Serving Williston Park, East Williston, Mineola, Albertson and Searingtown
of Women on 2023 WOMEN OF NASSAU COUNTYʼS
Distincti N E T WO R K I N G A N
D AWA R D S E V E N
$1.50
Friday, September 22, 2023
Vol. 72, No. 38
T
DISTINCTION
2 STORES CHARGED WITH BLAKEMAN SUBMITS ILLEGAL SALES TO MINORS COUNTY BUDGET
PAGES S1-S52
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Warriors set to honor fallen 9/11 firefighter To leave from Mineola to take part in Tunnel to Tower 5K Run & Walk BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y Tony Lubrano wasn’t trying to build a big charitable foundation when he and some friends formed Warriors for a Cause in 2015, he said. What started as a group of like-minded people and friends has since grown into a fund-raising collective that has raised hundreds of thousands for various charities. “We believe in making things more significant and getting our hands dirty,” Tony Lubrano, president of Warriors for a Cause, said in an interview with Blank Slate Media. Warriors for a Cause is a 501(c)(3) group based in Mineola that raises money to donate to other foundations and charities while getting heavily involved in event planning and community activities. This Sunday the group will be busing hundreds of participants into downtown Manhattan for the Tunnel to Towers 5K Run & Walk. The event commemorates the service of Firefighter Stephen Siller, who perished at the World Trade Center on the day of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Siller had just gotten off a shift at Brooklyn Squad One when he heard news of the attack. He returned to Squad One, got his gear and drove his truck to the Brooklyn entrance of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel, which was already closed to traffic for se-
curity purposes. Siller ran from the tunnel to the towers, where he died helping in the doomed buildings. The yearly 5K follows the footsteps of Siller on that day in 2001. Aside from the 5K, Warriors for a Cause’s footprint in the Mineola community includes Night on the Town on Jericho Turnpike, which has raised hundreds of thousands for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and will be held this year on Tuesday, Oct. 17. The Siller event on Sunday is one that is very personal to Lubrano. Two years ago, Frank Siller decided to honor his late brother by walking 537-miles from the Pentagon to Ground Zero through six states in six weeks to honor and support first responders and their families. Lubrano and 16 warriors were invited to be one of the 343 volunteers — one for every FDNY member who was lost in the attacks — to walk behind Siller for the beginning 13 miles on Aug. 1, the first day of the walk. “My son was in the front group running with Frank and he said ‘Dad, that was the coolest thing in the world,'” Lubrano said. “For your son to look into your eyes and say something like that, makes these events worth it.” Lubrano said there are three main goals in the event for the foundation: to raise money for the Stephen Siller FoundaContinued on Page 42
PHOTO BY BRANDON DUFFY
A student from TaeCole Tae Kwon Do & Fitness in Albertson performs during the Williston Street Fair. See story on page 2.
Pereira touts new zoning, beautifcation downtown BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira said in his State of the Village speech Tuesday night that he is aiming to increase the curb appeal of Mineola. The village in recent months has more aggressively pursued property management issues with businesses in the village’s commercial areas. Pereira said the village gave businesses a notice of a violation with time to cure the issue and an overwhelming majority of offend-
ers avoided being given a summons. The mayor said enforcing the code is not a matter of increasing revenue but getting compliance. “We have seen a huge improvement,” Pereira said. “We must have put up at least 100 notices and only four received violations.” Pereira was speaking to local business owners during the Mineola Chamber of Commerce’s September meeting, held in the Morgan Parc residential complex on 2nd Street. One year ago, Pereira announced
the board was going to consider adding overlay zones, which would allow future developments in the area to exceed the maximum height of 25 feet but not go above 40 feet. In December, the village board unanimously passed zoning changes for the strip of Jericho between Willis Avenue and Marcellus Road and downtown on Main Street, First Street and Second Street between Mineola Boulevard and Willis. Continued on Page 43