Friday, January 19, 2018
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THE PULSE OF THE PENINSULA
Vol. 93, No. 3
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WINTER GUIDE
NORTH ALUM’S SKATING ROUTINE
LAFAZAN TARGETS OPIOID EPIDEMIC
PAGES 35-78
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G.N. appoints library director from Queens
PROTESTING TRUMP IN SPIRIT OF KING
Months after Giotsas’ firing, Denise Corcoran will take helm on Feb. 1 BY JA N E LL E CL AUSEN The Great Neck Library Board of Trustees appointed Denise Corcoran as the new library director on Tuesday night, following the firing of Kathy Giotsas last spring and a months-long search to hire a new director. Corcoran will officially begin on Feb. 1. Corcoran brings experience primarily from the Queens Library, where she began as a young adult librarian in 2007, according to her LinkedIn profile. She then served as a community library manager and principal library manager before becoming the director of community library services there in August 2014. Corcoran, who oversaw 20 community libraries in her position, said that when looking for a new position, Great Neck stood out to her as a community that values education, literacy, the arts and family. “I wanted someplace where I
could be part of the community and really help develop the library system,” Corcoran said after the meeting. “And although this is already a strong library system – it’s actually one of the strongest on Long Island – I thought that I would have things to contribute with my experience.” Corcoran will now be tasked with overseeing a system with four libraries, including the Main Library and its three branches, serving more than 40,000 people with a budget of nearly $10 million. The reason for Giotsas’ firing remains unclear, as legal counsel has said the library could not comment on personnel matters. Previous directors in the last five years, interim and not, include Jane Marino, who resigned after a $20.8 million bond referendum was defeated, Laura Weir and Chris Johnson. Giotsas had been serving since Aug. 3, 2015, before Tracy Geiser took over as interim director in May 2017 after Giotsas’ termination. Continued on Page 111
PHOTO BY JANELLE CLAUSEN
Residents held up signs protesting Trump administration policies on Martin Luther King’s birthday, saying things like “We are all immigrants” and “The opposite of love is not hate... It’s indifference.” See story on page 20.
Development eyed for Millbrook Court BY JA N E LL E CL AUSEN The Village of Great Neck’s Board of Trustees gained site plan and architectural review powers for a proposal by Copperline Partners to revamp the Millbrook Court apartments near Middle Neck Road and Clover Drive on Tuesday night,
in a project that could take years if approved. Copperline Partners, the owners of the Millbrook Court apartments, pitched a set of high-rise buildings at the site. They would be located near the unrelated Clover Drive development, which is pending approval in Great Neck Estates and would lead to the construction of 11 homes and an access
road. The Millbrook site plan calls for a four-story 58-unit apartment building on the north, a four-story 28-unit apartment building to the south and a three-story 14-unit building to the west. Each of the buildings would feature belowgrade parking. Some two-story brick Continued on Page 91
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