Serving Manhasset, Munsey Park, North Hills, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Plandome and Flower Hill
$1
Friday, October 25, 2019
Vol. 7, No. 43
ELECTION GUIDE
FOUNDATION AWARDS GRANTS IN PORT
STATE AID PROPOSED FOR NASSAU TAX OVERPAYERS
PAGES 35-54
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2 stores dark in Plandome Rd. biz district Future of Chocolate Works location uncertain; hopes high for Publicans BY R O S E W E L D ON
PHOTO BY ROSE WELDON
A source close to the managers of the iconic Manhasset bar Publicans says that they intend to open their doors in December.
New beginnings and bittersweet goodbyes are in store for the business community in Manhasset, with an old favorite reportedly ready to return and a sweet new classic shuttered as of the summer. In September, a handwritten note was placed in the window of the iconic bar Publicans on Plandome Road saying: “Closed for light renovations. Stay tuned for exciting news, opening in [less than] one month. See you soon!” Meanwhile, several blocks down
the street, candy store Chocolate Works is dark after its closure in July. For months a similar note, albeit one thanking customers and the Manhasset community for their patronage and support, had been taped to the front door. The next storefront over, a former clothing shop, contains a “For Rent” sign in its own window, leaving Chase Bank as the building’s only tenant. Managers of Publicans intend to open its doors once more by Dec. 1, a source close to the owners said. While the managers are still Continued on Page 74
St. Mary’s student dies in Iceland crash BY TOM M CC A RT HY New Hyde Park teenager Zachary Zabatta died from injuries sustained in a car crash while vacationing with his family in Iceland Oct. 12, and his
family is still recovering from the accident, village Trustee Rainer Berger said last Thursday. Zabatta’s aunt Arlene Zabatta has started a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for the Zabatta family. Zabatta did not re-
spond to requests for comment. According to Zabatta’s GoFundMe page, what started out as a family vacation in Iceland turned into “unfathomable tragedy.” The family was involved in a car accident that led to critical injuries to their youngest daughter, Sophia, and Zachary’s death. Zachary’s father, James, mother, Barbara, and sister Gabriella are still
overseas recovering from injuries as well, Zabatta wrote. The entire family is hospitalized and it is not clear when they will be able to return home, Zabatta wrote. At a village meeting, Berger said that he has known Zachary, a 17-year-old senior at St. Mary’s High School in Manhasset, since he was in kindergarten and he was a member of Boy Scout
Troop 298, where Berger was a scoutmaster. Berger said that Zachary recently completed his Eagle Scout project and his final paperwork for the rank was submitted Oct. 11, the night before the accident. Berger said that he was on the phone with Zachary and his father the night before the accident as well. He said all that was Continued on Page 75
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