Students from Oceanside and Uniondale high schools joined forces on Oct. 12 for a day of conservation work at the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center as part of the Bridges program’s new Year of Giving initiative.
By ALYSSA R. GRIFFIN agriffin@liherald.com
The Kiwanis Club of Oceanside celebrated its 80th anniversary on Oct. 16 with an evening of music, food and recognition of two community leaders, Michael Puma and Allison Glickman Rogers.
Held at Temple Avodah, the celebration included a cocktail hour, a buffet dinner and an awards ceremony honoring Puma, a longtime youth football volunteer, and Glickman Rogers, principal of Oceanside Middle School.
“Tonight we’re here to honor these two exceptional individuals from our community, Heart of Gold recipient Mr. Michael Puma and
our Special Service Award honoree, Dr. Allison Glickman,” Nancy Baxter, a past president of the club, said.
“But before we get to that, I would like to take you back to 1945,” Baxter continued. “On Sept. 6, 1945, the Oceanside Kiwanis Club was born.”
She noted that at the time, a new home cost $4,600 and gas was 21 cents a gallon.
Current club President Eric Abbey welcomed past presidents to the stage, and praised the group’s legacy as an “active, vibrant, community-based club.
“This is the 80th anniversary,” Abbey added, “and I have to say, we look good at 80.”
Introducing Glickman Rogers, Phyllis Har-
Continued on page 10
By ALYSSA R. GRIFFIN agriffin@liherald.com
Oceanside High School junior Kitika Kumar has created a 3D virtual reality simulation of driving through a snow squall, demonstrating how to use the potentially life-saving technology during her science class on Oct. 15.
The 16-year-old student’s VR simulation is significant because it’s important to know how to respond if caught in a squall — a sudden heavy snow with high winds and whiteout conditions, often leading to driving hazards and safety concerns.
“The purpose of this study was basically to survey and interview individuals who participated in the simulation, to see what they thought of the simulation, how they felt, like their feedback,” Kumar said. “And it was trying to see the effectiveness on increasing awareness of the participants’ knowledge on snow squalls and if they improve their evacuation methods during a snow squall.”
The VR simulation allows users to experience a snow squall and practice safely exiting the particular weather cond i t i o n w h i l e l e a r n i n g p r o p e r safety precautions for the upcoming winter season. The simulation was created using a coding program called Unity 3D O n c e t h e V R h e a ds e t i s i n p l a c e, t h e user is instantly “transported” to a virtual car and becomes the driver. The simulation takes the user on a drive down the road, s i m i l a r t o a v i d e o game, when a snowstor m aler t be gins While the snow begins to fall, and at a
h e user has the opport
y t o e x i
h
highway safely before the chance of driving into a pile of c
arrives, a message on the screen will appear after the collision, with tips on following safe mea-
physical harm.
Jase Ber nhardt, an associate
Continued
By KELSIE RADZISKI kradziski@liherald.com
More than 340 supporters gathered for Mount Sinai South Nassau’s annual Soirée Under the Stars gala, raising nearly $900,000 to support the hospital’s efforts to expand cardiovascular services for residents of Nassau County’s South Shore.
Held at The Lannin in Eisenhower Park on Oct. 4, the event marked the launch of “Bringing Heart Home,” a $5 million, three-year philanthropic campaign to fund infrastructure and technology for the hospital’s cardiac surgical program, including adult open-heart surgery. The campaign will also support the expansion of interventional cardiology with an additional cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology lab and a new CT-angiography lab. Net proceeds from the gala, estimated at $734,000, will help fund the initiative.
The evening included the presentation of Mount Sinai South Nassau’s inaugural Heart of the Hospital award to longtime donor and Rockville Centre resident Jeffrey J. Feil. Feil, the hospital’s largest individual donor, has pledged more than $17 million in recent years through personal contributions and the Charitable Lead Annuity Trust established by his late parents, Gertrude and Louis Feil.
During the event, Anthony Cancellieri, co-chair of the hospital’s Advisory Board, announced an additional $1 million pledge from Feil to expand the hospital’s Physical Therapy Center, which serves patients
recovering from orthopedic and other surgeries.
“Jeffrey Feil continues to support Mount Sinai South Nassau because he believes in our mission to bring world-leading care directly to the South Shore so patients and their families don’t have to travel to Manhattan or to the North Shore for advanced procedures,” said Adhi Sharma, MD, president of Mount Sinai South Nassau. “We are deeply grateful to him and his family. He embodies the spirit of the ‘Heart of the Hospital’ award.”
Philip Shuman, vice president of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, was named the 2025 Soirée honoree. Debbie Jonason, RN, assistant nurse manager of Cardiac Catheterization, and Arthur Golbert, senior cardiac rehabilitation exercise physiologist, received the hospital’s Mary Pearson and Cupola Awards, respectively.
“The work and dedication of Ms. Jonason, Mr. Golbert, and Mr. Shuman represents the team spirit of our staff and stakeholders who come together every day to make this hospital better so we can best serve our patients,” said Sharma. “They inspire the staff and supporters of Mount Sinai South Nassau. They are most worthy of the recognition that they have received.”
The annual Soirée is Mount Sinai South Nassau’s largest fundraising event. Advisory Board members Wayne Lipton and Steven Gold co-chaired the event, leading a committee of 40 civic, community, and business leaders.
“We are so grateful for the generosity of our supporters who show up year after year to support our local hospital, which in recent years has been transformed into a regional leader in the health care field,” said Gold.
Major sponsors of the Soirée included the Lee and Jeffrey Feil Family Foundation, Terri and Steven Gold, Mount Sinai South Nassau’s Medical Staff, Long Island Thoracic, PLLC and Flagstar Bank
For more information about the Bringing Heart Home campaign, contact the Mount Sinai South Nassau Development Office at (516) 377-5360 or visit SouthNassauLifeSaver.org.
was honored with the inaugural Heart of the Hospital award.
“Once again, the community came together on a beautiful night to celebrate the accomplishments of Mount Sinai South Nassau and to look to the future and support the mission of the hospital,” Lipton said. “We are grateful to all of those who attended, who donated, and who made it happen.”
By LUKE FEENEY lfeeney@liherald.com
The global game is coming to Uniondale as The Island F.C., an independent professional soccer club, was unveiled, alongside plans for a new stadium.
The team, launched by principal owner and chairman Mitchell Rechler and team president Peter Zaratin, is set to debut in March 2027 and will compete in MLS Next Pro, the professional development league of Major League Soccer.
“This is something that did not happen overnight,” Rechler said on Oct. 14 at the Long Island Children’s Museum in Uniondale. “We have been working on bringing pro soccer to Long Island for 18 years.”
Rechler is a managing partner of Rechler Equity Partners, one of the largest real estate developers on Long Island. Zaration, a former soccer player, is the founder and CEO of Global Concepts, a metropolitan area-based sports management company.
Rechler and Zaratin also revealed their plans to build a privately funded outdoor 2,500-seat stadium — which can be increased to fit 5,000 — at Mitchel Athletic Complex, also in Uniondale.
Preseason games for the Island FC are set to begin in January 2027. Organizers confirmed that the launch was strategically timed to build on the anticipated “national surge in soccer
enthusiasm,” after the 2026 FIFA World Cup in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. The team is estimated to be around $25 million undertaking. Around $20 million will be devoted for the new
year-round training facility and around $5 million to launch the club. Stadium designs are anticipated to be released over the next few months, with the intent of breaking ground
next spring.
“Over the last few years, we heard consistently about the strength, resilience and pride of Long Islanders,” MLS Next Pro President Ali Curtis said, adding that “Long Island is unique because while it’s its own community, the special people that live here are from all over the world, and soccer brings people together and is the universal language.”
Alongside the launch of a professional team, expanding opportunities for younger players to grow and succeed is another priority of the venture. Enhanced scholarship programs and a strengthened youth-college-pro pathway will be designed to help aspiring athletes to pursue their goals.
Plans are also underway to return a professional women’s soccer team to Long Island
“We’re building a legacy for Long Island,” Zaratin said, adding that the team’s mission is to “empower aspiring soccer players through an Island-wide development pathway that ensures every player–regardless of background or gender, can reach their full potential in the game.”
Several elected officials attended the announcement. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said that it was an honor “to have a professional soccer team right here in Nassau County, which will provide dynamic entertainment and create economic prosperity.”
Roughly 150 firefighters from 15 fire departments responded to a blaze at an Oceanside shopping center on Long Beach Road and Waukena Avenue at 5:41 p.m. on Oct. 18.
The Oceanside Fire Department and roughly 150 firefighters from 14 other departments responded to a fire at an Oceanside shopping center on Long Beach Road and Waukena Avenue at 5:41 p.m. on Oct. 18.
There was a volume of flames emanating from the front of AAA Vacuum in the shopping center, according to the Nassau County Arson Bomb Squad.
Three adjoining business units suffered smoke and water damage. The Nassau County Fire Marshal, and the Town of Hempstead Building Department also responded to the scene. No injuries were reported.
What caused the fire remains under investigation, officials said.
— Jeffrey Bessen
Temple Avodah is hosting a free community seminar on Oct. 27 about food chemicals and clean eating. A panel discussion with two professionals will explore the importance of raising healthy families in a toxic world, hosted by the Social Action Committee.
Patti Wood is the founder and executive director of Grassroots Environmental Education, Inc., based in Port Washington, and she is a visiting scholar of Adelphi University College of Nursing and Public Health. Dr. Hildur Palsdottir is the Community Energy Educator of the
Long Island Energy Hub, the co-founder of Rewild Long Island and the president of the Science Museum of Long Island. Both scholars will be speaking about how to get real food in your system instead of toxins and chemicals. Attendees will learn more about the testing process for food chemicals and how these substances affect the body.
The discussion will be at Temple Avodah, located at 3050 Oceanside Rd., at 7 p.m. To register, visit Avodah.org.
— Kelsie Radziski
By ALYSSA R. GRIFFIN agriffin@liherald.com
Students at Oceanside High School gave presentations on common cyber security issues with prevention and solution tips on Oct. 14.
Each student gave their own presentation surrounding the theme of cyber security. Student Araf Nokib discussed the 2013 Yahoo data breach.
“Hackers obtained names, birth dates, phone numbers, passwords, security questions and backup email addresses used to reset passwords,” Nokib said. “The company required all users who had not changed their passwords since the time of the theft to do so.”
Michael Facciola did his on Code Red, a computer worm that would attack Microsoft’s IIS Web Servers in 2001.
“The “Worm” Used a Buffer Overflow, It works by spam input “N” in order to allow the worm to overflow the server in order to write its code over the normal site code,” he said. “Once it would compromise a website it would display the message ‘HELLO! Welcome to http://www.worm.com ! Hacked By Chinese!’ besides this it was harmless and just compromised the site to temporarily display a message.”
To discuss Cloudflare, Oliver Safo talked about the biggest DDoS attack in history.
“The attack lasted only 45 seconds and was detected and mitigated by Cloudflare’s defense system,” he said. “The attack targeted a Cloudflare customer that uses
Magic Transit to defend their IP network. Attackers tried to take the service down for users.”
Going back to the first internet cyber attack was Dan De La Rosa, “It Crashed 15% of the 70,000 computers on the Internet,” he said. “A modern equivalent would be catastrophic, especially if it attacked routers.”
Zach Shapiro talked about the Equifax data breach. “Approximately 147 million people were affected by the Equifax breach,” he said. “The hackers of this breach were four members of the Chinese Communist Party’s military. They got charged with a cyber-crime by the FBI for an unknown amount of money, due to them not being on US soil.”
Favio Goytizolo Cisneros did a presentation on the Playstation cyber attack of 2011.
“100 million accounts were affected,” he said. “No public comment from Sony.”
Jayden Major’s presentation was on a Facebook cyber attack. “Using the scrapping method the hackers used automated tools to input millions of random generated numbers in order to pull whatever information they could find,” Major explained. “Facebook has stated that the data leak was not in terms a hack, rather than simply a misuse of their system features. They resolved these issues a few months later.”
These students learned all from the Cyber Security class offered at the high school. This comprehensive computer science pathway allows students to earn up to 23 college credits.
“This year we have the opportunity of having dual enrollment with Nassau Community College,” Lauren Kueper, Math and
Cyber Security teacher at Oceanside High School said. “So that means the kids and the students that are enrolled in a cyber security class at the end of the school year, and then they fulfill all the requirements, and they get the grade that they need and they submit the application, they’re going to receive college credit for the class.”
The class meets every day with two different course options discussing cyber forensics and computer forensics. “It’s a really awesome program because it kind of builds off of each other,” she said. “So they start in computer science principles, where they learn JavaScript, and then the next year, they’re supposed to take the computer programming class through Nassau Community College, and that uses Python.”
For more information, visit School7. OceansideSchools.org
PICKING UP WHERE she left off last fall when she earned All-County honors, Ventura has reached new heights while leading the Jets to a 10-2 start in Nassau Conference II field hockey. Through Oct. 16, the Adelphi University bound standout was leading the county in goals with 20 to go along with 8 assists. She began 2025 with a bang, scoring all three of East Meadow’s goals in a win over New Hyde Park. Ventura has more than 50 career goals.
Friday, Oct. 24
Football: Seaford at Island Trees
Football: Farmingdale at Port Washington
Football: Freeport at Oceanside
Football: Sewanhaka at Division
Football: Hempstead at Plainview
Football: Hewlett at Manhasset
Football: Long Beach at MacArthur
Football: East Meadow at Glen Cove
Football: Plainedge at Malverne 7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 25
Football: South Side at V.S. South 11 a.m.
Football: Wantagh at Carey 11 a.m.
Football: Clarke at Floral Park 11 a.m.
Football: V.S. North at Elmont
Football: Garden City at Calhoun
Football: Baldwin at Mepham
Football: New Hyde Park at Kennedy
Football: Roslyn at V.S. Central
Football: Lynbrook at C.S. Harbor 2 p.m.
Football: East Rockaway at Locust Valley 2 p.m.
Football: West Hempstead at North Shore 2 p.m.
Football: Lawrence at Oyster Bay 2 p.m.
Football: Syosset at Massapequa 3
Football: Herricks at Uniondale 3
Nominate a “Spotlight Athlete”
High School athletes to be featured on the Herald sports page must compete in a fall sport and have earned an AllConference award or higher last season. Please send the following information: Name, School, Grade, Sport and accomplishments to Sports@liherald.com.
By PATRICK MOQUIN sports@liherald.com
Oceanside boys’ soccer controlled its destiny for the vast majority of the regular season and wrapped things up flawlessly in October. The Sailors earned the top seed in the Nassau Class AAA playoffs by winning their last seven games, finishing with an 11-2-1 record.
“I think it’s a fantastic reward for the community because of the history,” coach Patrick Turk said. “Like every school, we have our ups and downs. There’s no denying that part, but to be able to showcase these results and put the work in and get kids who are coming in and don’t know what the expectations are on the season. You don’t know what you’re going to face. And it’s been that this season has been a true testament to guys who are just hungry.”
When Turk looked back on the Sailors’ strong finish, a 3-0 victory over Port Washington on Sept. 26 stood out as one of their strongest overall performances. By defeating the Vikings, who finished one game back with a 10-3-1 record, and going undefeated in October, Oceanside earned the right to play at home against eighth seed Plainview JFK in the first round on Wednesday. The Class AAA semis are Saturday at Farmingdale College.
Junior forward Jackson Langevin has been Oceanside’s most important scorer all year, but the young talent will enter the playoffs in rarefied air. In his final two games of the regular season, Langevin scored six goals, including four against East Meadow on Oct.
14. He finished with 18 goals in 10 games, tied for the most in Class AAA.
“He found early success in the season, and he’s kept it going, and he’s still trying to learn,” Turk said. “He’s still trying to understand the different ways and that’s what has kept him going as a goal scorer. Teams have figured out who he is they’re figuring out that we should mark this kid, we should take a look at him.”
In a key rivalry game against Massapequa on Oct. 10, Langevin scored both goals to secure a 2-1 victory for the Sailors. Records don’t seem to matter much when Oceanside and Massapequa square off, but Langevin made the difference in one of the biggest games on either team’s schedule.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re up and they’re down or we’re down and they’re up,” Turk said. “It does not matter.
It’s a game that when you put the jersey on and you’re looking across the way and seeing that jersey, you know everybody’s bringing it. It’s just what it is.”
Oceanside’s defense has been as important as the offense in a hotly contested Class AAA conference, as three of its last four victories were decided by a single goal. The backline ends with junior goalkeeper Collin Schirmacher, who has stepped into the starting role and earned eight shutouts.
In front of Schirmacher, senior defenders Gavin Joyce and Greg Profitlich have been joined by junior Mike Molite and sophomore Conor Schmid have joined forces to create what Turk described as “an amazing back line.” He also credited junior midfielders Matt Keegan and Sean Brosokas for limiting counterattacks.
The defense is helped along by versatile senior midfielder Sean Mahoney, who leads Class AAA with 14 assists in nine games, towering well above every other player in the conference. In Langevin’s fourgoal tour de force against East Meadow, Mahoney had three assists, while Profitlich had two.
Since a 2-0 loss to Syosset on Sept. 20, Oceanside has been perfect, tearing through a highly competitive conference with a deep and improving roster. Turk, along with assistants Matthew Barone, Michael Hindin and Brian Siergiej, always knew that the Sailors were playoff contenders with Langevin stepping into a leadership role. Building around the natural scorer has put them in a fierce playoff position.
environment and sustainability, was Kumar’s mentor on the project, and their collaboration was part of a summer research initiative through Hofstra.
“We worked with a developer that mostly codes it, with input from myself and other experts, (and) the National Weather Service meteorologists, who work closely with us to make sure it looks realistic,” Bernhardt said. “We spoke with some Department of Transportation folks to make sure the driving and the roads and all that looked realistic as well.”
To ensure accuracy, a survey was taken before and after using the simulator to gauge snow squall awareness and feedback.
“Participants took a survey of their prior knowledge of snow squalls and also how they thought about the snow squalls and VR feedback,” Kumar said. “Many individuals thought that visibility was most important.”
The survey compared both English and Spanish-speaking students. “A lot of the English speakers had said that the simulation was very effective in depicting snow squalls, and it was effective in also teaching the evacuation methods,” Kumar said. “However, some other individuals had noted that the VR was hard to control. But despite these limitations, many individuals across the entire survey, or the participants, thought it was
very immersive and effective.”
The simulation was part of Hofstra’s Summer Science Program, which involved three high school students of different districts. These students worked throughout the length of the program to now on the simulation.
“They encourage us to allow students to work with real-world data and research and everything,” Bernhardt said. “It’s great, because this is the next generation of scientists.
“So, we want to train them early on
to get them into STEM because there’s so many different possible career options for talented students, and to encourage them to go to STEM,” Bernhardt added, in referencing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
This project marks only the beginning of Kumar’s future goals in the science field, because she holds plans to pursue research in college..
“I want to probably go into the medical field, and I’m really interested in
learning about new stuff,” she said. “Although this isn’t greatly sciencerelated, I wanted to branch out and try virtual reality, and expand my knowledge on things other than just direct science.”
By JEFFREY BESSEN jbessen@liherald.com
When Patrick Mullaney first took office in Nassau County’s 4th Legislative District nearly two years ago, succeeding longtime Legislator Denise Ford, he admits he didn’t quite know what to expect.
“Having absolutely no experience prior, I really didn’t have a metric to gauge it on,” Mullaney, 50, said with a laugh. “Everything’s been more or less a learning curve.”
Mullaney — who also serves as a special operations lieutenant with the New York City Fire Department — believes he’s stayed true to his core philosophy: to listen.
“I said it two years ago, and I still believe it: I have one job over anything else, and that’s just to listen to people,” the Long Beach resident said. “That doesn’t mean giving everyone what they want, but it means making sure they’re heard.”
Mullaney describes his approach as hands-on and constituent-driven. Much of his daily work, he said, revolves around resolving local concerns — anything from potholes to pension questions.
“People don’t always know where to go — whether it’s a town issue, a county issue, or a state issue,” he said. “So a big part of what we do is help them navigate that. “We’ve been very effective at handling those day-to-day problems.”
A self-described moderate, Mullaney emphasizes practicality over partisanship. “I like to think I’m as middle-of-the-line as you’re going to get,” he said. “Government shouldn’t be a tweet — it should be something people understand.”
Mullaney also chairs the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee, where he’s played a key role in securing
resources for law enforcement and first responders.
“We’ve hired more than 300 police officers in the past two years,” he said. “And I’ve been able to help allocate nearly a million dollars for local fire departments — for ambulances, first responder equipment, and SCBAs,” he added, referring to self-contained breathing apparatuses.
Mullaney noted the redevelopment of the longabandoned Long Beach Motor Inn into a 42-unit veterans’ village operated by Tunnel to Towers.
“It checks all the boxes,” he said. “We’re helping veterans, turning an eyesore into something the community can be proud of, and doing it without adding a
financial burden to taxpayers.”
Though upbeat about his work, Mullaney’s expressed disappointment at the low turnout for his community forums. “When you put together a meeting and only six people show up, it’s discouraging,” he acknowledged. “People have become disconnected. I’d like to see more folks take an active role in understanding how government works.”
Looking ahead, Mullaney said he hopes to strengthen that connection — through personal outreach more than social media.
“I’m 50 years old, so my ability to use social media to its full potential is limited,” he joked. “But if I meet you, I’ll give you my cell phone number. That personal connection still matters.”
As for the unusual circumstances of this year’s election — his opponent, Petros Krommidas, remains on the ballot despite being missing since April — Mullaney has deliberately toned down his campaign out of respect for Krommidas’s family.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” he said.
Mullaney said his decision to run came from a simple conviction. “If I say no, then I have no right to complain,” he said. “I was given the opportunity to get involved and maybe change things. If I walk away from that, who am I to sit around and just complain?”
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rington, superintendent of Oceanside schools said, “When I think of Allison, one word comes immediately to mind: champion. A champion is someone who fights for something bigger than themselves, someone who stands up for others, even when it’s not easy. Someone who pushes limits, not for personal recognition, but to make life better for others, and that, in every sense of the word, is who Allison is.”
Glickman Rogers has been at the middle school for 19 years. She earned undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees from Hofstra University, and began her career there, before working in the Lynbrook school district, where she taught phys. ed. and health. She went on to take assistant principal positions in Port Washington and Oceanside, then served as principal at School Five, in Oceanside, for a year before returning to OMS as principal in 2010.
Glickman Rogers now teaches a course at Molloy University for aspiring administrators. Under her leadership, the middle school has been recognized with a number of honors.
“I knew I was given the opportunity to be part of a very special Middle School, one of the best in the state,” Rogers said. “What I didn’t know at that time was how incredible this community was, and that I would be spending the next 20 years of my career here, and that I hope to spend the rest of my career here. Oceanside Middle School is still, today, a very special middle school, but what I learned is it’s this community that makes it so special.”
Next, Baxter introduced Puma. “In speaking with him over the years, I found him to be a sincere and humble person, someone with a heart of gold, a volunteer who gives up his time and efforts to help others on and off the field,” she said. “Volunteering or coaching, like Kiwanis, is a thankless job. But Mike, like our members, works hard and plays hard. Without any fanfare or accolades, he comes to help those in need, especially the children.”
Puma, a Baldwin resident with children in the Oceanside district, retired as a New York City police detective four years ago. He has been involved with the Oceanside-East Rockaway Raiders football program for over a decade. He first volunteered when his son, Santino, joined the program at age 5 in 2014, and Puma went on to coach teams for players ages 6 to 12. All three of his children, Santino, Izabella and Matteo are students athletes.
He remains active in coaching and in high school athletics, but Puma now helps lead the Oceanside High School Parents Association as well.
After accepting his award, Puma thanked his wife,
Past
Tina. “Early-morning setups, to the field, Tuesdaynight meetings, phone calls about coaches getting suspended, and who did this and who did that? What are you doing?” he recalled. “Countless hours of coaching, first my kids, then other people’s kids, which often took time away from our family. Even though it did, Tina always supported me and understood how much I loved what I did.”
“I’m honestly overwhelmed by all of this,” he added, “and everyone who came out to support me. I wish I could mention everyone.”
The final speaker was the governor-elect of the Long Island South Central Division of Kiwanis, Martin Valk. “Eighty years ago, a group of visionary individuals came together with a simple but powerful idea to improve the world one child and one community at a time,” Valk said. “Since then, this club has been a beacon of hope, compassion and action. We’ve built playgrounds, awarded scholarships, supported local schools and stood by families in times of need. We’ve laughed together, worked together and grown together. Think of all that has changed in the world since Oceanside was founded. Yet through it all, our commitment to service has remained unwavering.”
For more information, visit Facebook.com/KiwanisClubOfOceansideNY/.
By MELISSA BERMAN mberman@liherald.com
Howard Kopel is a well-known face in Nassau County’s 7th Legislative District, in office since 2010 and serving as the Legislature’s deputy presiding officer since 2024, after Richard Nicolello retired.
“I’ve been getting a lot of nice things done for the district, and hopefully for the entire county,” Kopel told reporters during a Herald Roundtable session. “I’m hoping to continue that, as we’re supporting some good causes and keeping taxes from going up.”
Kopel, 72, a Lawrence resident for 38 years, is a self-described “reformed lawyer” who owns a title insurance company in Valley Stream. He has prioritized keeping taxes from rising, safety in Nassau County and building bipartisan relationships.
His legislative priorities this election cycle haven’t changed a great deal, and a main point of concern for him is affordability. He is critical of the county’s cost of living and aims to preserve the suburban quality of life.
“In my area, we have infrastructure that is over 100 years old,” he said, “(from) a time where nobody dreamed of having one car in every driveway, let alone four in some of them. We have gridlock in the neighborhood very
often, and the state trying to force apartment houses into the area.”
Kopel said he is in favor of development, but not overdevelopment if the infrastructure can’t support it. “We don’t want to see that happen,” he said. “There’s not a lot of open spaces, and as it is you can barely move on Broadway.”
He noted one of the major construction projects that will likely lead to increased traffic volume in the Five Towns, the Woodmere Club. What was originally proposed as a 284-single-family-home plan has turned into the current iteration of 160 age-restricted condominiums in the portion of the property in the Village of Woodsburgh. The Town of Hempstead unanimously voted to reserve a decision on the Woodmere Club project at a public hearing on July 1.
“We don’t have a lot of capacity there,” Kopel said. “People moved out of Brooklyn and Queens — we don’t want to find ourselves back there.”
On affordable housing, he noted that the barriers to affordability are interest rates and supply and demand in many areas, while some areas can afford more housing and redevelopment. “You’ve got to put it where it’s wanted, where it’s feasible and makes sense,” Kopel said.
Asked about the uptick in antisemitism and other forms of hate in recent months, he praised the work of the Nas-
Jeff Bessen/Herald Legislator Howard Kopel, the incumbent in the 7th District, addressed key issues affecting his constituents, including housing affordability and development, at a Herald Roundtable.
sau County Police Department’s 4th Precinct, and said education helps eradicate antisemitism.
“Education is important, of course,”
he added. “Maturity is important and police are important — the 4th Precinct are great people and very helpful. I think we’re doing well. You’re always going to have something; there will never be nothing.”
Regarding the old Five Towns Community Center, on Lawrence Avenue, Kopel said it was poorly run and was falling down and decrepit for many years. It is now being transformed into a community center by the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC with the Police Activity League and a consistent presence from the NCPD. Kopel helped push the initiative as a board member of the JCC.
“That is going to do wonderful things for that neighborhood,” Kopel said. “I think you’re going to see some tremendous improvement and some development in that area. It’s moving towards a good resolution with the county.”
Editors’ note: Democratic candidate Alec Fischthal did not respond to the Herald’s requests for an interview.
In the midst of abundance such as we have never known, why are so many people unhappy? It may be that pursuing happiness is too vague a concept. Instead, we recommend pursuing peace of mind. Peace of mind can be found by eliminating those situations or circumstances that are preventing you from achieving it. Impossible, you say? Not if you are determined to fnd a way. Someone once said, “Tell me what it is that you want that you can’t have, and I’ll ask you what it is you aren’t willing to do.”
Recently, a client contacted me for advice on a family matter. She was the executor of an estate where the decedent had been in a second marriage and the two families were bickering over an old motorcycle, some personal effects and a relatively small amount of money. She wanted out as executor but her brothers wanted to fght. I asked her brothers whether they wanted peace of mind or to be right, since they couldn’t have both. They fnally relented.
Too many people want the thing but are un-
willing to pay the price. You want out of the relationship or situation but the other side is asking too much? Pay the price and get on with your life, it’s worth it. It doesn’t have to be fair, it just has to get done. Emerson said “Do the thing and you will have the power.”
Many of the issues we see people grappling with involve fghting something or someone in a way that resembles Don Quixote tilting at the windmill. They are fghting all by themselves. We say “stop fghting”. Let it go.
We also meet a great many worriers. Worried about everything all the time. Perhaps it is no more than a bad habit. Why do we say that? Whenever we solved a client’s worry, they immediately started worrying about something else! Churchill recounted a dying friend telling him, “You know, Winston, I had a lot of troubles in my life. Most of which never happened.”
Finally, from the Canadian thinker, Brian Tracy, “Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it”
By LUKE FEENEY lfeeney@liherald.com
Nicole Aloise, a Democrat running for Nassau County district attorney, is focusing her campaigning on public safety, community investment, and experience forged in courtrooms.
“I firmly believe in the job of a prosecutor,” she said. “It’s all I’ve done in my career.”
Aloise, 41, has worked as a prosecutor for 16 years in both Nassau and Queens, most recently as a senior assistant district attorney in the Queens Homicide Bureau. She began her legal career in 2008 after graduating from St. John’s University School of Law. While in Queens, she secured more than 20 violent felony convictions and helped establish case law by making use of NYPD body camera footage for the first time in a trial in New York City.
Aloise moved with her family from Astoria to Garden City in 2019. From 2019 to 2023, she prosecuted homicides and violent felonies as senior litigation counsel in the Nassau D.A.’s office. She returned to Queens for a brief period before stepping down in 2024 to launch her campaign.
Despite its staff of hundreds, one of the largest D.A.’s offices in the country, it has fallen behind, Aloise said. “The office now being run,” she said, “is not appropriate for a 2025 D.A.’s office.”
‘It’s been
She criticized what she called a lack of courtroom experience in the office’s current leadership, and said that has led to high staff turnover. The issues that are central to her platform include strengthening the county’s Hate Crimes Bureau, especially when it comes to antisemitic and anti-Asian attacks; sup-
porting a statewide “death by dealer” law to hold drug suppliers accountable in fatal overdoses; and increasing funding for youth, mental health and violence prevention programs.
Aloise has also pledged to pursue tougher prosecutions in drunken-driving cases, and expanding cooperation
with local police departments. “I’ve got the best experience to be in this job,” she said, “because I won’t be asking anybody to do something I myself personally haven’t done, and I will know what resources and guidelines to put into place to make sure they’re successful.”
Like the Republican incumbent, Anne Donnelly, Aloise has criticized New York’s 2020 discovery and bail reform laws. “It absolutely makes our job harder,” she said. “I’ve been outspoken about these laws since prior to their inception.”
But, she noted, she successfully worked under the same rules in Queens, and argued that the county badly needs an upgraded functioning discovery system. “They have one in Queens,” she added. “They have one in Suffolk.”
“I won’t run a stagnant office,” Aloise said. “I’ve got the passion, I’ve got the energy and I’ve got the vision to make the Nassau’s district attorney’s office one of the premier offices in the country — because we have the resources, if used correctly.”
By LUKE FEENEY lfeeney@liherald.com
For Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, pursuing justice and supporting crime victims isn’t just a job — it’s a passion.
“It’s been my life’s work,” she said. “I have worked in every bureau in the office. I have been a boss, a supervisor, and I’m very passionate about what we do.”
Donnelly, 61, a Republican and a longtime prosecutor, defeated former State Sen. Todd Kaminsky in 2021 to become district attorney — the fourth consecutive woman to hold the office. A Garden City resident who graduated from Fordham Law School in 1989, she is seeking a second term on a platform of public safety, gang enforcement and law enforcement support.
Since taking office in 2022, Donnelly has created three county law enforcement units. The Firearms Suppression and Intelligence Unit, focuses on illegal gun sales and weapons trafficking. “We’ve had an uptick of guns being taken off the street, and I wanted to know why,” she said. The Pharmaceutical Diversion and Cybercrimes Unit targets opioid diversion by medical professionals and prosecutes cybercrimes, including dark web activity. The Hate
Tim Baker/Herald
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly is seeking a second term as the county’s top prosecutor.
Crimes Unit is tasked with investigating bias-motivated violence and boosting community outreach, training and reporting.
“There’s always going to be crime,” Donnelly said. “The important aspect of maintaining or keeping Nassau safe
is to target the crimes that we see increases in.” She has been an outspoken critic of New York state’s bail reform and Clean Slate laws, which she described “problematic,” and argued they allow repeat offenders back onto the streets.
She also raised concerns about the state’s discovery reform law, passed in 2020, which requires prosecutors to quickly share evidence with defense attorneys. Under the law, prosecutors originally had 20 to 35 days after a defendant’s arraignment, depending on pretrial custody, to provide all evidence — with a possible 30-day extension.
“It’s not like we’re trying to hide anything from them,” Donnelly said. “Getting all the information within the window is the challenge.” A 2025 amendment now allows cases to proceed if prosecutors show “good faith and due diligence” in providing evidence.
On the subject of the 2019 bail reform law, which eliminated cash bail for many non-violent offenses, she pointed to aggravated animal abuse and DWI as examples of “violent and dangerous” offenses that don’t meet the law’s definition of violence.
With nearly 250 attorneys and a staff of more than 450, the Nassau County district attorney’s office is one of the largest in the country. Donnelly said that her management experience stands in contrast to her challenger in next month’s election, Democrat Nicole Aloise. “She’s a very nice person, but has never managed one person,” Donnelly said. “I don’t think she’s the person for it. I think I am.”
By KELSIE RADZISKI kradziski@liherald.com
Residents had the chance to meet local officers, explore police equipment and learn about careers in law enforcement during the annual National Faith and Blue Weekend event, aimed at strengthening community-police relationships.
“It’s an annual event where the police department partners with houses of worship in a collaborative manner or collaborative fashion, to have a collective event where the community can engage with the police in a positive way,” Detective Lieutenant James Pettenato said.
Officers set up interactive stations in the parking lot of St. Agnes Cathedral showcasing gear and equipment used in day-to-day law enforcement operations. A wide range of tools were on display to help residents better understand the department’s work.
“We bring all of the cool and exciting gadgets and gizmos over the police department now, and that way the community can see the police, see what we have, the tools of the trade,” Pettenato said. “It’s a positive atmosphere here, but if they need us when maybe things are not so positive, they’re comfortable to reach out.”
Beyond fostering dialogue, the event served as a career exploration opportunity for attendees of all ages.
“We have opportunities to learn about more jobs at the police department,” the officer added. “There are other lesser known jobs, such as a police medic, a police mechanic, school crossing
guard. We have the Explorer Youth Program, which is a co-ed youth program for young adults aged 14 to 21.”
Spot, the robot dog from Boston Dynamics, was one of the event’s standout attractions. The department primarily uses the robot for reconnaissance, as it is equipped with various cameras and a gripper arm similar to their bomb squad robot. However, Spot is limited in its lifting capacity, able to carry only about 30 pounds, making it better suited for light-duty tasks rather than heavy recovery operations.
The robot can also be outfitted with radiation detectors and five-gas meters, allowing it to be deployed into hazardous environments, such as warehouse spills or potential bomb threats, without putting officers at risk. While it can drag a person in emergencies, it is not ideal for full recovery situations due to its limited strength.
As one of the department’s newest tools, Spot is still being worked into the regular equipment rotation. The system is considered intuitive, though some personnel still prefer using the older robots or simply putting on a protective suit for certain situations. Despite this, Spot remains a crowd favorite at events like this one, where the technology can be showcased in a more approachable and engaging setting.
With families exploring patrol vehicles, robotics, and educational booths, the event brought an upbeat, approachable face to policing — and gave community members a deeper understanding of the tools and people who serve them.
Candidate profiles, ballot Information and more inside! LOCAL ELECTIONS
on the issues:
Lynbrook resident Laura Ryder brings deep community roots and decades of civic engagement to her role on the Hempstead Town Board. Appointed in March 2023 after serving as a Lynbrook Village Trustee, Ryder’s approach to governance blends hands-on public service with fiscal responsibility and a focus on neighborhood quality of life.
A paralegal at Ledwith and Atkinson and a real estate agent with Pearsall Partners Realty, Ryder combines professional know-how with a passion for helping others. During her time as village trustee, she helped manage village finances through the pandemic, championed small business growth, and supported efforts to create new housing that complemented Lynbrook’s character. Ryder’s civic leadership extends beyond
local government. She previously served on the South Nassau Water Authority and the American Water Company Community Outreach Committee, where she advocated for fair utility rates. She also represented Lynbrook on the Nassau County Police Commissioner’s Council, strengthening communication between residents and law enforcement.
As founder and chair of Lynbrook Cares, Ryder leads volunteers who assist seniors and residents with disabilities through home and yard maintenance projects. She also supports families in crisis through the Lynbrook Community Chest and has lent her time to numerous community causes, including the 9/11 Memorial Committee, Christopher’s Hemophilia Benefit, and the Lynbrook Beautification Committee.
Kate Murray is running for re-election as Town Clerk of Hempstead. She was first elected to the position in 2002 and returned to the office in 2019 after serving as Hempstead Town Supervisor from 2003 to 2016, making her the first woman to hold the position.
She has also served in the New York State Assembly representing the 19th District.
on the issues:
As Town Clerk, Murray has focused on improving accessibility and convenience for residents. Her initiatives include the “One-Stop Passport Shop,” online access to permits and licenses and commuter parking permits available directly at LIRR stations. She oversaw the construction of a $6 million multipurpose center for the ANCHOR Program, which offers programs in
athletics, aquatic activities, theater, computer skills, nutrition and social engagement. Murray’s office has also advanced renewable energy initiatives, including a green energy park and a solarpowered government office recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for its zeroemission design. The Town Clerk’s Office handles vital records, marriage licenses, permits, public notices, town board records, official records and historical archives dating back to 1644. The office also performs wedding ceremonies and processes applications for zoning changes, public garages, and other municipal permits.
Democratic candidate Yveline Dalmacy has not responded to requests for an interview for a roundtable.
Republican John Ferretti, appointed Hempstead Town Supervisor in August following Don Clavin’s resignation, is running to retain the position with a focus on fiscal discipline, public safety, and community values.
on the issues:
A former Nassau County legislator, Ferretti, a lifelong Levittown resident, has emphasized his record of opposing tax increases and supporting responsible budgeting.
officials to increase patrols at houses of worship and co-authored legislation to prevent individuals from concealing their identities during acts of intimidation.
In addition to his focus on safety and fiscal management, Ferretti has positioned himself as a defender of suburban neighborhoods, opposing proposals for high-density housing developments he believes would alter the character of local communities.
Democrat Joe Scianablo, a Marine combat veteran, former NYPD officer, and prosecutor, is running for Town of Hempstead supervisor with a pledge to restore transparency, lower taxes, and hold local government accountable.
During his tenure, he led efforts to reduce county taxes by $70 million and block $150 million in proposed hikes. He has said government should operate within its means, similar to the financial discipline of local families.
Ferretti’s platform highlights a commitment to maintaining public safety and supporting law enforcement. As a legislator, he helped expand police presence, reopen a closed precinct, and invest in advanced public safety technology. He also worked with town
Before his election to public office, Ferretti served as Chief Deputy County Clerk, overseeing a staff of more than 100 employees and managing over $240 million in annual revenue.
Ferretti has also prioritized strengthening community infrastructure and ensuring that development and town policies reflect the needs and values of local residents, supporting initiatives that preserve open spaces and enhance the quality of life in Hempstead.
Scianablo, a Garden City resident, says families across the town are feeling the strain of rising costs, from a 12 percent property tax hike to increases in water, power, and fuel bills. He is calling for a full financial audit of all departments, a freeze on nonessential spending, and new measures to root out waste and corruption.
on the issues:
Joseph Scianablo Party: Democrat
If elected, Scianablo said his first 100 days would include converting all town streetlights to LED to save $1 million annually, implementing zero-based budgeting where every dollar is justified, and exploring shared services with nearby towns to eliminate duplicate
costs. His platform emphasizes “commonsense solutions,” including proactive infrastructure maintenance, performance-based funding, and energy efficiency upgrades. He has also vowed to hold monthly town halls and establish resident oversight to keep taxpayers informed.
Scianablo said improving public safety and supporting veterans would also be key priorities. Drawing on his law enforcement background, he aims to strengthen trust between communities and public safety departments. As a Marine veteran, he wants to expand access to healthcare, housing, and employment programs for fellow veterans. He has also criticized the closure of the Safe Center and pledged to expand domestic violence services by working with Nassau County and community partners.
Howard Kopel, a Republican, and legislator since 2009, replaced Richard Nicolello as the Legislature’s Presiding Officer after he retired in 2024.
Kopel, 72, is a selfdescribed “recovering attorney” who owns a title insurance company in Valley Steam. He has prioritized keeping taxes from raising, safety within Nassau County and building bipartisan relationships. Kopel is a Lawrence resident for 38 years.
Upon taking office he has pushed and secured a state-of-the-art system at the Bay Park sewage treatment plant and advocated for open space maintenance and infrastructure improvement. on the issues: He wants to define affordable housing properly wile finding appropriate locations and believes government
control create housing shortages. He said that current barriers are “interest rates” and price jacking due to high demand and low supply in certain areas.
Kopel addresses the gridlock on Rockaway Turnpike and Nassau Expressway and is concerned about more traffic from multiple transitoriented development projects in the Five Towns. He supports development but opposes over-development that exceeds infrastructure capacity such as the Woodmere Club. Kopel wants to “preserve the suburban way of life.”
To address antisemitism and racial hate crimes, he praised the work of the Nassau County Police Department Fourth Precinct and said the Five Towns “doesn’t have a lot of crimes, thankfully.” He added that education and maturity are important.
Democratic candidate Alec Fischthal did not respond to the Herald for an interview.
Nassau County Legislature candidate Danielle Smikle, a Freeport native and educator, is running a campaign focused on lowering property taxes, supporting education, strengthening small businesses, and revitalizing neighborhoods across Baldwin, Freeport, and Oceanside.
Nassau County Legislator Patrick Mullaney, the Republican incumbent representing the 4th Legislative District, is seeking re-election for the two-year term in a race shaped by the disappearance of his opponent, Petros Krommidas, a Baldwin native and Long Beach resident who has been missing since April.
Reflecting on his first term, Mullaney, 50, describes the experience as “a learning curve” but says the most important lesson he’s carried forward is simple: listening. “I have one job over anything else,” he said. “And that’s just to listen to people.”
For Mullaney, a FDNY special operations lieutenant, listening doesn’t always mean agreeing — it means ensuring residents feel heard and that government remains accessible. on the issues:
“My number one question is, ‘Where
Smikle, who moved from Jamaica to Freeport at age three, currently works as a college and career counselor at the Academy Charter School in Uniondale and co-owns a wellnessfocused candle business with her mother. She is running in the 6th which combines parts of her previous Assembly campaign area with Baldwin and Oceanside.
Since entering public service last year with a run for the New York State Assembly, Smikle has emphasized community-first leadership and outreach across party lines, knocking on doors of Democrats and Republicans alike to ensure voters understand their options.
do we go?’” he said. “Sometimes it’s a town issue, sometimes the city of Long Beach, sometimes the county. We try to guide people to the right place.”
He has hosted several community forums and informational sessions on topics like scam awareness and Narcan training, though he expressed disappointment with turnout.
Taxes remain a frequent point of confusion, he added, noting that many residents don’t realize county taxes are only a small fraction of their overall bill.
Mullaney said the county has maintained a zero-percent tax increase, and he aims to continue helping residents better understand how tax dollars are used.
A 30-year Long Beach resident, Mullaney said his deep community ties have helped foster cooperation with city officials.
on the issues:
Her priorities for the Legislature include addressing high property taxes, improving housing availability, maintaining infrastructure, and fostering stronger community-police relations. On housing, Smikle advocates redeveloping vacant and underused properties to provide opportunities for younger residents without overbuilding, aiming to balance growth with neighborhood character. Infrastructure and flood preparedness are central issues in the coastal district. Smikle has stressed the importance of maintaining floodgates, repairing aging roads, and keeping public facilities safe and accessible. She has also highlighted the need for ongoing upkeep of playgrounds, pools, and community spaces to ensure residents benefit consistently. Smikle hopes to build strong relationships with colleagues across party lines to implement practical solutions for the district.
Nassau County Legislator Debra Mulé, a Democrat seeking her fifth term, is running a campaign centered on infrastructure upgrades, affordable housing, and community revitalization across Baldwin, Freeport, and Oceanside.
Currently representing the sixth legislative district, Mulé, first elected in 2017, has positioned herself as an advocate for public works and neighborhood improvements, emphasizing her commitment to securing long-term investments for local communities.
A former Freeport village trustee and school board member, Her priorities for another term include continuing capital projects, addressing aging sewer systems, and enhancing quality of life for residents through county partnerships.
on the issues:
Infrastructure renewal has been the defining issue of Mulé’s tenure. She has championed the Grand Avenue
Complete Streets Project, which introduced new paving, decorative lighting, safety improvements, and curb enhancements in Baldwin’s downtown. The project’s next phase aims to extend the upgrades north to the Southern State Parkway, representing more than $20 million in total investment.
Mulé’s campaign also spotlights Nassau County’s affordable housing crisis, particularly in Baldwin and Freeport. She has supported projects which include Freeport’s Moxey Rigby apartments, which reserve units for veterans and seniors and the Baldwin Commons apartment complex. Mulé views these developments as models for balancing growth and affordability across the county.
Through the county’s Community Revitalization Program, Mulé has directed funding toward fire departments, school playgrounds, and local beautification projects.
Amendment to Allow Olympic Sports Complex In Essex County on State Forest Preserve Land. Allows skiing and related trail facilities on state forest preserve land. The site is 1,039 acres. Requires State to add 2,500 acres of new forest land in Adirondack Park. A yes vote authorizes new ski trails and related facilities in the Adirondack forest preserve. A no vote does not authorize this use.
Enmienda para Permitir Complejo Olímpico de Deportes En el Condado de Essex en Tierra de Reserva Forestal Estatal. Permite el esquí e instalaciones relacionadas de pistas en tierra de reserva forestal estatal. El sitio es de 1,039 acres. Requiere que el Estado añade 2,500 acres de nueva tierra forestal en el Parque Adirondack. Un voto afrmativo autoriza nuevas pistas de esquí e instalaciones relacionadas en la reserva forestal Adirondack. Un voto negativo no autoriza este uso.
November 04, 2025 NASSAU COUNTY
Oceanside / island Park
County Executive
Ejecutivo del Condado
DEM,MOD Seth I. Koslow REP,CON Bruce A. Blakeman
District Attorney
Fiscal del Distrito
DEM, MOD Nicole Aloise REP, CON Anne T. Donnelly
Controlador del Condado
DEM, MOD Wayne H. Wink, Jr. REP, CON
Elaine R. Phillips
County Clerk
Secretario
DEM, MOD Joylette E. Williams
Hempstead Supervisor
Supervisor
DEM, MOD Joe Scianablo
Hempstead
Justice
Ferretti
Hempstead Council Member
Concejal
DEM Darien D. Ward
A. Ryder
actual ballot, but a composite of several sample ballots so as to refect all the districts within the communities covered edition of the Herald. Complete reporting on candidates running in districts covered by the Herald may be found at under the Elections ’25 tab. For election results after the polls close Tuesday night, go to LIHerald.com
Secretario Municipal Vote for One (1)
MOD
Yveline L. Dalmacy REP, CON Kate Murray
County Legislator
District 4
Legislador del Condado Distrito 4 Vote for One (1) REP, CON
Petros Krommidas Patrick Mullaney
County Legislator
District 6
Legislador del Condado Distrito 6 Vote for One (1) REP, CON
Debra S. Mule Danielle Samantha Smikle
County Legislator
District 7
Legislador del Condado Distrito 7 Vote for One (1) REP, CON J. Fischthal Howard J. Kopel
Justice of the Supreme
la Corte Suprema Vote for Eight (8) REP, CON
Kenny
Mark A. Cuthbertson
Margaret C. Reilly
Joseph C. Pastoressa
Steven A. Pilewski
James W. Malone
Carl J. Copertino
Bronwyn M. Black-Kelly
Juez del Tribunal Sucesorio
DEM, REP, CON
David P. Sullivan
Juez de la corte de distrito
DEM, REP, CON
Nancy Nicotra Bednar
Donald X. Clavin, Jr.
Juez del Tribunal de Familia
REP, CON
Robert E. Pipia
DEM, REP, CON Maria Boultadakis
Robert G. Bogle
Howard E. Sturim
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties
Age: 65
Legal career: Bronwyn Black-Kelly has served as a Suffolk County District Court judge since 2023, following a long career in both public service and private practice. From 1990 to 2022, she was a partner at the Law Offices of Black & Black, a general practice firm. Earlier in her career, she worked as an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office from 1985 to 1989.
Black-Kelly earned her law degree from Hofstra University School of Law in 1985, and her bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University in 1981. She was admitted to the state bar in 1986, and is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the U.S. Supreme Court. She is a member of both the Suffolk County and New York State bar associations.
Endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 59
Legal career: Since 2018, James Malone has been a District Court Judge. From 2014-2017, he was a principal law clerk for State Supreme Court Justice William Condon. He received his undergraduate degree from Clarkson University in 1983 and a law degree from Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center in 2005.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties
Age: 69
Legal career: Judge Carl Copertino currently presides over family cases in the Family Court of Suffolk County and has served as a New York judge for 13 years.Previously, he spent five years as an attorney with the New York City Transit Authority. He received his law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1981. He was admitted to the New York State bar in 1981.
Endorsed by Republican and Democratic parties
Age: 59
Legal career: Mark Cuthbertson, a lifelong Huntington resident, focused his legal career on commercial real estate, municipal litigation, and the representation of municipalities and notfor-profit cemeteries.
Admitted to practice in New York and Connecticut, Cuthbertson earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Albany Law School of Union University. There, he served as the executive editor of the Symposium for the Albany Law Review. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Villanova University.
In addition to his legal practice, Cuthbertson has served on the Huntington Town Board since 1998, where he has worked to reduce and stabilize taxes while advancing environmental protection and smart growth initiatives. He sponsored legislation preserving hillside areas and open space throughout the town.
Endorsed by the Conservative party Age: 36
Legal career: Matthew McDonough, of Massapequa, has been admitted to practice law in New York since 2019. He is also admitted to the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Southern districts of New York, the U.S. Tax Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. McDonough, a graduate of the City University of New York School of Law at Queens College, he earned his Juris Doctor before serving a clerkship with the State Supreme Court. In 2020, he opened his private practice in Babylon, focusing on municipal and public sector law. He works often with local governments, businesses and residents on municipal policy, taxation and regulatory compliance.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 66
Legal career: Justice Joseph C. Pastoressa has served on the state Supreme Court in Suffolk County since 2012. Before that, he was an acting Supreme Court justice from 2004 to 2011, while also serving as a Court of Claims judge. Earlier in his career, Pastoressa worked in private practice, and later as a principal law clerk for a justice on the state Appellate Division, a Court of Claims judge and a state Supreme Court justice. He earned his bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University, and graduated cum laude from Brooklyn Law School.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 69
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties
Age: 64
Legal career: Paul Kenny, a Glen Head resident, began his career in 1986 as a court attorney in the New York City Criminal Court and later joined a general practice firm in Queens. He served as co-counsel to the State Court Officer’s Association. From 1992 to 2007, he worked in the Kings County Supreme Court Law Department, as a court attorney-referee for matrimonial matters, and from 2000 as the deputy chief court attorney. He was appointed chief clerk of the Appellate Term, Second Department in 2007 and edited the Election Law Handbook for more than a decade. He serves on the Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission, is an instructor at Lehman College, an adjunct professor at the NYC College of Technology and lectures at the Appellate Division, Second Department and State Judicial Institute on election law.
Endorsed by Republican, Conservative, and Democratic parties
Age: 61
Legal career: Steven A. Pilewski is a longtime member of the state’s court system, with more than two decades of experience in judicial chambers. From 2000 to 2022, he served as principal law clerk to Justice Guy J. Mangano Jr. in the state Supreme Court in Kings County. Before that, he worked as a principal appellate law clerk for the Appellate Term of the 2nd Department from 1995 to 2000. Pilewski earned his law degree from Touro College in 1994, and received a bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University in 1989. He has been a member of the Suffolk County Bar Association since 1999.
Legal career: Margaret Reilly has served as a Nassau County Surrogate’s Court judge since 2016. She was previously a Nassau County Supreme Court Justice from 2012 to 2015, an acting justice from 2007 to 2012, and a twice-elected County District Court judge from 1998 to 2011. Earlier in her career, Reilly practiced law as a deputy Nassau County attorney, the Stewart Manor village prosecutor and a senior associate at Mulholland Minion & Roe and the Law Office of Vincent D. McNamara. She has lectured at Hofstra and Touro law schools, co-chaired the Nassau County Courts’ Women in the Courts Committee, and served as an adjunct professor in trial advocacy at St. John’s.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 54
Legal career: Nancy Nicotra Bednar is a lifelong Nassau County resident raised in Elmont. She lives in Rockville Centre.
A 1993 Notre Dame graduate with a bachelor’s in English, she graduated from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City in 1996. She has over 25 years of legal experience working with the Innocence Project to her leadership roles in the Nassau County Attorney’s Office and state courts.
In 2003, Bednar became a deputy bureau chief-for the General Litigation Bureau in the County Attorney’s office until 2008. Then a senior principal law clerk for Appellate DivisionSecond Department. She is now a principal law clerk in the County Supreme Court.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 68
Legal career: Bogle has served as a New York judge for over 40 years and began his term after election in 2015. He also serves as a supervising judge of the Village Courts in the county. He received his law degree from Hofstra University in 1982 after receiving his bachelor’s degree in political science from Niagara University in 1979.
Bogle has received awards such as the Magistrate of the Year Award from the State of New York in 2006 and the Frank J. Santagata Memorial Award from the Nassau County Magistrates Association in 2008.
A lifelong resident of Valley Stream, he and his wife, Kathleen, have two children. He is a Knights of Columbus member.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties
Age: 56
Legal career: Donald X. Clavin Jr. is the former Town of Hempstead Supervisor who served almost 3 terms from 2020-2025. He stepped down in August. Clavin was the Town of Hempstead Receiver of Taxes from 20012019.
Previously Clavin worked as a trial attorney and as deputy county attorney in Nassau County’s Attorney’s office. Clavin holds a law degree from Hofstra University and a bachelor’s in history from Canisius College.
Clavin lives in Garden City with his wife and two children. He has stated “tax relief” as his top priority. He also helped develop the town’s 2019 and proposed 2020 budgets, including tax cuts. He has also hosted public information forums.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 61
Legal career: Robert E. Pipia is a judge on the Nassau County District Court in the 10th Judicial District of New York. He was first elected in 2014.
Before that, Pipia was the executive assistant to then Town of Hempstead Supervisor’s Office. This followed his work as deputy town attorney for the town’s Attorney’s Office where he served as the Americans with Disabilities Act compliance coordinator.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from SUNY Albany in 1987, and earned his law degree from Hofstra University in 1992. He was licensed in New York in 1993.
Born in Queens and raised in Elmont, he attended the Henry Viscardi School.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties
Age: 39
Legal career: Maria Boultadakis is a candidate for district court judge in Nassau County’s 2nd District. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2012 and is registered with the New York State Unified Court System. She earned her law degree from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Boultadakis has served as a law clerk for three New York State Supreme Court justices, and she also held the position of deputy county attorney in Nassau County from 2022 to 2023.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 55
Legal career: Karen L. Moroney serves as a judge in the Nassau County District Court, first elected in 2007, she was re-elected in 2013 and is currently serving a five-year term that expires at the end of this year.
Since 2017, she has also served as principal law clerk to Justice Sharon M.J. Gianelli of the Nassau County Supreme Court, and previously held similar roles for three other county Supreme Court justices. Her legal experience includes work as an attorney for the state Supreme Court and as an assistant district attorney in Queens County from 1992 to 1999.
Moroney earned her law degree from St. John’s University School of Law and was admitted to the bar in 1992. She is also admitted to practice before multiple federal courts.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 41
Legal career: Diana Hedayati is an attorney based in Plainview and a candidate for district Court judge in Nassau County’s 3rd District. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2010 by the Appellate Division, First Judicial Department and is currently registered with the New York State Unified Court System.
Hedayati graduated from Pace University School of Law. Her professional background includes over a decade of legal experience in the public sector, with a focus on administrative and regulatory law.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 66
Legal career: Howard E. Sturim is a New York Judge in the Supreme Court of Nassau County and has served for 10 years. His career began as an assistant district attorney for the Nassau County District Attorney’s office from 1991 to 2004. He prosecuted misdemeanor and felony cases then became head of the Arson Unit and Major Offenses Unit. He then became a principal law clerk for the state Court of Claims to Alan L. Honorof before his term as New York Judge began in 2016.
Sturim earned his bachelor’s degree from the New York Institute of Technology in 1987 before receiving his law degree from Hofstra University in 1990 in the Maurice A. Deane School of Law.
Cross endorsed by Democratic, Republican and Conservative parties Age: 60
Legal career: James A. Saladino is a district court judge in Nassau County, appointed in March of this year. He has over 30 years of legal experience, including service as a judge, law clerk, prosecutor and private practitioner. From 2019 to 2024, he served as a district court judge in Suffolk County, presiding over criminal and civil matters. Before that, he spent eight years as a principal law clerk in the New York State Supreme Court and practiced law as a partner at Saladino & Hartill, LLP. Earlier in his career, he was an assistant district Attorney in Suffolk County from 1991 to 2002.
Saladino earned his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law and a B.A. from Boston University. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1991.
Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is seeking a second term, emphasizing public safety, fiscal stability and preserving suburban character as the foundation of his administration. He said Nassau remains the safest large county in America, citing expanded law enforcement ranks, a stable budget and seven Wall Street bond-rating upgrades as evidence of sound fiscal management. Blakeman has repeatedly highlighted that county taxes have not increased during his tenure and that Nassau’s average home value has risen, which he sees as proof of prosperity and stability.
A central point of pride for Blakeman has been Nassau’s partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the first of its kind in the country — which dedicates jail space and crosstrained detectives to assist federal agents. He said the agreement improves safety and has strong support among Hispanic residents who want “safe
neighborhoods and strong schools.” On crime prevention, Blakeman defended his creation of a volunteer emergency database, which critics have called a militia, describing it instead as a vetted roster of former police and military members who could be mobilized.
Blakeman continues to challenge the state’s takeover of Nassau University Medical Center, calling it “illegal” and harmful to residents who rely on it as a safetynet hospital. He contends the move is part of a broader state plan to reduce local control and diminish services. On housing, he opposes state-mandated density requirements, arguing that Nassau is already one of the nation’s most developed suburban counties and that zoning decisions should remain local.
Overall, Blakeman’s campaign message centers on fiscal prudence, public safety and protecting Nassau’s suburban quality of life.
Democratic Nassau County Legislator Seth Koslow, of Merrick, is running for county executive on a platform centered on transparency, fiscal accountability and restoring public trust in local government.
A former Queens assistant district attorney and small business owner, Koslow said his decision to run was motivated by frustration over what he views as secrecy and mismanagement under the current administration. He cited ongoing problems at Nassau University Medical Center and the county jail as examples of a government unwilling to answer questions or plan for the future.
Seth Koslow Party: Democrat
waste and redirect resources toward infrastructure, housing and public services. He supports using county-owned properties for new mixed-use housing and simplifying the permit process for small businesses to boost local revenue without raising taxes. Koslow also said he would end Nassau’s cooperation agreement with federal immigration authorities, arguing it strains community relations and overextends county resources.
Koslow criticized County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s creation of a civilian militia, saying it undermines law enforcement and creates liability, and argued that Nassau’s shortage of detectives poses a more urgent safety threat. On fiscal issues, he said the county must better track its spending, cut
On social policy, he has rejected measures like the county’s bans on transgender athletes and public masking as divisive distractions from more pressing issues of affordability and public safety. His approach, he said, would emphasize collaboration with state and regional leaders, community input on major development projects such as the Nassau Hub, and long-term planning to keep future generations living and working on Long Island.
Elaine Phillips, the Republican Nassau County Comptroller, is seeking re-election on a platform centered on fiscal responsibility, government efficiency, and taxpayer protection. Since taking office in 2022, she has focused on modernizing Nassau County’s financial systems, strengthening oversight of county spending, and ensuring residents receive measurable value for their tax dollars.
payments owed to Nassau County, identified inefficiencies in procurement and contract management, and implemented updated auditing procedures to prevent waste and fraud. She has also emphasized modernization, leading efforts to digitize accounting systems.
A former New York State senator representing the 7th District, Phillips previously served as mayor of Flower Hill, where she managed local budgets and enacted cost-saving reforms. Before entering public office, she built a successful career in finance with senior roles at J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and MetLife, bringing private-sector expertise to government operations.
As comptroller, Phillips has prioritized accountability and transparency in county finances. Her office has recovered millions in outstanding
On the issues: Phillips has focused on strengthening fiscal stability, monitoring contract performance, and scrutinizing the county’s partnerships with major public entities such as the MTA. She has also overseen audits addressing delayed payments to small businesses and service providers, ensuring timely reimbursements and greater financial clarity. Phillips points to her background in both finance and local government as key to her pragmatic approach to fiscal management. She has emphasized longterm planning, responsible borrowing, and efficiency-driven reforms designed to safeguard public resources.
Wayne Wink, the Democratic candidate for Nassau County Comptroller, is running on a platform centered on transparency, fiscal integrity, and restoring independence to the county’s chief financial office. With more than two decades of public service, he brings extensive legislative and administrative experience to the race.
A resident of Roslyn, Wink began his career in local government on the North Hempstead Town Board, where he served from 2003 to 2007. He was later elected to the Nassau County Legislature, representing the 10th District from 2007 to 2014, which includes parts of Great Neck, East Hills, Roslyn, and Manhasset. During his tenure, he developed a reputation for fiscal diligence and constituent advocacy, focusing on responsible budgeting and government accountability.
In 2014, Wink was elected North Hempstead Town Clerk, a position he held until 2021. In that role, he oversaw
modernization of the town’s recordkeeping and licensing systems, implemented digital accessibility initiatives, and ensured compliance with open government and transparency laws. His administrative experience as clerk further solidified his focus on efficiency.
On the issues: Wink has framed his campaign for comptroller around independence and transparency. He emphasizes the need for unbiased financial oversight, ensuring that county contracts, audits, and expenditures are handled with integrity and free from political influence. His platform includes expanding digital access to county financial data, improving internal controls, and strengthening collaboration with local municipalities to enhance fiscal efficiency. Wink holds a bachelor’s degree from Union College and a law degree from St. John’s University School of Law.
Maureen O’Connell, Nassau County Clerk since 2006, is seeking re-election to continue her work modernizing the office and expanding services for seniors and non-English-speaking residents. With over 30 years in public service, O’Connell brings experience as both a registered nurse and attorney, having previously served in the New York State Assembly and as Deputy Mayor of East Williston.
On the issues:
state’s earliest Supreme Court e-filing systems and integrated digital connections with state and local agencies. She has also prioritized digitizing historical documents, making decades-old records more accessible for residents, particularly seniors who often need to retrieve property information.
During her nearly two decades as clerk, O’Connell has overseen a major transformation of the office’s operations. Under her leadership, millions of backlogged documents were processed, and the office transitioned to a fully digitized system for court and land records. This modernization has allowed residents and attorneys to file and access official documents online, reducing the need for in-person visits.
O’Connell implemented one of the
In an effort to protect homeowners, O’Connell launched a Property Fraud Alert Program, allowing property owners to receive email notifications if deeds or mortgages are filed in their name, helping to prevent fraud.
If re-elected, she plans to continue digitizing older records and expand parking at the Mineola office. She also intends to further adapt services for residents who speak languages other than English, building on the existing language line currently in place.
A lifelong Nassau County resident, O’Connell lives in East Williston and teaches nursing at SUNY Farmingdale.
Joylette E. Williams, a longtime educator and community leader, is running for Nassau County Clerk with a platform focused on modernization, accessibility, and administrative efficiency. A county resident since 1993, Williams has spent over two decades in public service and education, currently serving as a professor of English at Nassau Community College and a two-term member of the Hempstead School Board.
Williams holds a Ph.D. in English and is completing a second doctorate in Higher Education Administration at the University of Connecticut. Her academic and professional background includes extensive experience in document management, recordkeeping, and organizational leadership—skills she says directly translate to the responsibilities of the clerk’s office.
Her public service includes prior roles as a Village of Hempstead trustee and current board member of the Town of
Hempstead Industrial Development Agency. Williams is also actively involved in civic organizations, including the NAACP, the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club, and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, among others.
On the issues: If elected, Williams plans to prioritize the digitization of county records, improve online access to public documents, and expand the use of the clerk’s mobile outreach van to underserved communities. She also proposes extending office hours one day a week to better serve working residents and increasing language accessibility for non-English-speaking residents.
Williams advocates for reducing or waiving fees on property transactions for groups such as seniors, veterans, first responders, and first-time homebuyers, citing Nassau’s fees as higher than neighboring counties.
Anne Donnelly, a Republican and prosecutor for over 30 years, defeated former State Sen. Todd Kaminsky in 2021 to become Nassau County’s top prosecutor; becoming the fourth consecutive woman to do so.
Donnelly, 61, is campaigning on her record as a career prosecutor who has prioritized public safety, gang enforcement and support for law enforcement. She is a Garden City resident and took office in 2022. Upon taking office she assembled a team of prosecutors and law enforcement officials—including a former police commissioner—to focus on violent crime, narcotics, and unsolved cold cases.
On the issues:
To address gun violence and online drug trafficking, she created a Firearm Suppression Unit and a Cyber Crimes and Pharmaceutical Unit. Her office has also expanded education programs in schools and invested in hate crime prevention efforts.
Donnelly has been an outspoken critic of New York’s “Cashless Bail” and “Clean Slate” laws, which she argues put repeat violent offenders back on the streets. She has called for their repeal while voicing continued support for police.
Nicole Aloise, a Democrat and candidate for Nassau County District Attorney, is mounting a campaign centered on addressing crime in the county, community investment and public safety.
Donnelly also assisted in the Gilgo Beach serial killer investigation and helped close multiple cold cases from the 1960s and 1970s. Donnelly has said her administration prioritizes justice for vulnerable populations, including animals, and has prosecuted abusers under animal cruelty laws.
Before her election, Donnelly served 32 years in the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, most recently as deputy bureau chief of the Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau. Her cases included murder-for-hire schemes, narcotics rings, and a counterfeit electronics bust that led to the largest asset forfeiture in county history.
Donnelly holds degrees from Fordham University and Fordham Law School.
Aloise, 41, brings 16 years of experience as a prosecutor in both Nassau and Queens counties, including recent work as a senior assistant district attorney in the Queens Homicide Bureau. She began her career in 2008 after earning her law degree from St. John’s University. In Queens, she helped secure more than 20 violent felony convictions and made case law by introducing the first NYPD body camera footage used in a New York City trial.
From 2019 to 2023, she served in the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office as senior litigation counsel, prosecuting violent felonies and homicide cases. She returned to Queens in 2023 and continued her work until stepping down in 2024 to
run for district attorney. On the issues: Her platform includes strengthening the county’s Hate Crimes Bureau to better address attacks on Jewish and Asian communities, supporting the creation of a “death by dealer” statute to hold drug traffickers accountable in fatal overdose cases, and boosting funding for mental health, youth and violence prevention programs.
Aloise has also pledged to crack down on DWI cases through the county’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau and continue partnering with local police departments to improve public safety.
She lives in Garden City with her family, serves on her school’s PTA, coaches youth soccer and teaches legal ethics as an adjunct professor at Molloy University.
up
Get your ghoul on with a tricky treat of a bash
By Karen Bloom
The big day of tricks — and treats — is fast approaching. Ir’s the perfect excuse to let your spooky side shine. Whether you’re hosting little ghouls or adults who love a good fright, transform your home into a playful (or slightly spooky) party lair. Think mad scientist candy tables,“frightfully” delicious bites, bubbling mocktails, and enough treats to satisfy every sweet tooth.
Costumes optional, fun required. Not everyone wants to go all out with a full costume — and that’s fne! A Halloween Disguise Table lets guests add just a touch of whimsy. From goofy glasses and wacky hats to plastic fangs and spinning bow ties, everyone can join the fun, one accessory at a time.
Go for some spooky eats and magical drinks. Turn everyday foods into Halloween delights with cookie cutters, clever renaming, or inventive presentation. Sandwiches become tombstones, cookies turn into ghosts, you get the idea. Drinks? Pour them into vintage bottles and jugs and label them “magic potions” for an instant wow factor.
With a little imagination, your Halloween gathering can be a playful mix of tricks, treats and memorable moments — no matter your age. Try these tricked-out goodies for tasty spooking.
Spooky Ghosts
These friendly ghosts are sweetly spooky.
• 4 large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup extra-fne Baker’s Special Sugar
• Chocolate mini chips, for eyes
Preheat the oven to 200°F, with a rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare a pastry bag with a 1/2” plain tip. Place the room-temperature egg whites into the bowl of a mixer. Add the cream of tartar. Beat on slow speed until the cream of tartar is dissolved and the egg whites are foamy. Slowly increase the speed of the mixer. When
the volume of the eggs has doubled and they begin to look opaque, sprinkle in about half the sugar. Continue to beat until the whites are glossy and getting stiff. Add the remaining sugar and mix until it’s evenly distributed and the whites hold a stiff peak.
Transfer the meringue to the pastry bag and, holding the bag perpendicular to the baking sheet, pipe, with even pressure, about 2”-high mounds of meringue.
Carefully press two chocolate mini chips into each meringue ghost, to make eyes.
Bake the meringues for approximately 60 to 90 minutes, or until they’re dry and crisp to the touch.
Turn off the oven, open the door a couple of inches, and leave the meringues in the oven to fnish drying several hours, or even overnight.
Remove the ghosts from the completely cold oven, and store them loosely covered. They should keep for several days at cool/dry room temperature. Yield: 20 to 24 ghosts.
Take a bite out of these mummies if you dare.
• 1 can (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
• 20 meatballs, pre-made
• Ketchup or mustard
• Marinara sauce, as desired
Heat oven to 375°F. Line work surface with cooking parchment paper. On parchment-lined surface, unroll dough and press perforations to seal; cut into 4 rectangles.
With knife or pizza cutter, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough.
Wrap 2 pieces of dough around each meatball to look like “bandages,” stretching dough slightly to cover meatballs.
Separate “bandages” near one end to show meatball “face.” On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped meatballs.
Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and meatballs are hot. With ketchup and mustard, draw “eyes” on mummy
bites. Serve with warm marinara sauce. Monster Mouths
A spooky treat you’ll want to sink your teeth into.
• 1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated peanut butter cookies
• 3/4 cup hazelnut spread with cocoa
• 1 cup miniature marshmallows
Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 16 balls. On ungreased cookie sheet, place balls 3 inches apart.
Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 20 minutes.
Spread hazelnut spread on bottom of each cookie; cut each cookie crosswise in half. For each “mouth,” press 4 to 5 marshmallows into hazelnut spread along rounded edge of 1 cookie half. Top with second cookie half, bottom side down; gently press together.
Melted Witch Punch
Take a sip and you’ll be feeling “witchy.”
• 6 cups water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 (6 ounce) package lime-favored gelatin mix
• 1 (46 fuid ounce) can pineapple juice
• 2 quarts orange juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 (2 liter) bottles chilled lemon-lime soda
Mix water, sugar, and gelatin mix in a large saucepan and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and cook at a boil, whisking frequently, until gelatin and sugar have dissolved, about 3 minutes. Stir pineapple juice, orange juice, and lemon juice into gelatin mixture and transfer into resealable plastic bags. Place in freezer until slushy, about 4 hours. Pour mixture into a large punch bowl and stir in lemon-lime soda; foat a black plastic witch hat atop the punch.
Ruthie Foster is eager to share tunes from her new CD, “Mileage.” Renowned for her ability to weave together a tapestry of diverse musical infuences ranging from gospel and blues to folk and soul, Foster’s musical odyssey has taken her from singing in churches in rural Texas to earning multiple Grammy nominations, gracing the stage with the Allman Brothers, and collaborating with Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. With her milestone 10th studio album, Foster continues to tell stories that refect her personal triumphs, losses and the universal human experience. Born into a family steeped in gospel tradition, she initially shied away from the spotlight, preferring to play guitar, piano and write songs for others. Now, many albums later, she stands as a testament to the power of authenticity and resilience in music.
Friday, Oct. 24, 8 p.m. $43, $38, $33. Jeanne Rimsky Theater at Landmark on Main Street, 232 Main St., Port Washington. Tickets available at landmarkonmainstreet.org or (516) 767-6444.
One of America’s most distinctive and longest-running rock bands, Little Feat is back in a big way with a revitalized lineup and a stellar new album — its frst of original material in over a decade. The venerable band is touring in support of ‘Strike Up the Band,” their frst new studio album reliant on new material since 2012’s Rooster Rag. It’s Little Feat’s triumphant return to rock ‘n roll with plenty of swampy Southern soul. The band builds on a deep, over 50-year history of elite musicianship and brilliant, idiosyncratic songwriting that transcends boundaries. California rock, funk, folk, jazz, country and rockabilly mixed with New Orleans swamp boogie has kept audiences grooving for decades.
Saturday, Oct 25, 8 p.m. $141.25, $120.25, $99.75, $77.75, $66.25. The Paramount, 370 New York Ave., Huntington. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com or paramountny.com.
OCT
24
Spooky Fest
Spooky Fest is back at the Center for Science Teaching & Learning, through the month. Celebrate the season with Halloween for all. Be scared if you dare or enjoy not-so-spooky thrills with the younger folks.
• Where: 1450 Tanglewood Road, Rockville Centre
• Time: 6-9:30 p.m., also Oct. 25 and Oct. 26
• Contact: cstl.org or (516) 7640045
OCT
25
Long Beach Humane Society Halloween Costume Party Fundraiser
The Long Beach Humane Society invites all to its annual Halloween celebration. With entertainment, food, drinks, raffle baskets, a 50/50 raffle, door prizes, and a best costume prize. A palm reader will also be on hand. $50 in advance; $55 at the door.
• Where: Dox, 10 Broadway, Island Park
• Time: 4-8 p.m.
Halloween Beach Bash
Families are invited to enjoy hayrides, a petting zoo, pumpkin picking and decorating, and more at this festive Halloween celebration. A trunk-or-treat, presented by the Island Park Library, will follow from 12:30–2 p.m. at the Auxiliary Beach Way parking lot (gates open at 11:30 a.m. for registered cars).
• Where: Masone Beach, Waterford Road, Island Park
• Time: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (Beach Bash); 12:30-2 p.m. (Trunk-or-Treat)
‘Uncle Vlad’s Pumpkin Patch: Under New Management’
Long Island Children’s Museum welcomes all to its latest theater production. Horrible news! The Mountain Boo Soda Company has their eyes on a piece of property for their new factory — Uncle Vlad’s pumpkin patch! Join Uncle Vlad, his nephew Chad, and their freakish friends as they team up to protect their Halloween home from the bony fngers of big business. The company is run by a skeleton, after all! With puppeteers and actors from LICM’s Theater, this musical adventure will tickle your funny bone as a Halloween treat for the whole family. $5 with museum admission ($4 members). $10 theater only.
• Where: Museum Row, Garden City
8
OCT
27
Movie matinee Stop by Oceanside Library for a showing of the horror classic “Psycho.”
• Where: 30 Davison Ave.
• Time: 2 p.m.
• Contact: oceansidelibrary.com or (516) 766-2360
OCT
29
Day trip to Nassau County Museum of Art
Join the JCC for a visit to the At Play exhibit. highlighting artists’ fascination with entertainment — from portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and the Beatles to vintage fashion, Folies Bergère costumes, and works by Tiffany. $105, $93. Members.Trip includes transportation, snacks, and lunch at Spaghettini Restaurant. Seating is limited; early registration encouraged.
• Where: Barry & Florence Friedberg JCC, 15 Neil Court, Oceanside
• Contact: friedbergjcc.org
• Where: Tilles Center, LIU Post campus, 720 Northern Blvd., Brookville
• Time: 7 p.m.
Music Director Cristian Maˇcelaru leads the Orchestre National de France on its frst U.S. tour in nearly 10 years, performing with Grammy-winning pianist Daniil Trifonov. Their brief three-concert tour, with a stop at Tilles Center, culminates in a much-anticipated return to Carnegie Hall. Founded in 1934 and prized as France’s leading orchestra, the Orchestre National frst toured in North America in 1948. Joined by the pianist-extraordinaire (whose career has taken him far and wide, to Paris, throughout France, and to the most prestigious classical music venues in the world), the Orchestre National de France, the orchestra performs repertoires that lie at the core of its identity: Maurice Ravel (to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth), Elsa Barraine and Camille Saint-Saëns. Their brilliant repertoire features Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, along with Elsa Barraine’s Symphony No. 2 and two works by Ravel — Concerto in G and Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2 — with Trifonov as soloist on both of the program’s concerti. Under the baton of Cristian Maˇcelaru, this masterful program stuns in the musical story it provides, bringing the listener on a picturesque journey from start to fnish. The programming of Elsa Barraine’s Symphony No. 2 with its gumptous string lines that compliment the playfulness of the work’s structure sits beautifully in the program with Ravel’s Daphnis & Chloé. The two piano concertos bring different stylistic characters to the stage, with Saint-Saëns offering late romantic era lushness and Ravel offering the lavish fancy. Hearing these two works performed by Trifonov, a performer with a dedication to perfecting concerto repertoire for piano, is iconic. NOV
• Time: 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., also Oct. 26
• Contact: licm.org or (516) 2245800
Halloween Pet Parade
Visit Nassau County Museum of Art for a parade of beloved costumed friends around the museum’s grounds. The event includes food, family art making, and more. Awards will be given for the most creative and inventive costumes! $25 per family, $20 members.
• Where: 1 Museum Drive, Roslyn Harbor
• Time: 3 p.m.
• Contact: nassaumuseum.org or (516) 484-9337
Dog Days Weekend
Enjoy the glorious grounds of Old Westbury Gardens with your pooch (leashed of course), With fall dog parade and costume contest on Sunday. Prizes awarded to best dog costumes, including Prettiest, Most Handsome, Most Original, Best Duo or Group, Funniest. Costume contest participants must register.
• Where: 71 Old Westbury Rd., Old Westbury.
• Time: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.: also Oct. 26, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with costume parade/contest, 3-5 p.m.
• Contact: oldwestburygardens. org or call (516) 333-0048
Movie fun
Oceanside Library invites families to see Disney/Pixar’s “Coco.”
• Where: 30 Davison Ave.
• Time: 11 a.m.
• Contact: oceansidelibrary.com or (516) 766-2360
OCT
26
OceanCon 2025 Get ready for an epic day of fandom, cosplay, games, and special guests at the 8th Annual OceanCon, hosted by the Oceanside Library.
• Where: 30 Davison Ave.
• Contact: oceansidelibrary.com or (516) 766-2360 ext. 312
6th Annual Trick or Treat Indoor Trail
Oceanside Lutheran Church welcomes all to a community Halloween event. With themed activity stations, crafts, and plenty of treats for kids. Costumes encouraged. Handicap accessible, with plenty of parking in the municipal lot across from the library.
• Where: 55 Fairview Ave., Oceanside
• Time: Noon-3 p.m.
• Contact: ticketmaster.com or tillescenter.org or (516) 299-3100
Suicide Awareness Walk
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Long Island Chapter holds their Long Island Out of the Darkness Community Walk at Jones Beach. Register to walk or become a sponsor.
• Where: Field 5, Jones Beach, Wantagh
• Time: 10 a.m.
• Contact: Carrie Aronson at (516) 865-3944 or afsp.org/ longislandwalkwest
Art Talk
Join American realist painter Susan Cushing at Nassau County Museum of Art for a look at her process. Cushing’s highly stylized narrative landscapes are inspired by the decade of the 1970’s and reminiscent of the lifestyle photographs of Slim Aarons and the post-modern environmental style of Alex Katz and David Hockney. Susan’s paintings are evocative of the world of casual elegance as she beautifully captures the colors and themes of entertainment and play on canvas. Limited seating. Registration required. $20, $15 seniors, members free.
• Where: 1 Museum Drive, Roslyn Harbor
• Time: 3 p.m.
• Contact: nassaumuseum.org or (516) 484-9337
OCT 30
Astronomy Lecture viewing
Learn about occultations, clusters and the latest space missions and telescopes from Larry Gerstman, and look at a dark limb lunar occultation of a bright star at Island Park Library.
• Where: 176 Long Beach Road
• Time: 7-9:15 p.m.
• Contact: islandparklibrary.org
1
Long Island Turkey Trot Step into November with the Long Island Turkey Trot 5K.
• Time: 9 a.m.
• Contact: EliteFeats. com/25LITurkeyTrot NOV
• Where: Eisenhower Park, Parking Field 2
Having an event?
Items on the Calendar page are listed free of charge. The Herald welcomes listings of upcoming events, community meetings and items of public interest. All submissions should include date, time and location of the event, cost, and a contact name and phone number. Submissions can be emailed to kbloom@ liherald.com.
THE
THE WINNING DESIGNS WILL BE PRINTED AS HOLIDAY GIFT WRAP IN 12/4/25 & 12/11/25 ISSUES OF YOUR HERALD COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
Who can enter: There will be 2 categories: Students in grades k-5. Students in 6-12
One entry per student
Deadline: Entries must be received by 5 p.m.
Friday, November 14, 2025
Requirements: All entries should have the student’s name, age, address, telephone number, email, grade and school printed on the back. Design can be reflective of all religious holidays. Entries will not be returned.
The Academic and Career Exploration Program at Oceanside
School
be reopening their school store thanks to a $5,000 grant.
The Oceanside High School Academic and Career Exploration Program has received a $5,000 grant to reopen the school store, which has been closed since 2020. The grant was provided by NYPD With Arms Wide Open, a nonprofit founded by retired police officer Merritt Riley to support families of first responders who have children with special needs or terminal illnesses. ACE students will operate the store, gaining hands-on experience in retail and customer service.
Saudia Mahamed said the reopening comes at a perfect time, as students are once again using their lockers. The store will carry school supplies, stickers and other locker accessories.
“We are so excited for our ACE students to have this opportunity and look forward to a special celebration of the store’s reopening in the coming weeks,” said Tracy Murray, executive director of Special Education for the Oceanside School District.
The ACE Program provides job training and vocational experiences for Oceanside High School students and partners with local businesses for hands-on learning.
Mail or hand-deliver to:
Wrapping Paper Contest
Herald Community Newspapers
2 Endo Boulevard, Garden City, NY 11530 OR Scan and email to:
ekimbrell@liherald.com
(No Photos of Artwork Will Be Accepted).
Winners will be notified by email or phone by November 21
Riley visited Oceanside High School with WAWO board members Wally Melvin and Sonny Stellman. After speaking with students, the group toured the store and saw the progress made toward its reopening.
Oceanside special education director
— Kelsie Radziski
Students from Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School took part in the school’s annual
• Must use 8 1/2 x 11” unlined paper, copy paper or construction paper.
• Be creative & original.
• Use bright colors.
• Fill the entire page.
I.P. students step up for fitness
Not even the rain could dampen the excitement at Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School on Oct. 8, as students took part in the school’s beloved annual Winner’s Walk. Though the event was moved indoors due to the weather, the gym was filled with energy and school spirit as students made their way through a festive course, cheering each other on and celebrating fitness, community, and camaraderie.
This year’s walk introduced a new focus on giving back. Families were
encouraged to donate gently used or outgrown sneakers as part of a GotSneakers recycling fundraiser. The collected shoes will be repurposed to raise funds for a local breast cancer nonprofit, adding a meaningful cause to the day’s activities.
A tradition since the 1980s, the Winner’s Walk continues to promote health, kindness and community pride — one step at a time.
— Kelsie Radziski
LEGAL NOTICE
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NASSAU
DEUTSCHE BANK
NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY AS TRUSTEE FOR INDYMAC INDX
MORTGAGE LOAN TRUST
2005-AR7, MORTGAGE PASSTHROUGH
CERTIFICATES SERIES
2005-AR7, -against-
JENNIFER IADEVAIO, ET AL.
NOTICE OF SALE
NOTICE IS HEREBY
GIVEN pursuant to a Final Judgment of Foreclosure entered in the Offce of the Clerk of the County of Nassau on February 14, 2017, wherein
DEUTSCHE BANK
NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY AS TRUSTEE FOR INDYMAC INDX
MORTGAGE LOAN
TRUST 2005-AR7, MORTGAGE PASSTHROUGH CERTIFICATES SERIES
2005-AR7 is the Plaintiff and JENNIFER IADEVAIO, ET AL., are the Defendants. I, the undersigned Referee, will sell at public auction RAIN OR SHINE at the NASSAU COUNTY SUPREME COURT, 100 SUPREME COURT DRIVE, NORTH SIDE STEPS, MINEOLA, NY 11501, on November 3, 2025 at 2:00PM, the premises known as 61 MONTGOMERY AVENUE, OCEANSIDE, NY 11572; tax map identifcation 43-332-349; and description: ALL THAT CERTAIN PLOT, PIECE OR PARCEL OF LAND, WITH THE BUILDINGS THEREON ERECTED, SITUATED, LYING AND BEING AT OCEANSIDE, TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD, COUNTY OF NASSAU AND STATE OF NEW YORK
Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fled Judgment Index No.: 019258/2009. Barton Slavin, Esq., as Referee. Robertson, Anschutz, Schneid, Crane & Partners, PLLC, 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310, Westbury, New York 11590, Attorneys for Plaintiff. All foreclosure sales will be conducted in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines including, but not limited to, social distancing and mask wearing. *LOCATION OF SALE SUBJECT TO CHANGE DAY OF IN
ACCORDANCE WITH COURT/CLERK DIRECTIVES. 155998
LEGAL NOTICE SUMMONS AND NOTICE OF OBJECT OF ACTION STATE OF NEW YORK SUPREME COURT: COUNTY OF NASSAU ACTION TO FORECLOSE A TAX LIEN INDEX NO.: 608393/2025, ELM CAPITAL LLC, Plaintiff, vs. the unknown heirs, legatees, devisees and/or representatives of PAMELA S. MICHELS and the unknown heirs, legatees, devisees and/or representatives of STUART J. MICHELS and all persons that may claim an interest in the property referred to in the complaint by, through or under any of the foregoing (the aforesaid unknown heirs, legatees, devisees and/or representatives being all such heirs, legatees, devisees and/or representatives other than those specifcally named as a defendant in the complaint-the identity and addresses of all the foregoing not being known to plaintiff), PREMISES SUBJECT TO TAX LIEN: 40 Thompson Ave., Oceanside, NY, SBL# 43, 339, 51 (Group Lot 51-53). TO THE ABOVE NAMED DEFENDANTS: YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action, to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint is not served with the summons, to serve notice of appearance, on the plaintiff s attorney within thirty (30) days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the date of service, and in case of failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint. Plaintiff designates Nassau County as the place of trial. The basis of venue is the location of the subject property. NOTICE-YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME. If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the tax lien holder who fled this foreclosure proceeding against you and fling the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home. Speak to an attorney or go to
the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property. Sending a payment to the tax lien holder will not stop this foreclosure action. YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (TAX LIEN HOLDER) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.
Dated: September 25, 2025. Joseph Ehrenreich, Attorney for Plaintiff, 33 South Service Road, Jericho, NY 11753, 833-993-0100. The foregoing summons is served upon you by publication pursuant to an order of HON.
JEFFREY A. GOODSTEIN of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, entered September 23, 2025. Such order and the Complaint in this action are fled in the offce of the Nassau County Clerk, in Mineola, NY. The object of this action is to foreclose a tax lien on the premises identifed above. 155980
LEGAL NOTICE
REFEREE’S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE SUPREME COURTCOUNTY OF NASSAU DAVID M. FRIEDMAN, Plaintiff - againstCONGREGATION DARCHEI NOAM, Defendant.
Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on September 8, 2025. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the North Side steps of the Nassau County Supreme Court located at 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, NY 11501 on the 30th day of October, 2025 at 2:00 PM. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being at Oceanside, Town of Hempstead, County of Nassau, and State of New York.
Premises known as 3432 Bayfeld Blvd., Oceanside, NY 11572. (SBL#: 54-520-10)
Approximate amount of lien $1,013,750.17 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fled judgment and terms of sale.
Index No. 612684/2024. Scott H. Siller, Esq., Referee. Bochner PLLC
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff
1040 Avenue of the
Americas, 15th FL New York, NY 10018
Tel. 646-971-0685
Dated: September 15, 2025
During the COVID-19 health emergency, bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of sale including but not limited to, wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing (at least 6feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale. 155978
LEGAL NOTICE
REFEREE’S NOTICE OF SALE IN FORECLOSURE
SUPREME COURTCOUNTY OF NASSAU CITIMORTGAGE, INC., Plaintiff - againstKERRY SARWAN, et al Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale entered on February 3, 2022. I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction on the North Side steps of the Nassau County Supreme Court located at 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, N.Y. 11501 on the 13th day of November, 2025 at 2:00 PM. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being at Island Park, Town of Hempstead, County of Nassau and State of New York.
Premises known as 3977 Long Beach Road, Island Park, (Town of Hempstead) NY 11558. (SBL#: 43-187-85) Approximate amount of lien $535,382.77 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of fled judgment and terms of sale. Index No. 608704/2018. Stephanie Stutman Goldstone, Esq., Referee. Davidson Fink LLP
Attorney(s) for Plaintiff 400 Meridian Centre Blvd, Ste 200 Rochester, NY 14618
Tel. 585/760-8218 For sale information, please visit Auction.com at www.Auction.com or call (800) 280-2832
Early voting for the upcoming general election in Nassau County will take place from Saturday, Oct. 25, through Sunday, Nov. 2. All polling sites are accessible to voters with physical disabilities, and any eligible voter residing in the county may vote at any early voting location during the designated days and hours. Voters who cast a ballot during early voting will not be permitted to vote again on Election Day.
Voting hours are scheduled as follows: Oct. 25 and 26 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Oct. 27 from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Oct. 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the Board of Elections remaining open until 8 p.m. on those two days; and Oct. 30 through Nov. 2 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Election Day, Nov. 4, voters must go to their assigned polling place to cast a ballot.
Early voting sites across the county include Temple Beth Am in Merrick, the Freeport Recreation Center, Massapequa Town Hall South, St. Frances de Chantal Church in Wantagh, the West Hempstead Public Library, and the Yes We Can Community Center in Westbury, among others. A complete list of early voting locations is available at NassauVotes.com or by calling (516) 571-8683.
Voters who wish to register for the general election must do so by Oct. 25, 2025. Registration applications submitted by mail must be received by the Nassau County Board of
Elections by that date, and in-person registration is available at the board’s offices or participating state agencies through Oct. 25. To learn how to apply to vote, visit Elections.NY.gov.
Any registered voter may also apply for an early mail ballot. Applications must be received by the board of elections no later than 10 days before the election, or in person by Nov. 3. Ballots will be mailed beginning 46 days before the election and will continue to be sent immediately after completed applications are processed. Voters may apply for an early mail ballot online through the state’s Early Mail Ballot Request Portal, in person at the Nassau County Board of Elections at 240 Old Country Road in Mineola, or by designating another person to deliver and return their application. Visit Elections.NY.gov/requestballot for more.
If you’re planning to vote in person on Election Day, visit VoterLookUp.Elections. NY.gov. — Jordan Vallone
Students at School No. 3 raised more than $36,000 during the annual Booster Fun Run, surpassing their fundraising goal and supporting school programs and activities for the year.
The PTA-sponsored event featured music, dancing and refreshments, with students running laps while cheering on their classmates. Donations poured in from 46 states and six countries.
Dated: August 27, 2025
During the COVID-19 health emergency, bidders are required to comply with all governmental health requirements in effect at the time of sale including but not limited to, wearing face coverings and maintaining social distancing (at least 6feet apart) during the auction, while tendering deposit and at any subsequent closing. Bidders are also required to comply with the Foreclosure Auction Rules and COVID-19 Health Emergency Rules issued by the Supreme Court
of this County in addition to the conditions set forth in the Terms of Sale. 156256
LEGAL NOTICE Motion by Commissioner Staffa, second: by Commissioner Graham, to approve the following resolution, authorizing certain employees of Oceanside Fire District to organize as a Collective Bargaining Unit
“WHEREAS, the Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., Local 1000, AFSCME, AFLCIO (“CSEA”) has
With the original goal of $30,000 exceeded, students were rewarded with the Principal’s Challenge. Principal Beth Castiello and teachers suited up in inflatable costumes and raced across the turf to the delight of students.
requested to be voluntarily recognized as the collective bargaining agent on behalf of all paid, nonmanagement/confident ial employees of Oceanside Fire District; and WHEREAS, the Board of the Oceanside Fire District has determined that a majority of these employees employed by Oceanside Fire District have designated CSEA as their agent for collective bargaining; and WHEREAS, the Board has decided to voluntarily recognize CSEA as the collective
bargaining agent for these employees as part of that unit; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, pursuant to Civil Service Law Section 204.1, the Board recognizes CSEA as the collective bargaining agent for all paid, nonmanagement/confident ial employees.” 156416
PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES…
To place a notice here call us us
Q. With winter coming, we’re realizing that our windows are drafty and hard to open. It’s time to replace them after 40 years in our house. As we start shopping around, are there windows you recommend, and why? We keep seeing commercials for replacement windows, and were wondering if there’s a difference since our window openings aren’t standard. I took some measurements, and some of the windows are very uniform — like 4 feet tall, and others are off by 2 or 3 inches and those don’t match one another. Will the new windows be custom fit to the openings, or will we need to change the openings? I’m concerned, because our house is brick, and it seems like not every window is going to fit. What should I look for when talking to a contractor, and will we need a permit?
A. The most important thing to look for with windows is energy compliance and the strength and ease of operating the hardware. Windows that will lose more energy are a poor investment, followed by those that can’t be opened easily as they age. The strength of the frames goes hand in hand with the window operation, because less costly vinyl windows are made of less costly materials that will distort over time and directly affect the seal around the frames, making for more difficulty opening and closing.
Lately I’ve noticed that clients are searching for unique styles and brands from faraway places and even other countries. One person asked me to look at a lift-out window from Southern California that was meant for a café serving counter, but they wanted to use it for a second-floor bedroom. The window was a push-out-and-up type that didn’t look like it could handle our weather in the Northeast. There was no energy data to show resistance to our winters, and nothing published that could pass our local codes.
Another client is getting windows from Poland. They’re very strong, triple-pane units that cost less and will probably comply with the energy codes, but it was a struggle to get the energy data in a format required in your state codes.
The rule with most building departments in your area is that direct replacement doesn’t need a building permit, but altering window sizes does. You should still verify this with your building department, because you want to avoid receiving a warning or summons during the installation and then having to stop to get plans made and permits filed.
Custom window sizes require creating extra framing to attractively insert standard sizes. If you reduce the window opening, it must still comply with safety requirements. Consult either a local official or an architect to be sure that you comply. The codes vary for existing window openings, which require 4 square feet versus altered openings that bump the required size up to 5.7 square feet. The architect can also give you some guidance about wood versus vinyl, fiberglass versus metal, etc. Good luck!
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The federal government has been shut down since Oct. 1. I can’t stand it. I’ve been back and forth to Washington, but the Capitol is relatively quiet. Federal workers are missing paychecks; Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare applications can’t get processed; flights are being delayed; and without any action come Nov. 1, millions of Americans will be notified that their health insurance premiums are going up by over $1,000 — per month!
Why can’t we fix this? Republicans have the White House and majorities in both the Senate and the House, but they need eight Democratic votes in the Senate to pass a government funding bill. Despite the high stakes and the need for high-level bipartisan negotiations to end this crisis, no one is talking. Why?
Republicans say they won’t negotiate until the government is reopened. House Speaker Mike Johnson hasn’t called us back to Congress for a month. Senate Majority Leader John Thune refuses to budge, and President Trump continues his my-way-or-the-highway
“Nposture, unilaterally — and likely unlawfully — firing federal employees, cutting projects in Democratic states and eliminating programs to try to impose his will, making this shutdown as painful as possible.
The Democrats are just as dug in. They warn that those health insurance premiums will soon skyrocket because Republicans refuse to extend the tax credits that keep the premiums down. We’re running out of time.
W
e need a solution that staves off spikes in health insurance premiums.
If the credits expire, 22 million Americans, including more than 100,000 Long Islanders, will see their premiums spike. Healthy people all over the country will choose to forgo coverage, which will shrink the risk pool and raise premiums for everyone. The results will be catastrophic.
The crazy thing is, most Democrats want to reopen the government, and many Republicans want to extend the tax credits. The problem is that no one trusts one another. Republicans want to open the government with a handshake promise to talk about health insurance later. Democrats want it dealt with as part of the reopening. There must be compromise, often a dirty word in D.C.
Normally, I’d advocate for trust. I don’t believe shutdowns should be used
as negotiating tactics for these kinds of policy debates. But these aren’t normal times. For the past nine months, the administration has ignored the Democrats, unilaterally eliminating jobs and cutting key programs, reversing budget decisions without warning and generally steamrolling Congress’s constitutional authority over “the power of the purse” and the use of the military in our cities.
Johnson and Thune have refused to negotiate with Democrats. I’ve voted to keep the government open more than 40 times over my five terms in Congress. Each time, the governing majority has negotiated with the minority party, with the understanding that they simply don’t have the votes on their own.
How can Democrats reasonably be expected to trust that health care will be dealt with after the reopening in an environment of such fear, anger and distrust in Washington?
Nevertheless, we need to find a way to reopen the government as soon as possible, or things will only get worse. We need a solution that also staves off spikes in health insurance costs.
That’s why I’m leading a bipartisan effort with Republican Congresswoman Jen Kiggans. Our bill, the Premium
Tax Credit Extension Act, would extend the credits for one year, protecting families while giving Congress time to reach a broader health care deal. It’s not perfect. Like most of my Democratic colleagues, I’d prefer extending the credits permanently. But we’re in the minority, and we can’t let our aspiration for perfection stop us from achieving the good. Republicans, who can’t open the government without Democrats, must also see that truth.
The sticking point in this shutdown is health care affordability: Polling shows that the top concern in our country is the cost of living, and health care costs are a key contributor. At Trump’s inaugural address, he said he would “rapidly reduce prices.” I, like many Americans, hoped that he would.
Now inflation is up, costs are climbing, and Americans feel duped. They want us to reopen the government, prioritize lowering costs —health care a big part of that — and stop playing partisan games while they pay the price.
For many Americans, Washington hasn’t just shut down this month — it’s felt closed for far too long. We need to reopen it in every sense: by rebuilding trust, negotiating honestly, and committing to working together to find solutions for the people we represent.
Tom Suozzi represents the 3rd Congressional District.
o man can step into the same river twice.” — Heraclitus, 500 B.C.
After spending the past few years in Florida, my husband and I decided this season to rent a place near Woodmere, where we lived in the same house for 51 years. I taught in the local schools, our kids grew up here, and our roots in the community run deep.
We’ve been back in town for about two months.
I don’t have meteorological data, but I believe we’ve had the most glorious autumn weather ever experienced in southwestern Nassau County. Until the nor’easter, of course, which brought back memories of Hurricanes Belle and Irene and Sandy.
I took myself to Woodmere Dock and found the seascape of the bay, the waterside holes of the Rockaway Hunting Club and the vast marshes all the same. I imagine I’m one of few people who
recall that the dock was owned at one time by the Ike family, who rented rowboats by the hour and owned an access road to the dock known as Ike’s Lane.
You can go home again, but if you do, be prepared. Everything is the same, but entirely different. And, of course, you are different, too. Our old house looks as if we closed the door and walked away yesterday. The tiny memorial to our dog Sheba still rests in a flower bed where we buried her ashes.
You can go home again, but be prepared. Everything is the same, but entirely different.
The second day up North, I walked into a doctor’s office and into a friend from our kids’ high school days. We looked the same, other than dusted and stamped by time. That afternoon, a woman jogged by our rental house, and I realized she was in a book group I ran 25 years ago. I kept running into people who looked as if a makeup artist had worked them over. And they did double takes when I reintroduced myself.
Things are where I remember them — firehouses and supermarkets and a few restaurants. But some stores are now banks, and many small businesses
have been replaced by medical megapractices, gyms or nail spas. Community boards advertise unfamiliar events and groups. I felt like Emily in “Our Town,” when she returns from the dead to revisit her 12th birthday and realizes that no one ever appreciates the everydayness of their lives while they’re living them. I took the LIRR to the city from Lawrence one day. I didn’t know where or how to park, how to buy a ticket or how to find the train schedule. Since I last rode the Snail, it went digital. I got a tutorial from my granddaughter and enjoyed a glorious day with her traipsing through downtown Manhattan. BTW, despite the fearmongering of many Floridians, the subway was clean, and it all felt safe.
Penn Station was emblematic of my experience, looking completely new and kind of brazen and futuristic, but foundationally the same. Track 19 is still Track 19, and the train back to Lawrence still left from there.
Another day, I drove from the Five Towns to Astoria. I hadn’t driven in city
traffic for six years. That was hell and a half. I felt gratified that my memory of the roads was accurate, and the Van Wyck still went to the Grand Central and then to Steinway Street — but what a holy mess the roads are. Everything is under construction, and cement trucks terrorized me all the way from here to there. My Waze app told me to go right so I could go left, and then an 18-wheeler backed into my lane. More people gave me the finger salute during that 50-minute ride than in all of my years driving.
The Woodmere and other towns of my younger self have evolved and, in some cases, disappeared. That’s what happens. New people, new shops, new activities festoon the old infrastructure. All the little back roads are the same, though. I realized I knew 10 different ways to drive anyplace.
I also know the origin stories, the history, of people and places, and it all came flooding back as I zipped about town. I felt grounded in the way you can only feel when your present is layered with rich memories of the past.
It’s autumn in New York again, and it’s good to be home.
Copyright 2025 Randi Kreiss. Randi can be reached at randik3@aol.com.
For decades, justice in Nassau and Suffolk counties often depended on eyewitnesses, confessions and detective work that, while diligent, was limited by the science of its time. But today, the breakthroughs of modern forensic science are rewriting history, freeing the innocent and holding the guilty accountable.
Last week, the Nassau County district attorney’s office announced a stunning development in one of Long Island’s most haunting cold cases, the 1984 murder of 16-year-old Theresa Fusco in Lynbrook. Fusco disappeared after finishing her shift at the Hot Skates Roller Rink. A month later, her body was found in a nearby wooded area.
For nearly 40 years, her family lived with grief and confusion, compounded by the wrongful convictions of three men whose lives were destroyed before DNA technology could prove their innocence. Those men — Dennis Halstead, John Kogut and John Restivo — spent nearly two decades in prison before DNA testing cleared them in 2003.
Now, that same science has brought the case full circle. Investigators linked Richard Bilodeau, 63, of Center Moriches, to the crime after obtaining DNA from a discarded smoothie cup earlier this year. When tested, it was a 100
percent match with evidence preserved from the Fusco crime scene.
“Science and DNA evidence doesn’t lie,” the district attorney’s office stated. And it doesn’t coerce confessions. It doesn’t forget. It doesn’t play favorites. It tells the truth when the truth is hard to find.
The Fusco case isn’t just about closure — it’s a lesson in progress. Four decades ago, detectives couldn’t imagine a world in which a cold case could be revived by a few microscopic cells. Today, the Nassau County forensic unit has reopened a number of cases, identifying both victims and suspects through genetic technology once considered science fiction.
Science is also central to another major Long Island case now unfolding in court: that of Rex Heuermann, the Massapequa Park architect accused of being the Gilgo Beach serial killer. There, too, DNA stands at the center of the search for truth. Prosecutors are relying on cutting-edge testing from Astrea Forensics, a California lab that analyzes even the tiniest hair fragments. Defense attorneys have tried to discredit the science as “magic,” claiming that New York courts haven’t yet accepted it.
But experts such as Dr. Kelley Harris,
The following letter was sent to Nassau County legislators.
The South Shore Women’s Alliance is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advocating for the rights of women and families. In line with this mission, SSWA hosted “Not Me” workshops for parents and their daughters, in which the Safe Center LI, of Bethpage, played a crucial role, providing instruction on fundamental prevention and protection strategies, as well as education on the warning signs and cycles of abuse.
In addition to serving as the primary center for people affected by domestic violence and sexual abuse, the Safe Center operated as an advocacy center for child-abuse prosecutions, maintained a crisis-intervention hotline and offered an advocate-response program that dispatched trained volunteers to emergency rooms to assist survivors of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence.
The Safe Center was the lifeline for over 5,000 people each year, providing crucial resources and support to victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, the only center of its kind in Nassau County. It is unconscionable that County Executive Bruce Blakeman allowed it to close.
Nassau provided $2.9 million to the Safe Center in 2023. But when asked for county grants to keep the center going, Blakeman failed not only to provide the needed funding, but also to facilitate a takeover by another organization, forcing the center to shut its doors.
The Safe Center board’s former president, Shanell Par-
a University of Washington geneticist, defend the method as “elegant and powerful”— a reminder that while justice is constant, the tools to attain it evolve. Every forensic innovation, from fingerprints to fiber analysis to DNA sequencing, was once new and controversial. Yet each step forward has given law enforcement stronger, fairer tools to uncover facts that human memory or intuition alone could never provide.
Whether it’s exonerating the innocent, as in Fusco’s tragic case, or convicting the guilty, as prosecutors hope in the Gilgo Beach murders, forensic science is reshaping the path toward justice on Long Island. It demands accuracy. It demands accountability. And it demands that we trust evidence grounded not in guesswork or coercion, but in chemistry, genetics and time-tested truth.
For the Fusco family, science may finally bring the closure they’ve waited for since 1984. For the families of the Gilgo Beach victims, it may soon bring answers to a mystery that has haunted this area for years.
From Lynbrook to Massapequa Park and across Long Island, one message is clear: Science keeps faith with the facts — and with the people who deserve justice.
rish-Brown, said, “The county sort of left the Safe Center out to dry.”
As reported in Newsday, County Legislator Seth Koslow “said the impending closure could have been avoided with better county planning.”
“This was a failure of leadership in Nassau to ensure the safety of these children who have been victim-
ized once and are now being victimized again by the Blakeman administration,” Koslow said. “This wasn’t something that just fell out of the heavens — people saw this coming.”
Why weren’t there hearings about the future of the center when the financial problems first became known? Why hasn’t the Legislature’s
my 2025 began in a way that no one wants their new year to kick off: i got the flu. i woke up the first Monday of the year with a 103-degree fever, body aches that were almost unmanageable and a headache so intense i could barely keep my eyes open.
The one thing that made me smile that day was a text from my sweet grandma, a nurse, who wrote, “Hang in there. Eat some nice warm soup and toast. Comfort food.” Grandmas always know best. in my dreary state, i decided to kick-start my annual reading goal of at least 50 books. i opened up “Sandwich,” by Catherine Newman, a witty tale of a family that has spent nearly every summer on Cape Cod, told from the perspective of its matriarch, rocky. The book explores love, lost dreams, hope and more, offering a well-rounded glimpse into the many life stages we all experience.
iWhen i read, i highlight lines that leave an impression on me, either by writing them down or using a tool on my kindle. “Sandwich” was filled with them. i noted several things, but the one i kept thinking about in the days and weeks after i finished reading it was this: “Maybe grief is love imploding. or maybe it’s love expanding.”
like everyone, i’ve experienced grief for different things, for different people, but i hadn’t truly encountered its profound weight — the type of grief that makes it hard to breathe.
Catholic, she was devoted to her church, its people and myriad ministries.
t’s hard to put into words how much those final chats with her meant to me.
My grandma died unexpectedly on May 4, at age 85. She took excellent care of herself, and besides a few minor incidents in her later years, she was generally in great shape. All it took was a brief, serious illness that led to sepsis and eventually organ failure. Her last few days were filled with moments i fear i’ll never be able to comprehend.
She was an exceptional woman, as most grandmothers are. She had seven children, 10 grandchildren, and family and friends galore in her neighborhood of Middle Village, Queens. A devout
Health and Social Services Committee held hearings about how it might save the center?
Even more egregious is how Blakeman uses women’s trauma as a political ploy in mailings and TV ads against his opponent, while abandoning survivors of rape, abuse and domestic violence — effectively casting them onto the streets.
The South Shore Women’s Alliance gathered hundreds of Nassau resident signatures urging that, rather than spending millions of dollars on outside legal fees for frivolous culture war lawsuits or for his own personal militia, Blakeman reinstate the county’s only domestic violence center.
The SSWA requests that Nassau County allocate funds in the 2026 budget for opening a new facility that shelters and provides the services that the Safe Center provided to women and children of Nassau County.
ClAudiA BorECky Executive director, South Shore Women’s Alliance
The following letter was sent to United States Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
it has been reported that the u.S. Senate is advancing the confirmation of former Congressman Anthony d’Esposito to
be inspector general of the u.S. department of labor. Nassau residents for Good Government is a nonpartisan group concerned about transparency, accountability and integrity. We believe Mr. d’Esposito is wholly unqualified for this job, and ask that you block his confirmation.
Anthony d’Esposito’s history of questionable hiring practices has been well documented. While at the New york City Police department, he reportedly broke labor rules by working a second job. More recently, d’Esposito was at the center of a scandal. in September 2024, it was reported that that while he was serving as a congressman in the 4th district, he put his fiancée’s daughter and his mistress on his congressional payroll, despite the House Code of Conduct prohibition against employing spouses, relatives and stepchildren.
There are also questions about his judgment. d’Esposito was part of the GoP’s slate of 2022 freshmen candidates for Congress, which included the disgraced George Santos, who was expelled in 2023 (and just released from prison).
d’Esposito reportedly had a close financial relationship with Santos, and coordinated with him during their concurrent 2022 House campaigns, sharing a campaign treasurer (who later pleaded guilty to conspiring to defrauding the u.S. government) and raising money together through the Santo d’Esposito Nassau Victory Committee.
d’Esposito says that if confirmed, he
The last day i saw her was April 19, the day before Easter. it was exceptionally warm — over 80 degrees in Queens — and we had lunch and a long chat about baseball. A tried-and-true yankees fan, she reminded me that she never rooted against the Mets, unless they were playing the yankees. That day, she told me her favorite Met was francisco lindor — who had hit a walkoff home run the night before, much to her delight. i guess we yankees fans know a thing or two about good shortstops.
it’s hard to put into words how much those final conversations mean to me. i never could’ve imagined that the next time i saw her would be our last moments together.
As i write this, i feel that overpowering sense of grief. This year didn’t start off the way i wanted it too, and really, it hasn’t gotten much better. There have been good moments, of course, but there have been a lot of sad ones, too.
it’s funny, though: As i think about
“Sandwich” — a book i decided to read maybe an hour or so after Grandma sent me well-wishes for the new year — i realize i can feel this way because before grief, there was love.
What i’m feeling is love imploding. i can’t say i’ve enjoyed the experiences i’ve endured this year, but i’m grateful that Grandma loved us so deeply that her absence leaves me with such a profound sense of loss, which is really just a testament to the type of person she was. All of us would be lucky to be loved so deeply, so consistently, by someone like her.
They say time heals all wounds, but i don’t always think that’s fair. The hurt i’ve felt these past few months may fade, but there will always be this void in my heart that only she could fill. i’ll wait forever, i hope, to see her again.
As her love expands in her absence, i hope to carry it with me everywhere — through every book i read, every milestone i reach and every ordinary day in between. if grief is love imploding, then maybe what follows is love reshaping itself, reminding me that she’s still here, in everything i do.
Jordan Vallone is deputy managing editor of Herald Community Newspapers. Comments? Jvallone@liherald.com.
by Tim Baker
will bring “grit, independence and accountability to the department of labor.” in fact, his record is antithetical to that position and that promise. As detailed above, his record is one of corruption and a general disregard for ethical considerations.
President Trump chose d’Esposito despite his ethical lapses amid lingering questions about his hiring practic-
es. But the Senate doesn’t have to. Here in Nassau County, we have seen up close d’Esposito’s labor practices, which we believe should disqualify him from consideration. instead of advancing d’Esposito’s confirmation, it should be blocked.
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