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Friday, October 26, 2018
Vol. 93, No. 43
ELECTION GUIDE
VGN REVIEWS MASHADI CENTER PROPOSAL
CHARLES WANG DIES
PAGES 41-48
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Library hopeful Hu targeted at G.N. street fair Candidate harassed while with her son, 6; local groups condemn behavior BY JA N E LL E C L AUS E N A N D J E S S I C A PA R K S
VIDEO STILL OBTAINED BY BLANK SLATE MEDIA
Mersedeh Rofeim holding campaign literature for Qiping Zhang.
Two women who appeared to vehemently oppose transgender rights verbally harassed Mimi Hu, a Great Neck Library board candidate whose 6-year-old son was with her, at the Great Neck Autofest and Street Festival on Sunday. In a video of the incident, the two women,!Mersedeh Rofeim and Valerie Shalit, were heard calling Hu a “communist fascist” and asking “Are you a man or a woman?” One said! “take that —- to China” regarding support for transgender people and told her to “get out of my personal space” as Hu tried to walk past a stand.
The event comes as the Great Neck Library board elections draw near, with Qiping Zhang mounting a write-in campaign against Hu for a spot on a board tasked with overseeing library programs and finances for a system stretching from Kings Point to New Hyde Park.! It was not immediately clear why a candidate in the normally decorous library elections had been subjected to such an attack. Civic groups and library officials quickly condemned the incident, which one group denounced as an example of “hate speech.” During the incident,!Rofeim held up campaign flyers for Zhang for the Continued on Page 75
Crowded contest for G.N. Library seats BY JA N E LL E CL AUSEN Voters in Great Neck and North New Hyde Park will decide who should help lead the Great Neck Library in an election on
Monday that could potentially bring a major shift in the Board of Trustees and Nominating Committee. The library election comes as the library embarks on renovating the Parkville and Station branch
libraries, working on the overall book collection and landscaping the Main Library. It also follows the appointment of Denise Corcoran as library director. Among the issues raised in the campaigns have been how the library is perceived, what programming should be offered and the book collection, which many see as having shrunk since the reno-
vation of the Main Library. Nine people are listed as the library’s “slate of candidates” for this year’s elections, with seven of them endorsed by the Nominating Committee. Two people – both current trustees – are running as independent candidates. Of those nine people, three are running uncontested for seats on the Nominating Committee.
Its primary function is to vet and recommend candidates for library positions. Trustees’ responsibilities include developing a strategic plan and budget, overseeing programs and services, and making sure the library complies with local, state and federal laws. Additionally, the Board of Trustees has the power to appoint people and hire – or fire – the library’s director. Continued on Page 74
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