Serving Manhasset, Munsey Park, North Hills, Plandome Heights, Plandome Manor, Plandome and Flower Hill
of Women on 2023 NASSAU COUNTYʼS
Distincti N E T WO R K I N G A N
$1.50
Friday, September 22, 2023
Vol. 11, No. 38
D AWA R D S E V E N
T
WOMEN OF DISTINCTION
PETITION TO KEEP RILEY AT MUSEUM
BLAKEMAN SUBMITS COUNTY BUDGET
PAGES S1-S52
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
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Manhasset girl presents trophy to Coco Gauff Blake Wu-Chang invited to US Open BY K A R I N A KO VA C
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIA WU-CHANG
Tennis junior Blake Wu Chang of Manhasset presented the 2023 World Singles Championship trophy to Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open, alongside highly ranked player Izyan “Zizou” Ahmad.
The Manhasset Chang family has used tennis not only as a family bonding activity, but as a means to build each generation, starting from humble beginnings immigrating from China two generations ago to the grandest stage of all – the US Open. Christopher Chang used his tennis scholarship at Penn State to study finance and provide for his family. His daughter, Blake Wu-Chang, was born 12 years ago, and when she was 4, he started sharing his passion for the game with her. This past Saturday, because of her skills, she presented Coco Gauff with the winning Single’s Women’s Championship trophy at the US Open. Blake’s training has led her to be-
come one of the top Eastern Tennis Association players, ranking No. 1 on Long Island for girls 12’s category. As one of the top players in her age group nationally, Blake went through an application process to be able to present the award to Gauff. Once invited to attend, she faced another obstacle. A coin toss with another top player, Izyan “Zizou” Ahmad, that would determine who would hand over the award. “My most nervous moment ever was the coin toss,” she said, “The coin toss was insane. I was like, Oh my god. Oh my god…like the most nervous moment in my whole life.” But she bet on heads and won, handing the trophy to Gauff while cameras recorded and flashed away. Continued on Page 42
Plandome bridge OK after truck wedged BY C A M E RY N O A K ES A bridge in Plandome used by the Long Island Railroad was not damaged after a box truck became wedged under the structure Sept.
11 and forced the Port Washington branch to suspend service during the evening rush hour, the MTA said. The oversized box truck attempted to drive under the nine-foot-tall bridge in the afternoon, scraping the
underside of the bridge and becoming stuck. The bridge carries LIRR tracks for the Port Washington Branch over Stonytown Road. Service was suspended east of Great Neck, causing delays and cancellations for many Port Washington Branch commuters during the Monday evening rush. Due to the delayed and canceled services, NICE Bus cross-honored LIRR fares along the Port Washington Branch on the N20h, N21, N23 and N27 buses.
The Metropolitan Transit Authority Police Department responded to the incident and had the truck removed by 5:45 p.m. Once the truck was removed, the MTA conducted an investigation into the integrity of the bridge to ensure there was no damage and was safe to have trains resume the route. When an incident of this nature happens, Mike Cortez, MTA media liaison, said the MTA sends individuals out to assess the integrity of the bridge.
In order to assess the bridge for damage, Cortez said train traffic had to remain stalled. Once the bridge assessment was completed and the structural integrity was confirmed, Cortez said the MTA ran test trains at reduced speeds to ensure there were no issues with the bridge. Cortez said the assessment determined the bridge did not require any repairs due to the incident. The driver of the box truck was issued a citation.