Serving New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Garden City Park, North Hills, Manhasset Hills and North New Hyde Park
$1.50
Friday, December 16, 2022
Vol. 71, No. 50
N E W H Y D E PA R K
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
UNCLE BACALA’S REOPENS
SANTOS RECEIVED MONEY FROM OLIGARCH’S COUSIN
PAGES 23-38
PAGE 6
PAGE 9
Joe Papa elected NHP fire commish
GRAND OPENING
Flynn, Mirabile win in M-L, GCP BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y The Garden City Park Fire and Water district commissioner race was apparently settled by 1 vote, with Rob Mirabile defeating Joe Wendling in the Tuesday election, the district said. The numbers are unofficial and will be finalized at the Tuesday commissioner meeting, the district said. A total of 303 votes were submitted in the race, according to the district. Former Fire Chief Joe Papa was also elected to New Hyde Park fire commissioner in a race he ran unopposed in. Steve Flynn also won a third term as commissioner of the ManhassetLakeville Fire and Water District in a race in which he was unopposed. Papa will replace the outgoing Ernest Gentile and Mirabile would replace Kenneth Borchers, who did not seek re-election after serving the district since 2007. Mirabile first became chief of the Garden City Park Fire Department in 1991 when he joined Hillside Heights Engine Co. 3. Professionally, he works with the department of public safety at Adelphi University, operates the food truck Roscoe’s Roadside serving old-fashioned hot dogs and is a content creator on YouTube for Axle’s Garage. The Garden City Park Fire and Wa-
ter district covers parts of Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, parts of New Hyde Park, parts of Mineola, parts of North Hills, parts of Roslyn, parts of Williston Park, parts of Albertson and parts of Garden City. “I’ve held every rank over the years including chief of the department,” said Mirabile in a previous interview with Blank Slate Media. “I have intimate knowledge of how the board of commissioners interacts with the chiefs and rest of the department.” The New Hyde Park native said he wants to give the department the space and resources necessary to do its job. “Sometimes I saw that the board would overstep and run the department instead of the chiefs,” Mirabile said. “I feel that the chief who’s elected by the members of the department should be running it and have the board provide resources he or she needs.” Mirabile defeated Wendling, a resident of the district for 52 years, who said he’s running with the main priorities of safety and responsible spending. “I will do our best to serve our community, keep our water safe and healthy and prevent both unnecessary expenditures and building in our district,” Wendling said. Professionally, Wendling is a private investigator for the New Hyde Continued on Page 50
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE NEW HYDE PARK-GARDEN CITY PARK UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Hillside Grade School students played on the new playground on Dec. 2.
Court says PBA can take pay dispute to arbitration BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y Floral Park police officers who worked during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic have a right to go to arbitration for double-time
pay they said their contract calls for, New York’s Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court has ruled. The Floral Park Police Benevolent Association in September 2020 began an arbitration proceeding, a
process in which a third party helps settle labor disputes, against the village in seeking a “Contract Interpretation” for a provision in their collective bargaining agreement titled Continued on Page 51
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