Serving New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Garden City Park, North Hills, Manhasset Hills and North New Hyde Park
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Friday, November 2, 2018
Vol. 67, No. 44
N E W H Y D E PA R K
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GUIDE TO GIVING
RICE PRESSES AGENDA
ASSESSMENT NOTICES LACK DETAILS
PAGES 43-54
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Thousands vote in G.N. library trustees race
SCARY FUN
Hu, Sontag, Sassouni win seats in divisive, ‘unprecedented’ election BY JA N E LL E CL AUSEN
Mimi Hu, Scott Sontag, Chelsea Sassouni and Josie Pizer claimed victory in Great Neck Library Board of Trustee elections Monday night after an unusually divisive and active race. The race drew high turnout for a library election: 2,147 ballots cast on machines, plus nearly 200 proxy and “emergency ballots.” The voting line snaked around the Main Library throughout the day, with some voters reporting waits between half an hour and an hour and a half – and a handful reading books. “This is unprecedented,” Great Neck Library Director Denise Corcoran said. Hu, who faced a write-in challenge from Qiping Zhang, won her race 1,248 to 688 and will serve a four-year term in what is currently!Great Neck Library Board President Robert Schaufeld’s seat. There were! 205 “under votes” – meaning a voter went for neither candidate. “I think people really cared about a lot of issues that are in-
volved and I’m truly thankful to my friends and supporters because they worked so hard today,” Hu said, noting she was “very surprised by the turnout” and “very happy with the result.” Hu also said that she is “ready to learn” new things and listen to the community because the “best ideas are always in the community.” Zhang did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the results, but posted a statement on WeChat saying she was “feeling great,” thanking her supporters and calling for unity. “Let’s grow out of this campaign, put all the negativity to the end, and create the unity at an elevated level,” Zhang said. “We all love the libraries, we all love the community, we love everything about Great Neck. And we want everyone to be happy.” Sontag, meanwhile, unseated Schaufeld 909 to 489 and will finish Francine Krupski’s term, which is January 2019 to 2020. In that race, 718 people chose neither candidate and 25 people cast write-in ballots. “I think that the election came Continued on Page 82
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW HYDE PARK-GARDEN CITY PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT
New Hyde Park Road School fourth-graders Briana Ching and Mikalyla Lio thought the “bat cave” was creepy. See story on page 95.
N. Shore stands with synagogue victims BY JA N E LL E CL AUSEN For countless North Shore residents, a mass shooting in a Pittsburgh congregation more than 400 miles away was an attack on them all. On Saturday, a gunman stormed into the Tree of Life Synagogue, killing 11 people
and wounding six others during Shabbat celebrations, making it the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in American history. The suspected gunman, Robert Bowers, 46, who was later apprehended, reportedly told one officer: “They’re committing genocide to my people. I just want to kill Jews.”
The event has shaken many on the North Shore, which many Holocaust survivors and their descendants have called home. But it also sparked unity, with thousands of people attending memorial ceremonies to remember the fallen – yet press on. Hundreds of people recited prayers together at the cavernContinued on Page 65
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