Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
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Friday, December 6, 2019
Vol. 68, No. 49
HOLIDAY GIFT & DINING GUIDE
ROSLYN WINS LIBRARY BID
SUOZZI CALLS FOR MILLER’S FIRING
PAGES 27-38
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
Killed kittens: Police
MONSIGNOR McDONALD HONORED
Mineola man charged in deaths BY TOM M CC A RT HY A Mineola man was arrested last Tuesday after police discovered four dead and mutilated kittens in a trash chute in the Mineola apartment building in which he lived, Nassau County police said. Justin Visconti was charged with four counts of aggravated animal cruelty, which is a Class E felony in New York State, Nassau police spokesman Det. Richard LeBrun said at a news conference last Wednesday. “These cats were badly mutilated. These cats were badly tortured by some means,” Jed Painter, a spokesman for the district attorney’s Animal Crime Unit, said. LeBrun said police were alerted to the dead kittens last Monday after they were found by residents and building employees at the Porter Regency Continued on Page 50
PHOTO BY TOM MCCARTHY
The East Williston Community Church’s interfaith Thanksgiving service drew a large audience to celebrate the coming together of different religions and beliefs, but one person was missing – Monsignor James Mcdonald of St. Aidan’s Church, the man who started the event. See story on page 2.
Ex-GCP water/fire commish eyes post Alan Cooper to take on 12-year incumbent Kenneth Borchers in election BY TOM M CC A RT HY Former Garden City Park Water and Fire Commissioner Alan Cooper is looking to take back his post from 12-year incumbent Kenneth Borchers next Tuesday.
Cooper, A Garden City Park native who served as Garden City Park’s water commissioner in the late ’90s and early 2000s, said that rising water rates and fire response times in the district drove him to run for his old post. The Garden City Park Water District Covers parts of Garden City Park, Manhassett 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 “One of the big issues on the water district side is the recent increase in our water rates,” Cooper said. After not increasing rates for many years, the board has voted to increase the rates by approximately 60 percent over the next two years, Cooper said. He said that when he was on the board that they would “strategically plan” how to avoid rate
increases and even decreased water prices in his first year. “That is an unheard-of rate increase and shows a lack of long-term strategic planning,” Cooper said. “When I was on the board, we would strategically plan our infrastructure upgrades so we could estimate the funding we would need in the future.” Borchers is eeking a fifth term and said that under his leadership, the district has seen Continued on Page 51
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