Serving New Hyde Park, North New Hyde Park, Herricks, Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Floral Park
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Friday, July 28, 2017
Vol. 66, No. 30
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Health, Wellness & Beauty
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GUIDE TO HEALTH, STATE TARGETS WELLNESS & BEAUTY RADIOACTIVE SITES
MARTINS VOWS END TO NIFA IN 2 YEARS
PAGES 31-38, 43-50
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Cuomo touts $5.6B LIRR ‘transformation’ Says 3rd track is part of plan to revitalize transit infrastructure BY N O A H M A N S K A R The Long Island Rail Road’s third track project is one piece of a $5.6 billion “transformation” that will increase the railroad’s capacity by up to 80 percent after five years, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last Wednesday. Speaking at a Long Island Association luncheon in Woodbury, Cuomo pitched the third track as part of a plan to revitalize and modernize the LIRR, which he characterized as stagnant and outdated. While Cuomo’s messaging about them is new, the projects themselves are not. Other parts of the plan, such as a second track on the Ronkonkoma branch and an overhaul of railroad infrastructure at the Jamaica station, have been in the works for years. “It is an investment in Long Island,” Cuomo told a crowd of about 1,000 on Wednesday. “These infrastructure projects are investments
that pay dividends, and multifold dividends.” Wednesday’s event was a sort of victory lap for Cuomo and supporters of the $1.95 billion third track project, for which funding was approved earlier this month. Also present were leaders and members of labor unions, elected officials and leaders of the Right Track for Long Island Coalition, a group organized to push for the project. It came as Amtrak works on two months of repairs at Penn Station in Manhattan, causing disruptions for LIRR commuters in what Cuomo has dubbed the “summer of hell.” Cuomo pushed the third track over the last 18 months despite local community opposition, winning over previous opponents of a 2005 proposal by making his plan less intrusive and adding community benefits. Cuomo’s staff negotiated agreements with affected municipalities that aim to mitigate any potential harm from construction. Continued on Page 66
PHOTO BY NOAH MANSKAR
The Hillside Islamic Center hosts a summer program at its new building at 300 Hillside Ave. in North New Hyde Park.
‘Mission accomplished’ for mosque after 3 years BY N O A H MANSKAR Friday night prayers usually have the biggest crowds at the Hillside Islamic Center, but the May 26 service was especially huge, Abdul Aziz Bhuyian, the mosque’s president, said. It was the night before the start of Ramadan, the holy
month of daytime fasting in Islam. But it was also the first time prayers were being said in the mosque’s new home at 300 Hillside Ave. in New Hyde Park — after more than three years of construction. “We were just eagerly waiting to have that day,” Bhuyian said, sitting outside the building on Monday af-
ternoon. “And when it finally came, most people were in tears, tears of joy.” Construction started in 2013 on the new 9,100-square-foot, two-story mosque, built with elements of Islamic architecture such as arches and minarets. Outfitted with libraries, a prayer hall Continued on Page 66
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