Serving Great Neck, G.N. Plaza, G.N. Estates, Kensington, Kings Point, Lake Success, Russell Gardens, Saddle Rock and Thomaston
$1
Friday, March 26, 2021
Vol. 96, No. 13
HEALTH, WELLNESS AND BEAUTY GUIDE PAGES 25-32
GOP PICKS PHILLIPS FOR COMPTROLLER
LEGISLATURE APPROVES POLICING PLAN
PAGE 4
PAGE 6
Ashkenase’s successor to serve early
VA C C I N - YAY -T E D
District OKs resolution to have future trustee begin term in May BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z The Great Neck Board of Education passed a resolution on March 16 that permits whoever wins the trustee seat previously held by longtime Trustee Donald Ashkenase in the election May 11 to immediately begin serving the term. The resolution means that the new trustee will not have to wait to be sworn in at the board’s organizational meeting in July. Whoever wins the seat held by Ashkenase will serve a three-year50-day term, rather than a threeyear term, according to school officials. Ashkenase, who moved to Great Neck in 1979, was first elected to the board in 1982 and was re-elected 12 times. He died earlier this month at 77 years old. His 39-year tenure as trustee was the longest in the school district’s history. He also chaired the board’s Financial Advisory Committee.
Since 1894 there have been 86 trustees, with two serving nonconsecutive terms. Including the current Board of Education, the average time served has been just more than seven years. Of those 86 trustees, only 20 have served 10 years or more and only four have served 20 or more years: John A. Laressy from 1916 to 1940, Barbara Berkowitz from 1992 to present, Lawrence Gross from 1981 to 2017, and Ashkenase from 1982 to 2021. Berkowitz, the board president, who announced she will seek re-election this year, said Ashkenase’s legacy will live on and touted his dedication to making the children in the school district a constant priority throughout his tenure. “The sudden passing of Don Ashkenase has left everyone terribly saddened,” Berkowitz said. “Don had an incredibly analytical mind and could speak about the Continued on Page 13
PHOTO COURTESY OF DEBBIE EGAN-CHIN
Chloe Tunison, a resident at Woodbury’s The Center For Developmental Disabilities, celebrates getting the COVID-19 vaccine from chief nursing officer Bitty Bigos at ProHEALTH in Lake Success.
G. Neck Library proposes further budget reductions BY J OH N N U G E N T The Great Neck Library Board of Trustees, in its second workshop on Monday to review the proposed $9.7 million budget for 2021-22, made some
revisions and reduced the total by $27,000. Steven Kashkin, chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee, once again presented the details of important revenue and expense items.
The most significant change comes from a decision to eliminate fines for overdue library materials. As a result of that new policy, $26,250 of anticipated revenue has been Continued on Page 13
Support local journalism and get real news Subscribe to the Blank Slate Media newspaper of your community https://theislandnow.com/subscription/