The Village of Great Neck board of trustees are thinking of creating a law that would prohibit smoking on public sidewalks near businesses on Middle Neck Road.

The village’s board of trustees held a public hearing on Nov. 17 to consider making this a law because one business merchant and a customer complained about individuals smoking on the sidewalk. Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said the purpose of the law would be to help village business merchants succeed.

“We don’t want to burden merchants with second hand smoke which can interfere with their business,” Kreitzman said. “We don’t need multiple complaints to take any action.”

Village residents voiced concern about the proposed law because there would be no enforceability and people would violate the law because they are not allowed to smoke indoors.

“The village has good intentions with this law, but it is not practical,” said Village of Great Neck resident David Zielenziger. “I don’t support smoking, but I don’t see how this law can be passed at this time because there would be no place for employees on Middle Neck Road to smoke.”

Elizabeth Allen said she does not support the law because it can not be monitored on a daily basis.

“This is nonsensical government because this law is unenforceable that can not be controlled,” Allen said.

Village of Great Neck resident Lynn Marino said she is worried about the legal consequences if this law is adapted.

“If the law is legally challenged, I want to know if the village going to spend money and defend it in federal court,” Marino said. “I am not a smoker, but this law offends me because it is unnecessary and unreasonable. This is a transient situation because workers usually go outside to smoke only for a few minutes.”

Kreitzman said the board would make a legal decision at the appropriate time if the law is challenged in court.

Kreitzman said the Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island would provide the village with free signs that would say no smoking within 500 feet of entry way.

“Merchants are willing to put signs up in their window to prohibit smoking on the sidewalks,” Kreitzman said. “The village is not trying to make money on this law, but wants people to follow the signs that would be placed in windows and on the street.”

Kreitzman said there are three municipalities in the world, two in California and one in Korea, that have adapted this type of law. The coalition reported that there are 700 public facilities that have some type of regulation prohibiting smoking outdoors near parks and cafes.

Mitchell Beckerman, deputy mayor for the Village of Great Neck, said the village will listen to the public before making any decision on creating this law.

“It’s good to hear comments from the public and these thoughts are under advisement,” Beckerman said. “We need this issue out in the open for the people to know about this and it is important to know if the population of the village supports this law.”

The village’s board of trustees will continue the public hearing on Dec. 21 at 7:45 p.m.

Back in the summer of 2009, Frank Scaturro, a Republican and 30-plus year resident of New Hyde Park announced that he would be running in 2010 for Congress in the 4th Congressional District to oppose the incumbent, Carolyn McCarthy, who had fallen out of grace with many of the people who voted for her previously.

Scaturro brought qualifications we have never seen in a congressional candidate – a home-grown constitutional lawyer who served as counsel for the constitution to the Senate Judiciary and worked on the nominations of Supreme Court Justices (John) Roberts and (Samuel) Alito; author of several books on history, a professor at Hofstra Law School and the list goes on and on highlighting the accomplishments of this young man.

He put together a strong campaign that raised more money than any other than any other Republican challenger in the history of this seat, and had supporters far and wide endorsing his decision to run.

Even though Scaturro had helped local Republican candidates for over 20 years, he was not enough of an “insider” for the political bosses who seem intent on controlling those they choose to run for office.

At the last minute, after asking nearly every political insider he could find to run, Joe Mondello found someone – (Nassau) County Legislator Fran Becker, who up until that time showed no desire to run for this seat.

Just prior to the petition drive, one of the GOP leaders sent out an e-mail blast to committeemen and committeewomen telling them, in so many words, “our party has endorsed Francis Becker in the 4th CD for Congress.

No leader or committee member should collect signatures for any other candidate for Congress or any other office. If you do not support our candidates, you should resign”.

The Nassau County GOP “machine” tried to destroy a campaign of unprecedented strength in order to send a message that their control is absolute, and we as voters may have missed an opportunity we will never see again.

The GOP machine pulled out all stops to block Scaturro in the primary election, even calling him a Democrat.

Once the primary was over, the congressional race no longer seemed much of a priority to the GOP bosses. Committeemen were encouraged to help with other races like Jack Martins (race for state Senate) and Edward Ra’s Assembly run.

Not surprisingly, those candidates won and Becker lost in this Republican-wave year.

We know from results across Nassau County that the seat was winnable had the leadership not done everything they could to undermine the democratic process and throw the primary to a weaker candidate.

The leaders accomplished what they wanted – to block the Republican candidate who was beholden to no one.

If this is not a betrayal of the voters the Republican leadership is supposed to serve, I don’t know what is.

Our vote should never be sacrificed due to intimidation by anyone. Government should be “of, by and for the people,” not of, by and for the party bosses!

My right to vote should not be tampered with by anybody’s bullying – especially the people I’ve endorsed and stood by for all of my voting life.

Shame on you, Mr. Mondello for not listening to the voters and for assuming that your decision was better than mine.

Ellen La Regina

New Hyde Park

As a daily rail commuter, I find LIRR President’s Helena Williams’ comments published in the News to be an insult to our intelligence.

Ms. Williams talks extensively about the importance of a second storage track, without quantifying how many times a day it might be used. There’s also an implication that our neighbors in Manhasset or Port Washington will not benefit from service to Grand Central Station. And how will there be “quick and easy access” if all trains originating in Great Neck run local?

Why is she stating that the bridge can’t get replaced without the pocket track, while her project engineers told the public otherwise?

A widened train track necessitates killing vegetation. Even planting of new trees will result in a net loss. The species she proposes don’t normally grow here. Why should we put up with an eyesore because the LIRR doesn’t like pruning?

Anyone who walks to the station from Shoreward Drive knows how noisy idling trains on the existing pocket track are in the morning. Fortunately, that area is primarily industrial, compared to the residential newly area of the new site.

Ms. Williams has made no apparent attempt to listen to the feedback her staff received from the public meeting. An acknowledgement of any of these concerns would have showed that she cares.

Steven Hirsch

Great Neck

Recent calls by Republican Congressional leaders in Washington for ending all earmarks should also apply to members of the state Legislature along with Washington.

Combined both could save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, senators Charles Schumer and Kristen Gillibrand, outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congressmember Gary Ackerman and congressional colleagues justified earmarking saying that they know the needs of their constituents better than faceless Washington bureaucrats.

This is an insult to the millions of hard working federal civil servants. It is reminiscent of the late Democratic governor of Alabama and presidential candidate George Wallace who would rail at “pointy headed Washington bureaucrats”

Most federal aid programs are distributed on a formula basis to states and cities with local recipients. Washington bureaucrats don’t decide how to spend these funds. Civil servants want to make sure dollars are spent for eligible projects, completed on time and within budget with taxpayers receiving the full benefits.

Perhaps career civil servants have the independence and technical expertise to do a better job in the distribution of funds and to protect the interests of taxpayers in avoiding any waste, fraud or abuse than members of Congress.

Larry Penner

Great Neck

On Tuesday, Dec. 14 you have an opportunity to vote for Ruth Tamarin for park commissioner.

True, she is running unopposed, but if a write-in campaign is launched by another candidate, and those who would like to see Ruth stay on as commissioner do not turn out and vote, we could have a result similar to what took place in Alaska – an election of a write-in candidate.

Why should we care? Because Ruth Tamarin is a dynamo who cares for our parks and has accomplished all of the following:

She led the effort to extend Steppingstone Park by purchasing the Cohan property.

She was at the forefront of the renovation and restoration of Great Neck House.

She is the visionary behind the PlayGarden on the Village Green.

She helped accomplish – over a period of several years – an aquatic center that is the pride of the park community;

She worked to increase the programs and usage of the skating rink.

Not enough? She is enthusiastic, hard-working, and knowledgeable, and she cares deeply about residents and their families, and is responsive to their needs.

More? Ruth helped to upgrade business procedures, increased municipal agreements, and fought to preserve the park district from being consolidated. She’s a hands-on commissioner who attends meetings, accepts tasks, and works to accomplish them!

I’ve known Milt and Ruth Tamarin since I moved to Great Neck – more than 30 years ago – and I am proud and honored to have them as friends. I suppose, if you look long enough, you will find someone as good as Ruth is, but you will never find anyone better!

Go vote for Ruth Tamarin.

Michael Flamhaft

Great Neck

Williston Park is the only village in this area that doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what to do in the fall when the leaves begin to fall.

Our neighbors, namely Mineola and New Hyde Park, don’t seem to have this problem. They have timely pickups of leaves amassed at curbside on a weekly schedule, starting in November. They use a large vacuum pickup that also shreds the leaves as they enter the truck. Shredded leaves have an 8-to-1 ratio over loose leaves. This means that a truck load can cover more streets, and there will also be fewer trips to the dumps when the leaves are compacted, thus saving even more money.

The county trucks use the same method and pickup the remaining leaves on their streets; working in concert with Mineola and New Hyde Park villages, as well as others.

Now, lets see how Williston Park handles things.

First of all their doesn’t seem to be any set policy in Williston Park for leaf removal. Some years there was vacuum pickup, and some years there wasn’t. Some years the pickup started early, some years it didn’t, indeed you may have had only one or two pickups during the entire fall, even when things have gone right.

In any case, Williston Park had no vacuum pickup, and relied on outside contractors to do the job in the past. In years where the village did do it themselves they used the labor intensive method of pickup of loose leaves by a front loader, which in turn dumped them into an open truck bed. Costly and slow.

This year the village initially decided on street swipers. An unfortunate choice because swippers are not cut out to pick up heavy volumes of leaves and have a small capacity for handling loose leaves and are inclined to make a mess by spreading the leaves around the area. In addition they are of course slow and thus costly to run and again labor intensive to operate.

To make matters even worse they often come around on Saturdays (when they do come around at all) and on Saturdays we all know there are more cars parked on the street than a weekdays, making matters even more difficult.

If all this isn’t bad enough, the mayor announced that residents are now to bag the leaves themselves and place it out for collection. My guess is that the poor guys operating the swipers must have prevailed on him that this wasn’t the way to go. Whatever.

The average bag of leaves weights about 40 pounds when full; it takes each resident on an average of 15 to 18 bags to clear their property yearly.

Also the bags themselves are expensive. I can’t see senior citizens, handicapped residents and just plan tax paying residents hauling these heavy bags of leaves to the curb every week. My street is lined on both sides with stately oaks, 70 or more feet high. They shower the area with leaves well into January, and now that I think of it, aren’t they village trees on village property, shredding village leaves on village streets. Hmmm.

The village has a moral, if not a legal, responsibility to pick these leaves for as long as they fall and to do it every year on a timely basis. I expect this service, and indeed I demand it, as one of the reasons I chose to live here.

Most of the other villages have this system, why can’t we? I would suggest that during the summer the DPW acquire a vacuum retrieval system with shredder and be ready to go next winter. For the remainder of this season I would advise that the mayor hire a few local landscapers with shredder vacuums and have them get busy picking up the hundreds of curbside leaves that are all around the village and to keep it up through December.

Jimmy Bumstead

Williston Park

For the second consecutive year, the Great Neck Business Circle provided more than 50 senior citizens a meal on Thanksgiving by hosting a luncheon at the Great Neck Senior Center last Thursday afternoon.

Great Neck businesses and residents decorated the senior center and donated food and drinks to the luncheon that lasted from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

“The business people in the town appreciate our seniors and this was a nice event enjoyed by everyone,” said John Ryan, one of 67 members in the Great Neck Business Circle, a business group which was started in May 2009. “It makes sense to get involved in the community where you either work or live and it was special hearing people thanking us at the end of the meal for what we did.”

Adrienne Greene, vice president and branch manager of Sterling National Bank on Cutter Mill Road, said it is important to participate in community events like the Thanksgiving lunch.

“There was no thought involved to donate cranberry sauce to the Great Neck Senior Center,” Greene said. “As a business company, I felt it was necessary to support local organizations where I work.”

Jeffrey Phillips, owner of Cafe Rustica, donated five desserts including a chocolate black out cake, a apple crumb pie, a pumpkin pie, a walnut pie, and a raspberry linzer tart.

“Participating in this Thanksgiving event is part of what we do at Cafe Rustica,” Phillips said. “We have done regular charity events for the 17 years that this restaurant has been in Great Neck. I am more than glad to step up when asked to benefit any non-profit organizations.”

Catherine Muro, general manager of the Andrew Hotel, delivered juices for the seniors to drink at the luncheon.

“There is a lot of satisfaction as a member of the Business Circle to participate in events like this every year,” Greene said. “The Business Circle has worked closely with the Great Neck seniors who are our neighbors.”

Phoebe Lazarus, president of the Great Neck Senior Center, said this event was special for seniors because they may live far away from their relatives and this is their only opportunity to spend time with people on this day.

“All people who are here have no connection to their family to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving,” Lazarus said. “The event was lovely and it was great that so many people donated food to the senior center. The decorations were cheerful and brought a feeling to everyone at the event that they are loved.”

Other donations that were given to the Thanksgiving lunch included 10 turkeys from Jeff Hessel and Erica Prager, Mortons Steakhouse provided mashed potatoes and creamed spinach, Village of Great Neck trustee Jeff Bass and his wife gave paper plates, cups, plastic utensils and napkins, Roger Chizever from Allstate Insurance Company and his family worked in the kitchen and Danny from Jewels By Viggi brought a pasta dish. Bradley Diamond and his family put up holiday decorations at the senior center.

There were also financial donations given to host the event from Jeff Schwartz Esq., Thomas Cole Salon, Swartz & Swartz, Donna Frasco from Community National Bank and Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) and her husband Jay.

“It is important to support various agencies in your local community because it is then a better place to live,” Bosworth said. “The lunch gave people who may be alone on Thanksgiving an opportunity to talk to people and not be lonely on a special holiday. The support at an event like this is material in time and the love is important.”

Now that renovations have been completed at the Station Branch library in Great Neck, visitors of the Parkville Branch library in New Hyde Park want to know when the Great Neck Library will make improvements to their branch.

“New Hyde Park feels like a step child to Great Neck,” said Marianna Wohlgemuth, a New Hyde Park resident and president of the Lakeville Estates Civic Association. “Our tax dollars are not being spent properly.”

Wohlgemuth said the condition of the Parkville Branch Library, which is operated by the Great Neck Library, was “disgusting” with duct tape covering holes on the floor and tiles missing on the ceilings.

Sheila Zuckermandel has lived in New Hyde Park for 41 years and she said the Parkville Branch has been treated like a second-class citizen by Great Neck Library trustees. Zuckermandel also noted that there is also no bus service from the New Hyde Park library to the Great Neck libraries for any person who cannot drive.

“Money is never found for the Parkville Branch, but we pay Great Neck taxes where all the money is spent on Great Neck libraries,” Zuckermandel said. “The library is not inviting because it looks old and needs a new face. Families are moving into the area and they deserve to have a good looking library. Parkville has been forgotten.”

The Parkville Branch, located at 10 Campbell Street in New Hyde Park, is one of three branch libraries for the Great Neck Library. The other two branches are both in Great Neck with the Station Branch located at 26 Great Neck Road and the Lakeville Branch located at 475 Great Neck Road.

New Hyde Park homeowners who live north of Haddon Road and west of Gerard Avenue are part of the Great Neck school district. Residents who live on 80th Avenue in Queens from 2703 to 2767 also pay taxes to the Great Neck school district.

Great Neck library officials acknowledged that improvements should be made to the Parkville Branch, but said the Parkville Branch has not been ignored.

Great Neck Library trustee Josie Pizer said more than $500,000 was spent in 1999 on the Parkville Branch for renovations and upgrades to the facility.

“Does the library need renovations now, the answer is yes,” Pizer said. “We are aware that the branch needs changes and we have been in the process of thinking about upgrading the facility for the last seven months.”

Library trustee Janet Eshaghoff said the Parkville Branch property is owned by the Great Neck school district, which restricts what type of upgrades the library can perform. The library sits adjacent to the Parkville School Early Childhood Center where pre-K children from Great Neck attend.

“We are constrained by our landlord regarding the space of library,” Eshaghoff said. “We are considering moving uptown to a separate location. We are exploring other options right now.”

Library trustee Varda Solomon said there is a state policy that says a library does not have the right to build on a property it does not own. Solomon said the library needs to obtain permission from the school board before beginning any type of construction on the building.

“The Great Neck Library has submitted information to John Powell, assistant superintendent of business for the Great Neck Public Schools, regarding how much square footage we would like to add on to the library,’ Solomon said. “We need feedback from the board of trustees and the Parkville Branch committee to know what they want before we hire an architect.”

Mindy Norman is a resident of Roslyn who has used the Parkville Library for 35 years because it is her favorite facility, but she said the facility needs to be larger.

“This is a small library, but it offers great resources,” Norman said. “The people are friendly and there is a good supply of materials here, but the library needs to be bigger because it is too small.”

The North Shore- LIJ Health Systems has acquired the state-of-the-art technology in treatment image-guided therapy with the TrueBeam system from Varian Medical Systems.

TrueBeam uses image-guided enhancements for radiotherapy that enable concentration of a radiation beam to a smaller targeted area than was ever before possible, according to Dr. Louis Potters, chairman of radiation medicine at North Shore-LIJ.

“This is a newer generation of linear accelerator which is digital in its operation. It’s like going from vinyls to CDs,” Potters said, drawing an analogy to audio playback technology. “As with CDs, you have greater clarity and improved precision because radiation therapy is geographic. We target tumors. The objective is to treat the target and not the normal tissues around it.”

The new Varian Medical machine is enabling North Shore-LIJ’s department of radiation medicine to shorten the length of treatment sessions from 25 to 10 minutes, Potters said. That figures to allow the hospital, which currently handles 1,500 patients annually in its radio department, to extend services to a larger base.

“The enhanced throughput will allow us to treat more patients and I think the opportunity to run clinical trials and doing research will drive the patient numbers,” Potters said.

The focus of the TrueBeam machine, which costs between $3 million and $4 million will be on treating lung, breast, head, neck and other cancers treatable with radiotherapy which sometimes can’t entirely hit the mark of a tumor because of involuntary patient movement during the treatment. The TrueBeam uses its image technology to lock onto the area to be treated – with between 40 percent and 140 percent improved results since the dosage can be more concentrated in the narrowly focused radiation stream from the machine, reducing treatment time and hence, the incidence of motion.

TrueBeam actually hits the tumor it’s aiming to reduce at intervals when it has a fix on it, avoiding damage to healthy tissue in the course of treatment

“We will be looking at cancers such as lung cancer and tumors where organ motion is important in terms of mitigating motion,” Potters said.

Ultimately, Potters said the TrueBeam may reduce the frequency and term of radiation treatments. North Shore-LIJ will purchase three more of the machines over the next several months.

“As our understanding of the tech and its use improves, we should be able to change the paradigm of daily treatments hopefully to fewer treatments,” Potters said, emphasizing that the North Shore-LIJ physicians will be on a learning curve that could significantly affect cancer treatment regimens. “This platform of a new machine will provide us the palette of the opportunity for change. Just like any other technology when it’s new, it presents itself as an opportunity. You don’t know where it’s going to go.”

TrueBeam presents the chance for physics research and clinical research to explore results of acceleration and the practical impact of the new radiation therapy on patients.

Potters said results of technical trials probably will be published shortly, with clinical studies to be conducted and reported over the next two years in a sequence that will enhance North Shore-LIJ’s profile in cancer treatment, according to Potters

“It demonstrates a commitment of the health system to advance cancer therapy and research,” Potters said. “And it puts us on a playing field with centers that are national cancer institutes.”

As a mandatory audit of computerized voting machines neared the finish line this week, the possibility of a hand recount of all 85,000 ballots loomed in the bitterly contested 7th state Senate District race between Democratic incumbent Craig Johnson and Republican challenger Jack Martins with Martins maintaining a 320-vote lead.

Nassau County Supreme Court Justice Ira Warshawsky was apparently considering a recount when he summoned attorneys representing both candidates into a conference in his chambers during a continuation of the case brought by Johnson against the county board of elections on Monday.

Warshawsky referred to the “large synapse the court would have to bridge” to consider the only motion he said Johnson’s attorney Steven Schlesinger has made since the start of the hearing after Election Day results showed the race to be so close.

“The count has to continue diligently, forthwith,” Warshawsky declared upon returning to court after the conference. He instructed attorneys to reconvene with him by phone on Monday afternoon on “that other matter.”

Outside the court Schlesinger said a hand count in the case is “still possible,” but said little more.

In open court, he had said a full hand recount of ballots cast in the Johnson-Martins race could be done in five days.

A source said Warshawsky had discussed the logistics of hearing witnesses on the motion to conduct a hand recount. The amount of time a hand count would take was also discussed.

As the tabulation of contested absentee and affidavit ballots continued simultaneously with the 3 percent audit of machines, attorneys disagreed on the degree to which there were any problems with the tabulated results.

Democratic elections attorney Thomas Garry said the issuance of absentee ballots – approved by both party’s respective commissioners – confirmed the validity of those ballots, and he questioned the fact that some absentee ballots were being contested at the outset of the morning’s court session.

Schlesinger said that there were now nearly 3,900 undervotes in the race – ballots uncounted, but bearing some indication of the voters’ candidate preference – and said three machines had revealed discrepancies in the ballot count.

“You’d have to hand count the machines to count the ballots,” he said.

Garry said of six machines audited thus far in the 7th Senate District race, two had “failed,” yielding results one vote off from the number of ballots they contained.

While John Ryan, Republican elections attorney agreed with the number of machines, he took issue with Garry’s description.

“I don’t agree with the statement that the machines failed yet,” Ryan said.

Nassau County attorney John Ciampoli said results of the 3 percent statutory audit would be accompanied by a written report enumerating the reasons for the discrepancies between the machine and actual ballot counts.

Ciampoli said a discrepancy of one-tenth of 1 percent during the initial audit would trigger a second random audit of 5 percent of machines. Ryan said a failure of three machines would trigger a subsequent audit. Irregularities in a second audit would trigger a third audit of 12 percent of the machines – which could lead to a full audit if further discrepancies surfaced.

In the county-wide audit, 11 machines remain to be audited, including one in the 7th state Senate District voting, according to Ciampoli.

“Putting it in perspective, we have a deadline with the chief judge,” Schlesinger said, referring to the January 5 deadline recently imposed to fix a result in the Johnson-Martins race. “Do we try to beat the chief judge’s deadline or do we [go to court] to get my recount?”

Among the factors Warshawsky is apparently weighing is the amount of time that a sequence of additional machine audits could require versus the amount of time that a full hand recount would take, factoring in the time to hear both sides’ arguments in the case.

“I am concerned. It’s not moving quickly enough,” Warshawsky said.

But as arguments persisted over the potential impact of the undervotes and Schlesinger repeated his mantra that the Johnson-Martins margin is less than half of 1 percent of votes cast, Warshawsky expressed his concern about setting a precedent in the new computerized machine era.

“The key becomes, do we establish a precedent to hand-count any close race? The intent of the voter is what we really want there,” Warshawsky said

Schlesinger’s stated intention to question two voters in the instance of an absentee ballot with an allegedly incorrect address could prompt a compromise over the full hand count Republicans has so far resisted.

“It’s a very dangerous course he’s suggesting here,” said Ryan. “What does he want? Does he want the sheriff to drag some little old ladies down here to administer the oath?”

With results of the audit expected to be completed by Thursday, Warshawsky told attorneys from both sides to be available for a telephone conference that day.

When Angelo Giangrande came to this country from his native Sicily in the early 1970s, he was just looking to make a living.

Now he owns his own pizzeria, Da Angelo’s, a family business where three generations regularly converge.

Giangrande said he had always enjoyed cooking, so he took a job at a pizzeria in Port Washington in 1972 and learned how to make pizza. He later worked for Umberto Creteo at Umberto’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in New Hyde Park for 10 years, honing his craft.

It will be 11 years in January when Giangrande, who claims to be one of the originators of the Grandma pizza, opened his own place at his current location at 815 Willis Avenue.

“To me it means a lot. When you come from another country and you started from scratch, it’s like a dream. It makes you proud,” he said.

The 55-year-old Giangrande also is proud that so many of his family members are sharing in his success. His brother Salvatore works as a cook at Da Angelo’s. Giangrande’s son, Stefano, works the counter, and his daughters Danielle and Elisa help out in the office and as waitresses. Angelo has already taught his three-year-old grandson Jaden, Danielle’s son, to make a pizza

“He always liked to play with the dough. Finally he can reach the milk crates,” he said, so Jaden makes his own little pies and his grandfather puts it in the oven for him. “Then when it’s ready, I cut it up for him and he eats.”

Stephano, 30, has been working in the restaurant since he was 13, and said he enjoys working with his father.

“I love it. I love the business. Every day is a different day,” Stephano said.

It’s often a grueling routine of 12-hour days, but Giangrande knew about that already, and he still enjoys his work.

“I do something that I really like. I’m around people and friends. I’ve made a lot of friends in this business over the years,” he said, adding that he’s got good customers and a good location.

His Neapolitan pizza is his biggest seller, followed by his own variation on the Grandma pie – so-called because it is made with a thin crust and a balance of tomato and cheese like traditional pizzas in Italy years ago. Some of his mother’s recipes filter through the full menu of Italian pasta, veal, chicken, and seafood dishes that Da Angelo’s offers, but Giangrande said he adapts them to American tastes.

“You make them happy,” he said, estimating that Da Angelo’s sells 200 pizzas on a typical Friday night.

His own Grandma style pizza is made with whole milk and part-skim mozzarella and uses crushed canned tomatoes for the sauce.

“We all come up with new ideas. We made it a different way,” he said, referring to the numerous variations the traditional style has spawned.

Giangrande lives in Mineola now. But he maintains the connection to his home town of Monreale in Sicily, where he has uncles and aunts and cousins who he visits.

The percentage of students participating in various aspects of the Herricks Athletics program is rising – while the percentage of scholarly athletic teams remain high.

Thoses were among the points Jim Petricca, director of athletics, physical education and intramurals, for the Herricks School District told the Herricks School Board at its meeting last week. Some 885 of the high school’s student population of 1,500 participated in some extracurricular athletics program last year, with 597 of the 1,000 students in the middle school also opting to play some sport competitively after school hours.

Interest in field and track has accelerated, according to Petricca, partly because of a newly installed running track at the high school, and the success of junior Aakash Pillalamarri, who earned all-county honors in cross country running last year, going on to compete in the state championship in his event.

“A lot of things go in waves. We’ve had something special at the high school and kids want to be part of the team,” Petricca said of Wheatley’s success in track.

Both basketball teams had strong seasons last year, while the wrestling team also showed some muscle. But football numbers are up as well, although Herricks certainly has no reputation as a force in the sport. Volleyball numbers also are up at the middle school, Petricca said.

Over the last five years, middle school students have formed a third competitive team in volleyball, baseball and softball. There are 8th grade teams, 7th grade teams and mixed squads in those sports.

“We usually have a lot of kids come out for these sport. that’s why we’ve increased it,” Petricca said.

Meanwhile, 19 of Herricks’ 24 teams achieved status as “scholar teams” last season with a percentage of players on each team maintaining A averages in their classes. The number and percentage of students on each team varies by sport.

The creation of a boys and girls swimming teams last year enabled senior Nicole Honey to become a county champion diver this season, while finishing second in the state championships. Honey will be attending Rutgers University on a full scholarship next year. Girls varsity badminton also was added to the school district’s athletics programs a few years ago.

The high school track was refurbished with $700,000 in district funds from an $8 million bond that was floated by the school district several years ago. A $50,000 state grant arranged by state Sen. Craig Johnson ( D-Port Washington) will produce new infields for the baseball diamonds at the high school and the middle school for the spring season.

But Petricca points to Herricks athletic boosters as a strong source of support in maintaining and improving facilities for the teams, as well as demonstrating their support in person.

“The athletic boosters have really been doing a terrific job to our events. It just makes the kids feel good about themselves and want to come out for a sport,” Petricca said.

Two new outdoor scoreboards at the high school and one at the Herricks Community Center are the result of Herricks boosters’ fund-raising efforts, Petricca said, noting that boosters also purchased new hurdles and high jump equipment for the track and field team, along with new shotput and discus cages, that enabled Herricks to play host to the divisional championships last year.

Herricks sports boosters have also done a lot of work on the Herricks Hall of Fame, Petricca said, with one current project in the works to produce a single vertical banner to hang in the Herricks gymnasium that will list all of the school’s team title winners in each sport over the years.