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Massapequa ___________
HERALD
• AAU Bask
etball • Flight Academy Trai pOsT ning
Also serving Farmingdale, Massapequa, Massapequa Park and Plainedge • Summer Basketba
VOL. 71 NO. 14
Cost to taxpayers for winter’s snow
This month’s Viewfinder
Page 3
Page 14 APRIL 22 - 28, 2026
$1.00
skybball.com @skyisthelimitbball
Housing bias lawsuits settled By MIKE POLANSKY Senior Correspondent
Carolyn James/Herald
Bats, bases, and a warm welcome for Massapequa Coast LL The Massapequa Coast Little League held its opening day parade and ceremonies on Saturday with several thousand people marching and cheering the teams on. Watch for more little league news as the season unfolds.
Library budgets get voters okay By CAROLYN JAMES cjames@liherald.com
Voters in Massapequa and Plainedge will head to the polls May 19 to decide their library budgets alongside their school district votes. Meanwhile, residents in Amityville and Farmingdale cast their ballots earlier this month, approving their local library budgets and electing trustees on April 18. Karen Klein was elected to a five-year seat on the Amityville Public Library board with 339 votes, and Equasia Yard-Jean won a one-year seat with 137 votes. They defeated Robert Brachman and Lauren Scanlon. The five-year seat was previously held by Eileen Taylor, who did not seek re-election, while Leslie Kretz stepped down from the one-year seat. “The level of community involvement spoke vol-
umes and personally I’m incredibly grateful and humbled by the overwhelming support I received.,” said Klein. “Having served on this board before, I expect to return with experience and a strong sense of our library’s history.” Yard-Jean also thanked the community for their support. “I am absolutely thrilled and very grateful to the Amityville and East Massapequa community,” she said. “I am excited to work alongside the library director and the other members of the board.” The proposed budget, which drew criticism in the weeks leading up to the vote—largely on social media—was approved by 62.8 percent of voters. The library proposed a tax levy of $3.77 million, an increase from the current budget of $3.59 million — a CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
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The Oyster Bay Town Board on April 14 unanimously approved a settlement resolving longstanding lawsuits brought by the federal government and New York State alleging discrimination in the Town’s housing programs. The lawsuits — filed in 2014 by the federal government and in 2015 by the New York State Division of Human Rights — alleged that the Town intentionally discriminated against African American applicants by giving Town residents and their children priority for housing under the Next Generation Program for first-time homebuyers and the Golden Age Program for seniors. Under the settlement, the Town’s policy was found to be illegal and it will stop giving preference to residents and their relatives when selecting buyers for homes developed through the Next Generation Program. Town officials must also designate certain employees to attend fair housing education and training sessions for three years, according to Town documents. Despite the ruling, the Town was not found financially liable. To date, two Next Generation developments — the Seasons at Massapequa and the Seasons at Plainview — total-
ing six housing units, have been built in the Town. As part of the agreement, the government will discontinue all claims related to the Golden Age Program, with prejudice, preventing the case from being brought again. Oyster Bay Town Supervisor Joseph Saladino said he was satisfied with the outcome. “This marks an important milestone, bringing closure to a decades-old lawsuit that predates my administration while safeguarding our commitment to ensuring seniors can continue to live in our community” he said. While he wouldn’t comment on the merits of the settlement, Brian S. Sokoloff of Sokoloff Stern LLP, the firm that represented the Town in the case observed that “it would have been good if the case had never been brought by the government.”
IN OTHER BUSINESS, THE TOWN BOARD:
• Appointed Michael Spinelli II, of Massapequa, to the Planning Advisory Board for a term from April 15, 2026, through Dec. 31, 2030. Spinelli holds a master’s degree in architecture from Catholic University and works at Cashin, Spinelli & Ferretti, a nationwide surety, construction and consulting firm. His work inCONTINUED ON PAGE 7