Serving New Hyde Park, Floral Park, Garden City Park, North Hills, Manhasset Hills and North New Hyde Park
$1.50
Friday, June 9, 2023
Vol. 72, No. 23
N E W H Y D E PA R K
SPORTS WRAP UP
MASTERSON FOUND GUILTY OF RAPES
LAVINE BLASTS CUNY LAW SCHOOL SPEECH
PAGES 21-28
PAGE 4
PAGE 9
Queens teens invaded G.N. South High Junior suspended feared his safety, father blames school district BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z A group of Queens teenagers with a Taser, switchblade-style knife and pepper spray entered Great Neck South High School in December, according to district officials and documents obtained by Blank Slate Media. The nine teenagers all entered the building Dec. 16, according to an email to the community from South High School Principal Christopher Gitz. Three of the students entered the school in the morning, according to Gitz. It is unclear when the other six entered. “Approximately nine non-Great Neck teenagers attempted to enter South High School,” the email read. “Most of the trespassers fled the scene and were later caught and detained by Lake Success police officers.” Gitz, in a Dec. 19 email to the community, said a South High student gave the trespassers access into the school. Gitz met with the student, a junior, on Dec. 19 and asked him to write down his encounters with the trespassers. The student’s written account of the incident, obtained by Newsday, said the teenagers “said that I shouldn’t tell anybody anything or they would come after me next.” The student, according to a transcript from a Jan. 3 disciplinary
hearing, said the trespassers wanted to be directed to the locker room. While no injuries were reported, Gitz said the trespassers came to “visit” the girlfriend of one of the teenagers and to confront another student, according to the transcript from the disciplinary hearing. Elmer Rodriguez, the student’s father, said during the hearing that the incident and aftermath had taken a toll on his son. “He was terrorized,” Rodriguez said. “He still is terrorized. He cannot sleep. This kid needs help.” Immediate efforts to reach Rodriguez for further comment were unavailing. During the hearing, the student said he escorted three of the teenagers into the locker room. He said during the hearing he did not notify a teacher because of the violent threats made by the trespassers and did not think teachers would take them seriously. “I just felt like I didn’t want to put my own safety on the line because they were sitting right next to me,” the student said. “And when they said they have weapons and they were going to use it on me if I told anybody, I didn’t want to say anything. I kept my mouth shut.” Continued on Page 41
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHWELL HEALTH
Richie Cannata, Billy Joel’s original saxophonist, performs at Northwell Health’s Cancer Survivor’s Day.
Celebrating cancer surivors at Northwell BY J O S E P H D 'A N D R E A Over 1,200 cancer survivors, medical professionals and others attended Northwell Health’s 16th
annual Don Monti Cancer Survivors Day celebration at R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center in Lake Success Saturday. At Northwell’s largest community outreach event encompass-
ing all its cancer centers, two Long Island-based cancer survivors were invited to take part in the gathering. Billy Joel’s original saxophonist, Richie Cannata, performed “New Continued on Page 42
Visit thenewhydeparkheraldcourier.com or theisland360.com for the latest in breaking news.