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Floral Park Board of Trustees Meeting reports continued

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The Island 360
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Floral Park Village Hall. (Photo courtesy of the Village of Floral Park)

Reports at the Sept. 17 Floral Park Village Board Meeting from Village Trustee Michael Longobardi and Village Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald:

Trustee Michael Longobardi:

Building Department:

Construction for the proposed restaurant at 99 Covert Ave. has begun. The owner/developer of the covert fire property has notified the village that they are ready to begin construction in the next few weeks. Permits have been issued. The foundation work will start in late September or the beginning of October.

Framing is just about complete on 1 Carnation Ave. and roofing will start this week. The pedestrian walkway connecting Tulip Avenue to the Spur Parking Lot is complete and open. Nassau County funded 50 percent of this project.

The next meeting for ARB is on Sept. 25. One of the applications for review is a subdivision proposal for 155 Beech St..

Be aware that even if a project at your home does not require a permit, all home improvement work performed by anyone except the homeowner must be insured and licensed by the Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs. Home improvement work includes repair, maintenance, replacement, remodeling, alteration, conversion, modernization or addition to any land or building. You can contact the Building Department or the Nassau County Office of Consumer Affairs directly if you have any questions or suspect a contractor may not hold a valid license.

Recreation and Pool:

Longobardi said he would like to caution all residents coming to the recreation center about the ongoing construction in the area. Stewart Street and Terrace Avenue are in the process of being resurfaced. A new crosswalk and ramps are being installed where Terrace Avenue and Stewart Street meet for a safer path to the park.

Last night, the Pool and Recreation committees held an end-of-season review to discuss what went well this summer and areas that need improvement before next season.

“We had a great pool season and we will be looking at ways to increase pool membership before next year,” Longobardi said in the report. “We are also considering new programs and half-day activities to increase participation in the summer rec programs. Some programs may have become outdated and others may run on a trial basis to see what interest they spark. We hope to present more in the coming months as we start to prepare for next year. We also welcome any suggestions you may have.”

Fall activities have started at the park. Floral Park Little League Fall Program, Women’s Kickball, Indians Soccer and Titans Football are all underway. Fall registration for all youth, adult and senior programs is currently ongoing.

The 26th Annual Liz’s Day event to support research and development of treatments and cure for breast cancer will take place on Sept. 28 at the recreation center. This event started 26 years ago to spread awareness and raise funds for breast cancer research after lifelong resident Elizabeth McFarland lost her life to breast cancer. Come out and have some fun while supporting a great cause that affects so many.

Town-Village Aircraft Safety & Noise Abatement Committee:

The next meeting will be held on Sept. 23 at the Town of Hempstead Town Hall, One Washington St. in Hempstead. If you want to make a noise complaint regarding air traffic, you can call 1-800-225-1071. You can also go to our Village website, which has the links under the TVASNAC noise complaint contact information page on our home page.

Emergency Management:

Recently, the Floral Park Lions Club, in conjunction with the Governor’s Office and the Village of Floral Park, hosted a Citizen Preparedness Training Seminar. This program taught residents the basic tools and resources needed for many types of disasters. The tools included how to develop a family emergency plan, stocking up on supplies, what goes into an emergency preparedness kit, planning for your pets and much more.

The presenters were members of the NY National Guard. This program is available to any organization or group that would like this valuable training and information. Visit Prepare.ny.gov for additional information.

Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald:

This Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Fire Fighters Hall an engineer will come to discuss the upcoming drainage projects taking place in Floral Park, particularly at the intersection of Hickory Street and Cedar Place, as well as Mayfair Avenue and Clover Avenue.

Additionally, the long-awaited and designed Belmont Recharge Basin within Belmont Park. The project is primarily funded by a grant from U.S. Rep Anthony D’Esposito’s Office.

“I’d also like to further comment on Deputy Mayor Pombonyo’ s report, and congratulate the PBA on their anniversary and thank them for doing a great job over the last 100 years in keeping Floral Park one of the safest places to be, with their upmost professionalism, kindness and courtesy,” Fitzgerald.

Rosemary DeGennaro takes on new role at New Hyde Pk HS

By
Ben Fiebert
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Rosemary DeGennaro is the new principal of New Hyde Park Memorial High School. (Photo Courtesy of the Sewanhaka Central High School District)

Sewanhaka Central High School District appointed Acting Principal Rosemary DeGennaro as principal of New Hyde Park Memorial High School Aug. 29.

DeGennaro started her professional career as an English teacher and then assistant principal at Christ the King Regional High School from 2000 to 2008. She then joined the Sewanhaka Central High School District 16 years ago as an assistant principal of New Hyde Park Memorial High School.

New Hyde Park Memorial High School. (Photo courtesy of the Sewanhaka Central High School District)

“I implemented a lot of new initiatives, I’ve worked with the kids for a long time, I know the faculty very well. We work well together,” DeGennaro said. “And to take on this new role as the leader of the building, I’m really excited about it and we’ve done a lot of great work with the past principal and I just want to see that work continue. So that’s really my reason for taking on this new role.”

DeGennaro said when she was the assistant principal, she implemented an initiative to have a specific theme for each school year. She said these themes find their way into discussions in the classroom and they sometimes define some of the activities in the building.

For example, this year’s theme is believing in real-world connections, which involves putting technology aside and trying to get to know one another. She said by implementing this theme, she will ensure that the students have an opportunity to talk to each other, have a voice in the school and not get so attached to their cell phones.

“We’re looking at putting board games in the cafeteria during lunch and I’ve worked with my staff to come up with some creative ways moving forward as to how we can provide a distraction from the cell phone,” DeGennaro said.

As an educator, DeGennaro said she recognized the challenges that students face, which she said has changed over the course of her career. She said she had to alter her procedures or techniques and understand the new demands for dealing with these challenges. This is something that she said she is very mindful of and wants to instill in her staff.

In her role as assistant principal, DeGennaro provided ongoing mentorship for department chairs, supplied professional development on classroom management, had complete knowledge of the Master Schedule for grades 7 through 12 and the special education program, and maintained and updated all school safety plans.

Additionally, DeGennaro is an active participant in the school community, serving as the co-chair of the Middle States Evaluation Committee, overseeing the school’s Safety Committee and Shared Decision-Making Committee and serving as the building representative for District Food Advisory Committee and Grade Book Committee.

DeGennaro is also involved with the New Hyde Park PTSA and the Dad’s Club.

DeGennaro holds a bachelor’s in English and secondary education from Queens
College, a master’s in ELA curriculum and learning disabilities from St. John’s University,
and a professional diploma in administration/supervision from St. John’s University.

“Congratulations to Rosemary DeGennaro, the newly appointed principal of New Hyde Park Memorial High School,” the Lakeville Estates Civic Association of New Hyde Park said on Facebook. “May your tenure be filled only with success.”

Editorial: Disinformation threatens democracy

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The Island 360
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It began with a woman in Springfield, Ohio, reporting to police that her cat was missing and her suspicion that her neighbors, Haitian immigrants, had taken the pet.

Miss Sassy would get discovered two days later in the Springfield woman’s basement.

The woman apologized, but the damage had already been done.

On a private Facebook page, someone said the Haitian neighbors had eaten her cat. When the story escaped to the full internet, Haitian immigrants in Springfield were said without any evidence to have regularly abducted and eaten pet dogs and cats.

JD Vance,  Ohio’s junior senator and former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, then repeated the false story even though he was told that was not true by Springfield city officials, according to the Wall Street Journal

Vance also claimed the Haitian immigrants were in the country illegally, another fabrication.

Vance’s claim appears to be part of his and Trump’s narrative that immigrants were hurting this nation’s economy and increasing this country’s crime rate. Studies have repeatedly shown that both claims are untrue.

Vance’s unfounded claims were immediately picked up by Trump, who repeated them on Truth Social, at his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, and his rally last week at the Nassau Coliseum.

More than 30 bomb threats followed the false claims – against Springfield schools, government buildings and city officials’ homes, forcing evacuations and closures. Springfield also canceled its annual celebration of diversity, arts and culture in response to the threats, and  state police were deployed to city schools.

City officials acknowledged growing pains from the influx of some 15,000 Haitian immigrants but said there’s no evidence to support the claim they are consuming anyone’s pets.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a native of the Springfield area, repeatedly said there was no basis to the claims Haitians were abducting and eating pets, hurting the economy and bringing crime.

Just the opposite.

“Springfield is having a resurgence in manufacturing and job creation,” DeWine said in an op-ed in The New York Times. ‘Some of that is thanks to the dramatic influx of Haitian migrants who have arrived in the city over the past three years to fill jobs.

“They are there legally. They are there to work,” DeWine said.

But the genie was out of the bottle.

The false claims had reached such a feverish pitch that the Miami-Dade Haitian Democratic Caucus held an event in South Florida titled “We Don’t Eat Pets Rally.”

The threat unleashed by Trump and Vance is not limited to Haitians. The only outward distinguishing trait for Haitians is that they are Black, so it is not unreasonable to believe this false story represents a potential danger to all Black people.

The assertion that Haitians are abducting and eating dogs is not the only false claim made by Trump and Vance in recent days.

CNN said it counted 12 fraudulent claims made by Trump in the past month.

This included a variety of claims about Harris and a story about how the Congo has deliberately emptied prisons to somehow get its criminals to come to the United States as migrants.

So why make these false fabricated claims?

Either Trump and Vance believe that voters in places like Nassau County are willing to accept the Trump campaign’s lies without question or that they like the message he is sending regardless of whether what he is saying is based on fact.

This is a dangerous game. A functioning democracy is based on informed citizens casting votes based on a common set of facts. A lack of informed citizens leads to autocracy.

Trump and Vance are by no means alone in promoting disinformation.

Social media, internet websites, and political rallies have become filled with the spread of intentional disinformation and misinformation innocently passed along.

Some of this disinformation comes from foreign governments seeking to divide Americans and undermine our democracy. Others for personal or political gain.

Howard Schneider,  the former editor of Newsday and the current executive director of Stony Brook University’s Center for News Literacy, has led a years-long campaign to teach students and the public how to discern between fact-based journalism and propaganda.

“We read vertically now, which means if I read a text or watch a video, I’ll watch it, and I’ll ask questions,” Schneider said at a panel discussion hosted by Blank Slate Media three years ago. “Lateral reading means we have to read it and go elsewhere and check it out. That’s how professional fact-checkers work. They leave a text, interrogate it elsewhere and come back.”

The time is long past when adults and students are given the tools to discriminate between fact and fiction.

Let Springfield, Ohio, serve as a reason why.

Viewpoint: Looking clear-eyed at Trump on Long Island

By
Karen Rubin
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Karen Rubin
Karen Rubin, Columnist

 

They say we shouldn’t be judgmental of Trump supporters, but it is hard not to be when they accept obvious lies and absurdities as truths and follow blindly as if in a cult. This was on view during Trump’s rally at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.

After Springfield, Ohio, officials repeatedly told Trump and his Mini-Me VP, JD Vance, that there was no truth to their tall tale of Haitian migrants kidnapping and eating pets, Vance admitted to lying as a political tactic “to get media attention” but more accurately, to enflame hate, stir political violence and get votes. The Haitians are legally in the U.S., having been granted Temporary Protected Status and invited to Springfield to help resuscitate their moribund economy.

A candidate who would lie about legal migrants eating pets to trigger votes would lie us into war for political or personal benefit. Trump has already proved he will sell out national security – extort a desperate foreign leader like Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy by withholding appropriated military aid; sell arms to Saudi Arabia; sell out allies (like NATO); set the powers of government against opponents who he has called “vermin,” “animals” and “unhumans” while pardoning actual criminals and insurrectionists because they support him; obstruct justice and steal classified secrets.

So Trump comes to Long Island and repeats the lies about “illegals” invading New York and promises the biggest deportation crusade in history (never mind actual laws and due process).

He lies about rampant crime when, in fact, New York City has the 96th lowest crime rate among America’s 100 largest cities, while violent crime, thanks to the Biden-Harris administration and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s gun safety policies and community policing investment, has dropped at record pace after spiking under Trump. But while violent crime has dropped, hate crimes increased 39% in 2024, double the incidents against Jews and Muslims, largely because Trump stokes hate and political violence for his own ends. Meanwhile, gun violence is highest in 2024 in states with the loosest gun restrictions: Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, and Montana (statista.com/statistics/1380025/us-gun-violence-rate-by-state/)

Trump actually said this: “They would take me to a subway, put me on and say, ‘Bye, darling. Bye.’ If you do that today, you have about a 75% chance that you’ll never see your child again. What the hell has happened here? What has happened?”

Clearly, his addled mind is confusing riding the subway (when have you heard about any school kid getting assaulted on the subway?) with being massacred at school, the movies, the mall, the grocery, a parade because of his promotion of easy access to assault weapons, his glorification of gun violence and his refusal to push for Red Flag laws or provide resources for mental health.

Trump also presented himself – get this – as the “law and order,” “tough on crime” candidate: “But when I get back into the Oval Office, the madness ends, and the law and order is going to return to our country. A fully reformed Federal Department of Justice will deliver massive public safety funding for New York and other Democrat-run cities that are under siege. Give me a shot. You will have a safe New York within three months.

On the other hand, Trump, who is the first person to run for office as a convicted felon and has yet to face trial on charges of stealing national secrets, obstructing justice, attempting to overturn the election, inciting an insurrection and disrupting the peaceful transition of power, already has a record for doing the “lawfare” he accuses Democrats of – that is, weaponizing law enforcement. The guy who says he will restore “law and order” and derides former District Attorney and Attorney General Kamala Harris as “soft on crime” pardons actual criminals (he commuted the life sentence of a convicted murderer who was just convicted of domestic battery on Long island), and promises to pardon the Jan. 6 insurrectionists he calls “political prisoners” (sending a message to those he wants to riot to insure he takes office in 2025).

One of the biggest lies is when he promised Long Island he would “cut taxes for families, small businesses, and workers, including restoring the SALT deduction,”  which he maliciously put into place to stick it to Blue states (the donor states that send billions of dollars more to the federal government than are returned) and had his minions in Congress repeatedly reject repealing the SALT cap, as Democrat Congressman Tom Suozzi has been trying to do since taking back the seat from Republican fraudster George Santos.

Take the blinders off. Does this remotely sound with what you see around you? “New York, with crime at record levels, with terrorists and criminals pouring in, and with inflation eating your hearts out, vote for Donald Trump. What the hell do you have to lose?” he said recently.

What the hell do we have to lose? How about our freedom. Women have had a taste of what they have to lose under Trump and it will only get worse. Women are needlessly dying now for being denied access to reproductive and emergency health care.

“Together, we will rebuild our roads, bridges, highways, and airports. They’re falling apart. They’re falling down. We will renovate New York’s subway,” Trump said.

Actually, thanks to Gov. Andrew Cuomo (yes, that guy), Gov. Kathy Hochul and Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, New York’s infrastructure is being rebuilt for the 21st century – new LaGuardia and JFK airports, new Penn Station and Grand Central Madison stations, new LIRR third track and subway lines, new UBS and Barclays Center arenas, new Tappan Zee (Cuomo) and other bridges.

To say he is “transactional” is an understatement. At a fund-raiser, he promised Big Oil that if they donated $1 billion to his campaign, he would sweep away Biden’s historic climate actions and told Long Island he would end the electric mandate on cars and “terminate the Green New Scam…one of the greatest scams in the history of our country.”

Ditto Big Pharma and Project 2025 intention to repeal negotiated rates for prescription drugs like insulin. Ditto a promise to sweep away any regulations on the already massively corrupt crypto currency scam.

But how creepy is it that just days before the election, Trump announces he is launching a crypto currency company, to get in on the con and promises to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the world” (undermining his next promise “to keep the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency).

To sum up, Trump spewed a rambling list of promises, or rather, obsessions: “We will stop the invasion, the migrant crime, support our police, strengthen our military… We will build a missile defense shield around our country, keep critical race theory and transgender insanity out of our schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports. We will defend the Second Amendment, restore free speech, and we will secure our elections, and we will secure our borders. Everyone will prosper, every family will thrive, and every day will be filled with opportunity and hope.. 

“But this is how we will end the era of inflation, mayhem, misery, under Kamala and Crooked Joe, and unleash safety, prosperity, and peace for Americans of every race, religion, color, and creed. That’s what we’re going to do. Together, we will deliver low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, low inflation, so that everyone can afford groceries, a car, and a home. Very simple. Right?

But while Trump doesn’t actually have a plan or even an understanding of economics, public policy or foreign policy, his handlers who created Project 2025 do.

So easy. Very simple. Right?

Towering over competition, Rubinstein leads Port Washington soccer

By
Michael J. Lewis
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Port Washington senior Felix Rubinstein (in purple) is the leading returning scorer for the Vikings as they try to win a class AAA county title. Photo credit: Laura Neville.

The family trips to Vermont as a kid were fun for Felix Rubinstein.

He and sister Eloise (two years younger) loved to visit their grandpa and cousins in the Green Mountain State, skiing and doing other winter activities.

But in the summer, the Vermont cousins played soccer so Felix and Eloise figured they may as well play, too.

And after initially looking at soccer as just a fun leisure activity, Felix and Eloise got hooked.

“We saw how competitive they were, and being around that environment really made me want to be a part of it,” Felix Rubinstein said. “My parents saw that and signed us up for leagues here.”

“Here” was Great Neck, and then Port Washington, and it turned out to be a very wise decision for parents Diane and Keith.

Felix has grown up, literally, to be a towering force on the Port Washington High School team, a 6-foot-3 striker with great ball skills and a lethal shot. He scored nine goals last season in helping the Vikings to the Class AAA semifinal, where for the second year in a row it fell to Plainview.

This season Rubinstein and the Vikings hope to get over the hump and win that elusive county title.

“We’ve gotten close, and I think we have a different mindset this year,” Rubinstein said before a recent practice. “I know I need to do whatever I can to help us, on and off the field.”

Rubinstein is one of two stars in his family on the pitch; Eloise, 15, has become a star in her own right, helping lead the girls team and attending a U.S. under-15 national camp this summer.

“She’s very successful at a really young age and I’m so proud of her,” Rubinstein said. “I get nervous watching her games, and I notice every little thing she does. When I watch her, it feels like I’m playing too. I get really into it.”

Felix Rubinstein has been a four-year varsity player for the Vikings, and was immediately a vital piece for the team, coach Stephan Brossard said.

“He’s the tip of the spear for us,” Brossard said. “The kids know to try to get the ball to him so he can try to make magic happen.”

Brossard said Rubinstein has been a leader on the field for the past three years.

“Because of how talented he is, we thought the kids would look to him for guidance, and he’s developed into that,” Brossard added. “He’s one of the most responsible, and one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met.

“I wish I could have 20 of them.”

Rubinstein has kept skiing as he’s developed as a soccer player, competing for club teams like Port United and now the East Meadow Soccer Club. He said spending time on the slopes has helped him with leg strength and balance on the field. He’s played multiple positions in his career, but the striker suits him best.

“I can get involved on both sides (offense and defense) and be vocal, a lot more vocal this year as a senior,” Rubinstein said.

Having spent so much time in Vermont as a kid, Rubinstein decided that was where he wanted to spend college, as well. He made it a goal to get recruited by Middlebury College, who competes in Division III in athletics.

“I talked to a few different schools but they were always my first choice, so I was very excited to get an offer from them,” Rubinstein said.

Not sure what he wants to major in, Rubinstein said he enjoys writing in school. He and Eloise certainly hope to author quite a few Port Washington soccer wins this fall.

“We have definitely become closer and bonded because of soccer; it’s great having someone you have that in common with and can talk to about it,” Rubinstein said. “Seeing her succeed has been so great, and we always support each other.”

Our Town: Identity politics in extremis

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archive.theisland360.com
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We live in the age of identity politics. This started in earnest in the late 20th century with a shifting away from broad-based party politics into an alignment with a particular subclass, religion, ethnic group, nationality, gender, or social class. This was when multiculturalism became a popular term in America.

This year’s presidential election is the quintessence of identity politics. Trump is the ultimate personality, the candidate of the past, representing a time when “Father Knows Best,” when church pews were filled, where families were intact and when America was “great.” But Trump has gone beyond identity politics with his use of metaphors like The Wall and Drain the Swamp. His Wall metaphor has an impact because it unconsciously stands for a solid containing structure that holds the American identity together.

Kamala Harris has an opposing identity. And a different personality with a warm smile and a strong backbone. She embodies the identity of women, African American women, Asian American women and most of the disenfranchised in America. Her political credentials are as imposing as Trumps since she was a district attorney, a junior senator from California and the vice president of the Untied States.

But her task may be more difficult than Trump’s because she must represent, symbolize and contain such varying groups of citizens. I first realized how daunting the Democratic Party’s task was during the run-up to the 2016 presidential election. You may recall that there were 17 Democratic candidates in those debates which showed me that the party was fragmented almost beyond repair.

The cause of identity politics has its roots in multiculturalism of the 1990s. This stage was also called post-modernism and was brought about as our traditional forms of authority, such as family, the church, the education system and politics were dismantled. But we all needed these institutions to identify with or as the Rolling Stones sang: “We all need someone we can lean on.” So America began to lean on its ethnic roots for a while. That was called multiculturalism.

We live in times which are fragmented, overwhelming and confusing. We look to our leaders to give us solace, structure, safety or someone to lean on. Thus we now have identity politics. We don’t have time, patience or energy to think about the finer points of politics.

It’s all we can do to identify with the guy or gal who is kind of like us and then latch on as we would to a life preserver when adrift in the ocean. And make no mistake about it. We are all adrift in an ocean of information, entertainment and electronic media life.

What Trump has done so well is to establish some simple metaphors that allow his followers to identify with him.

Can Kamala Harris invent a metaphor to match Trump’s? If she does, she will win. If she doesn’t. she will lose.

Trump has The Wall and Drain the Swamp and “Make America Great Again.” These refer us back to a simpler time.

I have yet to hear either a metaphor or a slogan that Kamala Harris has established that the citizens can rally around. Do not underestimate the power of a simple metaphor. Trump has mastered this art and Ms. Harris has yet to do so.

Upcoming events at the Williston Park Public Library

By
The Island 360
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“Thank you to all the visitors who stopped the library’s booth at the Williston Park Street Fair,” Donna McKenna, director of the Williston Park Public Library, said. “Your support of the library and the Friends group is truly appreciated. Sending a huge thank you to Steve Shelley and DPW for setting up our area at the fair and bringing tables, chairs and books. Thank you also to the awesome Williston Park Library staff who donated their time help out at the booth. It certainly ‘takes a village.'”

Be aware that the L.I. Children’s Museum will be closed from Sept. 9 to 27 for their fall cleanup. Passes to these museums will be unavailable during this time. The library is still distributing Covid-19 tests while supplies last.

New titles added to the collection:
Thirteenth Husband by Greer Macallister
Close Knit by Jenny Colgan
Moral Injuries by Christie Watson
I Hope This Finds Your Well by Natalie Sue
How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
Behind Every Good Woman by Sara Goodman Confino
Peach Tea Smash by Laura Childs
Seventh Veil of Salome by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This is why we Lied by Karin Slaughter
By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult
Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable

Adult Programs:
Reiki on Oct. 3 and 17; Nov. 7 and 21; Dec. 5 and 19 from 6 p.m. in the
Assembly Room of Village Hall. $10 per person.

Yoga on Sept. 21 and 28; October 5, 12, 19 and 26 from noon to 1 p.m. in the
Assembly Room of Village Hall. $10 p/person. Bring a yoga mat, water bottle and towel. Wear comfortable clothes. Call the library (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

Ceramic Pumpkin Craft with Rosemarie Attard on Oct. 22 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in
the library. $15 material fee. Limited to 25 participants. Call the library (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

Senior ID Program on Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to noon in the Assembly Room of Village Hall. The event is sponsored by the Nassau County Office for the Aging. Call the library (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

Tax Exemption Seminar on Oct. 24 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the Assembly Room
of Village Hall. The event is sponsored by the Town of North Hempstead, the Receiver of
Taxes Mary Jo Collins, who will show homeowners how to apply for important property tax exemptions. Reservations are not required but are recommended. To reserve your seat, email Gounarisg@northhempsteadny.gov or call (516) 869-7800 and indicate the seminar you wish to attend.

Book Discussion on Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Room of Village Hall and via zoom. Copies of Namesake are available at the Circulation Desk. Join the book club at  Aadelphiuniversity.zoom.us/j/96885670102?pwd=VGtSYnkyUW9acVJy
V0tyNUtUZnMyZz09
Meeting ID: 968 8567 0102
Passcode: WPBookClub
Or call 1-929-205-6099, and it will ask for the meeting ID and password above.

Ceramic Christmas Ornament Craft with Rosemarie Attard on Dec. 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the library. $20 material fee. Limited to 25 participants. Call the library at (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

Children’s Program:

Storytime with Miss Beth on Sept. 24; Oct. 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 from noon to 12:30 p.m. in
the Children’s Room for ages 3-5. Call the library (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

Adventures in Keyboarding on Sept. 28 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Children’s Room for grades 1 to 4. Children will explore their musical talents on a floor keyboard. Limited to 12 participants. Call the library (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

Minecraft Halloween Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 12 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Children’s Room for grades K to 7. Limited to 15 participants. 10 devices will be provided. The remaining participants must bring their own devices. Call the library (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

Halloween Crafts on Oct. 26 from noon to 1 p.m. in the Children’s Room for all ages. Call the library (516) 742-1820 or email WillistonParkPrograms@gmail.com to register.

All Things Real Estate: Multigenerational living might be the answer

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archive.theisland360.com
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Since the Fed lowered its rate half a percentage point last week, the question is will this be instrumental in having more purchasers enter the market? I do not think so.  There will be a small group of financially able consumers who will benefit, however.  But I do not think this will enable the majority to make purchases.

Will the rates ever go back to the low rates that we experienced? I doubt that, too.  That event was a once-in-a-lifetime situation.  So what does one do to be able to secure homeownership leading to building some future wealth?

This is the moment in time to consider partnering up with parents, relatives or significant others to step in the direction of owning a home.  Pooling and combining incomes to be approved for a mortgage could be a solid path to pursue.  Pew Research did research and in 2022, https://pewrsr.ch/47Cv2Fz that found 31% of young adults ages 25-29 were living with an older family member.  Among men, 37% in the same range were still living in multi-generational situations.  Thirty-six percent of women in the same age bracket also lived in generational environments.

Increased immigration of Hispanics and Asians as well as some members of the Black population with inadequate funds lived together, making it more doable financially. The main reason was the lack of financial stability as well as care for a family member.  A caretaker living with parents today can be paid through Medicaid. The pandemic has caused one in eight adults (13%) to live with a family member.

However, 25% experienced more stress in those caretaker situations while twice as many felt they living in a more comfortable environment. According to an analysis of census data from 1971-2021, the number of people living in multigenerational family households quadrupled during that period, reaching 59.7 million in March 2021. Their numbers more than than doubled to 18% of the U.S. population.

The best approach would be to find a multi-family property that will allow you space and greater privacy.  Finding a place that has more than two apartments will enable the other tenants to contribute to the overall mortgage and real estate expenses.  It is all predicated on what the family qualifies for in financing.  A larger mortgage will provide for more opportunities to afford a larger home or apartment building.   Moreover, larger down payments will also create a stronger position for your lender to provide an adequate mortgage.

Living in a group will enable many to save money and eventually allow them to purchase. The important issue is that prices do not look like they will be coming down anytime soon, without a drop in demand or some longer-term monumental issue occurring.  The recent Fed rate reduction may reduce the cost of purchasing.  However, this will depend on your income, credit, and debt/income ratio.  When you are in the top tier, your rate will be the lowest.

If generational living is not feasible, then renting locally or even moving out of New York State will be your options. Renting in the top 50 cities is currently more economical than purchasing.  Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine had an article May 1 that delved into comparing buy vs. rent today. https://bit.ly/3ZzeAnB The savings were dramatic, especially in California (San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley areas) where the rent-to-buy ratio at that time was 180.7%.

However, on the flip side, Long Island has been somewhat resilient in its economy and housing market.  Our housing inventory has been so historically low and demand still very brisk that it has kept prices very strong.  Nassau County’s median price in July 2024 was $849,000.  In Suffolk County the median sales price was $749,000.

Looking back to 2019. I saw the market beginning to slow as it was heading to the end of a cycle.  This one had bottomed in 2011 (after the implosion of the market in 2008) and housing prices began increasing.  So then in March 2020, when the Covid virus hit, people began leaving major cities.  This is one of the factors that fueled the market, especially with the advent of hybrid work environments and millions who weren’t able, couldn’t or didn’t go back to their offices.

The lowest rates in history and the excess expansion of our currency entering the market, began to drive sales, creating a feeding frenzy and devastating inflation including supply chain shortages.  As prices increased with demand, buyers started to leave the market and consider renting.  Interest rates increased 11 times, fueling the rental market.  As sales continued to recede, demand was still constricting inventory.  Sellers pulled back and stayed where they were due to the much higher rates, since 65% had already refinanced at much lower rates and weren’t going to give them up.

Many purchasers abandoned the market to go into rentals, creating abnormally high demand, thereby increasing prices in both Long Island counties.  But looking at the costs of buying vs. renting, the latter now makes more sense in the brain and cents in the pocket.

So generational living may not be available to you.  But at the same time, affordability and being stretched with a mortgage, taxes and upkeep aren’t in the cards.  However, renting will provide you with an advantage in saving up more for a down payment. There are choices, but being prudent and more conservative in your decision-making will keep you in a safer position now and in the future when you will be capable financially to purchase

Philip A. Raices is the owner/Broker of Turn Key Real Estate at 3 Grace Ave Suite 180 in Great Neck. 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

Here and Now Yoga to host self defense workshop

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The Island 360
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Storefront of the Floral Park business Here and Now Yoga, which will host a self-defense course on Sept. 28. (Photo courtesy of Dina Denis-Paolucci)

Floral Park’s new business Here and Now Yoga: Wellness and Arts Collective will be hosting an event called Empower Self-Defense workshop.

The event will take place on Sept. 28 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 22 Verbena Ave. in Floral Park. Participants will learn awareness, confidence, strength and safety. Black-belt instructors Michelle Ingkavet Cavanagh and Tom Stagnitta will be teaching the class.

Pre-registration is required at HereAndNowYoga.com. The event is $50 for drop-in and $45 for unlimited members.

New Hyde Park students selected for NYSSMA All-State

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The Island 360
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New Hyde Park Memorial High School students, from left, Janice Park, Abigail Chung and Clayton Yu with music teacher Hope Bagley, Principal Rosemary DeGennaro and Music Department Chair Noel Monat. (Photo courtesy of the Sewanhaka Central High School District)

Three New Hyde Park Memorial High School students, Abigail Chung, Janice
Park and Clayton Yu, were invited to be participants or alternates in the New York State School Music Association All-State Performing Ensemble in Rochester from Dec. 5-8.

Chung was selected to perform in the All-State Symphonic Band on the Bb clarinet,
and Yu was selected to perform in the All-State Symphony Orchestra on the French Horn.
Park was selected as an alternate on the flute.

Students auditioned for this honor last spring at solo and ensemble festivals.

Floral Park student named Long Island Scholar Artist

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The Island 360
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Floral Park Memorial High School student Fiona So, center, with art teacher Natasha Santana and Principal Alicia Calabrese. (Photo courtesy of the Sewanhaka Central High School District)

Floral Park Memorial High School student Fiona So has been recognized as a Long Island Scholar Artist in the Visual Arts category for the 2024-25 school year.

The honor is given by the Long Island Arts Alliance, which developed the program to present outstanding high school-age artists to the public in monthly profiles. So is among 20 students on Long Island that will be featured this school year.

Bond vote set for end of January to fix school’s heating system

By
Ben Fiebert
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Lisa Ruiz, interim superintendent of the Floral Park-Bellrose School District, announced the district's five-year strategic plan. (Photos by Ben Fiebert)

As the temperatures start to cool, the Floral Park-Bellrose School District will hold a bond vote to address its failing heating system.

Lisa Ruiz, interim superintendent of the school district, discussed its necessary facility upgrades, such as the heating system, at the Board of Education meeting last Thursday. She said the system is old and has broken down several times throughout the years.

“We are spending a lot of money to repair and maintain this failing and aging infrastructure for our heating system,” Ruiz said, “so it’s something that needs our immediate attention.”

Ruiz said if the heating system fails one day and if it’s freezing in the schools, students will not be able to go to class. Thus, the school administration has been working with the Board of Education to start a heating conversion project.

Ruiz said some of the equipment in the heating system has reached the end of  its life and other parts are no longer produced. Some parts, she said, will eventually reach a point where the piping and the system itself are beyond repair.

“So the time has come to move forward with this bond,” Ruiz said.

The bond referendum planning timeline for the heating project starts in September and ends in January. Discussions on the details of the cost and what exactly the bond will cover will be revealed within the next few months.

Board of Education and our community and we hope that community members will join in person or on Zoom so that you can learn more about it,” Ruiz said. “Each month we have a schedule of presentations that we’ll be offering and the most important thing is we want you to come and ask questions because we want you to be an informed voter when this comes forward.”

In September, the district will form a facilities committee, open to any community member or parent, to gather input from the community on what’s gone wrong, the components of the aging system, and the plans for repairing and upgrading the system.

The board will adopt the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the first resolution required as part of the bond process, in October.

“It’s an environmental resolution that has to be passed by law as part of any bond process,” Ruiz said.

In November, the board will adopt the resolution for the bond referendum.

The bond vote is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2024.

“So we will be busy for the next five months, planning for this bond.”

This bond vote is a small part of a larger “five-year strategic plan” that the district announced on Sept. 12. This plan is a guiding document that clarifies the district’s goals, priorities, and desired outcomes from 2024 to 2029. It will also help the district set policies that align with community expectations and goals.

“It’s a process in determining what the district will look like in X number of years and in our case it’s a five-year plan,” Ruiz said.

A committee of about 30 people worked on this plan. The committee met with Battelle for Kids, a national not-for-profit organization focused on giving educators the tools needed to offer future-ready, deeper learning experiences. The organization conducted a review of the current state of the district based on various forms of data, such as performance, student achievement, student and community data, a staff retrospective and financial data.

“So we presented a summary report back in November of all this data for the committee to look at and that became at least the majority of the basis for forming the plan,” Ruiz said.

After meeting with the community six times from October to May at their Futures Collab event, the committee identified specific areas to prioritize in the plan. The committee came up with four main goals in their plan, which are fostering culture and communication; fostering success and opportunities for all; fostering exploration and innovation; and maximizing resources. Ruiz said these ideas became the anchor for the rest of the work.

The five-year plan will focus on fostering culture and communication; fostering success and opportunities for all; fostering exploration and innovation; and maximizing resources.

This plan will be the cornerstone of the district’s budget development process each year and will be referenced when the Board of Education develops action plans. Each September, the administration will present its progress toward the strategic plan to the Board of Education and the community. To view the strategic plan, visit TinyURL.com/442esbcx.

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