “The federal government is in need of change as well, as infa tion is hitting record highs and strain ing the budgets of families. I am conf dent that George will deliver solutions in Washington D.C. George is a friend and true leader with a passion for the people. He’s about fxing government and getting things done, and that’s the type of representation we need. I look forward to partnering with him to help improve the quality of life for the peo ple of North Hempstead and the entire congressional district.”

Santos, who is running for his frst elected public ofce, said DeSena is an inspiration and problem solver.

“I am honored to have the en

dorsement of North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena. When the government cannot agree on anything, Supervisor DeSena makes things happen. She is a true inspira

If elected, Santos would become the frst openly gay member of Con gress from Long Island and Queens as would his Democratic challenger Zimmerman.

Santos is running for the seat currently held by Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), who is coming of a failed run in the gubernatorial primary, losing to Gov. Kathy Hochul in late June. Suozzi is not on the bal lot to retain his seat in Congress.

New district maps were submit ted earlier this year by a court-ap pointed special master and have been viewed as more neutral compared to ones that were rejected by the state Appeals Court several weeks ago.

While the 3rd Congressional Dis trict under the new proposal does not extend as far west as the Bronx or Westchester, it does stretch to more southern parts of Nassau County, such as Hicksville and Massapequa. The new lines do exclude the parts of the district that now stretch into Suf folk County, mainly Huntington and Smithtown.

tion and problem solver,” Santos said. “Supervisor DeSena and I will work together in whatever capacities to shift the accountability back to the elected ofcials and in the best inter est of North Hempstead residents.”

Santos, 34, who ran against Suozzi in 2020, was named a “Young Gun” candidate in the National Re publican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program earlier this year, his campaign said.

N. Hills house catches fire, no injuries Kaplan calls for Hochul to sign anti-theft bill

BY STEVEN KEEHNER

There were no injuries in an early Sunday morning house fre in North Hills, police an nounced.

Ofcers were dispatched to 9 Cherrywood Lane in response to a house fre. They arrived to fnd the residence, which was empty because of ongoing construction, completely engulfed in

fames.

The Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department arrived and put out the fre. The Port Washing ton Atlantic Fire Department, Plandome Fire Department and Roslyn Fire Department all as sisted.

There were no reported injuries. The inves tigation is ongoing.

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills) urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign legislation aimed at prohibiting the sale of catalytic con verters by dismantlers and scrap processors into law Monday.

Nearly 1,300 catalytic converters have been stolen throughout Nassau County since the beginning of the year, compared to just 131 last year, ofcials from the Nassau County Police Department said during a meeting of the Lakeville Estates Civic Association several weeks ago. Catalytic converters use a chamber to transform harmful engine emissions into safe gases before they get released in the air.

The legislation, which has been passed in the state Assembly and Senate, would impose restrictions on selling catalytic converters and require all qualifed dealerships to carry etch ing kits to ofer to anyone purchasing a new vehicle.

“We need to give our law enforcement the tools and resources they need, and while I’ve been proud to deliver more funding to our po lice to help them keep our community safe, we can still do more to address the theft of cata lytic converters in our community,” Kaplan, a co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.

Etching kits allow for a catalytic con verter to be marked so that it makes it more

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SENATOR’S OFFICE

State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills) urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a law aimed at preventing the theft of catalytic converters into law.

difcult for thieves to resale the converter to other dealers. While it is illegal to resell cata lytic converters, Det. Sgt. Jefrey Raymond, the commanding ofcer of the Nassau County Police Department’s Burglary Pattern Crime Squad, said the precious metals found in cata

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SUPERVISOR

Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena

“The federal government is in need of change... infation is hitting record highs and straining the budgets of families. I am confdent that George will deliver solutions in Washington D.C.

— Jennifer DeSena

NORTH HEMPSTEAD SUPERVISOR

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MANHASSET-LAKEVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT

Firefighters from the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department contain a house fire in North Hills.

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Suozzi endorses Zimmerman for CD3

Congressman praises Dem nominee for commitment to SALT deduction, fighting gun violence

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Months after endorsing Nassau County Legislator Josh Lafazan to succeed him in Congress, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) formally endorsed Robert Zimmerman ahead of the state’s 3rd Congressional District election in November.

Suozzi, who lauded Lafazan for being a “common-sense Democrat” prior to the district’s Democratic primary election that took place in August, said Zimmerman is “the clear choice” in the general election later this fall.

“Robert has committed to fight to end gun violence in our nation, protect the shorelines of Queens and Nassau Counties, and will be dedicated to fully restoring the SALT (State and Local Tax) deduction,” Suozzi continued. “Robert Zimmerman will work to deliver results for the people of the 3rd Congressional District.”

Zimmerman, in a tweet, said he was proud to have Suozzi’s endorsement, expressing his desire to work closely with the outgoing congressman on various issues, if he is elected.

Suozzi is coming off a failed run in the gubernatorial primary, losing to Gov. Kathy Hochul in late June, and will not be running to retain his seat in Congress.

New district maps were submitted

under the new proposal does not extend as far west as the Bronx or Westchester, it does stretch to more southern parts of Nassau County such as Hicksville and Massapequa. The new lines do exclude the parts of the district that now stretch into Suffolk County, mainly Huntington and Smithtown.

If elected, Zimmerman would become the first openly gay member of Congress from Long Island and Queens as would his Republican challenger, George Santos.

Zimmerman, 67, is co-president of ZE Creative Communications on Bond Street in Great Neck, a public relations firm he started 33 years ago with Ron Edelson and a Democratic national committeeman.

rights, among other things, as threats to the country’s fabric.

Notable endorsements for Zimmerman include Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng, former Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, state Assemblyman Charles Lavine, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and former New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

Santos, 34, who ran against Suozzi in 2020, was named a “Young Gun” candidate in the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program earlier this year, his campaign said. The Republican was recently endorsed by Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CANDIDATE

Great Neck’s Robert Zimmerman is running for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

recently by a court-appointed special master and have been viewed as more neutral compared to ones that were rejected by the state Appeals Court several weeks ago.

Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan (D-Woodbury) was in third place with 5,296 votes, Port Washington’s Melanie D’Arrigo received 4,197 votes and Oyster Bay’s Reema Rasool received 661 votes.

While the 3rd Congressional District

Zimmerman received 9,482, or 36%, of the votes in the 3rd Congressional District primary in August. Former North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman finished second with 6,884 votes for 26%.

Zimmerman previously worked as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill for Congressmen Lester Wolff, James Scheuer and Gary Ackerman. His advocacy also led to his being nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Presidential Commission on the Arts and by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Council on the Humanities.

The businessman referred to numerous pieces of legislation in state governments aimed at compromising voting, abortion and the LGBTQ+ community’s

“I am confident that George will deliver solutions in Washington, D.C. George is a friend and true leader with a passion for the people,” DeSena said in a statement. “He’s about fixing government and getting things done, and that’s the type of representation we need.”

Santos, who is running for his first elected public office, said DeSena is an inspiration and problem solver.

“I am honored to have the endorsement of North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena,” he said. “When the government cannot agree on anything, Supervisor DeSena makes things happen.”

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Hempstead, Oyster Bay repeal abortion restrictions

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Towns of Hempstead and Oyster Bay

Earlier this month, North Hempstead’s Town Board voted unanimously Thursday to repeal a 50-year-old section of the town code that limited where pregnancies could be terminated to hospitals, facilities adminliated

with a hospital.

On Wednesday morning, elected officials gathered at the Nassau County Courthouse to provide an update on municipalities that have also repealed their restrictions and those that have not.

The Villages of Williston Park, Freeport and the Town of Huntington have not yet taken any actions.

“Two weeks ago, I called on local officials to repeal draconian abortion restrictions that were still on the books here on Long Island, and today I’m proud to announce that the Towns of Oyster Bay and Hempstead did exactly what I told them to do: they repealed their abortion restrictions! While they may not have done so with any fanfare, this is a moment worth celebrating, and I thank them for this achievement,” state Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-North Hills) said. “Now, it’s time for officials in the remaining three Long Island communities to do their part and repeal their abortion restrictions, which we know were enacted with the sole purpose of getting between women and their right to choose.”

On Sept. 8, Kaplan and state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti went through the municipal code of over 110 Long Island communities.

“I joined my colleagues in the state Legislature to send an unequivocal message,

Northwell hits $1B in campaign to fund expansion

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Northwell Health announced that they surpassed $1 billion in its first system-wide fundraising campaign, with nearly 170,000 donors providing support to its continuing expansion and furthering research, officials announced on Thursday.

The system’s ‘Outpacing the Impossible: The Northwell Campaign’ was publicly launched in October 2018 with the hopes of raising funds to support capital projects, advance research and improve hospitals and other clinical programs. New York’s largest private employer and non-profit healthcare provider officially raised $422 million for their programs, $412 million for capital projects and $186 million for its’ endowment program.

“We don’t believe in limits. We set a goal to raise $1

billion and we’ve done that,” Northwell President and CEO Michael Dowling said in a statement. “The extraordinary generosity from our donors has significantly boosted advancements in research, education, prevention and treatment. Philanthropy is an investment in one another, in our community and in the future, and it saves and improves people’s lives.”

More than 11,000 Northwell employees, including 100% of the healthcare system’s leadership officials, made donations totaling more than $15 million, officials announced. Some of the donations supported the Caregivers Support Fund, which Northwell team members created to aid those whose families were struggling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our communities and employees have come together to support the philanthropic needs

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF STATE SEN. ANNA KAPLAN

Pictured left to right state Assemblywoman Judy Griffin, state Sen. Jim Gaughran, state Assemblywoman Gina Sillitti, Jennifer Eramo (Planned Parenthood of Greater New York) and state Sen. Anna M. Kaplan celebrate the repeal of local abortion restrictions.

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More unions endorse Kaplan in re-election bid

BY STEVEN KEEHNER

State Sen. Anna Kaplan (DPort Washington) has received the support of three more labor unions ahead of her race for the 7th Senate District on Nov. 8.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 25, the Enterprise Association Steamfitters Local 638 and the Public Employees Federation of New York State have all endorsed Kaplan. The announcement comes on top of the 14 labor union endorsements that she has recently received.

Kaplan is running against former state Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury). From 2011 to 2016, Martins, a former mayor of Mineola, served as the 7th District’s representative.

Kaplan said she is proud to be the self-labeled “labor candidate” in her race.

“As a state senator, I’ve fought hard for unions and working families,” she said. “As long as I have the privilege of representing this community in the Senate, I will continue fighting for orga-

nized labor and the millions of union families across the state.”

Wayne Spence, president of the New York State Public Employees Federation, said Kaplan has always battled alongside organized labor. In doing so, she has ensured that New Yorkers have access to dignified employment with competitive pay and benefits.

“We are excited to continue working with her to deliver for

Long Island families by creating greater opportunity for our members and for all workers across New York,” he said.

Kaplan has served in the Senate since 2019. In 2020, she defeated former Port Washington Police Commissioner Dave Franklin to win re-election. She said she has concentrated on tax relief for the middle class, women’s rights and lowering gun violence and hate crimes.

Come Visit THE OYSTER BAY RAILROAD MUSEUM

PHOTO BY JANELLE CLAUSEN

State Sen. Anna Kaplan (D-Port Washington

Mineola eyes revised business district

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The Mineola Board of Trustees Wednesday night was given a presentation on potential ways to revitalize different business districts in the village.

The presentation was in line with the vision of newly elected Mayor Paul Pereira and the rest of the board’s interest in reimagining different parts of Mineola.

“My view is that retail as we know it no longer exists,” Pereira said. “And it’s not coming back the way we knew.”

Specifically, the board heard a presentation from Paul Grygiel on creating an overlay district on the strip of Jericho between Willis Avenue and Marcellus Road and on Main Street, First Street and Second Street between Mineola Boulevard and Willis.

Grygiel is a city planning and development consultant with previous experience in Mineola, which included a helping hand in the creation of the master plan of Mineola in the mid-2000s.

Overlay zones create special zoning districts on previously established districts that can allow for additional criteria.

An overlay zone, as presented, would allow future development to possibly be residential-only and exceed the maximum height of 25 feet but not go above 40 feet.

“The overlay districts essentially mean we will entertain good projects,” Pereira said. “If we don’t like it, you can still build but at 25 feet.”

Grygiel noted that the master plan, enacted in 2005, labeled the Jericho Turnpike area as an appropriate place for pedestrian-oriented development, mentioning specifically that some outside-the-box methods of increasing development

would be mixed-residential buildings, a conference space, hotel or movie theater, among other possibilities.

“The idea with Jericho is to take what you have and potentially allow the market to say, with newer options for development, let’s invest money here,” Grygiel said.

Pereira clarified that nothing was being voted on Wednesday night but added that the current setup doesn’t allow businesses to be bought and redeveloped outside of what the current parameters are. The mayor said that on Jericho developers are not allowed to put residential units on the

NHP man charged in alleged fraud case

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

A New Hyde Park man was among five individuals charged with money laundering conspiracy as part of an alleged scheme to defraud New York City out of millions of dollars in connection with public contracts to perform work at homeless shelters throughout the city, officials announced on Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York said Irfan Bajwa, 42, was one of five individuals in the alleged scheme that would use bank accounts to receive proceeds from the illgeal activity along with making financial transactions to cover up their illicit origin.

Officials also arrested Liaquat Cheema, Ali Cheema, Shouket Chudhary and Khizar Hayat on Wednesday morning.

Liaquat Cheema and Ali Cheema were president and vice president of the Queens-based AFL Construction Co. Inc. around 2015, officials said. The company entered into public contracts with New York City worth roughly $12 million to perform contracting work such as landscaping, roofing and other general maintenance at the shelters, officials said.

From around 2014 to 2018, the pair allegedly stole from the funds paid by the city and filed false invoices and other documentation claiming the contracting work at various shelters had been done, according to officials.

To date, the company has been paid at least $8 million for the work that the pair claimed they conducted.

Aside from allegedly aiding Liaquat and Ali Cheema in their scheme, Bajwa, Chudhary and Hayat also obtained tens of thousands of dollars worth of Medicaid benefits by submitting false certifications, filing nearly identical employment letters that were signed off by a “project manager” who was dead, officials said.

“The defendants entered into public contracts so that they could provide vital maintenance to homeless shelters to aid New York City’s most vulnerable residents; however, instead of honoring these contracts, the defendants allegedly concocted multiple schemes to steal public funds,” U.S. Southern District Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Bajwa, Hayat and Chudary were charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy, a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, one count of health care fraud conspiracy, a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and one count of aggravated identity theft, with a mandatory two-year prison sentence, officials said.

Additionally, Liaquat and Ali Cheema were charged with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, a maximum of 20 years in prison, officials said.

Liaquat Cheema received the same charges as the other three while Ali Cheema received all but the health care fraud conspiracy, officials said.

first floor and that is something he would entertain in the future, if possible.

Grygiel said the focus for the Main Street area was to preserve and enhance a traditional downtown area. He pointed out that buildings can only be two stories and allowing for a third could promote development.

For additional residential units to be developed, current regulations would require parking spaces to be put in place, but a potential remedy would be a payment in lieu of parking program that would set funds aside for specific parking developments in the village.

Any specifics on a potential payment in lieu of parking program would be dictated by the village, Grygiel said.

“Developers could pay a one-time fee per parking spot and funds can go to a parking lot or parking structure if the opportunity presented itself,” Grygiel said.

Pereira said he liked Grygiel’s suggestions and that he is open to gathering any information to improve the village.

“This enables us to be able to entertain opportunities that are beneficial to developers, property owners, landlords and the village,” Pereira said.

Wetherill Rd., Garden City

This home is located in the highly desired Eastern Property - Triangle Park section. Positioned on a rare corner lot with unobstructed views of greenspace and trees.

A family home with 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, and a fnished basement.

PHOTO BY BRANDON DUFFY

Paul Grygiel speaks to the Mineola Board of Trustees on Wednesday night.

skating, gymnastics,

athletes

Officials said Keith Dillon, of New Hyde Park, will receive the same plea deal in the Nassau courts as he did in a Brooklyn appellate court for a drunk driving incident in 2018.

Journal

NHP man pleads guilty to drunk driving

BY BRANDON DUFFY

A New Hyde Park man and Coast Guard veteran Keith Dillon has pleaded guilty to a 2018 drunk driving incident that seriously injured a Nassau County police officer.

Dillon, 33, was intoxicated and impaired by Xanax when he drove his 2014 Dodge Ram onto the center median at 70 miles per hour southbound on Glen Cove Road in Greenvale and eventually crashed into an unmarked police car, driven by Nassau Police Officer Willard Gomes early on Jan. 1, 2018, officials said. Gomes suffered serious injuries.

Dillon pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Nassau County Courthouse to aggravated vehicular assault, assault in the second degree, aggravated driving while intoxicated and tampering with physical evidence.

He is expected to be sentenced to 6 to 12 years in prison on Oct. 19.

The collision pushed the police car about 50 feet backward and rotated it 180 degrees, according to the district attorney’s office.

Dillon’s car flipped over and came to a stop about 30 to 40 feet away from Gomes’ car, according to the district attorney’s office.

Cocaine and Xanax were found in Dillon’s car following the crash, according to the district attorney’s office.

“Officer Gomes’ life was forever changed by the defendant’s reckless decisions to drive at excessive speeds while extremely intoxicated and high,” said District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “More than four years after this horrific head-on crash, Officer Gomes continues to fight for his recovery every day. No one should have to suffer as he has. We continue to wish Officer Gomes the best and thank him for his heroic service to Nassau County.”

Dillon previously pleaded guilty on May 13, 2019, and was sentenced but an appellate court decision overturned the conviction before the case was returned and prosecuted again by the Nassau County District Attorney’s office.

Gomes suffered a brain bleed, broken elbow and leg fractures which required multiple surgeries to repair.

Today, he walks with a permanent limp and cannot fully bend his left elbow or touch his face with his left hand. Gomes will require additional surgeries to regain mobility in his left arm. Dillon suffered a fractured ankle in the crash.

Dillon apologized to Gomes during his sentencing in 2019, expressing his regret for “selfish, reckless actions”, according to Newsday.

Bicyclist killed in North Hills accident

BY STEVEN KEEHNER

A man riding a bicycle died after colliding with a truck in North Hills on Tuesday morning, police said.

The accident occurred at 9:01 a.m. The cyclist, 56, was heading westbound on the Long

Island Expressway’s North Service Road when he was hit by a FedEx truck near the intersection of Searingtown Road.

The victim suffered critical injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

The male FedEx driver, 25, remained at the site.

The investigation is ongoing.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Opinion

OUR VIEWS

Facts get in way of bail reform claims

Nassau Republicans swept the four county-wide seats in November 2021 based in large part on a rise in crime statewide that they blamed on reforms to New York’s bail laws approved by the Democraticcontrolled state Legislature.

Republican candidates running for office across the state led by Lee Zeldin, a congressman from Suffolk County vying for governor, are now using the same playbook.

Zeldin, a close ally of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, is calling for an end to cashless bail for all crimes.

There is no doubt the state’s reforms – eliminating cash bail for misdemeanors and non-violent felonies — have been a politically potent argument for Republicans.

But there is one problem with the claim that the reforms are responsible for the increase in violent crime in the state. It isn’t true.

A state report issued last week shows that criminal suspects are being rearrested at roughly the same rate as before bail laws were overhauled. Outside of New York City, the rate was 16% in 2019, 23% in 2020 and 21% in 2021.

The report broke down the statistics between New York City and outside New York City. The numbers tracked fairly closely between the two areas.

Rearrests for violent crimes also remain low. Outside of New York City, about 1% of suspects were rearrested for a violent felony in 2019 compared to about 3% in 2021.

The report, which takes data going back to 2019, indicates that judges, who can’t assess bail as frequently as before, are using non-monetary supervision tools such as ankle bracelets to monitor suspects.

Bail reforms also have not sparked a rash of no-shows at required court appearances.

Yes, the agency that issued the report – the state Division of Criminal Justice Services – is under the control of Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, who is running for re-election against Zeldin.

But the report closely follows findings made by several news outlets when they reviewed the data earlier this year

that showed bail reform had a minimal impact on the crime rate.

An analysis of Nassau County crime statistics for the past five years conducted by Blank Slate Media shows a decrease of more than 10% in major crimes from 2017-2021 but an increase of more than 16% in violent crimes.

Major crimes, overall, increased less than 3% in 2021 from 12,244 in 2020. Violent crime increased 5% from 1,826 to 1,917 during this period and property crimes increased less than 2%.

In short, no evidence exists to support the claim that New York’s bail reform is to blame for increases in violent crime, which have occurred nationwide, including in jurisdictions without bail reform, during the pandemic.

Nassau County recently reported that authorities rearrested about 7% of defendants who were released without bail during the second quarter of 2022. But that included nonviolent crimes, such as possession of controlled substances, larceny, criminal mischief and not showing up at trial.

This has not prevented Blakeman and Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder from blaming a 75% rise in crime in Nassau in the first three months of the year on bail reform.

“These criminals are allowed out without having to post bail, without any accountability for their actions and the number of crimes they have committed,” Blakeman said in an interview with Blank Slate Media in July. “It’s dangerous and it’s made us all less safe.”

Without any evidence to prove it, Blakeman also said there is a “state of lawlessness” throughout New York and it has resulted in repeat offenders coming back to Nassau County to commit crimes.

This may be a good sound bite. But it is not supported by the facts.

The problem with blaming bail reform for the spike in the county’s crime rate is that it allows Blakeman, Zeldin and other Republicans to avoid addressing the actual cause — whatever that might be. And actually doing something about it.

But before that question is answered, it would be helpful to know what the county’s crime rate has been since March.

The county had not updated 2021

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Nassau crime statistics since October, when Laura Curran was county executive, until July and only then in response to a Freedom of Information Law request by Blank Slate Media.

The county also did not release monthly crime statistics for 2022 until then.

By contrast, New York City releases its crime statistics monthly and has used them to target areas of concern such as gun shootings.

In response to a spike in gun shootings, the city focused on areas where a disproportionate number of shootings occurred and launched an aggressive program of getting guns off the street. Gun shootings declined in subsequent months.

Do Blakeman and Ryder not know whether the crime rate continues to spike over 2021?

Or do they know and are not sharing that information with Nassau County residents? If so, why?

Releasing crime statistics that show crime has spiked since Blakeman took office would certainly cast his first year in office in an unflattering light. But that’s not a reason to withhold the information.

The last two years in which Curran was county executive, before losing to Blakeman, Nassau was ranked as the safest county in the United States by U.S.

REPORTERS

News & World Report — an honor questioned by Blakeman.

OK, but how does Blakeman explain the small increase in Nassau’s crime rate the two years after the bail laws reforms were enacted when Curran was county executive and the increase since he took office in the beginning of this year?

And what is Blakeman going to do about the rise in crime now?

Ryder and Blakeman did warn criminals from out of state to stay out of Nassau after reporting that 75% of the 300 cars thefts in Nassau in the first three months of the year were committed by Newark, N.J., residents. This represented a 255% increase in car thefts.

Ryder said at the time the county’s Police Department was working with Newark police to catch the offenders and said Nassau County Crimestoppers was offering rewards of up to $5,000 for information that led to arrests of car theft criminals.

So, what has happened since?

Nassau County’s police are among the best paid in the county. The county spends $1,148 per capita on police and fire protection while the national median is $359, according to U.S. News & World Report.

And for that money county taxpayers have gotten good results in the past.

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What went wrong in the first three months of the year? And have the steps taken by the county since then been enough?

These are questions that Blakeman and Ryder as well as every county legislator – Republican and Democrat – should answer.

And yes, they have been asked. And no, they have with the exception of Blakeman and Ryder not been answered.

The state’s bail laws were grossly unfair before they were first reformed in 2019, penalizing poor (disproportionately minority) defendants unable to pay their way out of jail while rewarding those with the means to buy their freedom.

For those who could not pay, the results were often catastrophic not only for those who were arrested but for their families as well.

Lawmakers have twice amended the bail laws, most recently this past spring, to address the concerns of Republicans and some Democrats who relied on anecdotal evidence but no hard facts.

Now, we have hard data and they show that bail reform is not behind the rise in crime in New York.

Will that stop politicians from trying to exploit the issue and find real solutions? Probably not. But it should.

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The U.S. Senate ain’t what it used to be

Imust confess that I am hooked on the political history of this great country.

We have had great Supreme Court justices, legendary members of the House of Representatives and a Senate, once referred to by President James Buchanan as the “world’s most deliberative body.”

Despite such great choices, I have focused most of my time on the Senate.

By law, the U.S. Senate is a 100-member body. It has produced many great names and has the distinction of having produced a number of U.S. presidents.

In 1959, the sitting members of the Senate were asked to pick the top five senators in history. Their choices were Henry Clay, (Ky.), John C. Calhoun, (S.C), Daniel Webster (Mass/), Robert Taft, (Ohio) and Robert La Follette Sr. (Wis.).

I have my own favorites, in no particular order.

My list includes: Everett Dirksen, John F.Kennedy, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, John Mc Cain and Lyndon

B. Johnson.

This walk through history creates a real contrast with today’s Senate. Over the past 100 years so many great senators did so many great things, but only a handful of the current members are entitled to any accolades. In fact, there are too many senators who are a total embarrassment to the institution.

My list of disappointments is topped by Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Ted Cruz (RTexas), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.).

I may have missed a few from both sides but this group stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. Lindsey Graham is in a class by himself. He has more colors than a chameleon. He was a close friend of the late John Mc Cain but when Mc Cain died, he became the polar opposite of his buddy.

In 2016, he denounced Donald Trump with ugly words, then embraced him and then disavowed him followed on January 6.

Currently, Graham is a staunch

JERRY KREMER Kremer’s Corner

supporter of Trump and has managed to become one of the most disliked members of the Senate Republican caucus. His latest attempt to drag his party in the abortion battle has been roundly criticized by most of his GOP colleagues and has been a walking, breathing, gift to the Democrats.

He has attacked the FBI and the

Justice Department, as well as other law enforcement groups. It is hard to name a senator who has been as ineffective as Graham, but Ted Cruz comes in a close second.

Even though he is an Ivy League graduate, Cruz practices being obnoxious on a daily basis. His Senate speeches have been a turnoff to both sides of the aisle and his trip to the Caribbean at the height of the Texas blackouts is an incident that will not be lost on his constituents.

Florida’s Marco Rubio fits the definition of an “empty suit.”He has produced nothing of significance for his state and has gone out of his way to vote against many bills, supported by both parties, such as storm aid for flood-ravaged communities.

Rubio had the gall to vote against assistance for the 9/11 survivors, which incurred the wrath of former Congressman Pete King, who urged Wall Street donors to “boycott Rubio” fundraisers.

It’s not appropriate to spend too much time on Josh Hawley, but his fist bump to the Jan. 6 rioters, fol-

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

lowed by the famous film of him running away from the same group, says all there is to say about another Ivy league addition to the Senate. Hawley may be a hero to his conservative base in Missouri, but he has done nothing to make the U.S. Senate an effective body.

Bernie Sanders is well-liked by senators from both parties and works well with them on some issues.

But Sanders has had many opportunities to advance causes that are important to his party and has failed. Somehow Sanders still seems to be nursing the wounds of losing to Joe Biden and has lost the dynamism that he displayed during the presidential campaign.

Most of his current speeches are a repeat of the many he gave in 2020 and he has been of little help to his party’s leader.

I salute Senator Chuck Schumer for his current legislative successes, which have boosted his party, but most of the current Senate in no way resembles the great Senate of the past.

Not exactly grace under pressure

It could have happened to anyone.

Well, at least to anyone signing the royal visitor’s book in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

To be more specific: Prince Charles — I mean, His Majesty Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — was signing a guest book as part of a visit to Northern Ireland, five days after his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, had died. And the pen he was using had leaked on him — as fountain pens are wont to do.

“Oh God, I hate this,” Charles exclaims. As he gets up, away from the desk, he hands the evil thing to his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, who takes it but calmly remarks that the ink “is going everywhere.”

The king then stands in front of his wife, going through his pockets and looking for all the world like he is about to give her a handkerchief.

Indeed, he finds one — and proceeds to wipe off his own hand. Nothing for Camilla until another aide comes up and relieves her of the disastrous pen. She sits down and calmly signs her name in the

book (with a different pen), while Charles continues to fulminate in the background: “I can’t bear this bloody thing, (it’s) what they do, every stinking time.” Then he exits the room, leaving his wife to her fate at the hands of the replacement “bloody thing.”

If you think I spent far too much time playing and replaying this tiny bit of video on my computer, you are absolutely right, but I was fascinated. By Charles, yes — because it looked, every time, as if he were going to help his wife, and yet he never did.

But mostly, I was drawn in by his complaint that “it’s what they do, every stinking time.” Those evil fountain pens, lurking, just lying in wait for the chance to leak all over your fingers.

Because he’s right, if unforgivably rude. Fountain pens do love to leak on people. In fact, everyone in my fourth-grade class came home with those same ink-stained fingers. But most of us didn’t mind because it meant we were learning to write script, or what the teachers called “cursive.” (Now I realize where the cursing comes in.)

JUDY EPSTEIN

A Look on the Lighter Side

Still. You’d think that a King who hates fountain pens would just carry around his own ball-point. Or create a “First Equerry of the Ball Point” to carry one for him.

More generally, I could not believe the utter peevishness of this 73-year-old man. “I would make a better king,” I exclaimed.

“Oh really? For one thing, you wouldn’t be a king, you’d be a

POLICY

queen,” corrected my child, who was visiting for the holidays.

“Try telling that to Viola Davis, whose newest movie is titled ‘The Woman King,’” I replied. “I’m sure I could call myself king if I had the chance. Besides,” I continued, “I’d be a lovely king. I would never be so rude or so imperious. Hey, that can’t go here!” I said, interrupting my own thought as I tripped over something in the living room.

“What did you just trip over?” asked my son.

“This blasted box — of books, or something,” I snapped. “Who put that there, anyway?”

“Why you did, Mom, just the other day. I asked you if maybe I should take it upstairs, but you said, ‘Just leave it there.’” So I did.”

“Oh. Well. Thanks for the offer,” I said. If I’d ever had a plan for that box, I’d forgotten it.

“But why are these stupid suitcases all over the floor?” I asked my husband, as I tried to keep walking.

“Well, you said you were too tired after our trip to bring them upstairs, and asked me to leave them there.”

“Humph,” was all I could say.

I was still thinking about Prince Charles. Er, King Charles.

Because here’s the thing. If anyone could set a good example for how to behave with a pen leaking all over him, it’s my husband. I still remember how his favorite pen exploded in his shirt pocket on our one and only trip to Disney World. He was very sad about that pen — it was his favorite — but he said very little at the time. I didn’t find out till later that the pen had been a casualty of his wrestling our then-baby’s car seat into the middle-seat seat belt on the plane. It gave him quite a fight, and when it finally succumbed, it took his Pilot-tip with it, smashing it into inky shards.

But did he swear ? Bluster all over the plane? Curse all car seats as damnable? He did not, because he didn’t want to wake the baby. If a mere middle-class dad can keep his cool in such a stressful situation, I think the King of England could manage a leaky pen.

If not, my husband and I are available to switch jobs with Charles and Camilla. I would even furnish the ball points.

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Tell it to Duane Reade, the National Archives

The shoplifting surge in New York City’s chain pharmacies, captured on security videos and broadcast on network news, is shocking; but, no less so than Donald Trump looting top-secret documents from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

As scores of thieves ran amok and filled plastic garbage bags with mouthwash, antacid and hair gel, the former president loaded classified files containing information about top-secret U.S. operations into boxes, along with love letters from Kim Jong Un.

“You go to a local pharmacy, Duane Reade or Rite Aid, any of them, and you gotta get someone to help assist you,” civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton lamented. “What did I miss that we now have to lock up toothpaste?”

Commercial shoplifting victims in New York City feel like easy-marks, as seasoned thieves loot their stores in broad daylight with impunity. Many New Yorkers blame the 2019 bail re-

form law, which eliminates cash bail for most misdemeanor and non-violent felony charges.

Is it really such a leap from shoplifting pharmacy items in bulk or luxury goods from high-end stores and selling them on eBay or Facebook Marketplace, to glomming classified government documents that might realize a nice return from the highest international bidder, in cash or favors?

I don’t believe Palm Beach, Fla., has bail reform law like New York’s. Although, if you are apprehended in Florida for shoplifting, you could be transported to Martha’s Vineyard with the promise of housing, healthcare and employment.

In any case, bail reform or no bail reform, it doesn’t really matter to people that operate above the law. One way or another, they believe they will slide.

The U.S. National Archives locks up classified documents and has established protocols for reviewing them and declassifying them.

ANDREW MALEKOFF

sified documents from the National Archives.

When discovered, the former president, who never missed an opportunity to brag about “backing the blue,” accused FBI agents of planting the documents in his beach house in Florida, effectively putting a target on their backs.

He lied. Nothing was planted by the FBI.

When the authorities first came to fetch the classified documents, Trump certified, through his attorney, that he returned them all.

He lied. He returned some and knowingly kept others.

else in federal government to indicate that that was the case.

He lied. He declassified none of the stolen documents.

He has yet to account for the classified documents that presumably fit into the 43 empty folders the FBI found. He then said he was holding all the documents he stole from the National Archives for his presidential library. Even the missing and mutilated ones?

“It’s not just that [Trump] stole the docs. And it’s not just that he lied about them. It’s that every fact we learn makes it worse and worse,” tweeted Neal Katyal, former Solicitor General of the United States.

The fact is that Donald Trump stole and then concealed highly clas-

When the FBI returned to his beach house with a subpoena, more classified documents were found in his office, desk and closets. Trump complained that the FBI agents didn’t remove their shoes.

He then asserted: “I declassified them.”

However, there is no paper trail at the National Archives or anywhere

The Washington Post reported that “Some of the documents retrieved by the Archives had also been torn up, which Trump had a habit of doing.” Destroying documents that belong to the US government is a crime.

Trump’s MAGA-Republican election-denying base continues to play follow the leader and live by the Marx Brothers’ admonition, ‘Who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?”

Or, in Donald Trump’s own words, “What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.”

Tell it to Duane Reade.

A responsibility to aid refugees, asylum seekers

What if the United States and the rest of the nations applied the same concept of capitalism that states use to woo businesses to the world’s people – where people were able to choose where they wanted to live based on the opportunities and quality of life a country offered instead of people essentially being prisoners of their motherland?

The immigration crisis in the U.S. and around the world is only a crisis because of the lack of will to fix it.

This was brought home to me during the Clinton Global Initiative, revived after a hiatus of six years, where I once again felt transported into an alternate universe of progress, not just possibility; humanity instead of the cruelty that has seized hold of out-of-the-fringes gaggle of nativists, populists, nationalists looking and sounding horrifying like 1930s Nazis (as so stirringly shown in Ken Burns documentary, “The United States and the Holocaust”) and governments around the world that shut off paths of escape.

The most moving and inspiring session, simply themed “Home,” brought home the reality of the global refugee crisis – an explosion of 100 million desperate people displaced by war, violence, climate crisis, hunger, poverty — the most since World War II. Climate refugees alone now number 21 million and are projected to increase to 200 million by 2050 – showing how the issue of refugees, migration, immigration are inextricably linked with climate, public health, food insecurity, political repression and instability (issues that

President Biden raised in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly). People can’t turn a blind eye, or worse, as MAGA Republicans like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott have demonstrated, actively, even extrajudicially, obstruct solutions.

There needs to be an immediate response to catastrophes that force thousands to flee – by immediately setting up food, clothing, shelter, medical services, communities and long-term responses.

Among the most creative and engaged in this pursuit are the very people whose lives demonstrate the benefits to society when the human potential of immigrants can be unleashed:

Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna and founder and CEO, Flagship Pioneering (a life sciences venture capital company), the grandson of survivors of the Armenian genocide, recalled his own experience in 1975 as a 13-year-old fleeing Lebanon’s civil war and how it ultimately contributed to his success.

“When you have had the experience of being displaced, you are more open to the challenges, the struggle [and thinking outside box].”

“What propels you forward?”

Hillary Clinton asked. “Almost losing life is a damn good motivator,” Afeyan said. “I was told 50 years ago, the U.S. is a melting pot. Those words stayed with me. If the whole world can accept refugees, not as others, but make them feel like the majority, let them show the way to new opportunity, take risk, it will inspire ‘native folks,’ who may have lost that [mindset, energy, interest, motivation].”

KAREN RUBIN View Point

It’s a different mindset, he said. For refugees, “home is in the future, not the past – home of the past was taken away. People who are oriented to making the future better than the present are what we need to make better society by definition .Give a chance to survivors who failed to die, to revive, to establish a new life. After that, they don’t need a lot of help.”

Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO and founder of Chobani, is another. He founded Tent Partnership for Refugees after attending an earlier CGI, which is dedicated to hiring and training refugees in the Chobani plants he establishes (including New York), and recruiting other companies to do the same. An event he just held resulted in companies committing to hire 23,000 in the US–among them Tyson Foods, Hilton, Marriott, Pfizer, Amazon. “We have 260 large multinational companies in our network actively hiring, training, advocating for refugees.”

Another company actively engaged in improving lives for refugees – and their host country, — is IKEA, which is actively helping alleviate Jordan’s substantial burden in hosting one million Syrian refugees.

Of the Fortune 500 companies, 102 were founded by immigrants and 117 more by children of immigrants. Nearly 3.2 million immigrants run their own businesses employing many more millions at neighborhood stores, restaurants, professional services. Immigrants paid $492 billion in federal and other taxes in 2019.

“It’s good for society but also good for business,” Ulukaya. But while it doesn’t take long to convince CEOs, “one of biggest obstacle for companies is how the topic is used politically in very unpleasant way.”

The breakdown, said David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee, is the shameful reaction of governments to the refugee crisis.

“Governments are retreating from solutions. It takes private sector to come up with solutions, persuade governments to come in,” Miliband said.

Private companies could be the innovators, adapting the systems they already have in place. Walmart, Target – both with philanthropic foundations – and Amazon to set up disaster relief funds and source, store and then distribute essential supplies. So when a California community has to flee wildfires, a Pakistan community has to flee flooding, a Ukrainian community has to flee Russian bombs, a Puerto Rican community has to flee hurricane, they can get a sense of

how many men, women, boys and girls are displaced, what the climate is like where they are sheltering, and send boxes of clothing, toiletries and essentials.

Apple, Microsoft, IBM can supply ipads, i-phones so displaced people can continue online education, access telemedicine, do e-commerce, and stay informed.

Solar power and battery companies can supply portable energy supplies (it’s vitally important for security to keep lights on).

Financial services companies like Mastercard, Visa and American Express can assist displaced people to set up e-commerce businesses, provide micro-loans to families.

Mastercard, in fact, is applying some of its products to crisis situations and people who need it, related Jody Barnett, Head of Global Cities & Transit and Mobility for Mastercard. In Ukraine, it is offering a Star Path acceleration program for startups.

“Cities know how they benefit from immigrants,” she said. “Even these last six years when we saw toxicity in national politics to refugees, citizens in localities have been innovating inclusive practices that enable refugees to make their economic and social contributions as soon as possible.”

Indeed, Welcome.US, was launched a year ago in direct response to the urgency to resettle Afghans escaping the Taliban, to empower a broader range of ordinary Americans to assist resettling refugees. “Refugees need goods and services, but also friends and neighbors,” said Nazanin Ash, CEO.

VIEW POINT

The Back Road

Sports can heal the American soul

If you had any doubts about whether American nationalism still exists, all you had to do was to tune into the Presidents Cup down at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. The Presidents Cup brings the best 12 golfers from the United States to play biennially in a four-day event against the best 12 players internationally minus Europe.

For sports fans, this kind of international event is riveting because it is based upon national spirit, national identity and national pride. Shouts of “USA” were chanted when rising American stars like Max Homa, Sam Burns or Patrick Cantlay made putts.

So let us take a moment to deconstruct the nature of this nationalism, a mysterious term that we are educated to embrace from the first day of kindergarten when we are asked to stand up and pledge our allegiance to the flag.

I guess the first time I recognized that a big part of my identity was

American was when I was 17 and got to shake Bobby Kennedy’s hand during his New York Senate campaign. I remember the moment. I stood up real tall as he drove around a shopping mall parking lot in Massapequa and as I reached up, he reached down from the car and shook my hand. The buttons on his shirt sleeve were all ripped off by the crowd grabbing at him.

He was boyish, good looking, very Ivy League, with his hair tussled back and a nice smile. A big guy was behind him holding him so that he wouldn’t be pulled out of the car. Pure charisma. It was about 10 months after his brother had been shot, but I think America still had hope then.

That memory of mine of this little handshake is what we call a “screen memory” in psychoanalysis. A screen memory is distant but distinct and which represents much more than it seems. We all have these memories that remain in our minds like a bea-

DR. TOM FERRARO Our Town

con from the past. This was my very first political memory and represents for me what it meant to be American.

The Kennedys were adored by the world. The assassination of John F. Kennedy occurred more than 59 years ago, and Bobby Kennedy was assassinated 54 years ago. I think the nation is still grieving from those losses. The

EARTH MATTERS

two deaths shattered the American identity to such an extent that ever since then we have been within a repetition compulsion, systematically eviscerating every president who has dared to follow in their footsteps.

We shield ourselves from new attachments to prevent any of them from entering our hearts and souls. Instead, we get rid of them fast. Nixon was destroyed, Ford was voted out, Carter was out in one term, Bush I was out after one term, Reagan was shot, Clinton was impeached and so was Trump. A nation that can’t heal is a nation that repeats its past. And the question is exactly how does one heal from loss, especially big losses like the killing of a beloved president?

I think this is why we see such passion, longing and cheering at these international sporting events like the Olympics or golf’s Presidents Cup. This is America turning its lonely eyes to our American heroes, the athletes. I think it is a way of trying to heal

or patch up the shattered American identity. Freud once said that it is impossible to heal from loss but instead one must find replacements for lost objects. Though Freud never took any interest in the world of sports, I think it is accurate to say that the way a nation heals from deep losses is to turn to our favorite American heroes, our sports stars. You may recall how the nation rallied around baseball after 9/11. This is sports providing a way for the fan to heal the shattered soul.

So, this year we can thank Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns and Tony Finau for ministering to our national wounds and re-establishing our identity and our pride. In the years past we had Patrick “Captain America” Reed or Tiger Woods do the same thing at the Ryder Cup. This is the glory of sports, the wonder of our superstar athletes and even the mysterious way that a nation heals from its deepest losses of the past.

N. Hempstead acts to fight climate change

We are fortunate to live in a community where our local government recognizes the threat of climate change and chooses to take steps to protect its residents. I will be using this space over the next few months to further publicize the Town of North Hempstead’s environmental protection and environmental sustainability programs.

The Town has several efforts under the category of “Sustainability Programs.” According to the posted mission, “[t]hese programs aim to engage and inspire residents, businesses, and municipalities, throughout the Town of North Hempstead, to participate in actions that will foster ecological balance, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help North Hempstead adapt to a changing climate, ensuring a healthy, resilient community now and in the future.”

The activities listed as part of the Town’s sustainability program begins with Native Plants. This Town undertaking encourages resident to “[u]se native plants to beautify your property, lower your yard maintenance, and help the natural environment.” After defining native plants as “those that historically and naturally occur in an area and tolerate the climate of the local environment,” the Town’s webpage offers resources for planting na-

tive plants and lists the environmental benefits of doing so. The listed environmental benefits of planting native plants include:

1. Providing food, shelter and nesting places for pollinators, birds, small mammals and other wildlife species

2. Cleaning polluted stormwater before it reaches the groundwater Long Island residents use for drinking water

3. Absorption and retention of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants

4. Water conservation and protection because native plants require little to no irrigation once established and never need any fertilizer

The Town financially supports native plant gardens through its Native Plant Residential Rebate Program. In collaboration with the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District (one of 58 statewide districts), the Town reimburses residents for the cost of installing native plants in their home yards.

The native plants webpage also has a series of resource documents with information on design, maintenance and benefits of native plants. These documents are created by the Town or from the Long Island Invasive Species Management Area (one of the eight Partnerships for Invasive Species Management that work across New

LYNN CAPUANO

Earth Matters

York to track and manage invasive species), Long Island Native Plant Initiative, Inc. (an all-volunteer cooperative effort) and ReWild Long Island (a non-profit). There is a resource sheet highlighting all the native plants one can find in Town Parks.

Finally, the webpage ends with a link to recordings of workshops on native plant and rain gardening.

A second sustainability effort by the Town is Home Sustainability Workshops. In 2022, the Town sponsored a series of three workshops covering sustainable yard care, rain gardens and gardening with native plants. All

workshops were recorded and recordings are available on the webpage, https://www.northhempsteadny.gov/ workshops. More information about each workshop is also available at that website.

The Town’s concern for pollinators is evident in its Protecting Pollinators promotion. This is headlined by asking residents to take the Town’s Pollinator Pledge to:

1. Reduce/eliminate use of pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides

2. Plant a garden with native plants for pollinators that bloom from spring to fall

3. Provide bee nesting areas and caterpillar host plants

4. Manage invasive species

5. Help to educate others on the importance of protecting and providing for pollinators

6. Volunteer to help other with efforts to help pollinators

7. Register habitat on the Monarch Conservation Efforts to Map by Monarch Joint Venture

8. Participate in community science projects involving pollinators

9. Anything else a resident offers to commit to do

This year, the Town declared June 20-26 as National Pollinator week, as part of an initiative by the Pollinator

Partnership. The Protecting Pollinators webpage has write-ups explaining what pollinators are, how they are in trouble and how residents can help. Suggested actions are to plant native plants, reduce or eliminate pesticide use, provide nesting habitat, provide water, reduce outdoor lighting, and participate in community science.

Several links to outside organizations involved in protecting pollinators are also provided.

There are eight more ventures under the Town’s Sustainability Program as well as efforts in other Town departments. It is encouraging to see our local government addressing these global issues and taking proactive steps to address the climate crisis.

More information on everything written about here can be found on the Town of North Hempstead’s website, https://www.northhempsteadny.gov/, and by calling the Town’s 311 information line. Please call and ask questions. Let Town elected leaders and government officials know that you support these efforts and encourage expansion of them.

Join me in commending our elected leaders and Town officials for creating these programs, funding them and maintaining them. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months on all of them.

FROM THE DESK OF MICHAEL HYNES

What my child with Down Syndrome taught me

My daughter Sadie has taught me more in her nine years of life than I have learned in my past 52 years of existence. My wife Erin and I had no idea that our daughter had Down Syndrome when she was born. Sadie had to stay in the newborn intensive care unit for a few weeks, and we met some of the most compassionate and amazing professionals in the world.

Unfortunately, we also met others who were much better off keeping their thoughts to themselves. I remember a doctor at the hospital telling me he was “sorry” after Sadie was born. On another occasion, a family member shared with my wife and me that “Mongoloids can be nice people.” She didn’t mean to upset us. It was her mental model about Down Syndrome.

Initially, as parents, we were surprised with the multitude of closedminded comments we came across.

As Sadie grew and we brought her to restaurants, stores or in public, people would stare at her longer than one should. I’m sharing this with you not to complain but to share the insights our journey has given us. We began to learn how the world can perceive others without knowing anything about them whatsoever, except through the lenses of their biases and assumptions.

Little did they know our little Sadie has the best sense of humor and can read on grade level like her peers. She enjoys music and hanging out with her best friends as all children do.

As parents, we began to advocate for more programs in her school and for the school districts we served in. I perhaps should have started this commentary by sharing that both Erin and I are school district administrators. She is an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, and I have served as a superintendent for the past 11 years.

MICHAEL HYNES PW School District Superintendent

Here are the lessons we learned from our personal lives that now transcend to our professional ones. You never know what others are going through. I have a much deeper respect for parents who have children with

READERS WRITE

autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD or “Other Health Impairment,” which is one of the 14 categories of disability listed in our nation’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. They have incredible stories to share, and we need to support them as much as their children.

Never place limits on your child or students. Don’t always accept what professionals say at face value. If Erin and I listened to what some professionals believed Sadie would never be able to do, her life would be so much more unfulfilled. She is flourishing. We need to remove the word “special” from education. This word places a label on a child that never leaves them and carries a negative connotation with it. Yes, the children are special, but they certainly are not less than “typical children.” Yes, I loathe that phrase as well. Inclusion is important, but integration is criti-

cal.

It’s great to be included but to be fully integrated is where the secret sauce is. Separating and segregating children is not the answer. Teach them to become independent and watch them soar! A Reality for All. Sadie is now in 4th grade. She continues to surprise people with her intelligence, humor and, at times, stubbornness. We are so fortunate to have her in our lives. There are other “Sadies” in every school in America. Are we as school leaders doing everything, in our power to make our school system more inclusive and integrated? That’s for you to answer and my hope is that you strive to make that a reality. Every child will benefit from it.

Michael Hynes is superintendent of the Port Washington School District E-mail: mhynes@portnet.org.

Twitter: @MikeHynes5

145 West Shore Road in Port Washington

The Tennessee-based Southern Land Company is on an all-out P.R. blitz campaign to promote a false narrative in the hope of gaining public support for the development of 145 West Shore Road, a proposed 7-story, 176-unit luxury apartment building and motorboat marina on the last remaining open space on Hempstead Harbor.

To get the deal they want, they have embarked on a publicity tour and want you to believe that their development will be an environmental oasis, return wildlife to the area, provide public access, and have no discernible negative impact on the surrounding towns of Port Washington and Roslyn.

These claims are self-serving absurdities, a sales pitch of an out-of-town developer, whose only interest is to make a profit and leave with pockets full of cash while we, the residents, are left to deal with the fallout of a bloated, polluting, ill-

conceived eyesore for years to come.

Here are the facts:

The proposed 7-story (5 above ground and two below the water table in a flood zone!), 212,000 sq. foot high-rise on 2+ acres violates multiple zoning code protections.

The developers want to get around this by getting permission from the town to build. At one time, they went so far as to claim that public water be counted as their private acreage so the proposed building would meet certain zoning restrictions!

Their claim was so absurd that they were forced to abandon it and now want to circumvent zoning ordinances by having the town grant permits that override current zoning laws. If they are not stopped, a dangerous precedent will be set for further development along our precious shores.

To get what they want, the devel-

opers have made wildly far-fetched and false statements about all the good the development will bring, including the enticing promise to “clean up” what is now an industrial site and an environmentallyblighted area. This is a spurious claim and a PR publicity stunt with no legs.

Any “clean-up” they initiate will be negated by the long-term impact of over 400 residents and their cars, their sewage, and their trash.

To build their 2-story underground parking garage they will need to dredge and dig causing further damage to the fragile waterfront. This development will pollute local beaches and parks, and over-stress town infrastructure for years to come.

But there is more to this “clean-up” charade. The Southern Land Company have no plan to fund the “clean-up” privately. Instead, they plan to apply for public funding to do it!

Yes, they will use your tax money to help them build a private development to enrich themselves all the while pretending they are helping you saving the environment!

Southern Land Company wants us to believe their false narrative that we only have one choice: either we support their development, or we are left with an undeveloped and unsightly mess that is currently the industrial area in question.

This is a blatant falsehood. The Town of North Hempstead can vote NO on the Southern Land Company proposal and can itself take steps to acquire the land or allow others to bid for it.

But wouldn’t that mean public money and possibly cost us residents in the long run?

NO! The Department of Environmental Conservation has offered to support such a town acquisition, should it be on the table.

There are grant options, such as the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative that can be mobilized for the purpose of public land protection and conservation.

We do not have to be forced to choose between the Southern Land Company’s abysmal project or having a messy undeveloped industrial area.

There are far better alternatives that will be more environmentally friendly, far less costly, provide actual public access, protect our wildlife and marshlands, and not stress the fragile eco-system and infrastructure on our peninsula

Don’t be fooled by Southern Land Company’s glitzy PR campaign. They are only here to make a profit and go, leaving the residents of our area with irreparable ecological and financial damage for generations to come.

Dr. Jack Hoppenstand Port Washington

A city slicker’s tale of manipulation

This is for all you folks in the South, Southeast, Southwest, Midwest and all others who have a distrust of folks in the East, especially those who come from New York City. Them city slickers, they’ll try anything to put something over on you all.

But what’s really funny is that the biggest city slicker of them all has taken most of you good folk on a ride on a road that will lead you to only one place. Hell!

Ask any New York City slicker who is the worst of them all and they’ll give you a name, and of course you’ll nod your head in agreement. But it’s funny how all you so-called country folk believe every word that this “God in his own mind” tells you. Are you folks stupid or just plain ignorant? Let me ask you a

question. How many of you wear shoes?

You all know about his love for money and that he is a poor loser. Do you know what he does when he loses? He seeks revenge. Imagine getting revenge and making huge sums of money at the same time. After losing the presidential election to Joe Biden, all he had to do was to steal documents, especially those highly classified, and simply sell them off to his good friend Putin or to others. Truth is, they weren’t classified, since he declassified them.

That priestly God-like figure simply raised his hands upward towards heaven and exclaimed; “Yesterday you were classified. Today you are declassified.”

It’s all in the power of the president or rather the former president. Witnesses

to the event of reclassifying documents were such legendary figures as Snow White, Cinderella, Mickey, Donald and representing the military, Popeye.

We all know that he has expertise in the art of the deal. Make them an offer and they can’t refuse. Buy two and a third will be tossed in free of charge. Do you know what? At first, the thinking was that Putin would be alone doing the bidding, thus being able to name his price. However, with so much on the line, others will join the festivities and once the bidding begins, zeroes will add up, especially with seven of them, with a one in front of them all. Sold! To the highest bidder. Country secrets? You know this former president doesn’t seem to care. Do you know what else is up his

sleeve? He’s got plenty more of this same type of his personal property to sell. And we all know that he is the Master. Not the Apprentice. He’s second to none.

“We love you” his supporters shout out. But where are their shoes? He sold them out from right under their feet and shortly he’ll be running to his new business headquartered at his new Trump Czarina Hotel, located in downtown Moscow, a one-minute walk from Red Square.

Being the faithful leader of his party, he will invite his band of jolly Republicans, at all levels of government, to follow him to this new holy land, where they will all be like heads of state. “Off with their heads” he commands, and their heads will all be placed atop flag-

poles surrounding his hotel. He loves having them hang around, especially when they cannot disagree with him. As their leader, he knows all about justice.

“Long live the ” Well, not for long. Although he did prove that he could lead his party to the heights, or rather the depths, of undoing democracy, this political fairy tale of a city slicker will end with a one-word sentence: Jail! You better count on the Supreme Court agreeing with that sentence Otherwise, real chaos will follow since “We The People” will fight for real democracy

Alvin Goldberg Great Neck

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YOUR GUIDE TO THE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND DINING PHOTOGRAPHIC ART, TRASH SCULPTURE

The Art League of Long Island presents a body of digital photographic artwork and trash sculpture, highlighting the contrast between nature’s beauty and the environmental pollution and decay found throughout the country, including on Long Island’s roadways, parks, and beaches.

The exhibit, created by Scott Schneider’s Toxic/Nature Studios®, is on view Oct. 1 through Oct. 28. The opening reception on October 1 is from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm and open to the public.

Schneider said: “Toxic/Nature Studios® features environmental photography that celebrates the majesty of nature and laments its demise, in small moments. Using close-up macro techniques, the photographs express my appreciation for and concern about the environment.

As we become increasingly distracted by our devices, we tend to overlook small disasters beneath our feet.

Likewise, we can fail to notice the beautiful moments present in nature. I explore these concepts in the “Toxic” and “Nature” galleries on the website, ToxicNature.com. Beauty can also be found in the rust, decay, and textures of everyday objects, which I highlight in the “Manufactor” gallery.

All photos are taken by me, Scott Schneider, with an iPhone, thereby leveraging the power of technology to observe rather than to distract. I take photos every day, no matter where I am or what I’m doing. I don’t go out to take pictures; I take pictures because I’m out.

From my photographs, I create archival, digital pigment prints using environmentally friendly inks on bamboo paper, which is highly sustainable.

In addition to my photos, I have crafted a series of sculptural pieces which I’m calling “3D(isasters).” This thoughtprovoking artwork is designed to challenge the viewer to make sense of the quantity of litter displayed in a #finditfillit container.

I hope that my art will inspire others to notice the world around them and to take action to preserve its natural beauty. We can’t do this while plugged in and tuned out. That’s why I ask viewers to unplug, look around, and get the small picture. By turning off our blinders of technology, and noticing the small detail of a piece of litter, a fallen petal, or an interesting bit of rust, we can then look up and notice the big picture, which is that the world needs our help.

The Instagram account @toxicnaturestudios spreads awareness through my art. Its sister account, @5.pieces.a.day. everyday, encourages others to pick up litter, thereby noticing and improving the environment.

Furthering my mission, a portion of sales is donated to charities that focus on protecting the environment.”

The Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery is open free of charge Tuesdays and Thursdays 10 am-8 pm, and Fridays and Saturdays 10 am-3 pm. The Art League is located at 107 East Deer Park Road in Dix Hills. For more information call (631) 462-5400 or visit www.artleagueli.org.

North Hempstead to host Fall Family Festival Spooky Fest returns with new attractions

North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and the Town Board have announced the Fall Family Festival will be returning to the beach. The family-friendly celebration will be held at North Hempstead Beach Park in Port Washington on Saturday, October 1 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

“This free fall festival is a great opportunity for our residents to celebrate the fall season with activities that are fun for all ages,” said Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said. “So come down and enjoy a beautiful autumn day on the beach! Families are sure to enjoy all the festival has to offer, including with arts & crafts, bouncy slides, live music, a craft fair, pumpkin decorating, and more.”

The second annual Fall Family Festival will feature many free activities including pumpkin decorating, bouncy slides, train rides, princess and superhero character meet-and-greets plus a princess sing along.

There will also be live music from Decadia featuring hits from the 80s through today along with EJ the DJ. Attendees will be able to purchase food and refreshments as well as shop from our local arts and crafts vendors. Those interested in being a crafts vendor can call 311 or email events@northhempsteadny.gov to learn more.

Admission and parking are free. For more information about the event, please call 311 or 516-869-6311.

Spooky Fest 2022 is presented by The Center for Science Teaching and Learning.

It will return to celebrate the 2022 Halloween season with new activities and attractions. This year, the transformed Spooky Fest will focus exclusively on family activities and attractions for younger visitors.

“Halloween is a great time of year for families to have fun. We have transformed Spooky Fest to appeal to children 12 and under. This year we are also introducing Long Island’s only outdoor zombie animatronic dinosaurs as part of our quarter-mile Spooky Walk through the Tanglewood Preserve. We encourage families to come, wear their costumes and take part in all our great activities,” said CSTL Executive Director Ray Ann Havasy.

The event includes the “Spooky Walk in the Woods” with new animatronic “Zombie Dinosaurs.”

Also, new for this year is the expanded “Enchanted NotSo-Spooky Walk” where visitors take a walk through the woods and are treated to a colorfully

SUNDAY, OCTOBER

lit Halloween story and friendly Halloween characters including butterflies, friendly ghosts, happy scarecrows, dinosaurs, aliens and Cinderella’s carriage complete with a prince and princess.

Family activities include a kids’ arts and crafts area, a meet-and-greet with merry monsters, fortune telling, kids DJ dance party, jugglers and other performers.

Spooky Fest 2022 takes place at Tanglewood Preserve at 1450 Tanglewood Road in Rockville Centre on October 7-9, 14-16, 21-23, and 28-30. Each night the event is open from 6 pm to 9:30 pm, rain or

shine. Tickets are sold in advance online on a limited firstcome, first-served basis.

To purchase tickets, go to https://www.cstl.org/spookyfest/. Prices are $20 for nonscary attractions only and $25 All Inclusive (Scary and nonscary attractions). Ages 2 and older must have a purchased ticket.

The organization’s mission is to encourage science learning and literacy. The organization is also home to a wild animal rescue program.

For more details, information and directions visit https:// www.cstl.org/spooky-fest/ or call (516) 764-0045.

HILLS

A Blank Slate Media Special Section • September 30, 2022

How to use science for health and wellness

BY KEITH FIVERSON

We all know that there is a mind-body connection. But what does that mean, exactly? And how can we use science to take advantage of it and improve our health and wellness? This article will explore the power of mindfulness, cognitive science, neuroscience, physiology, nutrition, environment, and relationships for health and wellness.

We will also discuss how technology can help us perform better, using wearables to scan heartbeats, rapid breathing, eat good foods, etc. By understanding the mind-body connection, we can take control of our health and improve our quality of life.

The mind-body connection is the communication between our brain and our body. This connection is essential for maintaining our health and wellbeing.

Our brain controls all the functions of our body, so it’s essential to keep it healthy, clear, calm, and connected to those things that help it to be happy and function at its best. When our mind is stressed, it can send signals to our body that make us feel tense, anxious, or even sick. Conversely, when we are calm and relaxed, our mind sends signals to our bodies that promote healing and relaxation.

So how can we use science to take advantage of the mind-body connection and improve our health and wellness? One way is to practice mindfulness.

Mindfulness is practicing paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and sensations in the present moment without judgment. When mindful, we can observe our thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them. This can help us to be less reactive to stress and more responsive to our needs.

Cognitive science is another way to take advantage of the mind-body connection. Cognitive science is the study of how our brain processes information. It can help us to understand how we think, learn, and remember.

By understanding how our brain works, we

can learn ways to optimize its function. For example, we can learn strategies to improve memory, focus, and decision-making.

Neuroscience is the study of the nervous system, including the brain. It can help us to understand how our thoughts and emotions affect our physical health. For example, stress can lead to high blood pressure and heart disease. Conversely, we also know that relaxation can lower blood pressure and promote healing. By understanding how our nervous system works, we can learn ways to keep it healthy and balanced.

In addition to mindfulness, cognitive science, and neuroscience, other sciences can help us to improve our health and wellness. Physiology is the study of how our bodies work. It can help us to understand how our bodies respond to stress and how we can optimize our physical health.

Nutrition is the study of how food affects our bodies. It can help us to understand how to eat for better health. And finally, environmental science studies how our environment affects our health. It can help us to understand how to create a healthy environment for ourselves and others.

Understanding the mind-body connection and using science to take advantage of it can improve our health and wellbeing. We can learn to be more mindful, understand how our brain works, optimize physical health, and create a healthy environment for ourselves and others.

When we care for our minds and body, we can live healthier, happier lives.

We are now more aware of how important it is to manage our health and wellness. We live in a fast-paced world where it is easy to neglect our well-being in favor of work or other obligations. However, wearable technology can help us stay on top of our health by keeping us aware of our physical activity levels, heart rate, and sleep patterns.

This information can be invaluable in spotting potential problems early and intervening before they become serious. In addition, wearable technology can also remind us to stay hydrated or take breaks throughout the day, helping us avoid burnout.

As we become increasingly reliant on technology, it is reassuring to know that it can also be used to keep us healthy and well.

By understanding the mind-body connection and how to use science for our health and wellness, we can live happier, healthier lives. With the help of technology, we can ensure that our minds and body are getting the care they need to function at their best.

When we care for ourselves, we can better care for the world around us. Let’s use science to create a healthier, happier world for all.

For a free assessment, to discuss your health and wellness, or to use our coaching programs for better cognitive and physical performance, contact Keith Fiveson at 917-952-9662.

Mineola set for Oct. 2 street fair

Chamber vice president says family-focused event will feature food, games, music and more

BY BRANDON DUFFY

The Village of Mineola’s Chamber of Commerce is set to host a family-focused street fair this Sunday after two years of less-than-ideal circumstances.

On Jericho Turnpike between Mineola Boulevard and Willis Avenue, there will be a frenzy of food and fun from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In 2020, the street fair was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2021 was rained out after a downpour started two hours after it began.

This year will be the second fair under the leadership of Louis Panacciulli, who is the music director for the Nassau County Pops Symphony Orchestra. Panacciulli, who was installed as chamber president in June 2021, took over from Joel Harris, who organized the previous three fairs before Panacciulli took over.

Tony Lubrano, the chamber’s vice president, told Blank Slate Media this year will spotlight Mineola businesses and families.

“We decided this year we are going to take it back and go to our roots,” Lubrano said. “We decided to target a theme this year of a family fun day.”

Lubrano mentioned how this year the chamber took on the full responsibility for planning the street fair after having a third party help out over the past few years.

“The atmosphere was there was really no reason to hang out there,” Lubrano said. “Once you take one lap, you’ve seen everything and don’t need to stay.”

To fix the problem, there will be a bigger focus on interactive activities, including kid rides, a yearly staple, and the dunk tank, which the chamber donates to the Mineola Junior Fire Department.

In addition, there will be carnival games with the Mineola Volunteer Ambulance Corps, donated by the chamber, bouncy houses, clowns and magicians, among other activities.

Can You Escape? Long Island will also be bringing a portable escape room and attendees can expect additional activities such as ax throwing or viewing a boxing demonstration.

For musical entertainment, a show mobile will be set up and feature 10 acts.

At 11 a.m., JHL Dance Dynamics will perform, then American Theater Dance Workshop at noon, an opening ceremony featuring

bagpipers, color guards and elected officials at 12:30 p.m., Ariel Loft at 1 p.m., Jason the Clown Magic Show at 1:30 p.m., Portuguese Dancers at 2 p.m., Master Jeon Tai Kwon Do at 2:30 p.m., vocalist Nick Fabiano at 3 p.m., Jason the Clown Magic Show again at 3:30 p.m. before ending with Herricks musicians at 4 p.m.

For live music, Run for Cover will be playing at a designated spot for each live act at 11 a.m., Perfect Strangers at noon, North American Pandas at 1 p.m., Delusions of Grandeur at 2 p.m., Fuzz at 3 p.m. and Skyward Effect at 4 p.m.

Panacciulli thanked The Booking Ave, who provided four of the music groups playing Sunday.

The Mineola Street Fair started over 200 years ago but adopted the name “Mineola Fair” in 1899, according to Panacciulli. It was held in Mineola Memorial Park from 1991 until 2013 when it moved to Main Street. It then settled in its current Jericho Turnpike location in 2016.

The decision to move the fair to Jericho Turnpike was made because the chamber’s goal is to help local businesses and it thought the park was too small to help them, said Panacciulli.

Lubrano said he and the chamber are expecting Sunday to be the best fair yet.

“We all do this because we love the community and we’ve always enjoyed doing things like this, Lubrano said. “We put a lot of time into this and we have a great group of people who give a lot to make this happen. We’re looking forward to this being the best one ever.”

PHOTO BY CARRIE ANN SALVI

The Mineola Street Fair in 2019.

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EVENTS ARE BACK!

Keats Agency part of a best practices study

were nominated to take part in the annual study, but only 282 agencies qualified for the honor.

Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) “Best

Each year since 1993, the Big “I” and Reagan Consulting, an Atlanta-based management consulting firm, join forces to study the country’s leading agencies in six revenue categories. The agencies comprising the study groups are selected every third year through a comprehensive nomination and qualifying process and awarded a “Best Practices Agency” designation. The selected “Best Practices” agencies retain their status during the three-year cycle by submitting extensive financial and operational data for review each year.

“Our ability to serve our clients best and with added value starts with Best Practices, integrity and education,” says Ron Keats, Keats Insurance Agencies president and CEO. “It ends in the everyday practice of these tenets.”

There are an estimated 36,000 independent agencies in the US. More than 2,600 of them

To be chosen, the agency had to be among the top-performing agencies in one of six revenue categories.

The agency was nominated by either a Big “I” affiliated state association or an insurance company and qualified based on its operational excellence.

The Best Practices Study was initiated by the Big “I” in 1993 as the foundation for efforts to improve agency performance. The annual survey and study of leading independent insurance agencies document the business practices of the highest performing agencies and urge others to adopt similar practices.

The Keats Insurance Agencies was founded in 1993 and can offer insurance products from several different companies including Nationwide, Travelers, Hanover, Hartford, CNA, Utica National, Chubb, PURE, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Safeco and Progressive.

For further information, please contact Ron Keats of Keats Insurance Agencies at (516) 3544849.

An open letter to candidate George Santos

Mr. Santos, I recently read your quote where you stated “Supervisor DeSena makes things happen. She is a true inspiration and problem solver.”

My questions are —

1) What things has she made happen?

2) What has she done to inspire you?

3) What problems has she “solved”? Please

be specific.

DeSena, a lifelong Republican who simply changed her party affiliation a year before running, claims to be a Democrat, and she’s done

absolutely nothing as supervisor. I fail to see why you would even seek her endorsement.

Eric Lawrence Manhasset

Who remembers N.Y. Giants, Polo Grounds?

Did you know that the New York Giants Major League baseball team played their last game in the Polo Grounds on Sept. 29, 1957, in NYC during the ’50s? It was a three-way rivalry between the American League Bronx Yankees, National League New York Giants

and Brooklyn Dodgers. All three teams claimed to have the best center fielder in baseball.

On street corners all over town, citizens would argue whether the Giants’ Willie Mays, Yankees’ Mickey Mantle or Dodgers’ Duke Snider was champ. Most everyone could afford a bleach-

er, general admission, reserve or box seat. Hot dogs, beer, other refreshments and souvenirs were reasonably priced. Residents of the era sat outside on the neighborhood stoop listening to games on the radio. Baseball fans would also look for their favorite sports writer in the morning, midday and

late afternoon newspaper editions, available at thousands of newsstands. Television was a relatively new technology.

Larry Penner Great Neck

The loss of a family pet, what it means

I’m writing about a concern that affects many pet owners who are forced to put their pets to sleep due to illness. Let me talk about what my wife and I just went through this past week with our beloved Jack Russell named Jack, who we loved very much. He lived to over 18-years-old and through the years gave us much love and kisses.

Jack had a great deal of love for my wife Eva

and seem to get very nervous when she was not around. When she was in the hospital for two weeks, Jack would pace around the apartment and even lay down at the door waiting for her to come home. Last year Jack was getting sick, he had trouble walking, seeing, and hearing and had seizures. The vet said he would have to be put to sleep, but we were not ready to lose him.

Last Thursday he was in a great deal of phys-

ical pain and yelping and we were forced to put him to sleep. We went to a vet in New Hyde Park who put him to sleep. That was so very painful for us. Let me point out that we called a number of vets and had gotten quotes ranging from $350-$800. It was much more than we could afford.

Our good friends Dave and Marian lent us the money for a place that was less than $250.

But let me point out that many seniors like us who are on fixed incomes are not so lucky. I think many poor seniors can’t afford the cost of putting their sick pets to sleep. Something needs to be done to ease their pain and lost. Remember our pets are so much a part of our extended families.

Frederick R. Bedell Jr. Bellerose

Santos unqualified to serve in Congress

As Sen. Mitch McConnell noted, the GOP has fielded some awful candidates for 2022. I’ve seen plenty of mediocrities over the 50 years I’ve voted, but most were relatively harmless. At this moment in our country’s history, this time is surely different. And it is hard to imagine a more loathsome candidate than George Santos, who is running for Congress in the 3rd District.

Time was you could take the measure of a person by their bookshelves. Their interests, character and depth of knowledge was on display. Today, social media performs that function, but for the world to see. Who you follow is who you are. So, too, is who follows you.

So it’s Mr. Santos’ own Twitter timeline that marks him as someone not fit to hold public office anywhere, much less Washington. He would be an embarrassment to our district, as he engages in the same buffoonery as Lauren Boebert, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the other members of the GOP’s lunatic fringe. Indeed, he relishes their support.

Ye shall be known by the company you keep.

Mr. Santos follows some deranged characters: J.D. Vance; conspiracy nut Dinesh D’Souza; Mar-

jorie Taylor Greene herself; Blake Masters, who is running for Congress and has hired fake electors; as well as renowned demagogue Jack Posobiec, considered an antisemite and white supremacist by some. Add in Ryan Fournier, head of “Students for Trump,” who tweeted, “Joe Biden is not president. He’s #PedoHitler All HEIL THE PEDO LORD.”

Those “students” must have one hell of a future in front of them.

Mr. Santos lists his occupation as an “economist.” It doesn’t sound like it. Indeed, he tweeted: “Due to reckless government spending, the housing market has gone up 16.5% or $89K in New York over the past two years. It’s time for change in DC!”

I know of no correlation of the federal budget to local housing prices, but there you have it.

Then he tweeted: “The U.S. economy is officially in a recession because of Joe Biden’s reckless spending. In November, we must vote RED save our country and get our economy back on track.”

Well, no. First, spending is stimulative and can’t cause a recession, and real economists know we’re not in one. With this level of job creation, record low unemployment, industrial capacity uti-

lization, etc., we can’t be.

Here’s a nice word salad:“I am disturbed by reports of a raid of President Trump’s home, and I’m watching closely. A raid of Biden’s top opponent, while Hunter Biden walks free, would indicate a dangerous abuse of power. This would undermine the credibility of our FBI and violates the trust of voters.”

His take on education: Maybe we’ll use recess to burn books.“Our classrooms have become indoctrination camps for our children. Recess has turned into a place where students learn the radical ideology of CRT. It is time to turn our classrooms back into a place of learning what is important.”

Supporting a GOP governor who sends migrants to his home city he wants to represent:“Almost 1,000 Illegal Immigrants have been bused to New York from Texas. That is not an indictment on Texas, but on the Democrats doing Pelosi’s work. It is time to secure our border and the citizens of this great nation.”

A moment of Right Wing paranoia seized Mr. Santos when he tweeted:“So Twitter just deleted my 19k followers! The censorship against conservatives is real please follow and share to fight

back!”

Then it turned out it wasn’t real.

“Thank you all for the support! It seems there was a ‘glitch.’ We must always remain aware of any sign of speech censorship.”

Well, even paranoids have real enemies.

Mr. Santos’ characterization of Democrats being “anti-police radicals” is on the same moral level as antisemitism. Make your own judgment about his intellectual integrity.

Throughout his timeline, Mr. Santos, like his cohorts in his Party, has no policy solutions, only resentment, grievance, and bile.

Most damning of all, Mr. Santos was in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021. According to Newsday, he “wrote a nice check” to a law firm to help pay legal bills of the insurrectionists. Now THAT’S an “anti-police radical.”

I don’t care what your politics are. If you want to send an infantile, cackling hyena like this to sully our district’s good name, I honestly don’t know what you’re looking for in a candidate.

Donald Davret Roslyn

Kaplan to hold mobile office hours

State Sen. Anna M. Kaplan will be holding four Mobile Office Hours events to provide constituent services and assistance in our community and to hear from residents about their concerns and issues.

Senator Kaplan’s upcoming mobile office hours will be held at:

• Hillside Public Library, 155 Lakeville Road, New Hyde Park –Thursday, Oct. 6 from 2 pm-4 pm

• Great Neck Library, 159 Bayview Avenue, Great Neck – Wednesday, Oct. 12 from 12 pm-2 pm

• Port Washington Public Library, 1 Library Drive, Port Washington –Thursday, Oct. 20 from 4:15pm-6:15 pm

• The Bryant Library, 2 Papermill Road, Roslyn – Saturday, Oct. 22 from 12pm-2 pm

Walk-ins are welcome, and no appointment is necessary. Contact Senator Kaplan’s office at 516-7465924 with any questions or if you require any assistance.

Daniel Gale island-wide fundraiser

Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty (DGSIR), one of the nation’s leading realtors and the top-ranked luxury real estate organization serving Long Island, Brooklyn, and Queens has launched a month-long fundraiser to collect food and funds for Island Harvest Food Bank and City Harvest, two of the region’s largest hunger relief organizations. This companywide effort is part of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty’s 100 Anniversary celebration, and the goal is to raise funds to provide 100,000 meals during the month of September, which is Hunger Action Month®.

Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty Chief Executive Officer Deirdre O’Connell and members of her executive team kicked off the fundraiser, presenting Island Harvest and City Harvest with an initial donation of $10,000 from the Daniel Gale Foundation.

Hempstead Harborwide cleanup

On Saturday, Sept. 17, over 115 volunteers took part in the first-ever Hempstead Harbor-wide coastal cleanup removing 375 pounds of debris from over a mile of shoreline.

A variety of debris was collected, including the most commonly found items in New York State and the top of the “Dirty Dozen” list — 1,233 plastic pieces, 876 cigarette butts, 638 bottle caps and 634 food wrappers. With the approval of each municipality, events were held at all publicly accessible Hempstead Harbor beaches. The sites included the Town of North Hempstead Beach Park, Tappen Beach, Sea Cliff Beach and Morgan Park Beach.

Coordinated locally by the Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor (CSHH), the effort was part of the International Coastal Cleanup, an annual event sponsored by the Ocean Conservancy and the American Littoral Society. Now in its 37th year, the International Coastal Cleanup is more than just an attempt to clean beaches and waterways.

Volunteers from around the world who take part in the cleanup

also contribute to a massive data-collection effort by cataloging the type, amount, weight and location of the debris. The information is then sent to Ocean Conservancy, entered into a database and analyzed to track trends in pollution, educate the public and inform long-term solutions for marine debris and its environmental effects.

Participants worked in teams at each of the sites with data collection coordinated by trained volunteers and CSHH staff. The Town of North Hempstead Beach Park

was captained by members of Transition Town Port Washington, Tappen Beach was captained by dedicated community members, Sea Cliff Beach was captained by the Sea Cliff Environmental Conservation Commission and Morgan Park Beach was captained by Congregation Tifereth Israel.

Representatives from Volunteers for Wildlife were at two of the sites exhibiting diamondback terrapins and helping to educate participants about the threat coastal debris poses to local wildlife.

“With sales offices across Long Island and more than 1,000 real estate professionals, managers and support staff enthusiastically committed to our goal, we are eager to make this significant contribution to alleviate hunger in our communities,” said O’Connell. “Every office will be contributing and accepting donations of nonperishable goods and monetary donations online, as well as rolling up their sleeves as the boots on the ground.”

Randi Shubin Dresner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Island Harvest, explained the continuing need for food banks such as Island Harvest and City Harvest and the ways in which the Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty community can help. “While Long Island is home to some of the wealthiest ZIP codes in the nation, one in ten Long Island families experience food insecurity at some point during the year. This includes school children who may have trouble concentrating in class because they went to bed hungry and woke up to a minimal, or no breakfast; seniors who helped to build our communities and now must choose between medicine and a meal; and our veterans who served our country but now face hard times. It’s our responsi-

Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty kicked off a month-long fundraiser to collect food and funds for Island Harvest Food Bank and City Harvest, two of the region’s largest hunger relief organizations with a $10,000 check. Pictured left to right, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty team members Lisa Kiefer, Susan O’Steen, Randi Shubin Dresner, President and CEO of Island Harvest; Vivian Leonard, Deirdre O’Connell, Dana Dinowitz, Theresa Brown, Kathy Wallach, Patricia Bretone, Patricia Petersen, Veranika Johnston, Jessica Crowley, Michael Tucker, Myla Borucke, Karen Wadkovsky, Norma Dispenza, Nicole Vacchiano, and Jeanine Tepper.

bility to make sure that no one on Long Island goes without food.”

“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City was facing a profound hunger crisis—particularly in the marginalized communities that City Harvest has long served, with nearly 1.2 million New Yorkers, including one in five children experiencing food insecurity,” said Jilly Stephens, City Harvest Chief Executive Officer. “Those numbers surged during the pandemic and remain at historic highs with nearly 1.5 million New Yorkers, including more than 462,000 children, in need of assistance.”

In addition to contributing food and funds, Island Harvest and City Harvest will welcome volunteers from Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty to help them get food into the hands of

those in need. Activities include volunteering at distribution centers, helping to sort donations or working at Island Harvest’s Brentwood farm.

“Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty has a 100 year tradition of serving our communities, and we couldn’t be more excited that to put our hands and hearts to work to help Island Harvest and City Harvest meet their goals to end hunger,” added O’Connell. “We will working individually and as a team to make a difference across Long Island from Brooklyn to our easternmost offices on the North Fork. Our team is ready and willing to work shoulder to shoulder with these two incredible food banks.” Donations to Island Harvest and City Harvest can be made online at Island Harvest donation or City Harvest donation.

Girl Scout Gold Award recipients

On Sunday, Sept. 18, state Sen. Anna M. Kaplan (D-North Hills) joined Girl Scout Troop 1622 for a ceremony honoring three outstanding young women, Tula Chatterton, Emerson Lucatorto, and Ella Iannitti, upon their earning the highest award in the Girl Scouts, the Gold Award.

Gold Award Girl Scouts are challenged to make a sustainable change in their community by completing a Gold Award Project in their community. Only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award.

Kaplan said “As recipi-

ents of the Gold Award, these remarkable young women join a long, proud tradition of trailblazing leaders who represent the best our communities have to offer. Through their service, they’re not only giving back, but they’re also becoming role models for us all to look up to, and ultimately making our world a better place. I’m so grateful for their service and dedication to our community, and it was my honor to present them each with a Proclamation on behalf of the State of New York in celebration of this milestone.”

PHOTO PROVIDED BY OFFICE OF STATE SEN. ANNA KAPLAN

Pictured left to right Tula Chatterton, Emerson Lucatorto, Ella Iannitti, state Sen. Anna M. Kaplan.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE COALITION TO SAVE HEMPSTEAD HARBOR

Nino Luciano and Martha Braun weighing collected debris at Morgan Park Beach.

Business&RealEstate

Preparing your home for a hurricane

We are still in the middle of our hurricane season and if you watch TV, listen to the news, or read a paper, hurricanes have become more deadly every year. Just look at Puerto Rico. Five years after Hurricane Maria smashed the island, along came Hurricane Fiona last week which had dumped up to 30 plus inches of rain in the southern locations, and 6-20 inches in the northern sections of the island. Some 80 percent of the electric grid was shut down and there was a lack of potable water.

So far our island hasn’t seen any activity, but we are not done with the future possibility of a hurricane affecting our area. We surely need the rainfall, but not necessarily from a severe weather event.

Preparing your home for such an event is important to eliminate and minimize any major problems that might occur. The following are items that you should have on hand in advance:

1.) Flashlight and a good supply of batteries

2.) Gas generator and 5-10 gallons of gas (for lights, refrigerator, etc.)

3.) A few gallons of water and

a bucket

4.) Candles and matches (or electric lighter)

5.) Blankets in case of lack of heat during a blackout

6.) Non-perishable food items

7.) First aid kit

8.) Battery-powered radio

9.) Sandbags

10.) Shovels and road salt (maybe consider a snowblower)

11.) Required medications

12.) Hand sanitizers and wipes

You can add any other items that you deem necessary for you and your family. Whether a hurricane or major snow event, being prepared for emergencies will be most beneficial in making your situation a bit easier or even save your life! Also, make sure you have a full tank of gas.

There are other preparations that you should be aware of if you own a home or even rental property. Make sure all outdoor furniture is now well secured or stored away. Take care of any roof repairs as needed. Have you or your gardener cleaned out all the accumulated debris from your gutters and leaders? Clogged gutters and leaders will potentially cause severe damage if water gets behind the soffits, creating problems inside your in-

PHILIP A. RAICES

Real Estate Watch

terior ceilings and walls.

Also, make sure your leaders drain far enough away from your foundation that water doesn’t get into your basement or crawl space. If you have windows in your basement, purchase some type of fitted plastic bubble to cover over your window well to keep water from accumulating to keep water from getting into your basement.

For those with moisture issues, as many do on the North Shore of Long Island, use of a dehumidifier

will greatly minimize those issues and keep them in check. Are there any major tree limbs overhanging your home that could snap and cause damage during a hurricane? When the ground gets too saturated during a storm, some older large trees could fall. If there are any near your home, the cost of removal would be something to consider.

This check list of sorts holds true for your investment rental properties. Consider your tenants an investment that is hopefully benefiting you now and in the future. My suggestion is to create and email them a punch list of items that they should possess in advance of severe weather, no different from what you would do for your home.

It is crucial that you should also go over your homeowner insurance policy and ask questions of your insurance agent as to whether your coverage is adequate with respect to weather-related damages. Would an umbrella policy over and above your regular coverage be something that would be of benefit?

Keeping you and your family safe is always of utmost importance. However, being proactive and minimizing damage to your property will always

come back to you in savings and preserving the value of your real estate.I want to wish everyone a healthy and happy holiday.

Continue to Donate to the Ukrainian Crisis and save a life or 2:

IOM’s Ukraine Response

OR The International Organization for Migration a 501(c) 3 Corporation: OR:http://donate.iom.int

Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. He has 40 years of experience in the Real Estate industry and has earned designations as a Graduate of the Realtor Institute (G.R.I.) and also as a Certified International Property Specialist (C.I.P.S) as well as the new “Green Industry” Certification for eco-friendly construction and upgrades.

For a “FREE” 15 minute consultation, a 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 Just email or snail mail (regular mail) him with your ideas or suggestions on future columns with your name, email and cell number and he will call or email you back.

TECH

The “Internet of Things” and Smart Clothing

You’ve probably heard of the Internet of things, but thought, “what does it mean to me?” To answer that exciting question, let’s first understand the term itself:

the future is now

The Internet of things (IoT) is the interconnection, via the internet, of computing devices into everyday objects giving them the ability to send and receive data.

We already monitor our home security via smart camera devices and troubleshoot appliance repairs by connecting directly to technical support. But there are even cooler IoT applications in the works!

“Soon, the Internet of Things will meet Gucci in the form of smart clothing. For example, swimwear can include UV sensors to prevent overexposure to harmful radiation. Smart footwear may improve your running technique or monitor the mobility of patients with Parkinson’s disease. Manufacturers might embed haptic feedback into textiles to correct your posture or improve your yoga pose. And don’t forget the accessories, such as the Ray-Ban Stories smart sunglasses (that provide a window to social media when the user is otherwise offline).” - William Diggin, Accenture

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Recent

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Bonnie Lynn Court, Roslyn

19 The Oaks, Roslyn

Ursula Drive, Roslyn

144 Dogwood Road, Roslyn

Little change in state rearrest rates

Blakeman signed an executive order in January shortly after taking office that cites a need to “increase transparency by disclosing in daily reports the pending criminal case data and bail status of those rearrested” by the Police Department.”

An analysis of Nassau County crime statistics for the past five years conducted by Blank Slate Media shows a decrease of more than 10% in major crimes from 2017-2021 but an increase of more than 16% increase in violent crimes.

Statistics that were reported by the Nassau County Police Department to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services show that a total of 14,039 major crimes were committed throughout the county in 2017, compared to 12,535 in 2021.

The list of major crimes included in the report were murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

The biggest year-to-year decrease in major crime during the five-year analysis was from 2019 to 2020 with a drop of nearly 9% – from 13,387 to 12,244 -during the pandemic-riddled year, according to the statistics.

Continued from Page 1

out the state over the three-year analysis were not rearrested within six months of their initial arrest. Out of the more than 147,000 releases throughout the state, outside of New York City criminal courts, nearly 29,000 individuals, or roughly 19% were rearrested, according to statistics.

Roughly 12% of the rearrests were those who committed violent felonies, with more than 35% identified as individuals who committed non-violent felonies and 52% as people who committed misdemeanors, statistics showed.

Local officials have claimed that the laws, aside from allowing criminals to conduct repeat crimes throughout Nassau County, have resulted in many individuals skipping their court dates. Statistics showed that, outside of New York City, only 17% of more than 61,000 individuals failed to appear to court in 2019, with that percentage increasing to 18% two years later.

The statistics also showed an overall decrease in total arraignments throughout the state since 2019. In New York City, more than

97,286 arraignments were reported in 2019, with that figure decreasing to 57,160 during the first three quarters of 2021. Throughout the rest of the state, a total of 61,587 arraignments were reported in 2019, with that number decreasing to 38,176 during the first nine months of 2021, according to statistics.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said earlier this year that there is a “state of lawlessness” throughout New York and it has resulted in repeat offenders coming back to Nassau County to commit crimes.

“We have to get serious about changing the laws so that we don’t give criminals more rights than victims,” Blakeman said. “Unfortunately, that’s the way it is now. We’ve got people committing crime after crime and judges are not given the discretion whether or not to hold these people and I think it’s a huge mistake.”

While judges throughout New York have the option to set bail in almost any case involving a violent felony, they may also release individuals in almost all other cases on their own recognizance or enact certain terms to make sure they ultimately return to court.

Major crimes, overall, increased less than 3% in 2021 from 12,244 in 2020. Violent crime increased 5% from 1,826 to 1,917 during this period and property crimes increased less than 2%.

The crime report appears to contradict claims that reforms to New York’s bail reform laws had led to an increase in crime, which was a central part of Republicans’ successful countywide campaigns in November 2021.

New York implemented bail reform laws in January 2020, with modifications being passed in April that same year. State officials said the modified laws eliminated pretrial detention and optional cash bail in an estimated 90 percent of cases.

Nassau County spends $1,148 per capita on police and fire protection while the national median is $359, according to a U.S. News & World Report finding in 2020 that named Nassau County the safest community in America. Public safety professionals account for 1.26% of the county’s population, compared with the national median of 0.70%.

Continued from Page 2

framework for a new long–term strategic plan. They will review district programs and examine all curricular progressions and course offerings.

The second has to do with financial and strategic budgeting. This calls for reducing the financial difficulties brought on by the Long Island Power Authority/ Nassau County settlement. They will review the district’s infrastructure requirements and investigate the possibility of creating a capital reserve.

Finally, the district will work to increase community outreach and involvement. This calls for reviewing all committees and proposing new rules and regulations to improve community involvement and ongoing transparency.

Ed board looks at reserves East Hills honored by museum

Continued from Page 2

harmful effects on major local cultural resources.

Kautz praised the work of local representatives and the Roslyn Landmark Society. Specifically, she applauded the society for supporting the property’s inclusion in its Endangered Historic Places list.

“We hope the Happy House agreement will inspire other municipal governments to improve local preservation outcomes by pursuing more comprehensive processes of review,” she said.

Howard Kroplick, co-president of the Roslyn Landmark Society and a resident of East Hills, said everyone fought to save the structure.

“We congratulate Mayor Koblenz and the Village of East Hills,” he said, “for this wonderful outcome and this much-deserved award for protecting the history of East Hills.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Dems block DeSena’s ethics board picks

Continued from Page 1

Town ofcials. As the Board of Ethics is charged with oversight of Town ofcials, obtaining legal advice from the Town attorney is clearly a con fict of interest,” DeSena said. “Tabling the ap pointment of counsel and instead leaving legal guidance of our Board of Ethics in the hands of political appointees can only be seen as a tactic to prevent investigations into misdeeds and con ficts of interest.”

After the vote to appoint Slobin to the eth ics board failed, Democratic Councilman Robert Troiano clarifed that there are issues with the process DeSena followed rather than Slobin her self.

“I have been consistent since January that the process you followed was not beholden to the town code,” Troiano said. “It was the pro cess, not the individual.”

DeSena disputed that it is her responsibility to make appointments for the ethics board and that everyone has known the names for months. But Troiano said it should be in consultation with the town board, saying there was no con sultation before DeSena submitted her picks.

During the vote for Chan, Lurvey said it’s her position that appointments for the ethics board should be staggered.

“I have been consistent since these residents have been put on the agenda early this year, the Board of Ethics, regardless of the fact that they are in holdover terms that they should be stag gered.”

Lurvey continued to contend that DeSena should not be able to fll the ethics board herself.

“If the terms were staggered, then there would have been two reappointed at the end of last year and there’ll be two we appointed at the end of this year,” Lurvey said. “What you are doing is trying to replace the entire board with your hand-picked people and I think it’s enough of implying that there’s some sort of collusion between the majority and the ethics board.”

In the Sept. 22 agenda, the resolutions to confrm Vazquez, Slobin and Chan said their re spective terms were Vazquez to serve until Dec. 31, 2022, Slobin until Dec. 31, 2024 and Chan until Dec. 31, 2025.

The seven-member Board of Ethics is re sponsible for implementing the provisions of the Town’s Code of Ethics, according to the Town’s websites.

Upon DeSena taking ofce, the Board of Ethics at the time was completely made up of members who were in holdover status and could be removed at any time.

Its responsibilities include approving and reviewing fnancial statements, rendering advi sory opinions to Town employees on the Code of Ethics and enforcing the code while determining

Current members for North Hempstead’s Board of Ethics are operating on unexpired terms, said Supervisor Jennifer DeSena.

penalties, among other things.

Unabbreviated terms for the board are four years.

As of now, the Town’s Board of Ethics is made up of Chair Joseph Sciame, Robin Bolling, Isma Chaudry, Rabbi Anchelle Perl, Rabbi Robert Widom, Justice Richard Kestenbaum and Betty Leong.

Of those seven, only Bolling, Chaudry and Perl are serving on defned terms after being ap pointed earlier this year. The remaining four are serving unexpired terms and can be removed at any time.

Chaudry, a current holdover from the previ ous administration, will fnish her term on Dec. 31, 2023, after being confrmed in May. West bury/New Cassel NAACP President Robin Bol ling and Chabad of Mineola Rabbi Anchelle Perl were also confrmed in May and will serve until Dec. 31, 2025, and 2024, respectively.

If confrmed, Vazquez would replace Keste nbaum, Slobin would replace Leong and Chan would replace Widom.

Professionally, Vazquez is senior counsel to

Norton Rose Fullbright, Slobin is a speech-lan guage pathologist for Manhasset Public Schools and Chan is president of Greater Hudson Finan cial.

Steven Leventhal, of Roslyn, has profession al experience, including Nassau’s ethics board counsel, Town of Hempstead ethics counsel, president of the Nassau County Bar Association and consultant to the United Nations Ethics Of fce.

Leventhal has served multiple municipalities in diferent legal roles, including Manorhaven, Flower Hill, Massapequa Park and Lattingtow.

During the vote to set budget hearings, Lur vey said four working days between receipt of the tentative budget on Sept. 28 to the frst hear ing on Oct. 6 were not enough time.

“I think it will be an embarrassment for those of us who have not been part of the budget process to be in a public hearing after only four working days,” Lurvey said.

DeSena said she submitted dates she be lieves are consistent with schedules from previ ous administrations and that she insists on one

hearing a week to increase transparency.

“I’m trying to be transparent with our bud get. I’m trying to give everyone time to look at the budget and make it better and ask ques tions,” DeSena said. “I’m not trying to hide.”

Rabbi Osher Kravitsky of Chabad of Great Neck said the dates of the public hearings, Oct. 6, 11 and 18, needed to be moved to not confict with Sukkot and Simchat Torah.

“These are biblical holidays. Sukkot and Simchat Torah are celebrated around the world since the time of Moses,” Kravitsky said. “Being that we are an inclusive town, it might seem insensitive to not invite people who are obser vant and I know that’s not the aim of the council here.”

The Town Council convened Friday to pick dates that are appropriate for everyone and can set them as early as the Sept. 28 meeting.

Budget hearings are not mandated by law and the Town Board has consistently voted on the budget ahead of Election Day, although there is no law that requires it.

In a statement sent to Blank Slate Media, DeSena was critical of the town Democrats, and specifcally Lurvey, in the ethics board votes.

“To protect our residents’ wallets, I’ve nomi nated professional people to serve in this over sight capacity, only to be obstructed by majority councilmembers for over six months. Council woman Lurvey and the majority must explain to taxpayers why they have allowed this important oversight board to fail in their obligations to pro tect taxpayers,” Supervisor DeSena said.

Lurvey responded by calling the appoint ment attempts a waste of time.

“The Supervisor is wasting everyone’s time by trying to replace the entire Board of Ethics at one once with her handpicked people. You don’t need to be a lawyer to know that a Board of Eth ics — which may investigate anyone including the Supervisor — should not be replaced all at once by one Supervisor!”

Lurvey continued by questioning where the ethics board as failed.

“If you watch closely, the Supervisor has a history of making unsubstantiated allegations, this time against the Board of Ethics. She claims the Board of Ethics has failed the taxpayers. If nobody is going to ask the necessary followup questions, then I will. Supervisor DeSena, to what failure by the Board of Ethics are you referring? I hope she gives me a better answer than the one she did when I asked for informa tion about her “thorough and complete review” of the Building Department. The answer to my July request has been SILENCE.”

The next town board meetings are sched uled for Sept. 28, Oct. 13 and Oct. 27.

Kaplan calls for Hochul to sign anti-theft bill

lytic converters — rhodium, platinum and pal ladium — can be worth signifcant money.

According to a report from Kitco.com, one of the world’s largest precious metal retailers, the price of rhodium is more than $12,000 per ounce, with palladium coming in at more than $2,000 per ounce and platinum worth nearly $900 per ounce as of July. The report said that the price of those precious metals has increased since the start of the 21st century. Other reports have credited the overall rise in stolen converters to how easy it is for individu als to steal them.

The legislation will also ensure necessary record-keeping and documentation for catalyt ic converter owners and dealerships who sell them is properly fled to help prevent thieves from reselling the materials. Various fnes will be enacted if the required documentation is not fled properly.

Eforts to reach a representative from Ho chul’s ofce for comment were unavailing.

Raymond said locking cars and park ing them in a garage or protected/monitored driveway area are the two best ways to protect against people stealing the converters. He also noted that bail reform laws and New York’s Raise the Age laws make it difcult for police

to ensure that the individuals who commit these crimes are not able to do so again.

“Unfortunately with Raise the Age…it af fects us,” Raymond said. “There are no reper cussions for them. What we’re seeing is a lot of younger kids, 15, 16, 17 years old, coming here, working for an organization…to steal high-end cars, bring them over to New Jersey, get paid for it and if they get arrested, nothing happens to them.”

In 2017, New York raised the age of crimi nal responsibility to at least 18 years old. The civil age of majority and age of criminal re sponsibility is 18 in both New York and New Jersey. Any juvenile case for an individual 13

years or older can be transferred to an adult court in New York. In New Jersey, a discretion ary and presumptive waiver can be used for youth 15 years or older that meet certain cri teria.

From Jan. 1- Mar. 31, more than 300 stolen vehicle reports were fled with the county’s po lice department, a 255% increase from the same time frame last year, according to statistics.

Ofcials said nearly 90 percent of the 11,000 people arrested in the county in 2021 were released without bail. More than 300 of those individuals were released without bail following a weapons-related ofense, accord ing to ofcials.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SUPERVISOR’S OFFICE

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Roslyn student wins art competition Registration opens for adult ed

Roslyn Middle School student Navya Gupta won first place for her age group in the Erase the Stigma Creative Art Con test, sponsored by the Northwell School of Mental Health.

The theme of the art contest was “Posi tive Messages for Men tal Health.” Its pur pose was to highlight mental health as an essential part of over all health and provide a creative space for students to share their voices.

“Mental health awareness is so impor tant, especially after what we all endured during the pandemic,” said guidance coun selor Corrine Decker. “Navya Gupta’s art

work was original and impressive. I’m so de lighted to see her earn this honor.”

The artwork was judged on original ity, creativity and how

well it expressed the contest theme. Win ners from each age group received prizes and had their work displayed during the award ceremony.

Registration for the Fall Adult Education Program is now open to all residents of the Roslyn, Herricks and East Williston school districts.

Daytime classes will be virtual and will be held via Zoom. Evening classes will be ofered both in person and virtually. Courses begin the second week of October. Cata logs have been mailed to the community and are available online at www.roslynschools.org under the Community/ Adult Education tab. Registration is by mail, fax or online only. There will be no in-person or phone registration.

To register online, visit our Adult Education Web Store at https://RoslynSchools.Revtrak.net. It accepts Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discover and e-checks. If you

need help navigating the store, please review our Online Registration Guide at https://bit.ly/3hHMSeN. If you pre fer to mail or fax in your registration form, please print it out from our website via the following link: https://bit. ly/2ZIbIoE.

The Roslyn School District ofers an Adult Education program with classes in exercise, health and wellness, lan guages, fnance, art, virtual and in-person cultural trips and more. We are pleased to carry on the tradition of of fering a resident rate to all three districts and providing discounts for senior citizens.

For additional information, please call the Adult Edu cation ofce at (516) 801-5091.

North Shore Homecoming 2022

The North Shore School District proudly invites all com munity members, students, faculty, and alumni to HOME COMING FAN FEST 2022 on Oct. 8. (Some athletic events start Oct. 7.)

If you are a Hall of Fame Athlete or an Alumni of the North Shore School District, we would like to invite you as photos during Halftime will be taken of each group. Ad ditionally, during the Vikings football game vs Clarke at 2 p.m., graduating classes by decade will be announced.

Roslyn Middle School student Navya Gupta won first place for her age group in the Erase the Stigma Creative Art Contest, sponsored by the Northwell School of Mental Health.

Students celebrate International Dot Day

Students in teacher Suzanne Fal cone’s second grade class at Harbor Hill Elementary School celebrated International Dot Day — a global cel ebration of creativity, courage and col laboration.

International Dot Day began when teacher Terry Shay introduced his classroom to Peter H. Reynolds’ book The Dot on Sept. 15, 2009. It has inspired countless children and adults around the globe. The Dot is the story of a caring teacher who dares a doubt ing student to trust in her own abili

ties by being brave enough to “make her mark.” What begins with a small dot on a piece of paper becomes a breakthrough in confdence and cour age.

Dressed in dots and other creative patterns, the students read The Dot as a class and crafted their own creative dots. “I love to celebrate days like these,” said Ms. Falcone. “The chil dren build social-emotional learning skills through literature and their cre ativity explodes through art, writing and collaboration.”

These “Alumni Appreciation Shout-Outs” will happen during each quarter to the roar of the crowd! In addition, please join us for the Hall of Fame Ceremony at 5 p.m., in the North Shore High School Gymnasium.

All students, parents, alumni, and all North Shore resi dents are invited to join in the fun and enjoy the many events, including the K-12 Carnival (10 a.m.), K-12 Sports Clinics (10 a.m. – noon), Sing with the Supe, (Superinten dent Dr. Chris Zublionis, at noon), Pre-Game Fan Fest (1 p.m.), and Vikings football vs. Clarke (2 p.m.)!

During Homecoming on Oct. 8th, there will be fun for everyone! Please come out and enjoy the day and celebrate our Vikings!

Summary of Homecoming 2022 Schedule of Events: Athletics Begin Friday, Oct. 7, through Saturday, Oct. 8.

Friday, Oct. 7:

Girls Varsity Tennis, 5 p.m. (home)

Girls Swimming, 5 p.m. (LIU)

Field Hockey, 5 p.m. (home) Volleyball, 6:45 p.m. (Hicksville)

Saturday, Oct. 8:

K-12 Sports Clinics, HS Stadium Field Field Hockey (10 a.m.), Girls & Boys Soccer (11 a.m.), Football & Cheerleading (12 p.m.)

K-12 Student Carnival, HS Field Behind HS, 10 a.m. — 1 p.m.

$5 wristbands will be available at the event. Returning at the Carnival will be Virtual Reality + DJ + Photo Booth + Train + Face Painting + Food + Games + Much More!

Sing with the Supe, Superintendent Dr. Chris Zublionis, Noon

Pre-Game FAN FEST, 1 p.m., HS Stadium Field Fun Run + Pulse + Cheerleaders + NS Pep Band + Drum Line

Vikings Football Game vs. Clarke, Saturday, HS Stadium, 2 p.m.

Hall of Fame and Alumni Photos at Halftime Alumni Appreciation “Shout-Outs”

Please mark your calendars! Join us for this special HOMECOMING 2022 on Saturday, Oct. 8, celebrating our students, Viking Hall of Fame Athletes, and North Shore Alumni! For more information, please visit www.north shoreschools.org. Many thanks to our North Shore com munity and all those who have made this day possible.

Please note: Free Shuttle Bus service will be provided throughout the day to/from our elementary schools and North Shore High School

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PHOTO COURTESY OF ROSLYN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTH SHORE SCHOOLS

The North Shore School District proudly invites all community members, students, faculty, and alumni to Homecoming Fan Fest 2022 on Oct. 8.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROSLYN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Students in teacher Suzanne Falcone’s second grade class at Harbor Hill Elementary School celebrated International Dot Day.

Sports

Cargiulo never takes a play off

Manhasset football player a stor on both sides of the ball in personal quest for excellence

BY MICHAEL J. LEWIS

The Chipotle bowl is his relief, his salvation, and his reward.

Manhasset senior Matt Cargiulo is exhausted every Saturday evening during football season. There are somewhere between 60-80 plays in a typical high school game, and Cargiulo is on the field for all of them.

If he’s not quarterbacking the Indians’ triple-option offense, getting hit on nearly every play, he’s manning the

secondary on defense as a strong safety, making tackles and trying to break up opponents’ passes.

Very little time to rest, or think, or plan when you’re the 6-foot-3, 200 pound Cargiulo.

So when it’s all over, he goes home and finds some small comfort in the Mexican fast-food chain.

“I’ll get a bowl with brown rice, some chicken, some cheese and some queso,” he said this week. “And I’ll eat it, take a shower, and then just lay in

bed for hours. Not really wanting to move.”

This is what happens when you’re one of the best athletes on a smallsized football roster: The coaches need you on the field all the time.

And make no mistake, Cargiulo isn’t complaining. While lacrosse is the sport he most excels in (he’s headed to UMass next fall on scholarship, and Cargiulo was a key member of Manhasset’s state championship squad last spring), he’s become an outstand-

ing football player as well, and said he loves the sport

Last season he passed for 780 yards and six scores, and rushed for 1,090 yards and 12 touchdowns as the Indians struggled to a 2-6 record.

When Manhasset was on defense, Cargiulo also made 74 tackles, including 22 for a loss, with five interceptions.

But this year Manhasset has started strongly, winning two of its first three games after a 21-7 win over Flo-

ral Park on Sept. 24.

Manhasset coach Jay Iaquinta, who just won his 200th game on Sept. 16, wishes he didn’t have to play his QB so often.

“It’d be better if he could be over here with us (while the defense is on field) and we could go over things like most QB’s get to do,” Iaquinta said. “He’d be even more awesome. But he’s just too good on defense and we don’t have enough other kids.”

Cargiulosays that while, sure, it’s exhausting being on the field for every play, his conditioning in the offseason, including playing lacrosse, has helped.

“I did a lot of running, a lot of strength work to get bigger, and worked hard on becoming a better quarterback,” Cargiulo said. “Honestly, my passion for football is greater than for lacrosse, maybe because football is newer to me.”

Indeed, while Cargiulo, like most Manhasset kids, started playing lacrosse fresh out of the crib, he only put on a football helmet in seventh grade, and switched to being a signal-caller in ninth grade.

This past summer he was invited to be a part of the Long Island Quarterback Challenge, a showcase event, and got to train with Oceanside legend and former longtime NFL quarterback Jay Fiedler as well for several weeks.

“Matt is a tremendous athlete, who is raw in throwing the football but a big, physical kid who learns quickly,” Fiedler said in a phone interview. “Having to play both ways is a challenge, but he’s a terrific kid who definitely improved in each session we did.”

“Getting to work with (Jay), who has been at the highest level, was an incredible experience,” Cargiulo said. “His tips and knowledge and everything he knows, helped me a lot.”

Cargiulo, who also returns kickoffs and punts for Manhasset as well (no truth to the rumor he sells hot dogs and hamburgers at the concession stand, and plays trumpet in the band at halftime), said he expects a playoff berth and other big things for Manhasset this season.

And as long as Chipotle stays open on weekends, he’ll be good to go.

“I love going to battle with my teammates, and even though we’re a young team I think we’re going in the right direction,” Cargiulo said. “We still have a lot to learn but we’ve been in both games this year and are learning how to win. I’m excited about the season.”

Manhasset quarterback Matt Cargiulo (2) will be a big key to the team’s success this season

DeRiggi-Whitton congratulates new council members

County Legislator Delia De Riggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove) ap plauded the appointments of Port Washington community leaders Dr. Joel Ziev and Stella Spanakos to Nassau County’s newly formed Advisory Council on People with Disabilities. Both were unani mously appointed to the Council by the Nassau County Legislature on Monday, Sept. 19.

During Dr. Ziev’s fve-decade career of advocating for the rights of disabled people, he has served as the Director of Instruc tional Services from 1977-79 for the Henry Viscardi School in Alb ertson; Executive Director for the New York Society for the Deaf from 1980-97 and as a Certifed Impartial Hearing Ofcer for the

New York State Department of Education from 1979-2022.

In 1997, he established the Port Washington-based Partners for Access LLC, which provides disability access, consulting and support services to public and private agencies, schools, hospi tals, and law frms on meeting Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements for address ing the special programmatic and access needs of people with dis abilities.

Spanakos founded The Nich olas Center in 2010 with the mis sion of delivering robust services to young adults like her son, Nicholas, who is on the Autism spectrum. In many cases, people like Nicholas struggle when at

age 21 because they transition from a supportive educational setting into adulthood with limit ed opportunities for engagement and employment.

The Nicholas Center is dedi cated to ensuring that adults on the Autism spectrum have access to the resources and support they need to thrive in the communities where they live and work. Today, the Center provides daily support to over 120 individuals, and the Spectrum Designs Foundation, a custom apparel and promotional items business, is the largest em ployer of people with autism in Nassau County.

Dr. Ziev and Spanakos were appointed to the Advisory Coun cil on Monday alongside Nadia

Holubnyczyj-Ortiz, of Floral Park, and Lora Webster, of Point Look out.

“Joel and Stella’s friendship has probably been one of the best gifts I’ve had as a Legisla tor,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “Joel’s lifelong mission of advocating for the disabled really began with his son, and you can tell the pas sion he carries in his heart for this cause, and Stella’s persistence and advocacy on behalf of people living with Autism make her an inspiring beacon in our commu nity. I thank them and all of our volunteers for agreeing to join Nassau County’s Advisory Coun cil and volunteering their time and expertise to make our county a better place for everybody.”

East Williston art students awarded Mineola’s 2022 HOF induction

Two student-artists attending the Wheatley School in the East Williston School District, were recognized for their outstanding artistic talents in the 2022 annual Gurwin Photo Contest.

Student-artist Emma Azevedo won the grand prize and Noah Gorlewski received an honorable mention.

The purpose of this event is to help support and foster growth in young photographers across Long Is land, while helping to create a visually beautiful living environment for those at the Gurwin Rehabilitation Center.

All winning photos will be enlarged,

framed and hung in the Tifen Gal lery for residents, staf and visitors to enjoy.

This contest allows students to become involved in the world of pho tography on a diferent level. Students are able to share their photographs with individuals in need of a support ive and visually enriched environment that can help support healing while at the rehabilitation center.

A reception for all winners was held Sept. 20, 2022 at the new inde pendent living community, Fountain gate Gardens.

Mineola High School had their Athletic Hall of fame Induction on Sept. 16.

The induction was held at halftime of the Mineola football game at Hampton Stadium. The inductees includ ed Katherine Hock Bennett (2001) All-American lacrosse Player at Adelphi University, Jack Emmer (63) NCAA Div lacrosse Coach, Manny Matos (71) Professional soccer Player, Jim Litterelle (63) Penn State football captain, Jim Brown (39) Hofstra Football captain- Mineola Wrestling coach, Bruce Webster (55) Longtime university of Bridge port Basketball coach, Bob Casciola (53)Princeton Football Player and head coach.

The presentation was enjoyed by everyone as there was a large crowd at the Mineola Game. Former wrestler of Coach brown accepted his award, the daughter Of Bruce Webster, Leigh and Lore’ accepted the award for their dad, Jim Litterelle and Bob Casciola had speeches recorded and played for the crowd to accept their Awards, Manny, Jack and Katherine all Made speeches thanking everyone for their time they enjoyed as Mineola Athletes.

A gathering was held afterward at the Cornerstone Irish pub in Mineola where Kim and the staf did a great

Job Hosting all the family and friends of all the inductees.

A special thanks from the HOF committee goes out to Mineola Superintendent Dr. Mike Nagler for all his help and support, along with Mineola AD Ralph Amitrano and Mineola teacher Kate Sheehan.

The Women’s Club of Flower Hill

It’s been over two years, and now the Women’s Club of Flower Hill is back and in full swing!

Founded in 1949, The WCoFH was created for women in Flower Hill Manhasset, Port Washington and Ro slyn. The club is a philanthropic or ganization that has long supported children’s charities and raised funds through events for ladies, couples and children throughout the year. Through proceeds from Light the Night in De cember and other events, the club supports many charitable local orga nizations and will donate each year to the Village of Flower Hill community.

This year, the WCoFH has a new Board and website and will host its Kick-Off Event on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m. The event is complimenta ry. Meet the new board and catch up with new friends and neighbors. For more information on membership and the kick-off event, visit www.women sclubflowerhill.com.

The WCoFH’s largest fundraiser

is Light the Night, which takes place annually in December. This one-night event celebrates unity and pride in the community. Candlelight lights front lawns and Village Hall up while resi dents walk or drive the streets aglow and mingle with their neighbors. The Women’s Club of Flower Hill partners with Spectrum Designs to create the kits. Kits can be purchased on the WCoFH website. This year the event takes place on Sunday, Dec. 4. The deadline to order kits online is Nov. 23.

WCoFH will host various events throughout the year for its members, which include Harvest Fest in Novem ber, Annual Christmas Luncheon in December, Easter Egg Drop and more.

The Women’s Club of Flower Hill looks forward to a great year ahead. To join, visit their new website. The membership fee is $40 yearly, from September to June. Follow them on social media @womensclubflowerhill for updates!

The Women’s Club of Flow er Hill has a new board and a new website this year. Its kick-off event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

PHOTO BY PETER M. BUDRAITIS

Nassau County Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton with Stella Spanakos and Dr. Joel Ziev at the Nassau County Legislature on Monday, Sept. 19.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE EAST WILLISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

The 2022 annual Gurwin Photo Contest Grand Prize winner Emma Azevedo and Noah Gorlewski who received an honorable mention are both students at The Wheatley School in the East Williston School District.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WOMEN’S CLUB OF FLOWER HILL

East

Roslyn Heights

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East

Port Washington | Flower Hill 33 Birchdale Lane

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