Serving New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Garden City Park, North Hills, Manhasset Hills and North New Hyde Park
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Friday, July 9, 2021
Vol. 70, No. 28
N E W H Y D E PA R K
LIVING 50 PLUS
PEDESTRIAN KILLED IN NHP
MAJOR CRIME DECREASES
PAGE 21-28
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Biden honors Northwell nurse Port Washington’s Sandra Lindsay was first in U.S. to receive COVID-19 vaccination BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHWELL HEALTH
Northwell Health nurse Sandra Lindsay was honored by President Joe Biden on Friday.
The Northwell Health nurse who received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccination in the United States was honored by President Joe Biden last Friday. Sandra Lindsay, an intensive care nurse at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, received the Pfizer vaccine on the morning of Dec. 14. Lindsay, a Port Washington resident, was awarded the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Outstanding Americans by Choice recognition at the White House on Friday. “During the height of the pandemic, Sandra poured her heart and soul, working with patients and keeping her fellow nurses safe,” Biden said. “When the time came she became the first person in America to get fully vaccinated outside the trials. She can now hug her grandson. She’s out there making sure her patients and folks in the community get vaccinated.”
Biden said Lindsay’s vaccination card, identification badge and hospital scrubs will be on display at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in a COVID-19 exhibit. Lindsay’s journey to becoming the first person in the nation to receive the coronavirus vaccine began nearly three decades ago outside the United States. When she was 18 years old, Lindsay immigrated from Jamaica to the United States. Lindsay took classes to achieve her first nursing degree from the Borough of Manhattan Community College while working at a grocery store and babysitting to pay bills. Lindsay ended up earning her nursing degree in 1994 and became a U.S. citizen three years later. “I came to this country for the opportunities – not only for myself but to be able to help others,” Lindsay said. “As a nurse, I do everything to care for the sickest patients and lead by example. More than 24 years after Continued on Page 34
EWSD defends handling of speech BY S A M U E L E PETRUCCELLI Facing criticism over a student’s graduation speech that
set off a furor by referring to the violence between Israelis and Palestinians as ethnic cleansing, the East Williston Board of Education declined to address the
contents of the speech. But at a public meeting on Tuesday, the board president, Mark Kamberg, said the district was safe and welcoming for all races and ethnicities. The student who gave the speech on June 20, Huda Ayaz, was confronted by an adult who shouted “go back to Pakistan” at the
commencement ceremony, according to Ahmed M. Mohamed, legal director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Members of the public got the chance to speak to trustees during a near hour-long session of open time, which at times took a combative tone and led people to speak at one another rather than address the trustees.
After speaking, one adult made an inappropriate hand gesture directed at Mohamed. Though speaking at board meetings is usually restricted to district residents, an exception was made to allow all members of the public to offer comments. Before the first session of open time, Kamberg offered Continued on Page 45
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