Roslyn Times 2023_05_12

SCHOOLS & EDUCATION

HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR GALLERY AT JCC

SANTOS INDICTED

Roslyn community mourns

Outpouring of support, grief for two middle school boys, 14, who died in crash

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Nassau County mourned the deaths of two young Roslyn tennis players after an accused drunk driver cut short their lives last week and snuffed out the dreams their families, school, friends and community had for the talented 14-year-olds.

The Roslyn School District, in a statement, reflected on the passing of Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, both middle school students, and two injured high school friends.

“The tragic passing of two of our Roslyn Middle School students is a tremendous loss for their families, friends, and our school community,” the statement said. “The district extends our deepest condolences and asks that everyone respect the families’ right to grieve privately during this very difficult time…We wish a speedy and complete recovery to our two Roslyn High School students in the hospital. Our hearts are broken.”

The district also said it will have psychologists, guidance counselors and other social workers set up at each school to provide support for students, staff or families.

Hassenbein and Falkowitz were killed after being hit by an allegedly drunk driver behind the wheel of a Dodge Ram traveling on the wrong side of the road in Jericho, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

Both were remembered as promising tennis players with local sports groups where the two played from early childhood.

Hassenbein was a nationally ranked tennis player who played on the high school varsity tennis team. He was ranked as high as No. 1 in the country in the National Boys 12 and Under division in 2021. He also facilitated the coin toss at the 2021 Men’s U.S. Open Final. The United States Tennis Association’s Eastern Region reflected on the passing of the two boys and extended their condolences to those close to them.

“USTA Eastern is heartbroken over the tragic loss of Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, two members of the Roslyn High School tennis team on Long Island,” a statement from the organization said. “We extend our thoughts and prayers to their families, teammates and loved ones.”

Continued on Page 9

No bail for alleged drunk driver on wrong side of road

BY CAMERYN

OAKES

The driver who is accused of killing two Roslyn Middle School students was held without bail Monday as more than 100 people waited outside the Nassau County Courthouse.

Drew Hassenbein and Ethan

Falkowitz, both 14-year-old tennis players, sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene of the DWI crash in Jericho Wednesday evening, police said.

The two boys, along with Roslyn High School students Zach Sheena and Ethan Solop, were on their way back

from a celebratory dinner with their tennis team.

Both Sheena and Solop remain in the hospital in stable condition with internal injuries, according to Newsday.

Police reported that the four boys were in a 2019 Alpha Romero sedan driving on North Broadway when at

10:21 p.m. they were struck by a 2019 Dodge Ram driving in the opposite direction of traffic.

The driver of the Dodge Ram, Roslyn resident Amandeep Singh, 34, was arrested and treated at a local hospital for minor injuries, according to police.

Singh’s blood alcohol content was 0.18,

police said, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08.

A few dozen family members and friends of both families were permitted in the first-floor courtroom for a three-minute hearing Monday where District Court Judge Anthony Paradiso

Continued on Page 12

PHOTO BY CAMERYN OAKES

Funeral attendees mourn the death of Ethan Falkowitz.

DeSena, Lurvey spar over budget

Dispute over $3 million amendment

BY BRANDON DUFFY

North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena accused Democrat Council Member Veronica Lurvey of misleading the public over a $3 million town budget amendment she announced last fall that has not yet been allocated.

“I’ve been incredibly disappointed to see Councilwoman Lurvey intentionally mislead the public for more than six months regarding this,” DeSena said in a statement to Blank Slate Media. “To promise something in a budget and then subsequently fail to deliver on it is a clear breach of the public’s trust.”

Roslyn

to vote Tuesday

School election will include budget, ed board trustees

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Roslyn residents will be casting their votes Tuesday in the Roslyn Union Free School District election.

Voting will take place May 16 from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. in the north gym at Roslyn High School. The district asks voters to enter the campus via Harbor Hill Road.

To be eligible to vote, individuals must be a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, a resident of the Roslyn Union Free School District for at least 30 days before the vote and be a registered voter.

Eligible residents will be voting on a proposition to adopt the district’s 2023-2024 budget and for two members on the district’s board of education.

The Roslyn School District adopted a budget of about $127.5 million

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and a 2.57% tax levy increase for the 2023-2024 fscal year.

The Roslyn School District budget for 2023-2024 is established at $127,474,805, a 4.36% increase from the prior budget of $122,145,193.

The taxes levied in the district’s budget is $103,744,831. This is 2.57% greater than the prior budget’s tax levy of $101,148,674.

Superintendent Allison Brown said at an April 18 Board of Education meeting that the district’s enrollment is fuid, with 10 students enrolling since the board’s previous meeting March 23. A district total enrollment number was not provided.

Based on the district’s enrollment for 2022-2023 of 3,294 students, the adopted budget for 20232024 would approximate $38,699 in spending per pupil.

Roslyn Board of Education Presi-

dent Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy is seeking re-election with new candidate Leigh Minsky, both unopposed in the school’s May 16 election.

Trustee Bruce Valauri is not running for re-election after serving on the board for 13 years. Minsky will be running for his seat.

School board member responsibilities include developing the school’s budget, creating strategic partnerships with community stakeholders, hiring and evaluating the superintendent, setting the direction of the school district and supporting a healthy school district culture, according to the New York State School Boards Association.

Ben-Levy, who has served on the board since July 1, 2005, is seeking her seventh term.

“I am running for re-election to continue to provide visionary, Continued on Page 42

TO REACH US

In the 2023 town budget, the town board on Oct. 25 unanimously approved amendments submitted by Lurvey that included a 5% tax cut, an additional $2 million allocation for street paving, $1 million allocation for concrete sidewalk and road repairs, $1 million allocation for tree trimming and removal and $250,000 for beautifcation projects.

During the beginning of the work session on Oct. 25, Lurvey gave a statement on her proposed amendments, saying $3 million will also be allocated for food mitigation and stormwater management. When questioned by DeSena on

the details of the allocation, Lurvey said the money would have to be allocated through a resolution.

“These are critical infrastructure projects that we need to put in place in order to address and prepare for the 50- or 100-year storms we are having on a regular basis now,” Lurvey said during the hearing.

Paul Wood, the director of fnance for DeSena’s ofce who was acting as the town’s interim comptroller at the time the budget was approved in January, confrmed to Blank Slate Media there was not a $3 million allocation of funds for stormwater mitigation in the fnal budget.

“As acting comptroller for the last 10 months, I can confrm that this supposed $3 million allocation for stormwater mitigation is contained nowhere within the fnal 2023 budget passed by the Town Board,” he said.

Four line items in the 2023 North Hempstead budget of unanimously-approved amendments. (Screencap by Brandon Dufy) Lurvey called DeSena’s accusations “disingenuous” and “electionyear politics,” saying there are additional revenue sources to cover the costs and that funding details will be in the coming weeks now that the Continued on Page 43

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Budget highlights posted to Council Member Veronica Lurvey’s Facebook page in November.

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The Roslyn School District is hosting an election on May 16 where district residents can vote for two board of education candidates and the district’s budget.

Gallery memorializes Holocaust survivors

Photography exhibit at Sid Jacobson JCC shares stories to educate, fight antisemitism

BY CAMERYN OAKES

The Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center unveiled a new photography exhibit by Daniel Weiss that includes portraits of 18 local Holocaust survivors, to memorialize their stories and educate the community.

The gallery, which was produced by Dinah Kramer, will be on display at the center through June. The project began in 2017 and was completed in 2020. It was first displayed in January 2020.

Weiss said the progression of developing the exhibit was evolutionary, meaning it changed throughout the process of its creation.

The idea was founded when Weiss’ son was going through the bar mitzvah process. A part of that process is listening to a Holocaust survivor share their story, with his son listening to Irving Roth’s story.

Weiss, who sees himself as a protective father, said he was initially concerned about his young son learning about the atrocities of the Holocaust, what he referred to as “the stuff of nightmares.”

But Weiss said he could not have been more wrong about the effects of

listening to such a story.

He said Roth was a very dynamic speaker who exuded incredible energy and framed his storytelling more so as a celebration of life and perseverance during the Holocaust. As Weiss listened to his story, he said he was drawn to create a portrait of the man and show he was.

“What I left that hour feeling about him, this was a gentleman who was certainly a Holocaust survivor, but he managed to not only survive – he thrived,” Weiss said. “He didn’t allow this moment, this horrific moment in his life, to hold him back, to completely define who he was.”

But what started as wanting to make a single portrait of Roth transformed and grew into a collection of 17 portraits featuring 18 Holocaust survivors, one portrait including two survivors who were cousins.

Weiss said focusing on that exact number of survivors was intentional as 18 is a significant number in Judaism. He said it was Kramer’s idea to strive for this number.

In Hebrew, the letters “chet,” which represents the number eight, and “yud,” which represents the number 10, can be added together which creates “chai,” representing

the number 18. The Hebrew word “chai” means life, which can be found in common expressions like “L’Chaim” which means “to life.”

The number 18 represents the idea of life and is a special number within Judaism. This is why Weiss and Kramer sought out 18 Holocaust survivors to honor their lives.

At the beginning of the process, Weiss said he wasn’t sure how to make distinct and meaningful portraits for each individual survivor.

He started by asking them questions about their lives and their experiences, but his approach evolved to become more conversational with each survivor he spoke with.

Many of his portraits show the intimacy he fostered through conversational relationships with his subject.

One of his portrait subjects was 92 years old when her photo was taken, and drove herself to the photo session. Weiss described her as a fiery personality who loved to tell raunchy jokes and relished in his discomfort. He said that her personality translates in her portrait where she has the largest smile with her arms wide open, representing a woman

PHOTO BY DANIEL WEISS, COURTESY OF THE SID JACOBSON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

A portrait included in the Sid Jacobson Jewish Community Center photography exhibit of Holocaust survivors.

Call to revoke town’s lighthouse control

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

The Great Neck Historical Society called for the stewardship of the Stepping Stones Lighthouse to be withdrawn from the Town of North Hempstead, citing the lack of work toward restoring the structure and opposition from the current administration.

The town acquired ownership of the lighthouse, which sits about 1,600 yards of the shore of Kings Point, from the U.S. Coast Guard in 2008 as part of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act. It agreed to submit yearly reports to the National Park Service on “any capital improvements to preserve and restore the structure within its historical accuracy.”

Preserving the lighthouse, which was built in 1877 and updated in 1944, has been a concern for local ofcials and community organizations in the area.

Robert Lincoln, chairman of the society’s Lighthouse Restoration Committee, said the lack of progress from prior administrations and partisan actions by the current town board have not aided the society’s quest to restore the longstanding structure.

“After 15 years and three administrations with no substantive progress, it is clear that the town has neither the will nor the ability to complete this project,” Lincoln said. “The continued contention along party lines by members of the town board only makes the situation more toxic.”

Town Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey said she was a proponent of restoring the structure despite others’ lack of willingness to do so.

“I fervently advocated to revitalize the lighthouse, and I was disappointed that the supervisor and some of my colleagues on the town board did

not prioritize it as I do,” Lurvey said in a statement to Blank Slate Media.

Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, in a statement to Blank Slate Media, said the current state of the restoration process is a result of years of inaction from prior administrations.

“While it is unfortunate that the situation has reached this level of acrimony, it is the result of 15 years’ worth of inaction by the town, starting in 2007 when former Supervisor Kaiman took on the lighthouse restoration with no plan in place on how to fund the multimillion-dollar efort he signed the town up for,” DeSena said. “From the

S. Cliff woman indicted in fatal DWI crash: DA

BY BRANDON DUFFY

A Sea Clif woman was indicted on charges related to causing the death of a motorcyclist after driving drunk and crashing into a utility pole in June 2022, the Nassau County district attorney announced.

Susannah Smith, 22, was allegedly drunk and texting while driving her 2014 Ford Focus northbound on Cedar Swamp Road before driving of the roadway and crashing into a utility pole, District Attorney Anne Donnelly said, according to the charges.

After the crash, which happened around midnight on June 15, 2022, the pole was downed, causing wires to be strewn across the roadway and power to go out.

Milton Diaz, 34, struck one of the downed power lines on his 2006 Honda motorcycle before falling of and sufering “signifcant trauma,” Donnelly said. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:14 a.m.

“This defendant was allegedly intoxicated and texting with a friend after picking up pizza when she veered of the road and crashed into a utility pole, scattering power lines onto the roadway and cutting the lights,” Donnelly said in a statement. “Milton Diaz did not see the hazards that this defendant allegedly created as he drove by and tragically struck one of the downed lines, causing him to fall of his motorcycle to his death. Our thoughts

remain with Milton’s family and friends as we prosecute this case.”

Smith needed assistance from the Brookville Police Department to exit her vehicle and was taken to Nassau University Medical Center to treat her injuries. She was arrested on June 16, 2022.

Eforts to reach Smith’s lawyer, Karen Johnston, were unavailing.

beginning, this project was not supposed to utilize any taxpayer funds, but to date over $480,000 of taxpayer money has been spent by previous administrations on a project that never should have been started.”

The society entered into a partnership with the town in 2012 to aid in the lighthouse restoration and launched a variety of initiatives such as a 5K race and boat tours, but society ofcials said the town “refused to accept any suggestions and has only communicated through occasional meetings.”

Society ofcials also said the current administration “has allowed promotion of an anti-

Great Neck atmosphere within the town” and has “missed an opportunity to preserve a valuable piece of history and its legend.”

Architectural frm Modern Ruins conducted a feasibility study on the lighthouse in 2017 from a contract funded by the society and concluded that the structure could be restored. In 2022, according to society representatives, Modern Ruins again analyzed the structure and concluded that, despite some rumors, the lighthouse was not falling down and it remains restorable.

Most recently, the town was forced to return a $165,000 grant from the National Park Service in April because the town did not get a permit secured for construction done in 2019 as part of the restoration process.

DeSena wrote in an email to the state Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservationthat town engineers at the time advised the town board to allow a contractor to proceed with construction without approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She added that communication acknowledging a permit application from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was mistaken as a letter of permission, or permit.

A new fxed pier and foating dock had $535,000 in town funds included in the 2023 capital plan. No funds have been expended as of now for the project.

DeSena told Blank Slate Media she will continue to discuss any future plans involving the lighthouse and will seek to preserve the structure’s history and legacy.

“I look forward to discussing the future of the lighthouse with all interested parties,” DeSena said. “I believe now may be the appropriate time to explore alternatives to what has proven to be a poorly conceived plan as we continue to look to prioritize preservation.”

State to lend $455M for new Belmont Park

BY BRANDON DUFFY

A $455 million loan to redevelop and renovate Belmont Park was included in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s $229 billion state budget, which was approved by state lawmakers Tuesday night. Belmont Park will be demolished and rebuilt from scratch as part of the project that will create new tracks, parking and a clubhouse, among other things.

“The transformation of Belmont Park will secure the future of thoroughbred racing in New York State, create thousands of good jobs and drive tourism to Long Island and the region for decades to come,” New York Racing Association President CEO David O’Rourke said in a statement. “We thank Gov. Hochul and our legislative leaders for recognizing the importance of this project to the countless New

Continued on Page 42

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NASSAU COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

Susannah Smith.

PHOTO BY JANELLE CLAUSEN

Stepping Stones Lighthouse, as seen from Steppingstone Park.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BELMONT PARK

A $455M loan for a new Belmont Park was secured in the New York state budget on May 2.

Ratra says he will cut Herricks tax levy

BY BRANDON DUFFY

2 trustee seats, budget on ballot in Herricks

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Residents in the Herricks School District will be voting on the district’s $134.7 million budget and two trustee seats in the May 16 election.

Board of Education President Jim Gounaris is facing challenger Bhajan Ratra for a threeyear term.

Incumbent Trustee Henry Zanetti is running unopposed for a three-year term.

Gounaris, a Manhasset Hills resident, was previously president of the board from 2013 to 2015. He is currently serving his fourth term on the board as a trustee after winning re-election in 2020.

He was appointed board president last year, taking over for Zanetti. He currently works at Great Neck Public Schools as the director of food and nutrition services.

Gounaris is also running for the North Hempstead Town Board on the Republican line this November. He faces Democrat Christine Liu for the 4th Councilmanic District seat, which is being vacated by Council Member Veronica Lurvey, who is running for receiver of taxes.

The board of education president said he originally ran for the board in 2011 to increase transparency to residents and that if re-elected, he would continue focusing on school safety.

Gounaris said one challenge the

board always has to face is security “in all aspects of the word.”

On top of physical security on school district grounds, students and staf should feel welcome in a place that has no room for intolerance, Gounaris said.

“Parents need to know that we are all welcome in this community and that feeling provides a unique sense of comfort, calm and belonging,” Gounaris said. “Ensuring this is my major goal.”

Ratra is a retired adjunct professor of mathematics at Baruch College and SUNY Farmingdale. He previously was a panel member on the content advisory and bias review committees of New York State Teaching Certifcation Examination

Continued on Page 43

Tercynski running for transparency in EWSD

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Mineola resident Denise Tercynski said one of her biggest priorities, if elected to the East Williston Board of Education, would be making the district more transparent and rebuilding trust with parents.

“I’ve been talking to a lot of community members and they feel there is a lack of transparency and don’t feel the district is always being honest with them,” Tercynski said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. “Our district is fantastic. We have excellent facilities and caring, great teachers. No one in the community should be unhappy, but they are.”

Tercynski is challenging Mark Kamberg, trustee and president of the board, in the May 16 election for a three-

year term. Tercynski, a Mineola resident since 2011, currently works in the Great Neck Public School District and is a current member of The Wheatley School PTO’s executive board. Prior to the executive board, Tercynski’s involvement included volunteering on committees in all three schools in the district and serving on the Willets Road School’s PTO executive board.

Tercynski said it may take time, but it’s paramount for any district to make families feel comfortable again about their relationship with their schools or school board.

Recent Board of Education meetings have had discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and attempts by Project Veritas, a right-wing group known for deceptively edited exposé videos with ties

Bhajan Ratra said he is running for the Herricks Board of Education to bring his background in education to the district and help lower the tax levy.

Ratra is challenging Trustee Jim Gounaris, who serves as president of the Board of Ed. Trustee Henry Zannetti is running unopposed for a three-year term in the May 16 election.

Ratra is a retired adjunct professor of mathematics at Baruch College and SUNY Farmingdale. He previously was a panel member on the content advisory and bias review committees of New York State Teaching Certifcation Examination and has served in the past on the standardssetting committee for the NYS Regents exams.

He said he would propose lowering the district’s tax levy through “professional development days” throughout the school year where district teachers would be in groups of fve or six to learn and write grants from $2,000 to $5,000 to the state for more aid for the district.

“It would help our district get revenue through the grants and lower the tax levy.”

The Herricks budget for the 2023-2024 school year is $134,719,970, which is a 7.50% spending increase.

Excluding pending claims and the associated legal fees, the budget represents only a 5.3% increase, district ofcials said.

The budget’s tax levy is an increase of 1.83%, which is equal to the tax cap determined by the state and falls below the 2% allowable growth factor limit.

On the revenue side, state aid represents 18% of incoming funds. Total state aid of $25 million represents an increase of $8 million over last year.

Ratra said with money

saved on the tax levy, he would look into hiring a “professional” coach for the varsity baseball team. The current varsity coach is Rich-

walk through diferent communities in the district every two weeks to gauge feedback from constituents. The Board of Education also meets

— Bhajan Ratra

ard Bizelia, who is a physical education teacher at Herricks High School and has been the coach for over a decade.

If elected. Ratra said he would push for more diversity in district administration, election inspectors and push for the district to use the same grading system through all of its classes.

Ratra also said he would

multiple times every month throughout the school year where the public can speak.

Gounaris’ challenger added he is asking for the community’s support to provide his experience to the board.

“I’m here to help the community and help lower the tax levy,” Ratra said. “I am advocating for their child and to provide a safe environment.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ISLAND 360 ARCHVIES

Herricks Board of Education President Jim Gounaris, left, Vice President Henry Zanetti, middle, and challenger Bhajan Ratra.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CANDIDATE

Denise Tercynski is running against Mark Kamberg for trustee on the East Williston Board of Education.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CANDIDATE Bhajan Ratra is running for the Herricks Board of Education on May 16.

“I’m here to help the community and help lower the tax levy,” Ratra said. “I am advocating for their child and to provide a safe environment.”

Trustee race, budget on EWSD ballot

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Residents in the East Williston School District will be voting on the district’s $69M budget, one contested race for a trustee seat and a budget proposition during the May 16 voting day.

Incumbent Trustee Mark Kamberg is running against challenger Denise Tercynski for a three-year term.

Kamberg, an Albertson resident, has been a trustee for 15 years, serving as board president for 13 of them.

Tercynski, a Mineola resident, has experience serving on the executive board of The Wheatley School and Willets Road School’s PTO executive board.

Recent Board of Education meetings have had discussions on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and recent attempts by Project Veritas, a right-wing group known for deceptively edited exposé videos with ties to prominent conservative and Republican groups nationally, to make its presence felt in some of Nassau County’s public school districts.

Kamberg told Blank Slate Media when there are concerns in the district from residents, it’s important to follow the work set out in a district’s strategic plan.

“I think that everybody is of value to the conversation. You want to be as inclusive as you can, making sure that everybody has an opportunity to participate in discussions,” Kamberg said. “To me, that’s really the secret to being transparent and making sure that all of these discussions

take place with your community groups.”

Tercynski said it may take time, but it’s paramount for any district to make families feel comfortable again about their relationship with their

Budget, 2 trustees on Mineola school ballot

BY BRANDON DUFFY

Mineola School District residents will be voting on the $109.7 million budget and two trustee seats during the May 16 voting day.

Board of Education President Margaret BallantyneMannion and Vice President Patrick Talty are running unopposed for their respective seats.

Trustee terms are for three years.

Ballantyne-Margaret is running for her fourth term. She is a Spanish professor at York College and earned a Ph.D. from Brown University in Hispanic studies.

Ballantyne-Mannion has lived in Mineola since 1972, and she and her husband, Luke Mannion, have been active in the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

Talty is running for his third term after frst being elected in 2017 when he ran unopposed. Professionally, he is an architect with Uptonbased Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Prior to his time on the board, Talty coached youth soccer and lacrosse in the district and served as a member of the PTA.

The district budget is a 0.32% decrease in spending from the current year. The proposed tax levy increase is 1%, which falls below the state-

mandated tax levy increase of 1.74%.

The district’s average tax levy increase over the past decade is 1.11%, according to the budget newsletter.

Based on district enrollment numbers from the 20222023 school year, Mineola

Continued on Page 42

schools or school board.

“I think everything starts with regaining the community’s trust when it comes to parents and our children,” Tercynski said. “Hearing ‘distrust’

and ‘your child’ potentially in the same sentence is like oil and water. Once that is restored, and restored over time, people will start to feel comfortable again and I’m dedicated to making sure that happens.”

Also on the ballot is the $68,889,276 budget for the 2023-2024 school year, which is a 3.88% increase in spending from the current budget. The tax levy increase is 1.94%, which falls below the state-mandated tax cap.

The district is receiving $7.1 million in state aid, a 33.86% increase from the current year’s state aid of $5.3 million.

Based on district numbers from the 20222023 school year, East Williston is spending $43,109.68 per pupil according to the proposed budget.

Budget highlights include boys modifed volleyball as a new program, an additional social worker, universal pre-kindergarten at North Side Elementary School and redesigns of The Wheatley School’s TV studio and robotics training space, among other things.

East Williston’s ballot proposition is to authorize the establishment of a capital reserve fund not to exceed $7 million, funded over a maximum of ten years.

The reserve fund would include but is not limited to eventual roofng replacements, improvements to Willets’ felds and Wheatley’s wood shop and cafeteria.

Voting for East Williston will take place on Tuesday, May 16 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at The Wheatley School gymnasium.

North Shore to vote on budget, 2 trustees

BY CAMERYN OAKES

North Shore residents will be heading to the polls Tuesday to vote in the North Shore Central School District election.

Voting will take place on May 16 from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. in the North Shore High School gym.

To be eligible to vote, individuals must be a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, a resident of the North Shore Central School District for at least 30 days before the vote and be a registered voter.

Eligible residents will be voting on a proposition to adopt the district’s 2023-2024 budget and for two members of the district’s Board of Education.

The North Shore School District adopted a $120 million budget with a tax levy of $89 million for 2023-24.

The budget is increasing by about 3.78%, compared to the current academic year’s budget of nearly $116 million. The budget also includes an estimated 3.7% tax levy increase.

Superintendent Christopher Zublionis said the budget increase is mostly attributed to increases in health insurance, retirement and debt service costs.

On top of infationary costs, the school district presented its budget amid fnancial challenges of revenue losses from the decommissioned Long Island Power Authority power plant.

In total, the district has lost $2.35 million

from LIPA revenue. LIPA is currently paying a direct assessment, which is gradually decreasing by millions of dollars a year. Zublionis said that over the next fve years, the district projects it will lose more than $38 million in total revenues from LIPA.

The district received about $2.1 million more in state aid, but Zublionis said it was not enough for their needs.

When the cost increases and revenue losses are added together, Zublionis said it amounts to $10.6 million for the district to make up

The board made a tough decision to mitigate the gap by cutting a number of jobs to save $2.7 million.

Positions that will be cut in 2023-2024 come from throughout the district, including teachers, teacher’s aids, clerical positions and contingency jobs.

Zublionis previously told Blank Slate that he was unable to provide the exact number of employees who would be terminated or the positions cut as the numbers might change over time depending on circumstances.

North Shore School District Board of Education Vice President Andrea Macari and Trustee Rich Galati are running for re-election unopposed.

School board member responsibilities include developing the school’s budget, creating strategic partnerships with community stakeholders, hiring and evaluating the su-

Continued on Page 43

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CANDIDATES

Mineola Board of Education President Margaret Ballantyne-Mannion, left, and Vice President Patrick Talty, right, are both running unopposed for their respective seats.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE CANDIDATES

East Williston Board of Education President Mark Kamberg, left, and challenger Denise Tercynski, right.

Roslyn teens mourned by community

Continued from Page 1

The Sportime Roslyn tennis club, in a statement, said it watched the boys practice their tennis skills from a young age.

“These were extremely special boys who were best friends and who will be missed greatly by our entire community,” Sportime Roslyn said. “Drew and Ethan started playing here at our club as 5 and 6-year-olds, and they had become (as eighth graders) two of the top players on Roslyn’s High School’s varsity tennis team, the top team on Long Island.”

Falkowitz also played tennis for the Roslyn High School team. He played mostly doubles for the Bulldogs and helped the team begin winning matches from the start.

Christopher Morley Tennis, a local tennis club, said Falkowitz was a frequent player.

“We were privileged to have Ethan play at our club on a regular basis,” Christopher Morley Tennis said. “We extend our deepest condolences to the heartbroken families and friends of these young men. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who are grieving this unimaginable loss.”

Long Island Tennis Magazine, which covers regional matches and tournaments, described the deaths of both teens as “a tremendous loss” for the tennis community.

“We mourn the tragic passing of Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, and extend our thoughts and prayers to the Hassenbeins, Falkowitzes, the Roslyn tennis team and everyone afected by this horrifc tragedy,” they said in a statement.

Timber Lake Camp in Shandaken, N.Y., and Pennsylvania’s Tyler Hill Camp refected on how their respective attendees left an impact on fellow campers and stafers.

“Those of us who knew Drew saw in him great promise, not only due to his exceptional talents in tennis, where he was a nationally ranked player but as a kind, thoughtful and much-admired friend to so many,” Timber Lake Camp said. “Simply, Drew was a great kid from a great and loving family whose bright, promising future was cut short by such a senseless tragedy.”

“Everyone who ever came in contact with Ethan knew him as a kid who warmed up every room he entered with his smile and amazing personality,” Tyler Hill Camp said in a statement. “He was kind and thoughtful and a camper who was loved by everyone at Tyler Hill.”

The driver of the Dodge Ram, Roslyn resident, Amandeep Singh, faces a series of charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, according to police. He was remanded by District Court Judge Joseph Nocella Thursday, which led to applause from members of the Roslyn community in attendance, according to multiple reports.

More than 100 members of the Roslyn community were also present outside the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola Monday where Singh was held without bail. A few dozen family members and friends of the two boys attended the three-minute hearing Monday.

He is next scheduled to appear in court on June 6.

East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz said he believes the local community’s presence at the courtroom Thursday played a role in Nocella’s decision. The mayor said he and the rest of the village board “are grief-stricken” over the loss of Hassenbein and Falkowitz.

“Our hearts go out to the parents and families who lost their children in the tragic car accident yesterday night, and to the other children who sufered injuries,” Koblenz said in a statement Thursday.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman also extended his condolences to the families of both boys.

“Our hearts go out to their families,” Blakeman said Thursday. “Rest assured that the perpetrator of that accident will be brought to justice.”

North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said more needs to be done to prevent drunk driving accidents from occurring.

“This is truly a tragedy and my heart aches for the families and friends of these two Roslyn students whose lives were lost in this car accident,” DeSena said in a statement Friday. “Make no mistake, drunk driving is a selfsh act, and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the

law, but we must continue to do more so we can prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again.”

Town Councilman Peter Zuckerman stressed the importance of the local Roslyn and North Hempstead communities standing together in this time of tragedy.

“My heart goes out to the families and friends of the victims, who are undoubtedly going through an unimaginable amount of pain and sorrow at this time,” Zuckerman said. “As a community, we must come together to support one

another during this difcult time. I want to extend my condolences to the Roslyn community.”

The Town of North Hempstead’s Town Hall and The Nassau County Legislative Building were both lit up “tennis ball yellow” in honor of the two boys over the past few days. Village of Roslyn Mayor John Durkin said in an email that the village will be planting two trees in memory of the boys.

Village ofcials also expressed interest in hanging yellow ribbons on street lamps or light posts along Main Street in remembrance.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SPORTIME ROSLYN AND LONG ISLAND TENNIS MAGAZINE Roslyn Middle School’s Ethan Felkowitz, top, and Drew Hassenbein, bottom.

Drew Hassenbein mourned at funeral

Nationally acclaimed tennis star

BY CAMERYN OAKES

Drew Hassenbein had four stufed animals that he loved, his sister said at his funeral. A few days before his death, he had told his family that he wanted to be buried with all four of them.

Sydney Hassenbein said that now they will be buried alongside her 14-year-old brother and how she wishes she could be there with him, too.

Sobs and laughter were heard throughout the service as Drew was remembered at his funeral service Sunday morning.

He was remembered by family and friends as a charismatic teenager with a strong presence in every room he was in.

Drew Hassenbein was said to be an avid sports fan who cared about his fantasy football league and would rely on his father’s friends for advice in drafting his team. He loved the Mets and attending sports games. He would always treat his friends when they would go together.

Thousands of people gathered at Temple Beth Shalom in Roslyn to mourn and honor the life of Drew, a nationally acclaimed tennis star and Roslyn Middle School student killed when a car driven by an allegedly drunk driver traveling on the wrong side of the road crashed into the car he was riding in.

Drew was at one point the No. 1-ranked tennis player in the nation for the Boys 12 and Under division. He was already being scouted by nationally acclaimed college tennis programs, despite only being in eighth grade, according to reports.

Drew Hassenbein and fellow teammate Ethan

at

14

remembered for kindness, love of the Mets

juries, according to police.

Singh was charged with multiple ofenses, including aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter leaving the scene of an auto accident with a fatality, driving while intoxicated and two counts of second-degree assault.

Singh was arraigned Thursday at the Nassau County First District Court and was held without bail as a large crowd of people angry over the death of the two boys gathered outside the courtroom. He was scheduled to appear in court again Monday morning where the judge will assess his bail standing.

Sydney Hassenbein said she used to be a frm believer in the idea that everything happens for a reason, but her brother’s death had left her faltering in her beliefs.

She said that on the night of the crash, she and her family sat on the side of the road and prayed for two hours that her brother would survive.

Falkowitz, also 14, were killed in the accident. Both were Roslyn Middle School students playing on the Roslyn High School boys varsity tennis team.

“We will never understand why you were taken from us,” his mother, Jamie Hassenbein, said.

The two boys were in the car with Roslyn High School varsity tennis teammates and Roslyn High School students Zach Sheena, 17, and Ethan So-

lop, 16, on their way back from a dinner celebrating a match victory over Syosset High School, according to multiple reports.

Sheena and Solop were treated in a hospital for internal injuries and were in stable condition, the Nassau County Police said.

The driver of the Dodge Ram that struck their car, Roslyn resident Amandeep Singh, 34, was arrested and treated at a local hospital for minor in-

“However, that selfsh drunk driver wiped you out and he didn’t give your little body a chance,” Sydney Hassenbein said. “You didn’t even get a chance to fght because I know if you did get a chance to fght, you would still be with us right now.”

Drew was memorialized through multiple eulogies given at his funeral, all remembering the determined and driven young man he was.

Throughout the service, Drew’s personality became evident.

He was remembered as an energetic teenager with a strong will and an ability to persevere.

Continued on Page 11

Thousands mourn Ethan Falkowitz

Roslyn

BY CAMERYN OAKES

member remembered for athletic, music skills and thirst for knowledge

The last time Gary Falkowitz saw his son Ethan Falkowitz was a day he called one of the happiest for his son. Which would also turn out to be his last.

Ethan Falkowitz’s brother was going to watch him play tennis for the frst time.

The rival school had not arrived yet when Gary and Landon Falkowitz showed up at the courts, so his brother only had time to say good luck before Ethan Falkowitz’s match.

Landon Falkowitz repeated it multiple times to make sure his brother heard before his match.

“I remember the moment as if it was just a minute ago,” the boy’s father said.

Gary Falkowitz returned without his youngest son and watched Ethan battle in a doubles match. He and his partner had lost the frst set but fought to win the second and fnally the third.

He said his son couldn’t have been more excited as he was cheered on by his teammates.

Gary Falkowitz said he wouldn’t dare wait for his son by the courts so as not to embarrass him after his match, so he waited in the parking lot to congratulate him.

When he saw his son, he yelled for him. Ethan returned with a smile and motioned that he was going to go with his team to celebrate at dinner.

“That was the last time I saw our beautiful boy,” Gary Falkowitz said. “He celebrated with his team and he was hanging out in a restaurant like a winning team should. What an amazing thing

for him.”

Thousands of people gathered at Temple Sinai of Roslyn Friday to mourn and honor the life of Ethan Falkowitz, a Roslyn Middle School student and rising local tennis star killed when a car driven by an allegedly drunk driver traveling on the wrong side of the road crashed into a car driven by a friend.

Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein, both 14, were killed in the accident.

“Ethan was killed by a drunk driver, but we refuse to let his legacy be a statistic,” Gary Falkowitz said.

The two boys were in the car with teammates and Roslyn High School students Zach Sheena and Ethan Solop, on their way back from a dinner celebrating a victory over Syosset High School, according to multiple reports.

Sheena and Solop were reportedly in the hospital in stable condition with internal injuries, according to ofcials.

The driver of the Dodge Ram that struck their car, Roslyn resident Amandeep Singh, 34, was arrested and treated at a local hospital for minor injuries, according to police.

Singh was charged with multiple ofenses, including aggravated vehicular homicide, frstdegree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an auto accident with a fatality, Driving While Intoxicated and two counts of second-degree assault.

Singh was arraigned Thursday at the Nassau County First District Court and with a large crowd of people angry with the death of the two

boys held without bail.

Rabbi Michael White referred to Ethan Falkowitz’s death as “senseless” and an “injustice” during his funeral service.

“We want answers,” White said. “We want justice. And it can be frustrating because the truth here is that human beings are mortal and fragile, that people make evil choices like drinking and driving and we are left to sufer the unbearable consequences.”

Every single seat at the funeral service was taken with hundreds of people standing in any available space in the room.

The air was flled with tears and laughter as stories were shared about the young boy.

The two boys’ lives touched many in the community as people memorialize them in the wake of their deaths.

Numerous family members spoke at Ethan’s funeral, as well as his bunkmates of six years from Tyler Hill Camp who referred to him as “Falkie.”

Ethan Falkowitz was remembered as a uniquely caring young boy who was confdent and determined to achieve anything he set his mind to. He had a thirst for knowledge and was musically and athletically skilled.

Family members said he had a unique and special bond with everyone he met — apparent in the large attendance at his funeral. The room was flled with people whose lives he had touched.

They said Ethan Falkowitz had a contagious smile and an infectious personality that enriched his family members’ lives.

They said Ethan Falkowitz an old soul and

his family said that in just his 14 years of life, he accomplished so much more than many do in a lifetime.

“Although Ethan lived a short life, and my heart is broken… his book may be short but the achievements, the honors and the accolades that they wrote in his short book are written in gold stone, never to be forgotten for a young man that I believe would have volumes written about him if he had lived a full life,” grandfather Bob Nissen said.

Ethan Falkowitz’s younger brother Landon Falkowitz said that he will always remember his big brother and all the moments he took to teach him tennis and help him through difcult situations.

He said he was devastated his big brother had to leave him so early.

“I will always be talking to you every day through my heart,” Landon Falkowitz said.

Gary Falkowitz said that he and his family are “speechless” at the immense support they have received in the wake of their son’s death from friends, community members and apparent strangers. He asked that people continue sharing the stories of his son with him and his family.

“His legacy must be made up of these stories,” Gary Falkowitz said.

Ethan Falkowitz was buried at Beth David Cemetary in Elmont following the funeral service. The family will be hosting a shiva Saturday through Monday.

Hassenbein’s funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday at Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn.

PHOTO BY CAMERYN OAKES

Mourners gathered at Temple Beth Shalom in Roslyn to memorialize Drew Hessenbein, a rising tennis star who was killed in a crash.

Tennis community mourns Roslyn players

Teammates, area schools opponents and coaches remember talent on the court, friendship off

BY MICHAEL J. LEWIS

Aaron Raja came of the tennis court on Monday befuddled and kind of amazed.

His coach at The Wheatley School, Herman Lim, wasn’t used to seeing his top singles player like this. Raja is a solid player, always able to hang in rallies and find a way to win. But he’d just been steamrolled by an eighth-grader from Roslyn.

And as he walked over to Lim, Raja tried to explain his confusion.

“Aaron says ‘Coach, he knew what I was going to do before I did it, before I knew what I was going to do,” Lim recalled Thursday night. “That’s never happened before.’”

Aaron Raja had just had the unfortunate experience of playing the phenom that was Drew Hassenbein.

Formerly the No.1 ranked player in the entire United States in the 12 and under division, Hassenbein was the top singles player for Roslyn High School as a seventh-grader, and again this year, and dominated almost all foes with his consistency and indomitable will.

Tragically, Hassenbein and teammate Ethan Falkowitz, also 14 years old, were killed by an alleged drunk driver Wednesday night in Jericho.

Two beautiful tennis players’ lives ended in an instant, and the grieving among the Nassau County tennis community was deep and intense Wednesday.

Two other Roslyn tennis players were also in the car: Senior Zach Sheena, who played throughout the lineup, and sophomore Ethan Solop, who was the No. 2 singles player, both survived the crash and are in stable condition at the hospital.

The sport of tennis may be an individual one, but it’s small enough that everyone involved feels like family.

Players face off at high school matches, in USTA Tournaments, and at camps, making this loss feel so painful.

“It was a very hard day to get through, really tough for everyone in our program,” said Port Washington Schreiber head tennis coach Shane Helfner. “Our kids were heartbroken. We play (Roslyn) all the time. The kids all know each other, a lot of them went

to sleepaway camp with Ethan and Drew. I reached out to the guys on the team and told them to come down and talk; a lot of the guys needed to vent and cry together. It felt a little easier knowing we were all together, just sitting there in our band room, talking it out.”

Lim said his Wheatley players were given access to guidance counselors at the school and that he himself broke down several times and had to leave school early Thursday.

“A lot of our kids train at Christopher Morley (where Falkowitz trained) or Sportime Roslyn (Hassenbein’s home facility) and they were devastated,” Lim said.

Hassenbein was the more familiar player to the area, having played junior tournaments since he was very young, and garnering trophy after trophy. In 2021 he was chosen by USTA Eastern’s Neil Thakur for the honor of tossing the coin before the U.S. Open men’s final between Novak Djokovic

and Daniil Medvedev.

Jumping up to varsity as a seventh-grader, Hassenbein led Roslyn to its first county championship in 15 years last spring.

“He was a humble kid who wasn’t a showboater, but he had such a big game,” Lim said. “He went about his business in a professional way, and I think he played so many matches and tournaments that he did know exactly what an opponent would hit before they hit it, because of what Drew had just hit.”

Great Neck South coach Joshua Dugan, who coached against Hassenbein for two seasons, said he was a friend of the Hassenbein family and that Wednesday hit his team hard.

“Each kid was processing it in their own way when we met with them,” Dugan said. “We had an optional practice today; a few kids wanted to get their grief out by hitting a tennis ball, which was totally understand -

able. That’s what they’re used to doing after school.”

Dugan marveled at Hassenbein’s skills despite being a shade over five feet tall.

“Drew had so much determination to never give up, never back down, he never got intimidated on the court,” Dugan said.

“When he came up, I remember hearing about this kid Drew and how talented he was,” Helfner said. “Then you saw him, and he was tiny but he hit the ball so nicely. And you could tell the other kids looked up to him, already.”

Falkowitz, whose father Gary played college tennis at Brandeis, joined the varsity team this spring, playing mostly doubles for the Bulldogs and had an immediate impact in helping Roslyn win matches.

“He was a very good player, very solid and versatile at the net,” Lim said. “He and his partner surgically took our guys apart, really playing smart tennis.”

Falkowitz’s coach at Christopher Morley Tennis, Saloman Levy, remembered him as a unique student and player. Levy said he taught Falkowitz for five years and became friendly with his dad, Gary Falkowitz, a former college tennis player at Brandeis.

“I think he taught me more than I taught him,” Levy said of Ethan. “He was very talented, not just in tennis: he was a great student. He always wanted to know more than just what I was teaching him, he wanted to know why he should do it that way, so he could understand better.

“It was a privilege to get to coach a kid like that.”

Levy, who became close with the Falkowitz family and attended Ethan’s bar mitzvah last year, added that Falkowitz had recently become more interested in playing tournaments like his best friend Drew did and that making the Roslyn varsity team this spring “was a very big thrill for him.”

“I saw him Tuesday night and everything was normal and great, and when we were done he said ‘Thank you for the lesson, coach,’” Levy said, becoming emotional. “We were supposed to have a lesson last night (Thursday) and I was at the courts waiting for him.

“This is not how life is supposed to go.”

Drew Hassenbein, 14, mourned at funeral

Continued from Page 10

Drew’s maternal grandfather, Melvin Feuerstein, said that his grandson’s life was cut short yet he was still able to create so many memories and touch so many lives.

He said Drew had a competitive spirit and was ferce on the tennis court and in everything he did.

“Who knows how far you could have taken that,” Feuerstein said.

His father, Mitch Hassenbein, fondly remembered the 22 hours a week he would spend with his son, driving him to multiple practices and games and events. He called it his full-time job.

“Man, you were tough to work for, buddy,” Mitch Hassenbein jokingly said, as attendees laughed in response. “You were so demanding. Best job I ever had.”

Solop, one of the boys who survived the car crash and Drew’s injured teammate, was helped up to the temple’s stage

wearing a leg brace to give a eulogy.

He called Drew his little brother who never had anything bad to say and whom he never argued with. Drew leaned on Solop for answers to any questions he had or advice he needed, as he believed in his teammate and trusted him.

Solop asked that Drew not be remembered solely as an excellent tennis player, but also as a passionate, driven and kindhearted person.

“There was just no one better than him,” Solop said. “That’s the most simple way to put it.”

On top of being a nationally acclaimed tennis athlete at such a young age, he still managed to make time to play booster basketball. While many of his tennis coaches advised against it, his father said Drew didn’t care because it was the time he got to spend with his friends.

Numerous lifelong friends of Drew delivered a eulogy to-

gether, sharing fond memories of their departed friend and repeatedly saying “D Hass on top.”

Among the words they used to describe Drew, such as competitive and passionate and funny, they also expressed how it was an honor to be his friend.

Amid sobs, they ended their eulogy with a group hug to console one another.

Drew was described as a devoted friend and family member who loved everyone and made special, individual bonds with each of them.

Drew was a bright light, his aunt said, who will continue to live on through his family and the memories they have of him.

“My heart aches and is broken into a billion pieces,” Jamie Hassenbein said. “You were the world’s greatest son, brother, grandson, cousin and friend. You made everyone smile and laugh. Your future was so bright.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF LONG ISLAND TENNIS MAGAZINE

Roslyn varsity tennis player Drew Hassenbein, shown here in a match last season, was one of two boys, 14, killed in a drunk-driving accident Wednesday night.

No bail for alleged drunk driver in crash

Continued from Page 1

scheduled Singh’s next appearance for June 6.

More than a dozen people supporting Singh were also present in the courtroom.

The crowd outside the courtroom applauded after being informed no bail was set for Singh. Village of East Hills Trustee Brian Meyerson told reporters “we are a community, we have gone through two funerals. It was the most horrifc thing to ever listen to.”

Singh’s attorney, James Kousouros, in a statement to Blank Slate Media Saturday, said “This is clearly a sad and devastating situation and our prayers are with the families who have sufered the unimaginable loss of their loved ones. As much as the public wants to hear defnitive statements from the defense, we cannot

comment further until the matter is thoroughly investigated and discovery is reviewed.”

As a result of the collision, the Alpha Romero then hit a 2023 Volvo occupied by a driver, 49, and a passenger, 16. Both were treated at the scene for minor injuries, according to police.

Roslyn resident Amandeep Singh, 34, faces a slew of charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, for a fatal car crash while driving intoxicated. (Photo courtesy of the Nassau County Police Department)

Det. Capt. Steven Fitzpatrick, commanding ofcer of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad, told reporters on Thursday that the scene of the crash was “probably one of the most catastrophic” he had seen “in a long time.”

Fitzpatrick said surveillance video showed Singh asking police what they were doing at the scene, thinking

he was in New Jersey.

Nassau County police said Singh is being charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated vehicular homicide, frst-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an auto accident with a fatality, Driving While Intoxicated and two counts of seconddegree assault.

Singh was frst remanded by District Court Judge Joseph Nocella Thursday, which led to applause from more than 150 members of the Roslyn community in attendance.

Singh’s criminal history includes driving while intoxicated and a youthful ofender conviction for gang assault, according to Newday.

He was subject to deportation on two occasions due to his criminal history, the newspaper rerported. Nocel-

la said Singh’s criminal background also makes him a fight risk, according to reports.

Singh’s license was suspended and he was put in protective custody Thursday.

Kousouros said Singh is currently a United States citizen, a New York University graduate and a business owner. Kousouros said Singh’s criminal background traces back to 2006, according to Newsday.

Hassenbein was a nationally ranked tennis player who played on the high school varsity tennis team. He was No. 1 in the country in the National Boys 12 and Under division in 2021. Falkowitz was also a tennis player for the high school varsity team.

Robert Pelaez contributed to this story.

PHOTO BY USTA.ORG

Drew Hassenbein helping at the coin toss at the Men’s U.S. Open Final in 2021.

“we are a community, we have gone through two funerals. It was the most horrifc thing to ever listen to.”

— Brian Meyerson VILLAGE OF EAST HILLS TRUSTEE

Santos charged with 13 counts, in custody on L.I. Nassau Legislature committee approves casino lease pact

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

U.S. Rep. George Santos, the center of local and national probes into his professional, financial and political life, was arrested on Wednesday morning based on a 13-count indictment related to his financial and professional background, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York.

The charges against the embattled congressman, whose fraudulent resume was exposed by the New York Times and other media outlets earlier this year, include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to Congress, officials announced Wednesday.

Santos is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, according to officials. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the top

counts if convicted.

“This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations,”

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement Wednesday. “Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself. He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives.”

The FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice have been investigating the congressman’s campaign filings. Santos told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he was unaware of the charges against him.

“This is news to me,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “You’re the first to call me about this.”

Continued on Page 40

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

The Nassau Hub’s lease agreement between Las Vegas Sands and Nassau County passed through the county Legislature’s Rules Committee Monday, with those for and against the proposed casino in attendance.

The lease agreement, announced by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in late April, received the approval from four Republicans on the sevenmember committee Monday evening.

Two Democratic offi cials abstained from voting, citing more information needed to make a decision, while Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) recused himself from the vote, citing a family confl ict.

The fate of lease agreement now lies with the full Legislature, which is likely to vote on the proposal May 22, offi cials said. The roughly six-hour hearing Monday featured public comments from supporters and opponents of the Sands’ $4 billion plan, headlined by a casino and entertainment center.

“I urge further study of the impacts beyond the dollar amounts, which have obviously dazzled the proponents of the lease,” one Nassau resident said. “I urge thoughtful review as opposed to this

rash decision, which we may well regret in the future.”

All The Way 100 Percent CEO Tina Shuford, whose organization helps to empower the Hempstead community and provide access to basic amenities, including jobs, for those in need expressed her support.

“We have a lot of people who need jobs, especially on Terrace Avenue in Hempstead… that’s why we want Sands

around,” Shuford said.

Hofstra University President Susan Poser, who has been against the proposed casino for some months, spoke on the potentially negative impacts the Sands plan could have on the surrounding community, which includes Hofstra.

“The Nassau Hub is not an appropriate place to site a casino development for a host of reasons because it would

Continued on Page 39

RENDERING COURTESY OF LAS VEGAS SANDS

2 Roslyn boys so full of promise

You start with the families of the two 14-year-old Roslyn Middle School boys killed in Jericho last week by a pick-up truck allegedly driven by a drunk driver traveling on the wrong side of the road.

Their grief and loss is unimaginable. Very few can fathom what they are going through. There are no words to describe it.

The pain grows with the boys’ age, 14. Mere children, full of innocence and life’s promise.

And it expands further by what the two boys had already accomplished at such a young age.

Both boys, Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein, were members of a Roslyn High School tennis team that had won the Nassau County big school championship in 2022.

They were on their way back from a celebratory dinner with their tennis team along with Roslyn High School students Zach Sheena and Ethan Solop when their car was struck.

Falkowitz’s father, Gary, remembered his son as a uniquely caring boy who was confdent and determined to achieve anything he set his mind to. He had a thirst for knowledge and was musically and athletically skilled.

Hassenbein was a tennis prodigy who at age 12 stood at center court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens to perform the ceremonial coin toss before the Men’s U.S. Open Final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev.

At the time, he was the No. 1 ranked player in the country in the Boys 12 and Under Division.

Some of the nation’s top college programs, including Duke, Michigan and Harvard, were already recruiting him as an eighth grader in Roslyn Middle School.

He was also described as funny, sweet and thoughtful by his family at his funeral. He loved good food, the Mets, basketball and fantasy football. His sister said he even retained an attachment to four stufed animals.

The age of the two boys, their

talent, their personalities and their involvement in a tennis fraternity help explain the outpouring of grief expressed by families, friends, classmates, school ofcials, elected ofcials and the summer camps the boys attended.

This could be seen at the funerals for the boys at two Roslyn temples this weekend, overfowing with mourners bidding farewell to the two.

“We are experiencing unimaginable grief,” said Roslyn Board of Education President Meryl Waxman BenLevy. “Our community was destroyed. These were beautiful people, beautiful babies.”

The strong feelings after the death of the two boys can also be seen in the Roslyn community’s demand for justice.

The driver of the pickup truck, Amandeep Singh, 34, a Roslyn resident, was arrested after attempting to fee the “horrifc” crash site, which left a debris feld exceeding the size of a football feld, according to Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commanding offcer of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad, Singh had a blood alcohol content of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, according to charging documents.

“It was probably one of the most catastrophic scenes I have seen in a long time,” Fitzpatrick said, adding that the debris feld was so extensive that it was “almost like the car exploded.”

Singh was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, frst-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts each of second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an auto accident with a fatality and driving while intoxicated.

He was remanded without bail by District Court Judge Joseph Nocella Thursday, which led to applause from more than 150 members of the Roslyn community in attendance. Hundreds more people attended a hearing for

Singh Monday morning to oppose bail, which was not ofered.

Nocella said Singh’s prior criminal history, which includes a youthful offender conviction for driving while intoxicated combined with the strength of the case against him, makes him a fight risk. He suspended Singh’s license and put him in protective custody.

Prosecutors said Singh also had a youthful ofender conviction for gang assault and was twice subject to removal from the country.

James Kousouros, Singh’s Manhattan-based defense attorney, said his client’s criminal history dates back to 2006 but that Singh is currently a U.S. citizen, a business owner and a graduate of New York University.

“He has very strong ties to his community,” Kousouros argued, noting the presence of Singh’s wife and two young children in the courtroom Thursday. “Obviously this is an unmitigated tragedy.”

Singh’s fate is now in the hands of the court system.

What is even worse about this crash is that it is not even that rare.

“Every day, about 32 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that’s one person every 45 minutes. In 2020, 11,654 people

died in alcohol-impaired driving traffc deaths,” according to the National Highway Trafc Safety Administration.

This is shocking. As is the toll alcohol takes in general.

Alcohol contributes to approximately 18.5% of emergency department visits and 22.1% of overdose deaths related to prescription opioids, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The NIH said that more than 140,000 people (approximately 97,000 men and 43,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually,making alcohol the fourth-leading preventable cause of death in the United States behind tobacco, poor diet and physical inactivity, and illegal drugs.

We know that government regulations have made cars far safer in recent years with improved design, padded dashboards, seat belts and air bags.

We also know that groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving have increased awareness of the threat of drunk driving and succeeded in getting stronger laws passed.

MADD’s success can in part explain how guns have become the No. 1 cause of death among children – as well as the increase in gun deaths brought on by a proliferation of guns and the loosening of laws regulating

their use.

But that has not been enough to reach MADD’s goal of “No More Victims.”

The dangers of alcohol are overlooked as a threat, especially in comparison with illegal drugs. That needs to change.

We are never going to ban alcohol. That was tried and failed on a colossal level in the 1920s. But that doesn’t mean nothing can be done.

Singh’s blood-alcohol level also raises the question of whether others bear some responsibility for this crash.

Just where did he ingest enough alcohol to show a blood-alcohol level twice the legal limit? A bar? A restaurant? A friend’s home?

The law holds people accountable who allow drivers to get behind the wheel in Singh’s condition.

This does nothing to bring back the two Roslyn boys who were so senselessly lost last week. But perhaps it gives a positive way to channel the immeasurable grief the boys’ deaths generated.

The Talmud, the Jewish book of law, says that “Whoever saves a single life is considered by scripture to have saved the whole world.”

We have now been reminded what it’s like to lose a single life, twice.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, motherhood, apple pie

Idoubled back through my notes and re-watched the video. I wanted to be certain that what I was witnessing was not the product of artifcial intelligence, but an actual elected U.S. representative making contemptible public claims about what constitutes motherhood. During an April 26 hearing of the Subcommittee for the Coronavirus Pandemic regarding school reopening guidance, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) asked witness Randy Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, if she was a mom. Weingarten, who is married to Sharon Kleinbaum, rabbi of the world’s largest LGBTQ synagogue, answered Greene by stating that although she was not a biological mother, she was stepmother to her partner’s two daughters.

Greene responded: “The problem is people like you need to admit that you’re just a political activist, not a teacher, not a mother and not a medical doctor.”

Not a mother?

After listening to Greene’s characterization of motherhood, Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and an adopted child himself, tweeted to Greene: “ not a biological mother ? Well @ RepMTG, the woman who adopted

me, cared for me, raised me, loved me, inspired me, disciplined me, educated me and at 95 still smiles when I walk in the room didn’t need biology to be my mother.”

“In 2019, 120,869 children were adopted in the United States,” according to the Child Welfare Information Gateway. “This is a 9 percent increase (9,726) from the 111,143 children adopted in 2015.” Moreover, the Step Family Foundation reported that more than half of U.S. families are remarried or recoupled, which represents a significant number of children with adoptive and stepmothers, which Greene has summarily invalidated. Her scurrilous charge against Weingarten only serves to emphasize Greene’s innate cruelty, which has become the coin of the realm for MAGA extremists under the consistent role modeling of Donald Trump.

As journalist Adam Serwer framed it: “Cruelty is the point.”For instance, on April 27 during a campaign stop at a Manchester, NH, diner, Trump embraced Jan. 6 defendant Micki LarsonOlson, a QAnon adherent who served prison time for her role in the Capitol attack. Lars-Olson said she “would like a front seat of Mike Pence being executed” for treason, NBC News reported on April 28.

Following her close encounter with

the ex-president, Lars-Olson said, as reported in the April 28 Daily Beast newsletter, “If I were to imagine what it would be like to hug Jesus Christ—not that I’m saying President Trump is Jesus Christ—but just you know, if I was to imagine what it would be like to hug Jesus Christ, that’s what it felt like for me.” She went on to say that every lawmaker who voted to certify the 2020 election should be executed.These might seem like dissimilar illustrations, but they are all part of a piece that can be taken as a whole or disassembled. No matter, the pieces ft together. They ft in any form, because cruelty is the

point. It only takes a slight shift of gears and locations to see the spreading contagion of cruelty that is Trump’s legacy as he has been facing rape and defamation charges in a civil trial in Manhattan federal court.

In his belligerent cross examination of Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll, attorney Joe Tacopina asked her if she screamed during the alleged sexual assault. Carroll schooled him that all rape victims do not react in the same way or in the way others might expect them to act, regardless of convenient misogynist myths to the contrary.

“When you’re fghting and being sexually assaulted and raped, because you are not a screamer, as you describe it, you wouldn’t scream?” asked Tacopina, as the New York Times reported May 2

“You can’t beat up on me for not screaming,” Carroll replied. One of the reasons women don’t come forward, she said, “is because they are always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’”

Of course, Tacopina already knows that. But it doesn’t comport with what is typically expected of a rape victim. Pursuing this line of questioning is a way of revictimizing the accuser. Cruelty is the point, trauma extended and compounded.

In recent years, much has been said

about the staggering rise of incivility in America. The usual — chronic discourteousness, disrespectful language in public, encroaching on others’ boundaries, reckless driving, and so on.

Greene and Trump’s behaviors are characteristic of MAGA extremism and have advanced well beyond incivility to crass indecency and dehumanization, infecting the American bloodstream in order to optimize polarization and reach the ultimate goal: authoritarian rule.They do what they do efortlessly. Never a sign of conscience or shame. None whatsoever. Only unbridled recklessness and cruelty, resting on a sinking foundation of cotton candy.

And, still, there is little objection by members of the Republican Party. “The muscle memory of Republican cowardice never ends,” remarked Charlie Sykes, editor-in-chief of the website the Bulwark.

If we are “in a battle for the soul of America,” as President Biden has asserted, “we’re in the middle of a moral struggle over who we are as a nation,” stressed New York Times columnist David Brooks.

Perhaps nothing captures what we are up against in that struggle more than Marjorie Taylor Greene arbitrating what constitutes motherhood in 2023.

Happy Mothers’ Day!

Dear governor, don’t cut health care in N.Y.

Iam a frm believer that when your government does something good, it should be disclosed to the public and when it does something bad, there is an equal obligation to let it be out there for everybody to know about.

The bail reform agreement that the governor fought for is a big winner. Quietly cutting health care benefts for 1.2 million state employees and retirees is a loser.

The state’s bail laws were the hottest issue in last year’s governor’s race. Candidate Lee Zeldin hammered away on the crime issue and he ran a close contest with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The bail issue resonated up and down the ticket and the loss of four congressional seats to the Republicans was in part due to an aroused public’s unhappiness with the current bail law. Having learned the lesson of the 2022 campaign, Gov. Hochul insisted that the changes be made part of the new budget deal and she emerged a winner.

The issue that irks me terribly is the quiet backroom deal with United Healthcare and the Civil Service Department to cut out-of-network coverage for Empire Plan reimbursements for over one million state employees and retirees, efective July 1, 2023.

Instead of following the provisions of the state Surprise Billing law, which would have required review by another state agency, the administration decided to follow the federal law, which doesn’t need approval of the agency responsible for reviewing changes.

By and large most of us get our medical care under the in-network part of our health policy. In-network has many doctors who provide us with good quality care.

But from time to time, patients need certain types of care from a particular specialty practice such as neurology or mental health, which is rarely in-network. In many cases, depending on how much the out-of-network doctor charges, the patient has to pay something out of pocket. As a

result of the arrangement between United Healthcare and the state, patients will probably be paying much more out-of-pocket costs, which is grossly unfair.

There is another way to explain how the cuts in coverage work. Up to the present, out-of-network doc-

tors were reimbursed at a rate that was created by the insurance industry titled “Fair Health.”

Efective July 1 of this year, out-of-network doctors will get the equivalent of what Medicare pays for claims, which is ridiculously low. I know that for a fact as I am in the Medicare program and I know that my doctors get next to nothing for their services. I am a former state employee, so my out-of-network benefts will be slashed, along with many other state employees and retirees.

The state has an agency called the Department of Financial Services. Its job is to review any healthcare beneft changes. Instead of giving the new rate schedule to that agency, the administration bypassed them and had the Department of Civil Service sign of on the deal.

Was the state Legislature consulted about the reimbursement rate cuts? No, because they would have turned down the proposal on arrival. Come July 1, their benefts will be cut as well, so the Legislature was left out

of the discussions. Many members of the Legislature have protested these changes, but to date their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

Will anyone be able to stop these cuts? The leaders of the Public Employees Federation and the United University Professions will be seeking a new contract this year and they could tell the governor that they will not accept the cuts.

There are a number of bills that have been introduced in Albany that would stop this insurance industry power grab, but the governor might choose to veto them.

I will be continuing this fght in behalf of the Quality Care Council to alert as many people as possible to this terrible government action.

I don’t know what it will take to get the administration to stop their plans to take away this important health coverage for state employee groups, but this fght will continue throughout the year. The new bail reform law is a winner. The cut in outof-network care is a big-time loser.

There is currently an epidemic of pain in America. A recent op-ed piece in The New York Times by Nicholas Kristof went into some detail as to why doctors are seeing more mysterious cases of chronic pain usually diagnosed as Chronic Pain Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, headache pain and chronic back pain.

Edward Shorter, the professor of history at University of Toronto, wrote the book “From the Mind into the Body: The Cultural Origins of Psychosomatic Symptoms” back in 1994 and he pinpointed the same grim truth that the modern age is producing more and more stress- related illnesses, pain and anguish.

There is wide agreement that there are many factors involved in this explosion of pain and psychosomatic disorders, including increases in loneliness, the fragmentation of the family, traumatic events, and economic hardships. It is interesting to see how COVID had its traumatic efect on all societies as it unleashed a life of quarantining, the fear of death, a sense of Isolation, and now economic worries.

We live in a world best characterized by what sociologist Emile Durkheim referred to as anomie, or profound alienation, as social bonding breaks apart and there is no longer any moral guidance to help individuals know what to do. It is very easy to see that as a whole, society has regressed into a more primitive psychological state, which includes acting out, greed, anger, anxiety and confusion. One place we are seeing this confusion is in the astounding plethora of gender and sexual identities kids are now faced with. There are now something like 18 diferent type of sexual orientations. Long gone are the simple days of male and female.

Social fragmentation, social confusion and being a part of this anomie drift has produced a regressed society with primitive defenses and primitive character disorders. Psychosomatics occurs when the body is overburdened with emotional tasks but can no longer contain the emotions so you begin to feel the symptoms of pain. And we all know that there is a veritable explosion of narcissism in

EARTH MATTERS

In Hauppauge, there is a commercial medical equipment sterilization facility. In Linden, N.Y., there is another commercial sterilization facility. Next door in South Plainfeld, N.J., there is a third commercial sterilization facility. And across the Long Island Sound in North Haven, Conn., there is a commercial sterilization facility.

Why should this matter to you?

These are the communities nearest us living under the literal cloud of ethylene oxide – within fve miles of a facility using the chemical. Ethylene oxide is a fammable, colorless gas used to sterilize medical equipment and other plastics that cannot be sterilized using heat and moisture. It is also used as an antimicrobial treatment for spices, for manufacturing chemicals used in antifreeze and many other products.

It is very efective at killing viruses, bacteria, and human cells because of how it reacts with proteins, DNA and other cellular components. The irony is not lost that a substance used to protect people from harm poses a risk to the people around it.

Living near a facility using ethylene oxide does not equate to sufering harm from exposure to this pollutant. It does indicate a higher risk of harm, though,

which will be dependent on levels of exposure, length of exposure, exposure to other pollutants and individual characteristics and conditions.

It may not be a surprise to learn there are safer alternatives to EtO, the abbreviation for ethylene oxide. Yet, industry continues to use EtO despite its cancer-causing efects. Studies have associated cancers like those of the white blood cells (non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, myeloma and lymphocytic leukemia) and breast cancer to continuing inhalation of EtO.

More disturbing is that EtO can change a cell’s DNA, its instructions. This impacts children more because their cells divide more rapidly as they grow, so they are more susceptible to the efects of DNA mutations. Living, working, going to school in the area around a facility using EtO can mean subjecting oneself to unsafe exposure levels regardless of the quality of control measures used by the facility. This can mean more immediate health concerns like headaches, gastrointestinal issues, fatigue, and eye and skin burns.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, New York City MetroNew Jersey is identifed as a region with a high population density with a sig-

America, with President Trump merely being the latest example. One of the most telling lines in recent flm history was heard in the movie “Wall Street” when Michael Douglas asserted “Greed is good” or when Cuba Gooding Jr. quipped “Show me the money” in the flm “Jerry Maguire.” The reason these quotes are so familiar and easily recalled is that they serve as screen memories for a culture that understood what happened to itself. The rough beast had fnally arrived at the gates and his name is Narcissus.

The reason the Kristof piece in The Times was so compelling was that it highlighted this curious and sad connection between loneliness and pain. Years ago I did research on what immediately precedes the emergence of a psychosomatic disorder in patients. I interviewed 400 patients and discovered that there was a connection between loss and the emergence of an illness. When loss was imminent or was experienced, patients commonly experienced some kind of physical pain and illness. This suggests how dangerous, problematic and powerful loss can be.

In addition the fndings explain why patients often feel pain since it allows them to seek out medical attention where they can fnd guidance, help and most importantly sympathy and solace. One might call this secondary gain, but that demeans the very need for connection that the patient has.

We live in a cruel world. We all need to live in surroundings that pro-

vide predictability and love. The famous medical study of Rosetta, Pa., found that the residents of that very close Italian community were virtually immune from heart disease not because of their diet. They ate pasta, drank wine and liked desserts. What made them immune to heart disease was the fact that they lived in a tightknit, supportive community that made them feel safe, well-connected, welcomed and loved.

This feeling of predictability, safety and love are the things sorely lacking in today’s America. We have excitement, great entertainment, great restaurants, great drugs to take and great things to buy. But that does not seem to be satisfactory. Pain syndromes are on the rise as are psychosomatics and hypochondriasis.

There is no evident change on the horizon. There is no new ideology or value system that is about to change any of this. And there is certainly no magic pill that will make all this pain go away. As Kristof said at the end of his piece, the only real change that will work is to address the deeper wounds in our society.

And since that is not about to happen any time soon, the best patients can hope for is to fnd sympathetic doctors who might have the time to see them and give them some sympathy and love and a bit of medicine. At least that gives the patient a chance to interact with a kindly human who is trained to do no harm.

Why loneliness produces pain in people Regulating the air we breathe for our health

emissions controls from commercial sterilizers using the best available science. Current controls do not account for cancer risk despite EPA’s classifcation of EtO as a carcinogen. In addition to voicing support for this efort, we are encouraged to advocate for stronger controls for all users of EtO, including hospitals and a wide-range of manufacturers.

LYNN CAPUANO Earth Matters

nifcant number of EtO facilities. UCS analysis determined that disproportionately communities of color, low-income and non-English speaking are polluted and harmed by EtO. One study by EPA found more than half of the people living in the immediate vicinity of 14 of 22 facilities emitting EtO are minorities or low-income households.

UCS suggests contacting the Environmental Protection Agency to voice your support for its current rule-making efort to strengthen ethylene oxide

Currently emissions rules are by source and not by the chemical. This has resulted in a confusing array of rules for emissions from the same chemical. For more information on how to get involved, visit https://www.ucsusa.org/ resources/ethylene-oxide-what-youcan-do. UCS is tracking EPA’s rulemaking eforts and posting updates at this website. Though EPA announced its decision to adopt stronger EtO emissions standards, it has yet to do so. It is also not requiring any fenceline monitoring at facilities according to Earthjustice.

Until now, eforts to address the harms of EtO have been shouldered by local communities fghting for stronger emissions controls and suing for the cancer-causing efects of the emissions. This is a role for the federal government and one contemplated by the Clean Air Act. But the EPA continues to be woe-

fully behind in its updates to emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants with overdue dates for some tracked chemicals as long as seven to nine years.

A complicating factor in all of this is that EPA assesses chemical exposure one chemical at a time. It does not analyze the efect of exposure to multiple chemicals over time. In many communities, if they are exposed to one pollutant, there is a high likelihood residents are exposed to multiple pollutants. But EPA is not regulating emissions of pollutants based on exposure to multiple pollutants. The emissions controls may or may not be sufcient to address exposure to one chemical or pollutant, and scientists can and do study that. But EPA does not know how efective emissions controls are when the emissions of various pollutants are accumulated and inhaled.

Being informed and understanding the threat to our health from use of various chemicals is part of taking action. UCS is one of many organizations that provide information on health threats like EtO. The more people are aware and talking about these threats, the more chance those in the position to do so will take action to address the threat.

DR. TOM FERRARO Our Town

PHOTO COURTESY OF TOM FERRARO

To be alone is not a natural state for humans.

Sassouni, Chan have deep roots in G.N. schools

Voting to support our schools and libraries is always important, but this year’s election for two trustees of Great Neck Public Schools is especially so because the board will be asked to hire a new superintendent.

The role of superintendent is crucial to setting the culture of the district and implementing its mission, priorities, and values, and fostering morale and positive energy of staf that can attract and retain top professionals.

But now we are in the throes of a direct assault on public education such as we have never seen before.

In Great Neck, we are fortunate to have two well-qualifed candidates who have volunteered to undertake the weighty responsibility overseeing an $272 million year-round enterprise with 1,500 employees, 6,900 students plus 2,000 in parochial and private schools and1,400 adult learners.

Rebecca Sassouni, a trustee since 2017 and current board president, is seeking re-election and Joanne Chan, a former UPTC-co-chair, is running for the seat being vacated by trustee Victor Shi. Both face opponents in the community.

Rebecca Sassouni is the frst board president in memory to have to manage a newly contentious, emboldened faction determined to undermine the culture of civility and mutual respect that had been a hallmark of board meetings for decades – not that there weren’t disagreements and passionate issues. The distinguishing element of Great Neck

Public Schools has been the many different ways each of the diferent stakeholders have had a means to engage, participate, have their ideas and issues heard.

In response to this new dynamic which bubbled up nationally (triggered by the “parents rights” reaction to COVID lockdowns and mandates), Sassouni set up a new 40-person advisory committee purposefully to bring together all voices on the spectrum, to come up with recommendations.

The school board has been responsive to the challenges facing our students – beefng up security as well as access to mental health and other supports, and providing academic intervention to help students who may have fallen behind.

Joanne Chan refers to her children (three of the four who have already graduated and are out in the world) as “products of Great Neck Public Schools.” She appreciates, as I do, all the opportunities our children have to fulfll their full potential and be successful in the world – all children, from the highest achievers to those who struggle and need to fnd their own way of processing learning and expressing their ability.

“As a mother of four children who are products of GNPS, three graduates and one current student at South High, I understand the importance of protecting our public schools and I appreciate the tremendous value that our community has created,” Chan said in a statement. “Our schools prize high academic

KAREN RUBIN View Point

achievement as well as well-rounded, healthy, and intellectually curious students. We must strive to always improve our schools, but we must never take this great resource for granted as it is the bedrock of our community.”

She has devoted 20 years to the school district – at times, serving on all three PTOs of the schools her children were attending (VP at Saddle Rock, executive VP at South Middle and executive VP at South High), and for two years as co-president of UPTC.

Chan worked on community-building projects, including setting up the District Translation Project and ParentLink Emergency Messages so that important district communications would be available in English, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, and Spanish, and oversaw collaborations among various cultural groups, including SHAI and Great Neck

READERS WRITE

Chinese Association. Importantly, she worked tirelessly to win passage of the 2017 bond after one defeat. Most recently, she served on the 40-member advisory committee which Sassouni set up to address the rip in the fabric of the community.

Indeed, what has been straining the fabric is a rip in the concept of community. That is what the new school board will have to address, even as it takes on the most critical responsibility of a board: hiring a new superintendent.

Asked her view of micromanaging teachers and curriculum and banning books, Chan, who has spent 20 years managing a medical practice, ofered a telling response: Chan grew up in British Hong Kong, but her husband grew up in Mainland China.

“He was born during the Cultural Revolution. At age 5, he saw his classroom teacher being paraded in street with a high hat [of humiliation], then heard a gunshot. His family moved to America, my family in 1980s, when it was decided that Hong Kong would be returned to China. We moved to America for freedom. We believe we don’t want our kids to learn what ‘they’ want us to know. We believe there should be freedom of learning – no book ban.”

She agreed that a key reason Americans have been so successful is because of an education system that teaches critical thinking, problem solving and embraces individuality rather than “group think.”

“Knowledge is power,” she told me. “Why limit what kids are exposed to?”

While Sassouni has a record of standing for Great Neck’s public schools, her challenger, Niloufar Tabari, does not.

All that is known about Tabari is that she is a speech pathologist with four children in school and is involved in SEPTA and PTA. But she is most known for her comments to the October 20, 2021 school board meeting challenging the “appropriateness” of a book, “ If You Come Softly” by National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson about 15-year-ld star-crossed lovers, a boy who is black and a girl who is Jewish. Tabari also opposed masking and vaccination mandates during the pandemic. Multiple attempts to reach Tabari by phone and email were unavailing.

Chan is being challenged by Aili Zhang. We were unable to obtain any information or contact her in person.

How our schools function, the culture and opportunities for our students, even the ability of our district to attract the best teachers, administrators and yes, superintendent, come down to the choices made by the people we elect. And that begins with the choices we make at the ballot box.

I trust Rebecca Sassouni and Joanne Chan to make the important decisions to maintain the culture and the high achievement of our public schools.

To have your say in our schools and libraries, vote on Tues., May 16, 7 am–10 pm (info at 516-441-4007). View the proposed budget at www.greatneck. k12.ny.us/budget.

Tabari makes her case for G.N. ed board

My name is Niloufar Tabari and I’m announcing my candidacy for the Great Neck Board of Education. I would like to introduce myself and educate the residents of Great Neck about my intentions as we prepare for this important election.

Before immigrating to the United States, my family and I lived in Iran. During our time there, we were prevented from enjoying the fundamental rights aforded to Americans, such as freedom of speech, freedom of press and freedom of expression. Moreover, minorities were treated as second-class citizens.

As Jews, we were treated as second-class citizens and had to maintain a low profle. I still remember being attacked by women on the street because a strand of my hair had fallen out of my hair cover. My mother, who was a teacher of 20 years, was routinely harassed by her school administration for being Jewish. Eventually, my family made the courageous decision to leave Iran, escape a repressive regime and move to the United States in the hopes of experiencing basic

civil and human rights. Therefore, the freedoms aforded to me, my family and all citizens of this country are not lost upon me.

I do not support “book banning” in any form. I support equal rights for all humans. I strive to treat everyone with kindness, dignity and respect and expect my children to do the same. I am so grateful for the education that I was able to receive and want to make sure that future generations are aforded the same opportunities.

I have been a resident of Great Neck for over 19 years. My husband and I are privileged to be raising our 4 four children in this beautiful community – we have one child at North High School, one at North Middle School, one at Saddle Rock Elementary, and our youngest child is at Parkville. Professionally, I have been working as a pediatric speech-language pathologist since 2006, upon graduating with my master’s degree from Queens College.

When the opportunity arose to run for the school board, I felt compelled to run to have a chance to give back

to this wonderful community and to continue to improve upon our superb public schools. I am a parent, an educator, and a resident of this community that I admire, respect and love. I intend on bringing this perspective to the Board of Education in order to ensure that our schools succeed to the beneft of our children, students, staf and educators. I personally believe that the diversity of this community needs to be celebrated and not used to divide and hurt. No matter how diverse this community is, we share one singular goal: best in class education for our children.

So now you know who I am and why I am here. But I’m sure many of you want to know what I can and will do if elected to this board. Too often we hear people claim promises and then once elected fall short of those empty words. I am not that person. I believe there are a lot of amazing things happening in our district.

I am personally familiar with many of the educated, hardworking teachers that are dedicated to the success of this school district, both private and public. I am also person-

ally familiar with many families and parents who are concerned with the future our children are inheriting. I believe there is an awesome opportunity now, more than ever before, to bridge the gap between the schools, educators and administrators and our parent community.

A truly successful district arises from cooperation between community, parent, student, administrators and educators. As any parent will tell you, children adopt the behaviors they experience. Likewise, our district is fundamentally shaped by the members of our Board of Education. There is a clash between teachers and administration.

There is a clash between parents and teachers. And it is the students who ultimately sufer. In order to protect our community and our children’s education, we need to rise above the clashing and bring true compassion, kindness and thoughtfulness back to the table. Politics has seeped into every area of our lives and education has not been spared. Our administrators and staf are leaving this community and there has been signifcant

turnover. The divide we are seeing in other areas of Long Island and even nationwide has infltrated here.

We need change in order to remove the toxicity and division on our board and start setting the right tone. We need board members who can put aside their personal diferences in order to focus on a common goal – a supportive environment for teachers and a protective environment for our children. We need to provide more meaningful opportunities for parents to be involved in their children’s education.

We need more partnership between school administration and parents. This is not about micromanaging or putting teachers in a box. I am a teacher and would not advocate for such treatment. But the divide will continue until we create bridges between the interested parties. We need to rise above and that will only be accomplished through change.

On May 16, I hope you all come out and vote. I hope your voice is heard. And I hope you vote for me, Niloufar Tabari, for trustee to the Great Neck Board of Education.

Thinking about Mother’s Day

Bless the mother, bless the child. Miracles. Beauty.

Look at their eyes, so amazed and watchful. Look at the faces, shining like the brightest moon, tell another story where nothing is hidden between them.

My joy holds proudly the highest achievement of its craft, and moves a hand to brush a forehead to soothe, yes, me! And absorbs more happiness bursting with radiance that makes me glow with some of their beauty. Who knew the power of love could increase to overcome all odds that hint of shadow, making these hours, this room, this house, the very world we live in a universe with us at the center?

I marvel at the beauty, the unbroken completeness, the art of the miracle.

Stephen Cipot Garden City Park

Santos takes the low road

How is it that George Santos (Santos condemns drag performance during GN High talent show) dare make the claim that he “is working for direct results” presumably for his district, when his constituents are outraged, now polling 90% against him running again, in the current island360. com poll?

Next is his audacity to exploit a 16-year-old at a Great Neck School “cofee house” event doing a performance in drag as inappropriate, and then admitting he did the same in Brazil, when “he was young, having fun at a festival.”

The hypocrisy and the lies never stop. As reported in Newsday last week, GOP Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne claimed that Santos never shared the proceeds of a joint fund-raiser with her.

While his latest antics and cheating are scandalous enough, leaving our Congressional District 3 on Long Island and in Queens without representation or representation by a grifter is unconscionable. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy by not including Santos in his re-election fund does nothing for the hundreds of thousands of D3 constituents who have no voice in Congress.

Santos’ deplorable and incomparable record of lies, evasions and outright fraud (Brazil) will surely sink him and hopefully his Republican enablers a.k.a collaborators in Congress in November ’24. For us, constituents who are part of a grassroots efort to expel Santos, it will not come soon enough, as the rest of the country looks on with horror.

It’s difcult to overstate the lengths to which Rep. Santos has gone to steal power. Santos’s lies have made national headlines and misled voters. They include campaign fnance violations of $365,000 in unexplained spending, lies about a defunct animal rescue charity’s donations and sexual misconduct.

All these, and more, are currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

When magic fails, logic prevails

In his appalling and misleading opinion piece in the May 5 issue of The Port Washington Times, Mr. George J. Marlin, is indeed “Merlin” as as he magically pulls statistics out of the hat and manipulates data to support the old crime and immigration tropes that perpetuate fear and failed policies.

The gist of Mr. Marlin’s piece is that there was a 22% increase in “major crimes” in New York City last year and he ties this increase to the 2019 “lenient penal reforms … that have emboldened criminals.” Sparse on details, one can only surmise that Mr. Marlin is referring to the cash bail bond reform legislation that was passed in 2019. Putting aside the fact that the bail reform was rolled back in January 2020, the elimination of cash bail, as it was passed, applied only to some misdemeanors and some non-

violent felonies.

The reason for the reform is obvious: it attempted to level the playing feld between those who have and those who have not. The poor (primarily people of color) are often held in jail for days, weeks, or months before a trial because they cannot aford to pay bail, whereas those better of (usually white) simply pay and walk out within hours of arrest and go on with their lives.

Mr. Marlin omits the fact that the bail reform legislation has no connection to “serious” crime (which one can surmise, based on Mr. Marlin’s own examples, is violent crime) as it relates only to non-violent and minor crimes. To the contrary, Mr. Marlin directly implies that the legislation is a cause of the 22% increase he cites. What Mr. Marlin also fails to mention is that crime rates

rose at similar rates nationwide over the same period. Other cities in the U.S. saw increases in crime even though they did not pass any “lenient penal reforms.”

As anyone who has taken statistics can tell you — correlation does not mean causation — unless you are trying to prove a falsehood, that is. The greatest slight of hand comes at the end, when Mr. Marlin decides to bring asylum seekers and immigrants into his wobbly house of cards. And here you have it, immigrants, people of color, and those who try to advocate for fair treatment on their behalf are the reasons for why crime is on the rise.

Oh, Mr. Marlin, you are not fooling anyone!

Jack Hoppenstand Port Washington

Two wrongs don’t make a right

Two wrongs don’t make a right. New York City Mayor Eric Adams criticizes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for busing thousands of illegal migrants to NYC. Now, Adams turns around to send some of the same illegal immigrants to motels in Rockland and Orange County rented by New York City. Was Rockland County Executive Ed Day and Orange County Executive Stefan Neuhaus provided advance notifcation? Will Adams soon do the same for Nassau and Sufolk Counties?

The real solution involves securing our

southern border with Mexico. Under President Joe Biden’s watch, almost fve million illegal immigrants have crossed. Now more are attempting the same at our Canadian border. Department of Homeland Security Chief Alejandra Mayorkas has the nerve to claim the border is secure. Just as bad, is the claim by White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that President Bidens border security policies have brought illegal immigration down by more than 90%.With the ending of Title 42, which aforded us the opportunity to return many illegal immigrants

back to their home countries, the situation will only grow worse. Regardless of how you feel about former President Donald Trump, under his watch the fow of illegals was less and border security better. We have spent over $100 billion to assist Ukraine in securing their border against the Russian invasion. It is time we spend whatever it takes to secure our border with both Mexico and Canada.

Larry Penner Great Neck

Saying goodbye to Dr. Margulies

For the past 16 years, I have enjoyed having my very own Dr. Marcus Welby-like endocrinologist. Who wouldn’t?

Without making a single house call, Dr. Paul Margulies managed to make each patient feel like they were the most important person in the world. New patient Ronnie H. shared that “Dr. Margulies demonstrated laser sharp focus. He asked me such thorough, detailed questions even those I had never, even considered.”

Rain or shine, Thursday, May 25, 2023, Dr. Margulies retires. In doing so, he brings the curtain down on an enviable 53-year (sole practitioner) career in Great Neck/Manhasset. Yes, Dr. Margulies demonstrated old-fashioned doctor-patient values. He returned every single patient’s phone call and routinely answered a slew of questions until patient education was complete.

While doing so, he demonstrated pro-

fessionalism, patience and the utmost sensitivity. As a patient of 16 years, I always believed he “had my back.” Looking back, I was uniquely confdent I had the best endocrinologist insuring the best outcome. There was never a question. I still feel that way which is why I am writing this letter.

The older generation of Marcus Welbylike physicians similar to Dr. Margulies will eventually disappear. And for my money, I don’t believe it’s right for them to simply retire and disappear into the good night without calling attention to their sacrifces and often distinguished careers.

Former patients and colleagues should know of Dr. Margulies’ imminent retirement. Folks should know while there is still time to recall a long-forgotten story. Share a laugh. Time for one more goodbye.

Lastly, no discussion of Dr. Margulies would be complete without mention of Marie, Dr. Margulies’ loyal, hardworking

“Gal Friday,” who worked with him Mondays and Tuesdays for the past 28 years. It could be said it was her idea he sought out retirement. After a particularly harrowing Friday, Marie suggested (out of sheer frustration) that there might be more to life than work and that he might enjoy extended time of.

Truth be told, Marie earned my trust and my friendship years ago. But I quietly wish she had never made that critical suggestion to him.

Marie, it has been a real pleasure having you in my life for the past 16 years. You will always hold a special place in my heart. Dr. Margulies, go gently into the sweet dark night. Here’s wishing you a happy, healthful retirement. May all your dreams come true.

Judy Shore Rosenthal Great Neck

George Santos, Speaker of the House McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene and the other power grabbers on the far right, truly do you have no shame?

Jeanette Walowitz and Paula Frome, Volunteer leaders, Bend the Arc LI Great Neck

Re-elect Gounaris, Zanetti to Herricks ed board

Iwrite to you today to endorse Jim Gounaris for re-election to the Herricks School Board.

Mr. Gounaris continues to show he has the intellect, values, and passion for this position. He and his running mate stand for controlling taxes, safety for the members of this community and

continuance of high educational goals for all our children. During Jim Gounaris’ tenure on the school board, he has advocated for new initiatives to keep Herricks Schools at the forefront on education excellence.

Together with his running mate, Henry Zanetti, the district’s annual bud-

gets have successfully passed year after year, and since the implementation of the 2 % tax cap, their average tax increase has always been below that 2% threshold.

As family men, they are in close touch with the services that this entire community needs, and they continue

to have the energy to fght for them. I believe that their eforts will continue to protect the values of our homes and keep our property values high.

As an educator, parent, and resident I ask you to cast your vote and reelect Jim Gounaris and Henry Zanetti as trustees on the Herricks School Board

and to vote yes on the current budget proposed. Our students, families and community can do no better than these fne men and this budget. Our community is counting on you.

Phyllis Phillips Manhasset Hills

Three more years for Gounaris and Zanetti

Iam writing in support of the candidacies of Jim Gounaris and Henry Zanetti for Herricks UFSD Board of Education.

Both Jim and Henry have been strong advocates for students as

Board of Education Presidents/Trustees. During their tenures, Herricks has only become stronger fscally and educationally.

Not only do Jim and Henry have a vision for the future of Herricks, they

work cooperatively with the superintendent of schools, adminstrators, faculty and staf, parents, students and community members to move Herricks forward.

They have dealt with a variety of

challenges throughout their service on the BOE and are not afraid to stand up for what is best for our children both in the immediate and long term. In my own personal experience, I have seen how they support the needs of

students with difering needs.

Carmine DePaola New Hyde Park (18-year-resident of Herricks and parent of two Herricks students)

Why I am running for the Herricks school board

Twelve years ago today, I was elected to the Herricks school board. I had been an active resident for 12 years at that time and had served on various groups within the district.

Those groups include Denton Avenue PTA, Herricks District Council, the Herricks Community Center Advisory Board, both Girl and Boy Scouts, districtwide food service and bus committee, Language Immersion Committee, as well as the committee to bring Full Day Kin-

dergarten to the District.

I was also a constant fxture at the Herricks school board meetings.

What prompted me to run for the board at that time is still what inspires me today: education excellence for every student districtwide. I knew I could make a meaningful contribution because I cared about our children and community.

I believed then, as I do now, that education needs to be as far-reaching as possible, as collaborative as possible and accountable to all. There should be no

barriers, gates, or blocked access for any student.

Every student deserves the best we can ofer; we owe that to them and their families. I am proud of our 99% high school graduation rate. I am proud of all of us who reside here sharing in the accolades on the excellence of our school district.

What I am most proud of is our community and its ability to be respectful and tolerant to all who live here. Our district is a binding force for every resident and

Gounaris and Zanetti

Iam writing to share my unwavering and enthusiastic support for Jim Gounaris and Henry Zanetti for Herricks Board of Education. Herricks is very fortunate to have candidates of their professionalism, humility, and dedication.

Jim and Henry have the experience and respectability necessary to work with elected ofcials on the local and state level to advocate for Herricks.

Both are current members of the school board and their commitment to Herricks Public Schools goes far beyond the interests of their own children; they care deeply about the quality of education for all students, and they have advocated fairly and passionately for students, families, teachers, and administrators,

whether it be in negotiating a new teachers’ contract, re-examining the school calendar, addressing new curriculum requirements and changes, maintaining our schools’ educational excellence under a strict fscal budget, or selecting qualifed professionals to fll some of Herricks’ most important administrative positions.

I frst met Jim and Henry in 2013 while attending BOE meetings as a concerned parent over a potential new threat to public education. At the time, Jim was BOE president, and Henry was a fellow Williston Park neighbor and concerned parent. In 2013-2014, inBloom was a $100 million educational technology data mining project that faced public backlash from parents and districts alike over in-

together we celebrate as one!

Your vote in support of my candidacy will allow us to continue our great work with the community and our fellow board members to bring new programs, upgrades and awards to our district while respecting the taxpayer’s ability to continue to aford to live here.

All my decisions are based on balance for the betterment of all our students.

My experience and knowledge of our school district’s “personality” is par-

ticularly crucial as we try to fnd balance and direction during the challenging educational and fnancial issues we are now facing. I believe that now more than ever Herricks needs to be focused on Community, Collaboration and Continuity. We are Herricks strong!

On May 16 I ask you to cast your vote for me at the Herricks Community Center from 7 a.m.-9 p.m.

James Gournaris Manhasset Hills

our best choice in Herricks

Bloom’s intended use of student data, and concerns over student privacy and protection.

As a Herricks parent, I was very worried about corporate overreach and the sale of my children’s private educational information to third party vendors. I had the good fortune to have both Jim and Henry as advocates who tenaciously fought along my side in protecting not just our children, but all the children of Herricks to ensure their privacy was protected.

Jim served as BOE president during this time and tirelessly worked the phones and sent emails to Albany legislators, setting up meetings with locally elected state ofcials, and always taking

the time to keep me up to date on any developments. It was a proud day for all of us when New York announced it would cancel its contract with inBloom.

Jim helped lead our grassroots movement to protect our children and we won. I remember thanking Jim for all his hard work during this time and I distinctly recall his modesty. Jim wasn’t doing this for the accolades. He fought to protect our kids because he knew it was the right thing to do. And he continues to serve the community with that specifc goal in mind.

Through the years in my time as a parent volunteer and former PTA president for Searingtown School, then Herricks Middle School, I have always found

Jim and Henry to be excellent listeners who fully consider options before making important decisions. Both have shown themselves to be professional and experienced in their decision-making and always have the best interests of Herricks families in mind.

Now, more than ever, we need stability, experience, and unfaltering commitment to our community. This is not the time to change course, but rather forge ahead with experienced leadership at the helm. I encourage all Herricks residents to re-elect Jim Gounaris and Henry Zanetti to the Herricks Board of Education.

Genara DiGirolomo Williston Park

Our children in Herricks deserve Gounaris, Zanetti

We have known Jim Gounaris for over 35 years, and 12 of them as a member of the Herricks School Board. While he has proven to be one of the most unselfsh and caring individuals we’ve ever met, he is also the most restless. He tirelessly gets things done running on pure adrenaline, dedication and focus.

Twelve years as a school board trustee have allowed us to witness an amazing transformation of our Herricks School District. While some people may not have noticed, every parent of every student who attends our school is forever grateful to Jim, and fellow board member Henry Zanetti for the changes they’ve helped implement.

Just some of highlights: Installation

of new security measures, including new doors and over 1,000 security cameras throughout the district, upgrades in technology, new bleachers, new felds, a resurfaced track at the high school, new science classrooms, a new state-of-the art HS cafeteria, HS auditorium and the amazing Health and Fitness center. But don’t forget, this was all done while being fscally responsible by

achieving new cost-saving labor contracts with unions, averaging a 1.57 tax increase since inception of 2% tax cap requirements and passing a new bond with a zero-tax diferential for our residents to provide these upgrades.

These are not ego-driven bureaucrats, but persons of action, doing incredible things for the betterment of the entire Herricks community. In these

uncertain times we need something certain and stable, eager and proactive. We need Jim Gounaris and Henry Zanetti to continue their momentum and be reelected to the Herricks School Board. Our children not only depend on it, but they also deserve it.

Jim and Niki Lolis Manhasset Hills

Re-elect Rachel Gilliar to the Port board of ed

For the past six years, our community has benefited immensely from Rachel Gilliar’s thoughtful voice on the Port Washington Board of Education. We’re thrilled that she has decided to run for a third term, and we urge Port Washington voters to join us in re-electing Rachel and approving this year’s proposed budget.

After two terms on the Board of Education, Rachel has established an extensive record of accomplishments: She has improved communication be-

tween the board and the community by advocating for revamping of the district website, broadcasting board committee meetings, launching a district Facebook page, and answering questions posed by community members during school board meetings.

As a consistent advocate for a challenging and appropriate education for all learners, she has helped change the conversation on enrichment and acceleration. She has worked to shore up support for the Port Enrichment Program and ensure

that the program is fully staffed while advocating for improvements to the identification process so as to better meet the needs of English language learners, twice exceptional learners, and other underserved students.

She has brought awareness to the need for more learning opportunities for students who are passionate about the Humanities, arguing for the newly expanded AP Language and Composition option for 11th graders and the newly added English Honors course for 10th graders.

On a board that has seen a great deal of turnover in recent years, Rachel is one of the longest-serving trustees, giving her a depth of knowledge about the complex fiscal, curricular, and facilities issues facing our district. If you watch or attend school board meetings, you can’t fail to be impressed by her careful and measured approach to the deliberations. She asks detailed and probing questions, often identifying considerations that have not received adequate attention. Even during contentious discussions,

she is unfailingly collegial and collaborative. She listens and makes clear that she respects and values other perspectives, whether they come from the community, teachers and administrators, or her fellow trustees.

This year’s Board of Education vote will take place on Tuesday, May 16, at Weber School from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Please join us in voting for Rachel Gilliar and the 2023-2024 budget.

Kim and John Keiserman Port Washington

Tabari is too extreme for the G.N. school board

For the past six years, Rebecca Sassouni has served with distinction as a school board Trustee. As board president, she has exemplified steady leadership, resilience, and grace, even when presiding over meetings where community members belligerently interrupted or refused to follow the meetings’ rules.

Ms. Sassouni’s opponent, Niloufar Tabari, said in a recent Instagram post that we need leaders who will “put aside their own personal and political agendas for the greater good.” But it is

not at all clear that this is what Tabari intends to do.

Since the campaign began, Ms. Tabari has been supported by the extreme rightwing. For instance, she has received vociferous endorsements from Emil Hakimi, a far-right zealot and provocateur who ran for the board last year. During last fall’s library election, Mr. Hakimi made vile and slanderous statements, falsely accusing his neighbors of being pornographers and pedophiles. Now he is aiming his venomous attacks at Ms. Sassouni, likening her

to a “dictator.” This sort of extremism and divisive rhetoric has no place in our public conversation or in our community.

Does Ms. Tabari herself endorse these extreme views and unhinged behaviors? It is hard to say. She has not commented on Mr. Hakimi’s offensive actions, nor has she repudiated his support. She has declined to participate in a debate with Ms. Sassouni, where she might have been asked to expound on her views.

We do know Tabari turned up at a

school board meeting in 2021, making false claims about a book in the middle school curriculum. She said the book, which is about an interracial and interfaith relationship, would teach kids that “all white people are racist.”

Ms. Tabari’s false statements on books, her seeming alliance with the extreme right wing, and her refusal to debate, all tell the same tale. She has not, and will not, “put aside” extreme political views.

Rebecca Sassouni’s intelligence, compassion, fairness, and experience

make her the right choice for trustee. Joanne Chan, who is running for the open seat on the board, has also demonstrated her steady commitment to equity and inclusion.

I encourage all Great Neckers to cast their votes for Sassouni and Chan, and yes on the school budget, on May 16.

Daniel Pitt Stoller Great Neck

Letters Continued on Page 31

YOUR GUIDE TO THE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND DINING

Sands Point offers live performance at Great Hall in Castle Gould

Experience the joys of live music when the Four Seasons in Music Series returns to the Great Hall in Castle Gould at The Sands Point Preserve on Sunday, May 21, at 4 p.m.

The concert is followed by a wine reception – a time to mingle with the artists, friends and concert-goers.

The May 21 program, “Spring Dance,” features an afternoon of Bach, Prokofiev, Vieux-

temps, Bartok and much more.

Created by Artistic Director Kathryn Lockwood, the concert is part of curated series comprising music, poetry and dance, inspired by the time of year and themes of romance and resilience.

Spring Dance performers include duoJalal, with Kathryn Lockwood on viola and Yousif Sheronick on percussion; Inessa Zaretsky on

piano; and Casey Howes and Jacob Warren, dancers.

The spring theme is designed to inspire as we revel in the season, whether over reflections of a school dance or the budding gardens in our own communities.

Join us as we celebrate music and dance inside one of the renowned mansions at the preserve, an intimate setting for this unique cham-

ber concert.

Tickets are $50 for members of Sands Point Preserve Conservancy; $60 for non-members, and includes parking.

For more information, visit sandspointpreserveconservancy.org, or call 516-571-7901.

The Sands Point Preserve is located at 127 Middle Neck Road in Sands Point, New York.

Live chamber music returns to Sands Point Preserve. Photo by Sands Point Preserve Conservancy

MYO celebrating 30 years Carnegie Hall

The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York is celebrating its 30th Anniversary by presenting all 15 of our Choirs and Orchestras in concert this Sunday, May 7 at 12:30 PM and 7:30 PM on one of the most famous stages in the world, Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, located at 881 7th Ave. in New York City.

Concerts feature works by Copland, Mozart, Shostakovich, John Williams, and more, and will showcase the Carnegie premiere of “Cold Mountain Suite”composed by Jennifer Higdon, as part of a consortium commission, and per-

formed by the Nassau Principal Orchestra with Music Director Scott Stickley.

These concerts are open to the public. Tickets range in price from $35 — $55 and can be purchased through Carnegie Hall only.

12:30 PM MYO Orchestras: https://www. carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2023/05/07/TheMetropolitan-Youth-Orchestra-of-New-York1230PM

7:30 PM MYO Choirs: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2023/05/07/The-Metropolitan-Youth-Orchestra-of-New-York-0730PM

PHOTO BY ROB DAVIDSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Young Long Island musicians shine at Carnegie Hall

How to support students interested in the arts

Schools are diverse communities in which people from all walks of life gather to teach, learn and pursue an assortment of interests and passions. Students are perhaps the best reflection of that diversity, as even small schools are home to young people who excel in sports, music, theater, and, of course, academics.

Many young people harbor a strong interest in the arts, which can provide some surprising benefits. For example, the National Endowment for the Arts reports that students with high arts participation and low socioeconomic status have a 4 percent dropout rate. That’s five times lower than their low socioeconomic status peers. In addition, a report from the Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research found that arts education experiences reduce the proportion of students in school receiving disciplinary infractions by 3.6 percent.

Despite the myriad benefits of participation in arts education, which can include improved performance in the classroom, Americans for the Arts notes that not all students have access to art-based educational experiences. Parents of students who are interested in the arts can try various approaches to nurture those interests.

Support school-based arts education programs. Funding for arts programs is perpetually in jeopardy. Each state and school district is different, but a 2013 report from the National Association of State Boards of Education found that federal funding for

arts and humanities programs totaled roughly $250 million a year, while the National Science Foundation received around $5 billion annually. Arts and sciences are both important, and parents can support legislation that directs more federal funding for the arts while urging local legislators to direct more money to arts education.

Make art a part of life at home. Americans for the Arts recommends that parents make the arts part of life at home. Participating alongside children as they sing, dance, draw, play music or pursue other arts-based interests is a great way to incorporate the arts into home life while showing kids how fun the arts can be.

Research local performing arts schools. Children who exhibit an especially strong interest in the arts may benefit from enrolling in a school that specializes in performing arts. Such schools may be open to kids as young as five and extend all the way through high school. Some performing arts schools require prospective students to audition or apply. Arts high schools still offer instruction in core academic subjects, but parents should explore each school’s curriculum before deciding if a given school is right for their children.

Arts education can have a profound impact on the life of a young person. There are many ways for parents to nurture and encourage their children’s interest in the arts.

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Comedian Sarge coming home to G.N.

Gold Coast Arts Center is proud to present an evening of side-splitting “Comedy with Sarge” at the Great Neck South Middle School on Thursday, May 18 at 8 p.m.

If you’ve seen him, you know what that means. And if you haven’t, you’re in for an amazing and hilarious experience! Sarge is an entertainer who has performed worldwide to adoring audiences. His comedy, vocal gifts, and stunning display of dexterity as a pianist have wowed crowds for decades.

Born in Miami Beach, raised in Great Neck, both biracial and Jewish, Sarge’s oneman comedy show is a blizzard of hilarious stories torn directly from his extraordinary life.

And as though his comic talents weren’t enough, he sits down at the grand piano, and you’ll be shocked (we promise) at his Julliard-trained musical mastery. Sarge embodies a unique blend of multi-talents and brilliance not often seen today.

Sarge is an extraordinary entertainer, a triple threat: A musical piano savant, amazing improvisational comedian, and singer. Sarge is also a highly sought-after motivational speaker and for the last 7 years has been working in treatment centers and recovery residences, bringing a revolutionary and groundbreaking modality of “Comedy Therapy” to peo-

ple sufering from addiction.

Last year, his frst comedy recovery flm “Sarge Behind Bars”, shot entirely on location at the Casper Wyoming Reentry Prison, placed second at the “REEL Recovery Film Festival” in New York and Los Angeles.

If that weren’t enough, in 2017, Sarge released his autobiography and motivational book, “Black Boychick,” which traces his hilarious, inspirational life of twists and turns. Today, he is one of the highest energy, multi-talented acts to tour. Not only a hysterical stand-up comedian but also Sarge Sings in his own voice and in a dozen others includ-

ing Harry Connick Jr., Sammy Davis Jr., Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder! His dead-on impressions of Marv Albert, Mike Tyson, Kermit the Frog and Gilbert Gottfried leave audiences howling and clamoring for more.

The legendary flm director Garry Marshall said about Sarge, “in all my years in show business I’ve never seen a happy comedian and Sarge is a happy comedian…He will make you very happy…He’s as funny or funnier than anyone I’ve ever worked with, and I worked with Robin Williams, Gleason and Lucy.”

Sarge has been featured on HBO and Comedy Central, and has performed with celebrities like Natalie Cole, Paul Anka, and The Beach Boys.

The warm-up act for Sarge is Marla Schultz. Marla is a comedian, actress, and TV host. As a comedian, she’s headlined all over the country, entertained the troops overseas, and toured nationwide, opening for Chelsea Handler. Television credits include a second appearance on Comics Unleashed, Who Wants to Date a Comedian, E! Entertainment Television’s The Entertainer with Wayne Newton, and so much more!

Ticket prices start at $60. For more information on this special event and to purchase tickets please visit our website, or call (516) 829-2570.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOLD COAST ARTS

“In all my years in show business I’ve never seen a happy comedian and sarge is a happy comedian... He will make you very happy...He’s as funny or funnier than anyone I’ve ever worked with, and I worked with Robin Williams, Gleason and Lucy.”

— Garry Marshall FILM DIRECTOR

Space, 157 Hempstead Ave, West Hempstead

Thursday May 18th

Strange Parade NY: Debut at The Nutty @ 7pm Nutty Irishman, 323 Main St, Farmingdale

Dudley Music @ 7:30pm

Charlotte’s Speakeasy, 294 Main St, Farmingdale

Sheep Shearing Festival

@ 11am / Free-$15

Time for a haircut!

The Cream of Clapton Band

Present: The Very Best of Eric Clapton @ 8pm / $24.50-$49.50

The Paramount, 370 New York Ave, Hunting‐ton

Ants Marching Reunion @ 9pm / $10

Mulcahy's Pub and Concert Hall, 3232 Railroad Avenue, Wantagh

Cardio Obstetrics

University 2023

@ 10am / $250-$430

May 13th - May 14th

Cardio Obstetrics University

2023: Meet the Experts - a Vir‐tual Case-Based Symposium New York. lhalevy@ paragong.com, +972-35767700

Ten Ton Mojo return to LI w/ Grimm Jack @ 7pm The Avenue Music Hall & Event

Watch as our sheep get their much-needed spring trims. Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Park‐way, Queens. hello@ queensfarm.org, 718347-3276

Chris Janson @ 8pm / $19.50-$69.50

NYCB Theatre at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury

Christian Guardino @ 8pm The Space at Westbury, 250 Post Ave, Westbury

5/14

The Temptations & the Four Tops @ 6pm / $39.50

NYCB Theatre at West‐bury, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury

Mother's Day at Old Westbury Gardens

@ 10am / $15

Bring Mom to the �ow‐ers on this day to honor her. Spring bulbs, dog‐woods, lilacs are all in bloom. Old Westbury Gardens, 71 Old West‐bury Road, Old West‐bury. tickets@oldwest burygardens.org, 516333-0048

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.: Up Close & Personal with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan in New York @ 8pm Tilles Center’s Concert Hall, 720 Northern Blvd, Brookville

Mon 5/15

New! Pickleball Summer Session

@ 6:30pm Evening Classes On Our Outdoor Courts

Mid-Island Y JCC, 45 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview

New York Mets vs. Tampa Bay Rays

@ 7:10pm

Citi Field, 120-01 Roosevelt Av‐enue, Flushing

Tracy Morgan

@ 8pm / $50-$85

The Paramount, 370 New York Ave, Huntington

Tracy Morgan is one of the most well-respected comedians in his �eld. Known for starring on seven seasons of NBC’s Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning 30 Rock, Morgan received an Emmy Nomination in the Supporting Actor category for his work on the show and was nominated multiple years for the Supporting Actor NAACP Image Award. The cast of the show also won the Screen Ac‐tors Guild Award for best Ensemble in a Comedy Series before the beloved series came to an end in January 2013. Morgan has head‐lined across the country and abroad on various tours and festivals for his stand-up comedy. He joined Saturday Night Live in 1996 where he appeared for seven seasons.

Moms Night OutShopping event @ 7pm / $36

A fun night of shopping, fun, food and drinks! 74 Hauppauge Rd, 74 Hauppauge Road, Commack. cschermer@ syjcc.org, 631-4629800

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Wed 5/17

BUS TRIP: Grounds

For Sculpture

@ 8am / $125

Join us as we head out on our next, exciting bus trip to Grounds For Sculpture on Monday, May 15th! Old West‐bury Gardens, 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury. tickets@old westburygardens.org, 516-333-0048

Tunnel to Towers National Golf Series

New York Golf Classic

@ 11am / $1,500-$500 Lake Success Golf Club, 318 Lakeville Rd, Lake Success

Jewish Learning Series

@ 12:30pm

Join the Mid Island Y JCC and a host of guest presenters for interesting and relevant lec‐tures and discussions related to Judaism and Jewish Culture.

Mid-Island Y JCC, 45 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview

Singles Series – Try, Experience, Connect! @ 6:30pm / $12

Join Other Mature Sin‐gles (ages 55+) for a 5session series designed to help you identify in‐terests. Mid-Island Y JCC, 45 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview

Robinson & Rohe: Hard Luck Cafe @ 8pm Hard Luck Café, 423 Park Ave, Huntington

ADULT LECTURE:

The Hundred Years

Saga: The Epic Pursuit of a Golden Roof for Westbury House

@ 7pm / $15

The Collyweston slate roof on Westbury House is the only one of its kind outside of the UK. Uniqueness, however, comes at a price�both �nancially and logistically. Old Westbury Gardens, 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury. tickets@ oldwestburygar dens.org, 516-333-0048

Cheap Trick @ 7pm / $39.50

Gold Coast Arts present Comedy Night with Sarge! @ 8pm / $60 Sarge is coming home to Great Neck! Great Neck South Middle School, 349 Lakeville Road, Great Neck. info @goldcoastarts.org, 516-829-2570

Fri 5/19

Fleetwood Macked re‐turns to NY Beach Club @ 6pm New York Beach Club, 1751 Ocean Blvd, Atlantic Beach

Shamarr Allen @ 7pm The Inn, 943 W Beech St, Long Beach

Giggly Squad Live @ 7pm / $29.50-$59.50 The Paramount, 370 New York Ave, Huntington

Mozart La Para @ 8pm Blue Moon Cafe, 107 North Franklin Street, Hempstead

Lovesong The Band: Stage 317 @ 8pm 317 Main Street, 317 Main St, Farmingdale

Dan Reardon Band @ Brixx @ 9pm Brixx & Barley, 152 W Park Ave, Long Beach

Belmont Park Admission @ 1pm / $5

Belmont Park, 2150 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont

NYCB Theatre at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road, Westbury

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Take On Me: An 80's New Wave Party @ 11pm / $20-$25

Amityville Music Hall, 198 Broadway, Amityville

The best place to promote your events online and in print. Visit us @ https://theisland360.com/local-events/ powered by

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Freedom, decency again on ballot in Great Neck

First they came for the schools. Then they came for the library. Now they’re coming for the schools again. And that’s just the last 12 months. On and on it will go, until censorship and intolerance are spent forces. The burden lies with those of us who believe in freedom and decency to keep sounding the trumpet and keep voting.

Yes, freedom and decency are on the ballot yet again here in Great Neck, in this Tuesday’s election for two positions on the Great Neck Public Schools Board of Trustees: the freedom to think, to read, to discuss, to inquire, to learn, and to grow; and the decency to respect, dignify, acknowledge, and embrace the worth, value, and equality of every one of our families, friends, and neighbors.

Two candidates clearly and unambiguously support the freedom to learn about the world we live in and the imperative to respect and nurture every child in our schools for who they are and for the lives their families live. They are Rebecca Sassouni, the current board president running for reelection, and Joanne Chan, the former co-chair of the United Parent-Teacher Council. These are two extraordinary women with advanced degrees and successful careers who raised their children in the Great Neck public schools and served as leaders in school governance at every level before asking the voters to trust

them with the responsibility of serving on the school board. Their own families immigrated to this country for its freedoms and its promise to give all people of every background and identity the opportunity to succeed.

The alternative is the nationwide movement whose tentacles are grasping at our schools and library here in Great Neck to restrict what we can learn and think about, and to demonize “others” to the point where these “other” children come to believe that they are not welcome, not valued, not safe among us; that they are alone. Terrorizing these children is just collateral damage in their culture war.

They have an ever-expanding list of books they want to ban. One candidate on the ballot this Tuesday publicly demanded that the board ban the novel, “If You Come Softly,” which chronicles the relationship between a black teenage boy and a white and Jewish teenage girl, because “why teach white children that all white people are racist?” (The book suggests no such thing.)

But now it’s more than just books. Censorship has a way of metastasizing, both in its subject matter and its mechanisms. Ban efforts have now spread to whole topics, subjects, and curricula. At colleges there are efforts to ban certain majors and whole departments writ large. There are even campaigns

to defund and close libraries entirely in some jurisdictions.

Racism exists, alongside other -isms and -phobias. We cannot be afraid to learn about them, particularly through the lens of those who have experienced them. As mild as the depictions of racism are in “If You Come Softly,” for example, they give the reader a feel for these kids’ experiences, including the boy’s challenge being one of a few black teens in his school, the girl’s disillusionment with a sibling who questions the wisdom of her interracial romance, and their joint experience with racist assumptions and public disapproval of their relationship.

That’s what art does: it allows the reader of a book (or viewer of a painting or watcher of a movie) to better comprehend and think about either their own experiences or to inhabit a world different from their own to better understand the experiences of those living in it. It is, literally, “learning,” and it is essential to the mission of our schools and our library.

Understanding the world as others must navigate it doesn’t undermine your family’s experience or your own challenges in navigating this world. Nor does it make you complicit in wrongs done to other people. But suffocating discussion and education of wrongs done to others does.

For the latest news, visit us at

Kamberg deserves another term on EWSD board

Ihave been a resident of this school district for 22 years. I have two children currently in the schools, and one who graduated. It is very rare that we have contested school board elections, and ever rarer that we have two such amazing candidates sadly vying for one seat.

I have known Denise Tercynski since her daughter and my son were at Northside together. She is a wonderful mother, devoted advocate and terrifc friend. She is always at the forefront helping the kids, advocating for them, and making sure parents are in the loop. She is intelligent, hardworking and unfailingly kind. She will make a terrifc trustee if elected.

I wish she weren’t running against Mark Kamberg.

I have known Mark since my daughter and his son were in nursery school together. He was always right in thick of things, completely devoted to his kids, the community, and the schools. When he frst ran for school board 15 years ago, there was a lot of animosity, fghting, and mistrust in the community. This was refected in contentious, nonproductive school board meetings.

His opponent was my neighbor and good friend. The campaign was hard fought and got down and dirty. I have to admit, after seeing the behaviors and hearing rumors spread by some of his supporters, I unfairly and misguidedly turned against him. I never gave him a chance to explain, nor did I even ask him if he knew what had been said and done.

I held him responsible for actions he neither knew about nor condoned. I was unfair, and totally in the wrong. Even so, I could not help but be impressed with the dedication, the hard work, the

competence, and the level of professionalism Mr. Kamberg brought to the school board. The meetings became much more professional and infnitely more productive.

My children, all three very diferent learners with unique needs, have received stellar educations. Anything they needed to thrive, they received. I knew I had been wrong in the way I treated Mr. Kamberg. Nonetheless, it took me way too long to muster up the courage to give him the apology I owed. To his credit, he accepted my apology and turned the other cheek.

I don’t know if I would have done the same in his position. He behaved with maturity and dignity, even when I did not. He ofered forgiveness that I cannot say I deserved. More importantly and impressively, both before and after, he was steadfastly there for my children. He is always willing to hear and address any issue, problem, complaint, or requirement and he goes above and beyond to solve it. Whatever is best for the students and the school district is what he pursues. He is not afraid to take unpopular stances and he does hold grudges. Above all, he never fails to give 100%.

Over the years, Mr. Kamberg has been criticized, insulted, screamed at, harassed, been subjected to a torrent of media criticism, and had his kids tormented. Yet he continues to serve to the best of his ability and never takes the low road or shirks his duties. His dedication and perseverance and creativity during the pandemic allowed the schools to remain open while so many others were virtual. The bottom line is he deserves another term because he has earned it.

Emily Kaye Roslyn Heights

I will not be complicit, and I urge Great Neck voters not to be, either.

We need to get back to elections being about how this year’s school budget might be too much of this or too little of that; or how to improve the district’s already remarkable metrics; or how to best ensure the appointment of the district’s next educational CEO, its superintendent; or how to further students’ knowledge and skills in science, the humanities, arts, or athletics.

These are really important questions, which ought to be publicly debated. I’d love to hear what the book-ban candidates have to say on these issues. I wish they would have accepted the invitation of the League of Women Voters to debate. But the playbook is to hide behind banalities, avoid public debates and scrutiny, and hope that the public is lulled into missing what’s really on the ballot — freedom and decency.

I will not be lulled, and I urge Great Neck voters not to be either.

Please vote for freedom and decency this Tuesday: vote for Rebecca Sassouni and Joanne Chan.

Rory Lancman Great Neck

The author was a successful candidate for the Great Neck Library board of Trustees last year

Students get chancellor’s award AERO Conference at LIU/Post in June

The Alternative Education Resource Organization will have its frst live conference in four years at Long Island University’s Post Campus from June 23-25. This will be a gathering of alternative schools and programs and

homeschoolers. Keynoters include author/speaker Peter Gray, Kerry McDonald and Ken Danford, as well as over 20 workshops and sessions with funders. More information and registration at AEROconference.org

Nassau, Suffolk water commish prez

At a recent Nassau Sufolk Water Commissioners’ Association (NSWCA) meeting sponsored by the Plainview Water District, the Association elected a new governing Board for the 2023 term which runs through December 31, 2023.

The newly elected NSWCA 2023 Board includes returning President Patricia Peterson of the Locust Valley Water District; 1st Vice President Ralph Atoria of the South Farmingdale Water District; 2nd Vice President John F. Coumatos of the Bethpage Water District; Secretary Joseph Perry of the South Huntington Water District; and Treasurer Michael Kosinski of the Roslyn Water District.

“This new Board consists of an experienced group of talented and dedicated voter-elected commissioners from local water suppliers,” President Peterson stated. Our 21 members districts within Nassau and Sufolk Counties have the important responsibility of providing quality water that meets or exceeds all local, state and federal standards, to the 620,000 con-

sumers we serve, without interruption and without compromise. I am confdent in the leadership of our association as we fulfll our mission of being an authoritative voice in water supply by educating the public regarding sustainability, conservation, and the health of our aquifer.”

SUNY Old Westbury seniors Rosanna Cuttone and Asma Halimi have been selected as 2023 State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence recipients, the highest honor bestowed upon students in the SUNY system.

The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence acknowledges students who have best demonstrated the integration of academic excellence with other aspects of their lives, which may include leadership, campus involvement, athletics, career achievement, community service or creative and performing arts.

“The students recognized today are an example of our extraordinary student body and their rich and diverse ‘SUNY stories,'” SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said at the award ceremony on April 24. “Student success is at the core of everything we do, and I am honored to celebrate students from all SUNY campuses who are receiving this year’s Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence.”

Rosanna Cuttone, from East Meadow, New York, is a psychology major graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in social work. In addition to being on the Dean’s List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll each semester with a GPA of 3.82, Cuttone recently received a scholarship from Tau Sigma, a national honor society recognizing academic excellence in transfer students.

Cuttone, who competes in both softball and cross country, was president of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and represented Old Westbury at the NCAA Career in Sports Forum Conference in Indianapolis in June 2022. Outside the classroom, she works as a student ambassador and tour guide, peer mentor in the Ofce of Student Success and TRIO, and is the founder and president of OW Rainbow, a LGBTQIA+ support group with more than 100 members.

and Politics” events.

Halimi was recognized by the Center for Student Leadership & Involvement for her work bringing notable guest speakers to campus, including Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Bill Dedman. Her support for public and community service started in her frst year at SUNY Old Westbury as a campaign volunteer with the Huntington Town Democrats, and she later served as part of the New York State Assembly Session Internship, as a legislative intern under Assemblywoman Monica Wallace.

COURTESY OF PROGRESSIVE MARKETING GROUP

Town officials join M.T.O.

North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and Council Members Peter Zuckerman and Dennis Walsh joined members from the M.T.O. Shahmaghsoudi School of Islamic Sufsm for an Earth Day and Arbor Day

tree planting event at Clark Botanic Garden in Albertson on April 24.

Town ofcials recognized their commitment to volunteerism, beautifying the community, and helping the environment.

Asma Halimi, from Huntington, New York, is a politics, economics and law major who will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in politics, economics and law. A member of the Honors College, she has been on the Dean’s List every semester with a 3.91 GPA. As president of the PEL Club, she led activities that have improved, informed and inspired the campus community. This includes leading a campus midterm election voter registration drive to promote student turnout in 2022 and hosting various “Pizza

SUNY Old Westbury is a selective public liberal arts college with more than 4,500 students studying in more than 40 undergraduate degree opportunities in its liberal arts and professional programs and 16 graduate programs in business, education liberal studies and mental health counseling. On the college’s 604-acre campus, students are challenged to take ownership of their futures through an environment that demands academic excellence, fosters intercultural understanding and endeavors to stimulate a passion for learning and a commitment to building a more just and sustainable world. For more information on SUNY Old Westbury, visit www.oldwestbury.edu.

https://www.oldwestbury.edu/news-events/twosuny-old-westbury-students-earn-chancellors-award-student-excellence

New crosswalk on N. Plandome

North Hempstead Council Member Mariann Dalimonte was proud to join with local community members to unveil a new crosswalk on N. Plandome Road. Located by the intersection of N. Plandome Road and Richards Road, the crosswalk will allow for safe pedestrian and bike trafc in the area. Additionally, a pedestrian crosswalk safety system was added, allowing individuals to press a button when they wish to cross.

Council Member Dalimonte worked with the Port Washington Estates Civic Association, including its former president Gavin Pike, to turn the project into a reality. The Civic Association has been advocating for safer streets since 1962.

Council Member Dalimonte, along with the town’s Department of Public Works, helped develop the plan to help improve safety for all.

Patricia Peterson, board president of the Nassau Suffolk Water Commissioners’ Association

PHOTO FROM SUNY OLD WESTBURY

SUNY Chancellor Award winners Asma Halimi (left) and Rosanna Cuttone with President Dr. Timothy E. Sams.

Pictured left to right: Victor Thomas, Department of Public Works; Gwynne Pike, Council Member Mariann Dalimonte, former Port Washington Estates Civic President Gavin Pike, Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, and Rob Vernola.

Town with members of the M.T.O. Shahmaghsoudi School of Islamic Sufism organization at a tree planting event at Clark Garden.

A photo for a story on The Irving Roth Holocaust Resource Center at Temple Judea honoring Yom HaShoah in last week’s paper incorrectly identified the

three people pictured. They are Dr. Richard Quinlan, Adi Rabinowitz, President of Temple Judea Paul Vegoda.

Business&RealEstate

Learn, earn, network at industry conferences

This week I am in Washington, D.C., attending my Global Business and Alliance committee meetings and our National Association of Realtors Conference. There is a multitude of breakout sessions and classes to add and enhance one’s knowledge, enabling a Realtor to further scale up their business and income.

Networking and meeting new Realtors within the industry from around the United States and internationally will beneft you interms of future referrals and relocations when your clients move out of their state to other parts of the country/ There are only 30 individuals I counted from our Long Island Board of Realtors who have been attending the conference out of 28,000 of our members. Not very good stats at all!

Surviving and thriving in our industry requires a humongous amount of concerted eforts, disciplined actions, and the most coveted asset, the sacrifce of one’s valuable time. However, the payof is also huge in not only the remuneration of some fabulous income, when we provide consistent assistance and consideration to the consumer in their search for their “next place to call home.” There is no better feeling when you see the smile and satisfaction on your client’s families’ faces during the contract or lease signing and/or the fnal closing whether selling, investing, purchasing, renting, or leasing

residential or commercial properties. Accomplishing this sometimes tumultuous and challenging journey requires a lot of knowledge, expertise, professionalism and being as candid and upfront as possible with your clients. Some serious “tough skin” will be necessary and required as you meander through the process. The few and far between Realtors who survive today and “do the right thing” are very much deserving of every penny that they truly do earn.

The reward in the beginning is the satisfaction in knowing that you will always strive for perfection for your clients, but in reality, no one can ever reach that goal. Nevertheless, it is better to try and fail than to succeed at nothing. The end game is to satisfy and successfully fnd a home, investment, rental, or lease that is as close to what our clients’ “needs and wants” are, while staying within their budget constraints, R.O.I., locations, and school districts.

Regularly attending our 2 National Conferences will be one of the most important steps to gain the necessary and important requirements to be able to strive to the “top of your game.” This is one way to begin your career or if you are a seasoned agent to expand your greater knowledge, expertise, and professionalism within our industry. But if you think your job is a “cakewalk to the

PHILIP A. RAICES Real Estate Watch

bank,” it won’t be unless you create your plan and strategy so you will know the proper and positive paths to pursue.

One must take the initiative and adopt a positive attitude to commit to learning while building a long-term career in real estate. This can free you from the handcufed world of having a job, going to work, having almost no control over your raises and future earnings, while trying to elevate your position. The leverage that one can have in real estate (and never on your routine job) can be accomplished over the long term.

The frst step is to earn your real

estate license in as little as 16 days. The next move would be interviewing several brokerages to determine who will be the most advantageous ft for your career. Who will do the best job in teaching and guiding you in learning how this business should really be done? Do you want to learn how to sell people real estate or would you feel more comfortable utilizing specifc techniques and methods of educating and guiding your clients through a consultative process?

The old ways of selling no longer work and are not what the consumer really needs and wants. They prefer those Realtors who coddle and “hand-hold as many today weren’t brought up in a homeownership environment. Many had been in rentals and know very little about real estate and the process of purchasing. Long-term wealth for the majority has always been created by owning a home.

Our job is to see that as many consumers as possible qualify with the necessary income, credit, and debt/income ratios to lead them down the path to becoming owners. To be successful in real estate one must be an excellent listener, able to learn and absorb information, engage in constant practicing and role playing and lastly apply everything that you have learned every single day. If done properly this can lead you to an extremely successful career and the f-

nancial freedom that everyone is looking for but most never achieve.

The links below are clickable online to donate (if you are a subscriber or become one, go to: Subscription Ofers to provide to a friend or business associate) to go online to read my 350+ archived columns: Philip A Raices

Donate to Turkey Relief

Continue to Donate to the Ukrainian Crisis and save a life or the Donate to The Ukrainian Relief Fund InternationalOrganizationforMigrati ona501(c)3Corporation OR:

Donate to the Ukrainian Project:

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 and also as a Certifed International Property Specialist as well as the new “Green Industry” Certifcation for eco-friendly construction and upgrades. For a “FREE” 15-minute consultation, 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.

nassau COMMUNITY

▼ EMPLOYMENT, SITUATION WANTED, CAREER TRAINING, MARKETPLACE

To Place

Your Ad Call

Phone: 516.307.1045 x

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Error Responsibility All ads placed by telephone are read back for verification of copy context. In the event of an error of Blank Slate Media LLC we are not responsible for the first incorrect insertion. We assume no responsiblity for an error in and beyond the cost of the ad.

Cancellation Policy Ads must be cancelled the Monday before the first Thursday publication. All cancellations must be received in writing by fax at: 516.307.1046

Any verbal cancellations must be approved by a supervisor. There are no refunds on cancelled advertising. An advertising credit only will be issued.

Sales Representatives guide families through the process of making informed decisions for cemetery at-need and pre-need planning services.

Catholic Cemeteries offers excellent compensation for motivated individuals which includes a base salary (not a draw) plus commissions and incentives. Benefts include medical, dental, paid vacation, sick days and 403B.

Sales Representatives interact with families, funeral directors, and other personnel/departments. This is a performance based prospecting position all within the cemetery grounds. We do not visit customers at home.

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Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in person, on the telephone and online

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Ability to work and make decisions under pressure and tight deadlines.

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Continued from Page 13

create serious dangers and hazardous conditions…including gambling addiction, crime, traffic congestion and pollution,” she said.

But representatives from Nassau County Community College, which is also directly adjacent to the Nassau Hub, LIU Brookville and local labor organizations were among those supporting the proposal.

Sands executive and former New York Gov. David Patterson said the proposal would provide careers to those seeking work, including those without college degrees.

Upon approval by the Legislature, Blakeman said last month, Sands would provide Nassau County with $54 million.

The county executive expressed his confidence in legislative approval and said the revenue this proposal could generate has significant potential.

“My friends that I’ve talked to in the casino industry have told me that this could become the highest-grossing casino in America,” Blakeman said in April. “Let me stress that we want to use that money for good things, to stabilize our tax plan, make sure we don’t have to raise taxes, to make sure that we have quality construction jobs that will last for at least the next five years.”

Sands Vice President Ron Reese told Blank Slate Media in January that the $4 billion resort includes a casino, hotel, live entertainment venue, community centers, restaurants and more.

Reese also said the hotel would have at least 800 rooms and the live performance venue would have a 5,000-7,500 seat capacity. Blakeman said the agreement includes a “workforce housing” component regardless of whether or not Sands obtains a gaming license, though there would not be a housing project or development.

When the casino opens, Blakeman said, Nassau is guaranteed $25 million in revenue with escalation costs. That figure increases to $50 million a year with escalation costs once the operation has been running for three years.

Aside from legislative approval, Sands also must obtain zoning approval from the Town of Hempstead and file an application with the state’s licensing board for the casino.

Blakeman also exuded confidence in the Sands obtaining that license from the state board because he believes Long Island “is entitled” to one.

“I believe we have the best shot to get a license here in Nassau County and I am just so excited for the people in Nassau County that we have the opportunity to keep taxes down, to keep our community safe and to create jobs,” he said.

Aside from the $54 million payment to the county, Blakeman said, Sands would also pay $5 million in recurring rent until the gaming license is obtained, at which time the recurring rent would increase to $10 million annually.

The Town of Hempstead, he said, would be receiving “significant revenue with a guarantee for the proceeds [Sands] receives and the taxes that are shared under the licensing agreement.”

Reese said that 80% of the gross gaming revenue goes to the state and 20% goes locally.

The local percentage would be split up between both Nassau and Suffolk Counties along with the Town of Hempstead, with Suffolk receiving 10% and Nassau and the town each receiving the remaining 5%.

The Sands would also be providing the Nassau County Police Department $1.8 million each year with escalation costs for police improvements, Blakeman said.

Blakeman also said the fate of the Nassau Coliseum would be in the hands of Las Vegas Sands, though he said he informed company officials of its significance to Long Island, specifically Nassau County.

“I’ve told them that I think the Coliseum is iconic,” Blakeman said. “I think that it’s a beautiful building…I’m hopeful that they find a use for the Coliseum, but again that’s going to be within their discretion.”

DEADLINE: MAY 12

Santos charged with 13 counts, in custody on L.I.

Continued from Page 13

Efforts to reach Santos for comment were unavailing.

Santos, in 2022, allegedly defrauded prospective political supporters and used a Queens-based political consultant to tell donors that their money would be used for his congressional campaign, officials said. A pair of unidentified donors transferred $25,000 each into an LLC controlled by Santos before those funds were transferred to Santos’ personal bank accounts, officials said.

Santos allegedly used the funds for personal purchases, withdrew cash, transfer money to his associates and settle personal debts, officials said.

In June 2020, officials said, Santos was employed as a regional director for a Florida-based investment firm, but applied for government assistance through the New York state Department of Labor, claiming he had been unemployed since March 2020. From March 2020 to April 2021, officials said, Santos received more than $24,000 in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits.

In May 2020, Santos filed two fraudulent House Disclosures in connection with his unsuccessful run for Congress against former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, officials said. In those disclosures, he allegedly overstated the income he received from a second company he worked at and did not disclose the salary he received from the Florida-based investment firm, according to officials.

In September 2022, during his most recent run for Congress, Santos falsely claimed he earned $750,000 in salary from the Devolder Organization LLC, which he was the sole beneficial owner, received between $1,00,001 and $5,000,000 in dividends from the Devolder Organization LLC, had a checking account with deposits between $100,001 and $250,000 and had a savings accounts with deposits between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000, according to officials.

He also failed to disclose to the House that he received around $28,000 in income from the Florida-based investment firm and more than $20,000 in unemployment benefits from the labor department, according to officials.

Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the 3rd Congressional District election in November. He announced the launch of his re-election campaign last month, despite a lack of support from local and state GOP organizations, including the Nassau County Republican Party.

Zimmerman, in a statement Tuesday night, once again called for Santos to resign from Congress and for other Republican officials to execute his expulsion.

“George Santos betrayed voters, broke the law, and should resign from Congress,” Zimmerman said. “Long Island and Queens deserve a representative who will tell the truth and focus entirely on lowering costs for families, making our communities safer, and upgrading our infrastructure. If Republicans in the House fail to move for his immediate expulsion, they will be accomplices to his crimes.”

U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park), who represents the 4th Congressional District, also echoed calls for Santos to step down from his seat.

“As a retired NYPD Detective, I am confident the justice system will fully reveal Congressman Santos’ long history of deceit, and I once again call on this serial fraudster to resign from office,” D’Esposito said in a statement Tuesday.

Democratic Nassau County Legislator Josh Lafazan, who lost to Zimmerman in last year’s Democratic Primary and is again running for the 3rd District seat, said the reported charges prove there is no longer a reason for Santos to stay in the House.

“With disgraced Rep. George Santos finally indicted, Legislator Josh Lafazan is calling for his immediate expulsion from the House of Representatives,” Lafazan said in a statement. “There is now no further excuse to keep Santos in the House. This federal indictment confirms what we have known all along — that Santos broke the public trust, and violated federal law in the process. It is time to end the national nightmare that has been George Santos, and 78 Republican members of the House must join with Democrats and vote to expel Santos immediately.”

Republican Kellen Curry, who filed to run against Santos for his seat earlier this year, did not call for Santos to step down in a statement but said the 3rd District residents

deserve a constituent who will effectively represent them.

“I am deeply concerned by the serious criminal charges filed against my opponent, George Santos,” Curry said Tuesday. “While Santos is trying to bring more entertainment to politics, the constituents of NY-3 continue to go unrepresented. New Yorkers deserve a representative that is focused and dedicated to serving them with integrity.”

The FBI and justice department’s probe into Santos’ political finance history is one of the various investigations the congressman is at the center of since the unearthing of falsehoods in his resume in January.

The Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization that aims to advance democracy through the law, questioned the newly elected congressman’s influx of wealth after he reported a salary of $55,000 in 2020, which rose to $750,000 in 2022 and $1 million to $5 million in dividends.

The organization also called the congressman’s $705,000 loan to his campaign into question, claiming he falsified reports on nearly 40 expenditure filings under $200.

The center filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission and the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in January.

The Federal Election Commission said in a letter to the Devolder Santos Nassau Victory Committee that three donors made contributions exceeding the legal limits by $76,000.

The House Ethics Committee launched a formal investigation into Santos in March and will scrutinize his most recent congressional campaign, officials announced.

The committee will determine if the embattled representative failed to properly disclose information and statements to Congress, engaged in sexual misconduct with someone seeking employment in his D.C. office and violated potential federal conflict-of-interest laws.

Financial disclosures showed that four political action committees with ties to Santos and his family contributed almost $185,000 to the Nassau County Republican Party, money that will be returned, according to Nassau County Republican Chairman Joseph Cairo.

The Rise NY PAC contributed $64,225 to the Nassau GOP and $62,500 to the Town of Hempstead Republican Party. The Nassau GOP also received $47,966 from the Devolder Santos Nassau Victory Committee, $10,000 from the GADS (George Anthony Devolder Santos) PAC and $750 from Devolder-Santos For Congress.

Cairo told Newsday that the Nassau GOP will return the Rise NY money, which totals $126,725 and reiterated the lack of support Santos has from the organization.

Over the past two years, Santos also donated thousands to Nassau County organizations and elected officials.

Included in the filings is $500 to Elaine Philips’ campaign when she was running for Nassau County comptroller for an event donation, a personal contribution of $500 to the Sands Point-Port Washington Republican Committee, $750 to the Nassau County Republican Primary Campaign, $1,000 to D’Esposito’s campaign, $250 to the Glen Cove Knights of Columbus, $200 to the campaign for Vhibuti Jha, who ran for the state’s 16th Assembly District, and $500 to the campaign for Ruka Anzai, who ran for the state’s 13th Assembly District.

Santos’ campaign outspent other Republican House winners on Long Island and Zimmerman on flights, hotels and restaurants during the campaign, according to financial disclosure reports.

Santos spent over $42,000 on flights, more than the $17,637 spent on flights by D’Esposito, Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport), Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) and Zimmerman.

He also shelled out nearly $30,000 on hotels compared to the $22,233 by the other four. Filings show spending by the Santos campaign at the Garden City Hotel, W Hotel in Miami Beach and Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C.

Santos also laid out more than $31,000 at restaurants, with Garbarino in second place with expenditures of $24,155. He spent over $4,500 during 25 different visits to Il Bacco, the Little Neck restaurant where he also held his victory party at on Election Night.

Recent Real Estate Sales in

195 Peachtree Lane, Roslyn Heights

3 bd, 2 ba, Sold On: 3/13/23, Sold Price: $900,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Mineola

8 Russell Street, Roslyn Heights

4 bd, 3 ba, Sold On: 3/15/23, Sold Price: $770,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Roslyn

18 The Maples, Roslyn Estates

4 bd, 5 ba, 4,000 sqft, Sold On: 3/16/23, Sold Price: $2,350,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Roslyn

17 Macgregor Avenue, Roslyn Heights

3 bd, 1 ba, 1,920 sqft, Sold On: 3/20/23, Sold Price: $700,000

Type: Single Family, Schools: Roslyn

Editor’s note: Homes shown here were recently sold in Roslyn by a variety of real estate agencies. This information about the home and the photos were obtained through the Zillow. com. The homes are presented solely based on the fact that they were recently sold in Roslyn and are believed by Blank Slate Media to be of interest to our readers.

AND THETOAWARDS PROVE IT!

State loans $455M for new Belmont Park

Continued from Page 4

York families and small businesses reliant on a strong horse racing economy.”

The Elmont racetrack was last renovated in 1968.

No taxpayer money will be used in the bond, which will be paid back with racing revenue over 30 years, according to NYRA. The horse racing industry in New York generates $3 billion in annual economic activity while sustaining 19,000 jobs, according to NYRA.

The multi-year project will generate $1 billion in construction-related economic impact and create 3,7000 construction-related jobs, according to an analysis done by HR&A advisors.

Once completed, Belmont Park will generate $155 million in annual economic output, support 740 full-time jobs and produce $10 million in state and local tax revenue annually, according to NYRA.

Improvements at the park will “guarantee the return” of the Breeders’ Cup to Long Island for the first time since 2005, the NYRA said. The cup would be an additional marquee event on the horse racing calendar, which includes the Belmont Stakes, the third leg in the Triple Crown competition along with the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in Maryland.

NYRA attempted to get similar financial support in the 2022 budget with a $450 million bond but was unsuccessful. NYRA’s previous efforts to obtain funding for a new grandstand and track improvements also failed.

“NYRA is committed to building a world-class venue that honors the history and traditions of this iconic property within a modernized overall facility,” O’Rourke said. “We will deliver a revitalized Belmont Park that will reclaim its place as a global capital of thoroughbred horse racing.”

Roslyn residents head to polls for school election

Continued from Page 2

responsible, passionate leadership for our schools in collaboration with my board colleagues and our professional staff,” Ben-Levy said. “We have accomplished so very much together, yet there still remains so much to do.”

Valauri joined the board July 1, 2010. He said he thinks it is now time for someone else to come in and provide another perspective for the board.

Since he has been on the board for 13 years, he said it is very difficult to leave.

“I knew going into it it was going to be challenging, but also a wonderful experience both personally and professionally,” Valauri said. “It’s actually amounted to be much more than I could possibly imagine.”

Additional propositions Roslyn School District residents will be voting on are the 20232024 budget for the Bryant Library, financing for new school buses and vans, and expenditures from two existing capital reserve funds established for the purpose of performing various projects.

SUBSCRIBE TO

Continued from Page 8

would be spending $38,140.11 per pupil according to the proposed budget.

Included in the budget is a $4 million transfer to the capital reserve fund for fire safety upgrades at Jackson Avenue School and Mineola Middle School, a new public address system at the middle school, districtwide roof and HVAC repairs.

State aid amounts to $13.8 million, a $2.75 million, or 24.9% increase from the current year’s state aid of $11.05 million.

At this time, the district has about $8.5 million in the budget for capital projects.

Trustees said during the March 21 board of

education meeting the current middle school project at the gymnasium will be completed for $8 million instead of the previous estimate of $8.5 million.

The remaining $500,000 would be used for the Synergy Building cafe and parking lot project, which began on March 17.

Educational highlights include expanding the district’s technology program and beginning the phase-in of dual language stand-alone curriculum for primary grades.

Voting for the Mineola School District will take place at the Synergy Building at 2400 Jericho Turnpike from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

DeSena, Lurvey spar over the town budget

Continued from Page 2

town has a new full-time comptroller, Kristen Schwaner, who was appointed in April.

Schwaner’s appointment flled a position that was left vacant in January 2021.

The council member said residents often reach out to her ofce for help on drainage issues and called on the supervisor to work with the Town Board on the critical improvements.

“Petty verbal snipes are unbecoming of a supervisor, and she should know better. If she would have talked to me directly, instead of sending a ridiculous statement to the press, she would recognize our path forward and avoid looking so juvenile,” Lurvey said in a statement.

“I stand by my budget amendments, which gave residents a 5% tax cut while also providing quality-of-life services and maintaining a stable fund balance, which were passed unanimously,” Lurvey added. “Specifcally, my amendments included an additional $2 million for street paving, an additional $1 million for concrete sidewalk and road repairs, an additional $1 million for tree trimming and removal, an additional $250,000 for beautifcation, and still a 5% tax cut.”

Lurvey posted on her Facebook page on Nov. 21 after the amendments were approved a graphic that included $3 million “for food mitigation/stormwater repairs” that were alongside the 5% tax cut and fve other amendments.

Four line items in the 2023 North Hempstead budget of unanimously-approved amendments.

During her rebuttal to DeSena’s State of the Town address in January, Lurvey mentioned the four amendments and tax cut, but not the $3 million for food mitigation.

In North Hempstead’s spring newsletter that was mailed to all town residents, the budget highlights do not include the $3 million for food mitigation.

DeSena further questioned why Lurvey “would fght tooth and nail” to delay the vote to allocate $3.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Manhasset sewer project, which the Town Board unanimously approved in April after months of delays in which town Democrats called for answers about the project, including the legality of using the federal money for the sewers.

“Clearly, she had other designs for those

funds, namely using it to salvage her broken budget promises,” DeSena said. “This is yet another example of the Town Board majority playing politics with taxpayer funds, and as chief budget ofcer of the Town I will not stand idly by in the face of this deception.”

Lurvey reiterated her previous sentiments that allocating the funds without proper due diligence would have been reckless, which was echoed during often-tense board meetings by fellow Democrats Peter Zuckerman and Mariann Dalimonte.

“In terms of the Manhasset sewer project, I waited for legal advice before allocating $3 million. I would never allocate funding without legal support for the propriety of the allocation,” Lurvey said. “To do otherwise as the supervisor pushed for would be reckless to the extreme and potentially subject the residents and Town to

clawbacks and costly litigation. The persistent and politically motivated mischaracterization by the supervisor is getting tiresome.”

During the Nov. 17 town board meeting, both DeSena and Lurvey submitted a resolution to allocate ARPA funds for town projects.

North Hempstead received $10,114,021.27 total in ARPA money, which was received in two installments in the summers of 2021 and 2022.

Within Lurvey’s resolution of 14 projects totaling $9 million in allocation, $3 million was for townwide stormwater and food mitigation. Of those projects, 13 were excluded after an amendment to only include $2 million allocated for replacing sidewalks along Westbury Avenue in Carle Place.

DeSena’s resolution, which also included $2 million for Westbury Avenue and $3.1 million for the sewer project, was withdrawn.

Two trustee seats, budget on ballot in Herricks

Continued from Page 7

and has served in the past on the standards-setting committee for the New York State Regents exams.

Ratra said he is running to provide his experience in education and help lower the tax levy for the Herricks budget.

Ratra said he would propose lowering the district’s tax levy through “professional development days” during the school year where district teachers would learn and write grants from $2,000 to $5,000 to the state to seek more aid.

“It would help our district get revenue through the grants and lower the tax levy.”

The Herricks budget for the 2023-2024 school year is $134,719,970, which marks a 7.50% spending increase.

Excluding pending claims and the associated legal fees, the budget represents only a 5.3% in-

crease, district ofcials said.

The budget’s tax levy is an increase of 1.83%, which is equal to the tax cap determined by the state and falls below the 2% allowable growth factor limit.

On the revenue side, state aid represents 18% of incoming funds. Total state aid of $25 million represents an increase of $8 million over last year.

Zanetti, a Williston Park resident who served on the Herricks PTA for over a decade, was elected to the board in 2017. He is currently in his second term.

Ratra previously ran for a spot on the board in 2020, losing to Zanetti, who had 72% of the total votes.

The 2023-2024 budget includes a nearly $9.5 million increase in spending from the current budget, a 7.5% rise. Excluding pending claims and the

associated legal fees, the budget represents only a 5.3% increase, Superintendent Tony Sinanis said during previous budget presentations.

Assistant Business Superintendent Lisa Rutkoske explained during budget presentations the major drivers for the budget increase, where legal claims and settlements take up almost $2.8 million, or 30%, of the budget-to-budget increase.

Of the $9,404,489 increase from last year’s budget, health insurance accounts for $2,070,000, payroll represents $1,997,000, special education services are responsible for $863,000 and facilities and utilities take up $555,000.

The remaining expenditure increases include debt taking up $316,000, textbooks accounting for $239,000, technology claiming $235,000 and all other costs adding up to $338,000.

Budget features include hiring assistant prin-

Tercynski says she seeks transparency

Continued from Page 7

to prominent conservative and Republican groups nationally, to make its presence felt in some of Nassau County’s public school districts.

The district said in a March statement that Wheatley School Principal Joseph Weiner was flmed without his knowledge or permission while answering questions about his experience with DEI at his previous district, which was then edited and altered outside the context of the conversation.

“I think everything starts with regaining the community’s trust when it comes to parents and our children,” Tercynski said. “Hearing ‘distrust’ and ‘your child’ potentially in the same sentence is like oil and water. Once that is restored, and restored over time, people will start to feel comfortable again and I’m dedicated to making sure that happens.”

On transparency, Tercynski said many parents expressed to the district that recent hiring prac-

tices did not have much diversity, specifcally referencing three candidates who were recently hired with afliations to EdCampLi.

Superintendent Danielle Gately, assistant superintendent for Instruction and Personnel, Edward Kemnitzer and The Wheatley School’s Weiner are co-founders of EdCampLi, which describes itself on its website as “a grassroots, teacher-led event that brings together educators from across the region to share their ideas and expertise.”

The seventh annual EdCampLi last fall featured hundreds of educators from Nassau and Sufolk Counties and ofered over 60 workshop sessions on education-related topics.

“Our parents and community want to know that we’re getting the best candidates for our district, not just the best candidate that happens to be afliated with EdCampLI,” Tercynski said.

Another priority of Tercynski is making sure each child has all the resources they need to be

successful and would consider incentivizing teachers to hold extra-help hours that parents can opt into for their child.

“There are many students that are either neurodiverse or require some lessons to be taught to them in diferent ways,” Tercynski said. “I think we need to provide every child with the educational opportunities that they need.”

Tercynski said she knows the school district is a “magical place” with dedicated teachers, great students and the tools to succeed. The challenger added that she hopes to bring a balanced and thoughtful approach to the district and board.

“I want to work on creating an environment where every student has the opportunity to succeed, the parents feel heard, involved and that the community is part of the education process,” Tercynski said. “I’m running to be the voice of the community.”

cipals for Searingtown and Center Street Elementary Schools and funding for social-emotional learning programs, special ed.

District voting will take place Tuesday, May 16, at the community center gymnasium from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

N. Shore to vote in election

Continued from Page 8

perintendent, setting the direction of the school district and supporting a healthy school district culture, according to the New York State School Boards Association.

Both Macari and Galati are running for another three-year term.

Eforts to contact Macari and Galati were unavailing.

Eligible residents will also be voting on additional propositions, including amending the scope of projects funded by the 2016 capital reserve fund to include removing and replacing the high school turf feld, and, if the former proposition is passed, to expend a maximum amount of $1.3 million from the 2016 capital reserve fund for the turf feld and high school dance classroom renovations.

SCREENCAP BY BRANDON DUFFY

FROM THE DESK OF SUPERINTENDENT ZUBLIONIS

3 propositions on the N. Shore School District

We are fortunate to have a community that is committed to our schools. The incredible achievements of our students in academics, athletics, and the arts have been recognized consistently as among the best in the Nation.

The 2023-2024 Budget Proposal includes minimal additions, mostly flat departmental budgets, and $2.7 million in cuts and efficiencies to balance the needs of students with the pressures facing our residents. Earlier this year, Trustees agreed to keep the tax levy below the NY State imposed allowable tax levy limit. The

maximum levy permitted is $4,744,917.70 or 5.522%.

On Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the North Shore High School Gym, from 7 a.m. -10 p.m. residents will have an opportunity to vote on three propositions: Proposition 1, the school budget totaling $120,354,393.60.

Proposition 2, permission to amend the scope of projects to be funded from the 2016 Capital Reserve for the removal and replacement of the North Shore High School turf field. It does not include field lights.

Proposition 3, if Proposition 2 is approved, permission

to expend from the existing funds in the established 2016 Capital Reserve, at no additional cost to taxpayers, a sum not to exceed $1.3 million for

the removal and replacement of the HS Turf Field and the renovation and construction of a dedicated Dance Classroom at North Shore High School.

There have been many budget meetings leading up to the School Budget Vote/Election of Trustees on Tuesday, May 16, in the North Shore High School Gymnasium from 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

We strive to be transparent, and your participation assists us in this effort. In addition, it is an uncontested Trustee election (two seats are available). Richard Galati and Andrea Macari are seeking re-

election. They are each running for a three-year term.

We also hope you come watch our students excel in their Spring Concerts, school events, and on our fields! Please stay involved and informed. For budget updates and BOE meetings, visit www. northshoreschools.org (Budget/Financial/LIPA section at top of website).

Please remember to vote on Tuesday, May 16 at the North Shore High School Gym, 7 a.m.-10 p.m.

Christopher Zublionis

of Schools

Gallery memorializes stories of Holocaust survivors

Continued from Page 3

who survived through humor.

Other portraits include one survivor fixing his yamalka, representing his reliance on his faith to survive the Holocaust, and one woman clutching her bag, symbolizing

the moments many families experienced when they were rushed out of their homes and only allowed what they could gather and carry in those brief moments.

Weiss said that the journey of conducting this exhibit was a learning experience for

him, listening to the diverse stories of Holocaust survivors. He said the conversations he had with them were inspiring and heart-warming.

He said ten of the photographed survivors have died since the project began, which Weiss said has made the proj-

ect all that more important to preserve their stories and continue sharing them.

Weiss said that this exhibit is also important as a way to address recent spikes in antisemitism. He said the gallery educates people which he said is imperative to fight hatred.

While the exhibit is on display, Weiss said it is not complete. He said he and Kramer are continuing the project to photograph as many Holocaust survivors as they can in order to continue sharing their stories and memorializing them in history.

The

Superintendent

CHRISTOPHER ZUBLIONIS Superintendent of Schools

Innovative solutions on Earth Day

Town Council Member Peter Zuckerman, in partnership with the Herricks High School Environmental Club and Mr. Steven Barell, organized an Earth Day Cleanup on April 19, 2023.

The students spent the afternoon cleaning up Herricks High School, with the aim of promoting environmental awareness and sustainability in their school community.

Council Member Peter Zuckerman expressed his gratitude for the students’ dedication and hard work,

saying, “Earth Day reminds us of the importance of taking care of our planet.

It is inspiring to see young people take an active role in protecting the environment and making our community a cleaner, healthier place to live.

I am proud to work with the Herricks High School Environmental Club and Mr. Steven Barell on this important initiative, and I encourage everyone to do their part in preserving our environment.”

The Earth Day cleanup was a

Art exibit at The Wheatley School

The Wheatley School in East Williston is brightening the hallways and inspiring creativity with a with a new series of student art installations.

The art displays were unveiled to the school community on April 19 and represent artwork created by students

using a variety of techniques and mediums.

The works of art will be updated throughout each school year for students, teachers and staf to enjoy as they journey through the Wheatley School halls.

success, with the students collecting several bags of trash and recyclables from the park. Council Member Zuckerman and the Herricks High School Environmental Club Science Club hope to continue their eforts to promote environmental awareness and sustainability in the community and inspire others to take action.

Earth Day, which is on April 22, serves as a reminder that everyone has a role to play in protecting the environment and preserving our planet for future generations.

Mineola 12 get computing awards

Twelve Mineola High School learners have been honored with the Aspirations in Computing Award by the Greater New York City Afliate of the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT).

Three were selected as Afliate Winners: twelfth grader Cathreen Paul, eleventh grader Skyla Azeharie and tenth grader Julia Manevitz.

Six were recognized with the Affliate Rising Star Award: Eleventh graders Isabella Kaiser, Genesis Majano and Jessica Molina and ninth graders Ines Graca, Michaela Quinn and Fatimah Shaikh.

Three received Afliate Honorable Mention: twelfth graders Sarah Ahmed and Hannah Mathew and eleventh grader MaryEllen Steiner.

In addition, Skyla Azeharie and Julia Manevitz were both recognized with National Honorable Mention awards by the NCWIT earlier this year.

The Wheatley School in East Williston is brightening the hallways and inspiring creativity with a new series of student art installations.

Music program touted nationally

Mineola School District has been honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from the NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. This prestigious recognition is awarded to districts that demonstrate outstanding achievement in efforts to provide music access and education to all learners. This is the 15th year that Mineola has been

honored with this designation.

The NAMM Foundation is a nonprofit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 15,000 member companies and individual professionals. The foundation advances active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs.

Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing, as demonstrated by their computing experience, computing-related activities, leadership experience, tenacity in the face of barriers to access, and

future plans. The NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing (AiC) honors women, genderqueer, or non-binary

high school students for their computing-related achievements and interests and encourages them to pursue their passions.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EAST WILLISTON SCHOOL DISTRICT

PHOTO COURTESY OF MINEOLA SCHOOL DISTRICT

Members of the Mineola music department faculty and student musicians celebrating the district’s designation as a one of NAMM Foundation’s Best Communities for Music Education.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MINEOLA SCHOOL DISTRICT

Mineola learners honored with the Aspirations in Computing Award by the Greater New York City Affiliate of the National Center for Women and Information Technology.

2nd at international conference Yung wins award for neurology work

Roslyn High School Student Maxx Yung is one of the winners of the 2023 American Academy of Neurology Scientifc Research Awards.

The award is designed to encourage high school students to explore the world of the brain and nervous system through research, identify and reward those students whose scientific skill and talent indicate a potential for scientifc contributions in the feld of neuroscience and recognize the eforts of science teachers who have demonstrated support for students interested in neuroscience.

Maxx was chosen for his vested interest and impressive work involv-

ing AD pathogenesis and exploring mu receptor involvement to discover a treatment option and for his deep biomedical knowledge and commitment to the time required for such a project.

“I am incredibly honored to be selected as a recipient of the 2023 Neuroscience Research Prize and grateful to the American Academy of Neurology for the opportunity to present my research at this year’s AAN Annual Meeting and meet the leading researchers in my feld,” Maxx said. “I am deeply grateful to my mentor, Dr. Wei Zhu, and my research teacher, Dr. Allyson Weseley, for their guidance, support and inspiration.”

Roslyn High hosts spring pep rally

Roslyn

Roslyn High School’s Shayla Zheng won second place in the fnancial consulting category at DECA’s International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Florida held on April 25.

“Students from the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Germany, Spain and Costa Rica come together each year to compete in over sixty business categories. Very few walk away with a trophy,” faculty advisor Sallykaye Kaufman said. “Shayla worked hard all year developing her winning presentation and practiced between class periods, after school and on weekends, which is what it takes to win at DECA’s ICDC!”

New athletic facility at Roslyn High

Roslyn student-athletes and their coaches are looking forward to the installation of a new, world-class track and feld facility at Roslyn High School.

Work is scheduled to begin May 22 and is slated for completion by the beginning of the next school year— weather permitting.

The project will include demolition, site preparation and new engineering and construction of the current track and feld.

The completed project will include a new running track, a new multi-purpose turf feld, a long jump/

triple jump, a high jump, sand pits, a steeplechase, a pole vault, new perimeter fencing, a newly designed staircase/pathway to the press box, feld lighting and hi-resolution cameras.

“Roslyn High School has a proud tradition of being very competitive in track and feld,” Director of Athletics Michael Brostowski said. “This project will help give our students an edge, give a boost to our athletic program and beneft all the residents who use the track during non-school hours.”

While the entire area is being ren-

ovated, it will be closed to the public. Community members can use the outdoor facility at Roslyn Middle School during the hours when school is not in session and no after-school events are scheduled. These guidelines will apply to the summer school program.

“These upgrades are necessary to keep our outdoor facilities up to date and competitive,” Superintendent Allison Brown said. “This will beneft our physical education program and our extracurricular programs tremendously and provide a fresh, new environment for our community members to enjoy.”

Winterguard brings home gold

The Roslyn High School Winterguard won the Scholastic A Class gold medal at the Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network Championship—held at the RWJ Barnabas Health Arena in Toms River, New Jersey on April 23.

Their production, titled “A Story to Tell,” earned a score of 89.43 and was the third highest of all classes in the competition.

This year was the first competitive season for the group. Their competitive association, Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network, hosts competitions during the winter and spring months throughout the tri-state region.

The culmination of the season is the Mid-Atlantic Indoor Network championship, a 2-day event attended by 118 units in 13 competitive classes, representing 7 states and comprising over 2,700 performers.

“We are so proud of these kids and this program, having stepped out into the winterguard activity with no history of competing indoors, while some of their competitors have decades of experience,” Anthony DeMarino, Roslyn High School’s director of colorguards,

said. “They have exceeded all expectations.”

In recognition of their achievement, each student received an in -

dividual gold medal and the team took home a championship banner and trophy to be proudly displayed at the high school.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROSLYN SCHOOL DISTRICT

Faculty advisor Sallykaye Kaufman with winning student Shayla Zheng.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROSLYN SCHOOL DISTRICT Maxx Yung at the American Academy of Neurology Awards.

High School hosted its frstever spring pep rally on April 28 in the main gym.

The Roslyn High School drumline and DJ kept the bulldog pride pumping

as the varsity and junior varsity spring teams were introduced one-by-one. The spirited rally included relays, a rock, paper, scissors competition and a home run derby!

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROSLYN SCHOOL DISTRICT

Roslyn High School students play a game of rock, paper, scissors at their spring pep rally.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ROSLYN SCHOOL DISTRICT Roslyn Winterguard with their championship banner.

Roslyn School District budget vote , election on May 16

The Roslyn School District’s proposed 2023-2024 budget was adopted by the board of education on April 18. The proposed property tax levy increase of 2.57% is below the tax cap limit of 3.01%, with a spending increase of 4.36%.

The $127,474,805 budget supports the district’s tradition of academic excellence, supports the music, art, athletic and extracurricular programs and will provide for necessary capital improvements while remaining well below the permissible tax levy limit.

Last year, the district launched a state-of-the-art Bloomberg Terminal financial lab to extend students’ knowledge of the markets, incorporated an Anatomage Table into a multi-grade level science class and pre-med electives, increased security features, upgraded cyber-security monitoring and completed in-progress capital improvements in all school buildings.

In the coming year, the proposed budget will provide for an expansion of the athletic program, add exciting new opportunities for elementary and secondary students, upgrade technology, provide apprenticeships, install a security booth at the high school and sustain and improve infrastructure projects across the district.

Residents are encouraged to review the district’s comprehensive budget plan on the school website — www.roslynschools.org.

In addition to the school budget – Proposition 1– the following will also be on the ballot:

• Proposition 2 — 2023-2024 budget for the Bryant Library

• Proposition 3 — Authorizing financing for new school buses and vans, continuing the district’s ongoing program of replacing the oldest vehicles in the district’s bus fleet.

• Proposition 4 — Authorizing expenditures from two exist-

ing Capital Reserve Funds established for the purpose of performing various projects.

• Election of two trustees to the Board of Education. The order in which they will appear on the ballot: Leigh Minsky and Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy

Voting will take place on May 16 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Roslyn High School in the North Gym. Residents should enter the campus via Harbor Hill Road.

To vote, an individual must be a U.S. citizen, 18 years old, a resident of the Roslyn School District for at least 30 days and registered to vote in advance of election day. Absentee ballots are available.

For additional information, please contact District Clerk Nancy Carney Jones at (516) 801-5002 or email her at ncarneyjones@roslynschools.org.

Landmark society adds McRoberts to board

At the April 3 board meeting of the Roslyn Landmark Society the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to appoint Frank McRoberts as a trustee.

McRoberts has a family history on Long Island that dates to the 1600s.

As an infant in the late 1970s, Frank lived in a house on Willow Street in Roslyn Heights. He and his family now live in the Valentine-Losee

House, a historic home in Roslyn built in 1750.

Frank currently serves as a partner at the Long Island-based law firm, Farrell Fritz, and believes he has access to resources that could be of great utility to the Roslyn Landmark Society and its mission.

He is a former board member of the Caumsett Foundation and has previously volunteered with the North

Shore Land Alliance. Frank loves “old homes and historical artifacts,” and he believes “in the Landmark Society’s mission of preserving the history and character of the Village.”

John Santos, co-president of the Roslyn Landmark Society, commented “We are excited to be adding another trustee to the Board with a passion for historic homes and the mission of the Society.

As an owner of a historic Roslyn home, Frank understands the importance of preservation and will be an asset to the organization” Jordan Fensterman, vice president and board development chair of the Roslyn Landmark Society said “I am pleased to welcome Frank to the board of trustees. We look forward to working with him to preserve the historic structures in and around the Roslyn community.”

“William, you were always my hero. I wanted to be just like you, but I didn't play football or basketball like 'The Will', just didn't have your touch. I enjoyed watching you and was always proud to be your brother. Never does a day go by that I do not think of you. What would it be like to be able to call you. I have told my daughters about you letting me drive Mom and Dad’s new car around Tarboro although I was only 14 years old. October 2, 1970, Daddy’s birthday and the day that changed my life. You were my hero before Nam and you are still and one day I hope to walk with you again. I Love you. Mike”

Help us find a photo for ever y name on The Wall

Each name on The Wall represents a family who was forever changed by their loss

Help us find photos for the Wall of Faces to ensure that those who sacr ificed all in Vietnam are never forgotten.

Vist www V VMF.org/Faces to lear n more

PHOTO BY JIM LENNON PHOTOGRAPHER INC. WILLIAM J ALLSBROOK Jr.

Mackenzie, Cassidy Fitzgerald leading Mineola softball

come out on the field. But we really don’t argue. I’m really, really lucky I get to play with her this year.”

No fighting among siblings, ever?

Call the Guinness Book of World Records people.

While Cassidy is just starting out, Mackenzie has proven to be the unquestioned leader with another outstanding season for Mineola.

The shortstop has helped the Mustangs go 11-2 through games of May 5, batting an eye-popping .675 with 10 doubles, 26 RBI and only two strikeouts in 50 plate appearances.

This after a junior season that saw Fitzgerald miss sometime late in the season with a knee injury but still bat .625 with 19 RBI.

Fitzgerald heaped praise on Monique Wink, in her first year as head coach of Mineola, as a major reason for the team’s success.

“She’s just wonderful; she makes every day amazing,” Fitzgerald said. “You’re never ever like ‘oh, I have softball practice today.’ It’s such an open environment, a family environment we have. You’re never afraid to make mistakes, and it’s made our team really really close.”

“She has raised her game 100% even from how good she was last year,” Wink said. “From a leadership role of getting the team fired up, to just crushing it as far as on-field performance. She’s just done everything for us.”

Wink said that it was Fitzgerald’s plate discipline and ability to turn any close pitch into an extra-base hit that set her apart.

“I just love every aspect of softball,” she said. “It has its ups and downs and can be very frustrating, but once I saw that I could be good at it I really dedicated myself to playing as much as I could.”

All that play has resulted in some injury issues over her career, with a torn rotator cuff and torn labrum in her right shoulder two years ago, and a torn meniscus late last season in a game with Glen Cove costing her the rest of her junior year.

“It’s horrible to just sit there and watch your team and not be able to do anything,” Fitzgerald said. “Your team is struggling, and you feel useless. It was just brutal.”

But fully healthy now, Fitzgerald is thriving. She chose Hofstra over other schools because she said

Mineola senior softball shortstop Mackenzie Fitzgerald is batting over .650 this season and leading her team toward the playoffs.

BY MICHAEL J. LEWIS

In the annals of sibling history going back thousands of years, it appears the Fitzgerald girls of Mineola have done something unprecedented.

Senior softball shortstop Mackenzie Fitzgerald has been an anchor of the Mustangs team since eighth grade, overcoming injuries to earn herself a scholarship to Hofstra Uni-

versity next year.

This season, though, has been extra special for Fitzgerald, because when there’s a runner on first and a ground ball comes to her, she peeks toward second base to start a double play and sees a younger person who is always at the breakfast table each morning.

Eighth-grader Cassidy Fitzgerald makes up half of the sibling middle

infield combo for the Mineola varsity this year, handling second base.

So, the Fitzgeralds were asked, do disagreements or fights from inside their house ever make it onto the dirt? Is there any carryover?

“We really don’t fight, ever,” Cassidy said, as both sisters dissolved into laughter.

“It’s true,” Mackenzie added. “We have some inside jokes that maybe

“She just hunts strikes and really doesn’t try to go out of her comfort zone and swing at pitches she can’t do much with,” Wink said. “Her softball IQ is through the roof, in understanding situations and where our fielders should be. She’s played so much softball that she just gets it.”

Fitzgerald comes to her softball greatness partly through genetics; her aunt, Courtney Fitzgerald, was the winningest pitcher in school history at St. John’s University when she starred there in the early 2000s, while Fitzgerald’s older sister, 22-year-old Tierney, played at Division I St. Bonaventure before transferring to Adelphi.

Mackenzie Fitzgerald began playing softball at age 8 and joined Team Long Island travel ball shortly after that.

she loved the coaching staff and the school and hopes to study health sciences at the school located just a few long home runs from her current home field. Her goal is to become an ultrasound technician after taking a course in it at Mineola this year.

Before becoming a member of the Hofstra Pride, Fitzgerald hopes to lead Mineola on a playoff run, with her kid sister by her side.

“She’s just the best teammate and sister,” said Cassidy Fitzgerald, who gave a speech honoring her sister at Mineola’s recent “Senior Day” game. “She helps people when they’re down because she has such a positive attitude.

“It’s been so great being with her.”

“She just hunts strikes and really doesn’t try to go out of her comfort zone and swing at pitches she can’t do much with...

“Her softball IQ is through the roof.”

— Monique Wink HEAD COACH

PHOTO BY JACQUELINE LEWIS

Town to host native plant rebates for residents

North Hempstead Town Supervisor

Jennifer DeSena and the town board are proud to announce that North Hempstead has received $15,000 from the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District to ofer rebates to residents to encourage planting of native plants in their landscapes. The town will be ofering eligible residents up to $350 per household for the purchase of native plants to replace lawn grass or plant in an existing garden.

“We’re proud to once again partner with the Nassau County Soil and Water Conservation District on this great program,” Supervisor DeSena said. “The town of North Hempstead has

consistently prioritized preserving our environment, and this program will continue to play an important role in protecting our environment for future generations.”

“Native plant gardens have extensive root systems that can absorb polluted stormwater, while their leaves absorb carbon dioxide and other air pollutants,” said Council Member Veronica Lurvey. “These gardens provide an easy and beautiful way to help safeguard our surroundings. This initiative is in line with our goal for North Hempstead to serve as a model of sustainability and resiliency.”

For the past two years the program

has been successful in creating over 40 new native plant gardens throughout the town with funding from the Soil and Water District. These gardens provide food, shelter and nesting resources for pollinators, birds, small mammals and a variety of wildlife species. These gardens are important in creating habitats for pollinators such as monarch butterfies. Their populations have been in decline in recent years, and they have been declared endangered by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The town has also taken the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge again this year, and the native plant gardens are important in the

efort to conserve this iconic species.

To qualify for the rebate program, residents will be required to complete an application that includes information about their proposed garden location, estimated budget, New York native plant species chosen, proposed garden size, photo(s) of proposed planting location and a basic garden layout.

Funding is limited and applications that meet the requirements will be accepted on frst-come frst-served basis. For more information and details on how to apply, please call 311 or visit www.northhempsteadny.gov/sustainability.

Northwell inducted into DiversityInc Hall of Fame

After being rated the No. 1 health system nationally for advancing diversity and inclusion in health care for three years in a row according to DiversityInc ranking of Top Hospital and Health Systems, Northwell Health has now been inducted into DiversityInc’s Hall of Fame.

Northwell was also named among the top companies for employee resource groups, Black executives and sponsorships by DiversityInc.

Northwell, New York’s largest health system and private employer, has been on DiversityInc’s list of Top Hospital and Health Systems for diversity for the last 10 years. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame honors Northwell’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as its efforts to promote health equity.

The DiversityInc Hall of Fame corporations are recognized for leading D&I practices in corporate America, and all have been ranked frst on the DiversityInc Top 50 for D&I

practices.

The DiversityInc assessment survey has been the external validator for employers that model fairness in their talent strategy, workplace and supplier diversity practices and philanthropic engagement.

Northwell Health will join organizations like Marriott, EY, Sodexo, Kaiser Permanente, AT&T, PWC, Johnson and Johnson and Novartis in the Hall of Fame.

“New York is one of the most diverse places in the world, which is refected in our 84,000 team members who come from a variety of backgrounds from around the world,” said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health. “Our diverse workforce is our biggest strength and underscores our commitment to Raise Health for all the diverse patients we serve.”

Northwell has committed to integrating diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and health equity into ev-

erything it does. Some of the ways we demonstrate this commitment are through our behavioral commitments and values, one of which is Truly Inclusive, and the programming in our 11 Business Employee Resource

Groups and Employee Network, which foster a sense of understanding, belonging and allyship.

“We are honored to join DiversityInc’s Hall of Fame and consider our participation a deep collaboration by

using their performance benchmarking to track, accelerate and promote our own DEI progress,” said Dr. Jennifer Mieres, senior vice president of Northwell’s Center for Equity of Care, and chief diversity and inclusion offcer. “Our Hall of Fame honor and top company rankings are a tribute to our Northwell team members, all of whom have contributed to our programs, initiatives, inclusive culture and progress.”

Northwell’s commitment to diversity has been recognized by others, as well. The health system was named a national leader in LGBTQ+ inclusiveness by the 2022 Healthcare Equality Index.Northwell was also recently named one of the most ethical companies in the world for the eighth time by Ethisphere, and was ranked as one of the most innovative companies in the world by Fortune Northwell’s inclusion in the DiversityInc. Hall of Fame was formally announced at a ceremony on May 2.

Stamp Out Hunger food drive to return on May 13

Island Harvest Food Bank, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), and the United States Postal Service have announced the return of the annual Stamp Out Hunger,the nation’s most extensive one-day food collection campaign.

This year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive is on Saturday. May 13, and all food collected in Nassau and Sufolk counties will beneft Island Harvest in providing much-needed supplemental food support to more than 300,000 Long Islanders who face hunger and food insecurity, including nearly one-third who are children.

“Participating in Stamp Out Hunger is easy,” says Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest. “Generous Long Islanders are encouraged to leave non-perishable food items in a bag next to their mailbox before the regularly scheduled mail delivery on Saturday, May 13. Then, your USPS letter carrier will do the rest to help make sure that no one on Long Island goes hungry.”

Non-perishable food items to be donated include canned goods, cereal, pasta, rice, boxed juices and shelf-stable milk (please, no food or

juices in glass containers). In addition, personal care items such as toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, and disposable diapers are accepted.

All goods donated on Long Island will help replenish Island Harvest’s network of food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency feeding programs in communities throughout Long Island.

“Every donation, no matter how small, helps our neighbors who are in the unenviable position of choosing between paying for such things as housing, transportation, and medicine or putting food on the table,” said Shubin Dresner. “I am confdent that the past generosity displayed by our Long Island neighbors will help make this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive one of the most successful.”

Due to the pandemic, the Stamp Out Hunger food collection was temporarily discontinued in 2020.

Since its inception in 1993, Stamp Out Hunger has collected more than 1.75 billion pounds of food in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands to help address the issue of hunger in America.

On Long Island, Stamp Out Hunger brought in over 519,000 pounds of food in 2019 before

the event was temporarily suspended from 2020 through 2022 due to the pandemic.

“The National Association of Letter Carriers and the men and women we represent on Long Island are pleased to once again partner with Island Harvest in this year’s Stamp Out Hunger food collection,” said Tom Siesto, 1st vice president, NALC Branch 6000. “Our carriers often see frsthand the pervasive issue of hunger as part of their daily rounds, and they are eager to help give back to the community and assist in helping Island Harvest Food Bank tackle this important issue.”

This year’s major sponsoring partners with Island Harvest on the NALC Stamp Out Hunger collection campaign include National Grid, JP Morgan Chase & Co., Amazon, Allstate, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, Catholic Health, Nonna’s Garden, Long Island Federation of Labor, MCN Distributors, Dime Community Bank and New York Community Bank.

All donations to Stamp Out Hunger are taxdeductible because all the food collected benefts Island Harvest, a registered501(c)(3)nonproft organization.

A Northwell Health physician checks her patient’s heartbeat.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NALC

Island Harvest Food Bank and the National Association of Letter Carriers urges residents to leave a bag of non-perishable food near their mailbox on Saturday, May 13, to help Long Islanders struggling with hunger and food insecurity.

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