Friday, February 2, 2018
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THE PULSE OF THE PENINSULA
Vol. 93, No. 5
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VALENTINE’S PUBLIC CONCERN OVER D’URSO RETURNS TO DINING & GIFTS SCHOOL PARKING LOT SCENE OF HEROISM PAGES 25-31 !"#$!%&"'$!()"*)+,!"-"$,(*./
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Looking back at 104
ROCK THE BARN
Great Neck man reflects on life BY J I M M Y R OB E RTS The small town of Khmelnik in central Ukraine is a world away from the sophisticated precincts of Great Neck. But on Nov. 25, 1913, Bessie Rabinowitz gave birth to a healthy baby who was destined to traverse half the globe by wagon, train and ship to end up in Great Neck via Ellis Island and Brooklyn. It’s a familiar enough story among the Jews of Eastern Europe. What is not common is that this “baby” celebrated his 104th birthday in November. His mother named him David, second of four children in a prosperous family. Khmelnik and other towns were scenes of lawless violence in the chaotic years following the Russian Revolution. His father, Jacob, searched for a way to avoid service in the czar’s army — a certain death sentence. A friend suggested that Jacob apply a special ointment to one of his eyes before his physical. It would induce temporary blindContinued on Page 43
PHOTO BY REBECCA KLAR
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, center, announced on Monday that the New York Islanders will play half their games at Nassau Coliseum while the new arena at Belmont is built. He was joined by Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Islanders captain John Tavares. See story on page 12.
Widow pushes for safer streets Great Neck resident calls for action after husband killed in hit-and-run incident BY JA N E LL E CL AUSEN
Neck Road in Great Neck in September 2016. But in that time, his widow, Detectives have not been Jivanna Bennaeim, has been able to find the hit-and-run pushing hard to find ways to imdriver who struck and killed prove road safety and get people a 43-year-old man, Oren Ben- to slow down on the Great Neck naeim, as he crossed Middle peninsula. “It’s just upsetting,” Bennaeim said in an interview. “This is our town and we live here and our children live here and some people’s parents live here, and it just
seems like something that can be changed.” In a recent letter to the Great Neck News, Bennaeim noted that in the time since her husband was killed, at least four people have been seriously injured trying to cross Middle Neck Road at various points, including a 22-year-old woman. “That’s just people that I know of – that people have told me about. There could be more,” Bennaeim said in the interview.
“One was somebody we know’s mother.” A cyclist was also killed in a 2014 accident at the intersection of Old Mill Road and Middle Neck Road by a speeding driver. Bennaeim’s efforts have taken the form of letters favoring red light cameras, speaking about her experience for the Long Island Complete Streets Coalition and arranging to speak with officials like County ExecuContinued on Page 44
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