The Year in Review 2001

JANUARY Year begins with snow job The year 2001 saw some extreme weather conditions, as Five Towners found themselves digging out of about a foot of snow at the beginning of the year, suffering through extreme heat in the summer and enjoying mild temperatures in mid-December. The massive snowstorm that blanketed most of the east coast on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2000, deposited between 10 to 16 inches in Nassau County and left a trail of stuck cars, closed stores and sore backs in its wake. The storm came earlier than expected, dumping more than four inches by 8 a.m. By mid-morning much of the metro area was paralyzed as the snow kept falling. Banks, stores and other businesses closed their doors and sent workers who had made the dangerous trek in home. Despite well-publicized warnings by officials to stay at home, many residents were out on the roads early Saturday morning making the job of cleaning up harder for government workers. Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead each had more than 100 plows and other snow-clearing equipment on the streets. Broadway fire closes 5 stores Five stores on Broadway in Hewlett were forced to close after sustaining damage from a fire, which erupted in one of the shops early on a Sunday morning, officials said. The stores that were forced to close were Clara Drucker Skincare, Rainbow Eatery, 30 Minute Photo, Epicurean Essentials and Nutrition Warehouse. The fire broke out in Clara Drucker Skincare, at 1233 Broadway, which sustained fire and smoke damage, fire officials said. The other four stores sustained smoke damage only. The fire was not considered suspicious. There were no injuries. Police alerted the Hewlett Fire Department that smoke was billowing from three of the stores at about 1 a.m. on Jan. 21. AB hit with $8M suit The owners of the Plaza Beach Club in Atlantic Beach filed an $8 million civil rights lawsuit against the village, its mayor and former deputy mayor, charging that village officials have retaliated against the club and caused it great economic harm for criticizing the village. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 11 in U.S. District Court against the village, Mayor Stephen Mahler and former Deputy Mayor James Connors, levels several complaints by Jeff Greenfield, the club's vice president, and Henry Kessler, its president. They accused the village of discriminating against them and retaliating against the club for exercising its First Amendment Rights of Freedom of Speech. Plaza and Greenfield have publicly criticized the village for failing to properly maintain the boardwalk and Ocean Boulevard; for permitting construction work on the Atlantic Beach Bridge during summer peak traffic time; for implementing a parking-permit plan that discriminates against non-residents, and for funding the private litigation of board member Connors. For that public criticism, Plaza argues that the village and Mayor Mahler attempted to punish the club and Greenfield by: selectively applying the most restrictive parking plan in front of its beach club; refusing to share village lifeguards with the Plaza; adopting a parking-permit plan that illegally discriminates against non-residents in violation of the state and federal constitution; and demanding rent for the use of a 14-foot strip of property in front of Plaza's premises, at 1751 Ocean Blvd. FEBRUARY 5T reaction mixed over Sharon's victory Religious leaders in the Five Towns expressed mixed reaction over the election of Ariel Sharon over Ehud Barak for Prime Minister of Israel -- some holding out hope for peace in the region while others feeling that violence will escalate. Sharon, the 72-year-old hard-line former Israeli general, decisively won by 25 percentage points in the Tuesday, Feb. 6 election. Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum of Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, said American Jews have to respect the Israelis' choice for Prime Minister because they must live with that decision every day. "It is not for us to judge. What people there have done is say that they will try to make every effort for the sake of peace." In the long-run there probably is a greater hope for peace, he said. "Most importantly, we have to turn our hearts and minds and daily prayers toward Jerusalem," Teitelbaum said. Up to that point, more than 300 Palestinians and about 40 Israelis had been killed in clashes since the outbreak of violence started in September 2000. Many believe the violence started when Sharon visited the Temple Mount, a hilltop sacred to both Jews and Arabs. Volunteer work wasted Almost two years of voluntary work by a group of community members struggling to come up with a plan to renovate Lawrence school buildings and fields, may be for naught because of one district lawyer's interpretation of the law. As a result, a proposed multi-million dollar bond to rehab the schools may be postponed for months, or abandoned entirely for a second consecutive year. The Lawrence Building Committee, made up of community volunteers, presented the school board with its final report. Initially, the plan called for an $85 million bond to renovate schools and provide for program needs in the district. But following a series of public forums during the past few weeks, the committee pared the bond down to $65 million in response to community feedback. However, the lawyer said the board may have gone about it the wrong way, making it null and void. Pan Am verdict rendered Rhoda Miller of Woodmere was "pleasantly surprised" when she learned that one of two men on trial for blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 was convicted of the crime on Wednesday, Jan. 31. Even though, she said, it can't bring back her husband, Joseph K. Miller, one of 270 victims killed when the plane exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland on Dec. 21, 1988, she expressed relief that someone will be held responsible for the act of terrorism. "I didn't think anybody would be convicted of this," Miller said after the verdict was rendered in a Scottish court by a three-member panel of judges. Joseph Miller of Woodmere and Chris Papadopoulos of Lawrence were among the passengers returning home from the London flight when the plane was blown out of mid-air by a bomb that was planted in one of the suitcases loaded onto the plane. Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, 49, believed to be a Libyan intelligence agent, was found guilty of mass murder and sentenced to life in prison, with a chance of being paroled after 20 years. Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, a former manager of Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta, where the bomb was said to originate, was found innocent. "It's not enough satisfaction," Miller said of the one conviction in the case. MARCH WMS bomb threat probed Police and Woodmere Middle School officials were on full alert when the message, "I will bomb the school on Friday," was found scribbled in the boys' bathroom. The writing in pencil was discovered by a student at about 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 20, on the window ledge in the first-floor boys' bathroom of the school, 1170 Peninsula Blvd., Hewlett, officials said. School administrators were notified and, before students arrived for class the following day, police and detectives conducted a room-by-room sweep of the building and could not find any explosive device. Another search was carried out at 7 p.m. Thursday night and 7 a.m. on Friday, when class was not in session because it was set aside for parent-teacher conferences. About 50 middle School students were interviewed by school administrators about the message and the names of three students were mentioned most often about being possible suspects. Those three students were questioned and detectives and administrators determined they had nothing to do with the threat. Recycling co. pushes for permit in Inwood The owner of an Inwood recycling company said he is making vast inroads in reducing a mound of debris on his property, a pile that has sparked neighbors complaints about dirt and dust. Joseph Aragona, president of New York Depot Corporation, at 2 Bay Boulevard, testified before the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals on Wednesday, March 21, that he is making attempts to comply with a consent order by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The zoning board is hearing a request for a variance to continue the operation of the facility, which has been determined to be "noxious and offensive" by the town's buildings commissioner because of the alleged dust and fumes arising from the roughly seven-acre site in an industrial district. The company, which has been operating without the proper permits, accepts dirt, concrete, rock, asphalt and other road-related products, recycles them on the property, where it is screened, separated and crushed and then manufactured into fill material and top soil for other construction projects. The state ordered the company to reduce the height of the dirt pile to 30 feet from what was a peak of about 50 to 60 feet. The company president said he has gotten it down to about 36 or 37 feet. Dist. 15 proposes 10% budget hike Administrators at the Lawrence Public Schools unveiled an $80.5 million preliminary budget for the 2001-2002 school year, a whopping 9.9 percent increase over the current budget. But Janet McCauley, assistant superintendent of business, urged District 15 residents not to be alarmed. As in the past, she said, those are very preliminary and rough numbers and the budget will be pared down with some careful negotiations, which will help the district arrive at more palatable numbers for taxpayers. 'Boiler room' raided Calling it "a combination of 'The Sopranos' and 'Boiler Room,'" federal and state authorities rounded up 20 defendants -- including two from the Five Towns -- in a scheme on Wall Street that swindled thousands of investors out of $50 million, officials said. Hunter Adams, 33, of Bay Boulevard, Atlantic Beach, and Chris Russo, 34, of Ibsen Street, Woodmere were among those indicted for the massive stock fraud scheme, on Thursday, March 8, in federal court in Brooklyn. Adams and Reiter are reputedly associates of the Gambino Crime Family, according to the 47-page indictment. The scheme covered a four-year period, from February 1994 through March 1998, resulting in the manipulation of the securities of at least five companies in a classic "pump and dump" operation. Opponents win round one Opponents of a proposed assisted living facility in North Woodmere won a battle when the Town of Hempstead rejected plans for the senior home because it exceeded height requirements. The town's building department denied the application on Wednesday, March 14, because the developers, Engel Burman, submitted plans for a three-story, 40-feet tall building to replace the shopping center on Hungry Harbor Road. The building code requires a maximum of two stories and 30 feet in a business zone, said a Town of Hempstead spokesperson. The application automatically was headed for the town's Board of Zoning Appeals, before which both proponents and opponents of the project made their case. Gary Carlton, co-president of the North Woodmere Civic Association, which has led the fight against the 120-unit project, hailed the town's March 14 decision as a victory. Parents fume over state test results Angry parents voiced concerns to the Lawrence school board and district administrators about students' low scores on statewide math and English exams. The parents wanted to know why Lawrence students were scoring considerably lower than neighboring school districts on the tests, especially when classroom sizes in District 15 are below average. Only 50 percent of Lawrence eighth-graders met or surpassed state standards on the English test administered in 1999-2000. At Woodmere Middle School, it was 71 percent. In math, 53 percent met the standards at Lawrence, while 79 percent did so at Woodmere. "As a [Lawrence] middle school parent, this school is not educating our children," said Dr. Carol Dunetz. "A score of 50 percent is unacceptable. This should be a wake-up call to revamp the curriculum and for the teachers to start teaching the children. It's a district in crisis." There are other ways of measuring the effects of education on a student than looking at test scores, said Lawrence Public Schools superintendent Dr. Paul Kelleher. In addition, the demographics of Lawrence have changed, he said. District 15 ranks among the lowest in the county of people who live in poverty. APRIL Bloodshed won't stop students High school seniors who plan to study a year in a yeshiva in Israel after they graduate said they are determined to stick to their plans despite the rampant bloodshed and suicide bombings. About 65 percent of the 104 seniors at Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway High School were making plans to study in Israel. Most left for Israel in August, 2001, and planned to return to New York a year later to attend college. Students at HAFTR said their parents are more hesitant to see them go to the Mideast than they are themselves. A string of bomb attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, including a suicide bombing that killed two Israeli schoolboys waiting at a bus stop on Wednesday, March 28, heightened tensions in the region. Herald wins 12 awards The Herald newspaper chain grabbed 12 New York Press Association awards, during a convention in Albany for weekly newspapers. Among the awards won were six first-place honors, for community leadership, crime reporting, in-depth coverage, obituary writing, environmental coverage and advertising. The Herald placed sixth among newspaper groups statewide, winning more awards than all other Nassau County newspapers combined. Herald buys Record Richner Communications Inc., publishers of the Herald Community Newspapers, announced that they signed an agreement to buy the Nassau Community Newspaper Group, publishers of the Record newspapers in southwest Nassau County, from News Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ). The deal was finalized by the end of April. Richner Communications is a privately held company and terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Nassau Community Newspaper Group had recently consolidated its 12 weekly papers into eight editions, all under the Record banner. Previously, the papers, some nearly a century-old, were published under a variety of names including the South Shore Record, which covers the Five Towns; East Rockaway Observer; Lynbrook USA; The Malverne Community Times; The Rockville Centre News & Owl; Valley Stream Maileader; Long Beach Independent Voice; Oceanside Beacon; Baldwin Citizen; and The Record of Elmont, Franklin Square and West Hempstead. The group also published Long Island Lifestyles, a monthly tabloid distributed with the Record newspapers and at locations throughout Nassau County. Dist. 15 settles on 6.75 budget hike After an ongoing battle between board members and administrators at Lawrence Public Schools over proposals to cut student programs, an agreement was hammered out on a 6.75 percent budget increase for the 2001-2002 school year. With some careful whittling of numbers by schools superintendent Dr. Paul Kelleher and assistant superintendent for business Janet McCauley, Lawrence students will continue to be able to take academic courses that were in danger of being cut, such as foreign languages offered at elementary schools. Also saved was the Resolving Conflicts Creatively Program in the middle school, in which students learn to become mediators for resolving conflicts between their fellow students. Summer school students will also be able to participate in art, theater and recreation programs, which were all in jeopardy of being scrapped. Meat shortage for Passover Customers lining up for Monday night's famous rib eye special at King David on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst were disappointed to find out that it was taken off the menu because no meat -- other than chicken -- was delivered to the kosher restaurant. The meat shortage saga striking this local shop days before Passover, as well as kosher delicatessens and markets nationwide, began when a fire destroyed a meat processing plant in Kansas last December. Overseas cattle disease and a self-imposed ban on beef exports by the Argentine government also contributed to the decline in kosher meats feeding thousands of Jewish families. "The meat is totally unavailable," said Francis Ross, manager of King David. "And we are told that the situation is getting worse." Ross, who was awaiting meat delivery from wholesale kosher distributors in Brooklyn, expected that prices would surge. They had already gone up for baloney, hot dogs and especially brisket, which is the popular meat for the Passover table. FAA plans for friendlier skies Even though the winter brought many cold, stormy days, Beatrice and Edward Rothenberg weren't looking forward to the warm weather. For these longtime Cedarhurst residents, summer means being trapped indoors with the windows shut because the obtrusive sound of overhead planes becomes an even more bitter reality. Oils from airplane engines land on their patio, making it impossible to invite friends over for a barbecue. For years, area residents have been complaining about noise and emissions from planes flying to and from JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Airports. But initiatives by the Federal Aviation Administration may change all that. In 1999, the FAA came up with an airspace redesign project to reduce airline delays and the environmental aggravations for those who live in close proximity to airports, a plan that should take effect by 2005. This marks the second year that the FAA held public information sessions to involve the community and get feedback about the project. About 75 residents, including those from the Five Towns, Long Beach, Valley Steam and New Hyde Park, gathered at the Number One School on Central Avenue in Lawrence on Wednesday, April 4, to hear about the project from FAA representatives and to voice their complaints. LHS junior's death a mystery Lawrence High School junior Crystal Gay was enthusiastically looking forward to vacationing with her family in San Francisco for a week during spring break. The 16-year-old teenager never made it onto the plane. She collapsed at JFK Airport and died a short time later at Jamaica Hospital, leaving her parents searching for answers to her death. Funeral services were held on Easter Sunday, April 15, and she was laid to rest the following day at Greenfield Cemetery in Hempstead. "She was having no problems at all," said her mother, Pauline. "She was in good spirits, she was in good health." Gay and her two daughters were waiting to board a late afternoon flight to the West Coast, where they were going to meet the girls' father, Juneroy, who was already in San Francisco. Crystal was sitting in her seat next to her 13-year-old sister Andrea at the TWA terminal at about 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 8 when Crystal fell to the floor. Her sister told her mother that Crystal had collapsed and her mother rushed to her side. The mother said she shook her daughter and when she received no response, she pleaded for help. MAY New temple building plans The Village of Cedarhurst Board of Zoning Appeals held a public hearing on modified plans by Congregation Bais Medrash to construct a new temple on West Broadway. After holding a public hearing on the project, the village granted variances on June 3, 1999 to the congregation for parking and using the building, which would be built at 504 West Broadway, as a place for public assembly. According to the original plans, the building would have been attached to the current adjacent building, where the congregants now meet. But the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office, which reviewed the plans, had safety concerns with the building arrangement and rejected the plans as submitted. State to Inwood Depot: 'Get out now' The state wants the New York Depot Corporation, a controversial recycling company in Inwood, to immediately vacate the seven-acre site on Bay Boulevard where the company has been operating for the past two years. The State Department of Transportation, which owns the property, said the company has reneged on an agreement to provide a $500,000 bond as a guarantee to clean up the site if New York Depot vacates the property. The company, which recycles dirt, concrete rock and asphalt into fill material and top soil for other construction projects, has been operating without a permit. The facility, at 2 Bay Boulevard, has spurred constant complaints from neighborhood residents about the dirt and dust it has generated. Company president, Joseph Aragona, and his attorney, William Cohn, appeared for a continuation of a hearing before the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals, on Wednesday, May 2, to obtain a permit. But the hearing, which began at 8 a.m., was adjourned 90 minutes later, because the zoning board said it wanted to await the outcome of a decision by Nassau County Supreme Court judge on the dispute over the lease on the property. Battling it out over senior home After battling it out in the press for almost two years in an effort to win public opinion, the developers of a proposed 120-unit assisted living facility in North Woodmere and neighborhood residents said they will battle it out before the Town of Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals at a hearing. Those opposing the construction of the assisted living facility, which has been proposed for the Hungry Harbor Shopping Center, said they expected more than 100 neighbors to attend, and possibly 200, with as many as 35 neighbors prepared to testify about the potential negative impact of the project on the surrounding community. School budgets approved, in close shave It was another close call in the Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence school districts when the proposed 2001-02 budgets passed by just a little more than half of the total votes. Fifty-one percent of Lawrence voters approved the school budget hike of 6.77 percent, while fifty-five percent of Hewlett-Woodmere voters gave the thumbs up to a budget increase of 7.42 percent. This year's school budget votes drew more residents to the ballots. Voter turnout in Lawrence increased by close to 1,000 residents over last year's turnout. In Hewlett-Woodmere, about 500 more residents showed up this year to cast their votes than last year. In District 14, the final count tallied 1,697 votes in favor of a $58,508,790 budget and 1,365 against it. In Lawrence, 1,693 voters approved a $78,220,960 budget for the 2001-02 school year, while 1,603 voters rejected it. Cell tower mulled near LHS The Village of Cedarhurst is considering a proposal to install a 120-foot cell tower near Lawrence High School, a plan that has school officials and parents worried about the potential health risks to students and staff. The plan would be to put up a monopole behind the village's Department of Public Works garage, just east of the high school off of Peninsula Boulevard. The free-standing structure, which would resemble a giant flag pole, with antennas protruding from its top, would be located at the rear or north end of the property, near the school's tennis courts, officials said. If it is installed, the village has intentions of co-locating as many vendors as possible on the monopole, so that "we don't have multi-installations all over the place in our village," said Benjamin Weinstock, a village trustee. "We are trying to beautify this village and this way we won't have a hodgepodge." GOP names town attorney for 7th LD County Republicans tapped Merik Aaron, a deputy attorney for the Town of Hempstead, as their candidate to regain control of the Seventh Legislative District, which was won by Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside) two years ago. Aaron, 54, of Hewlett Harbor won the Republican Party nomination on Thursday, May 24, during the Nassau County Republican Convention. Aaron has served as deputy town attorney for seven years, mainly dealing with zoning issues. He also works as an adjunct faculty member in health and physical education at Nassau Community College. This was Aaron's second attempt at political office. He launched an unsuccessful bid in 1996 for the 20th A.D. seat held by Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg (D-Long Beach), in which Aaron won just over 30 percent of the vote. In the November 2001 vote, Toback defeated Aaron. Madden faces up to four years in prison Steve Madden, who built an international women's footwear empire after humble beginnings as a salesman and stock boy in the Five Towns, pleaded guilty to charges of securities fraud and money laundering, authorities said. Madden, formerly of Rand Place in Lawrence, faces a prison term of between 41 and 51 months when he is sentenced early next year, officials said, adding that he must pay back at least $5.18 million in restitution to the victims of his crimes and forfeit another $3 million. He also agreed to pay $2.6 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission in penalties. By pleading guilty, he avoids a potential sentence of up to 25 years in prison. Madden was accused of manipulating 23 initial public offerings (IPOs), which were underwritten by Stratton Oakmont, Inc., of Lake Success and Monroe Parker Securities of Purchase N.Y., both defunct broker-dealers. Madden, 44, who now lives in Manhattan, is the chairman and chief executive officer of Steve Madden Ltd., a designer and retailer of women's shoes. He pleaded guilty on Wednesday, May 23, to separate indictments in federal court in Manhattan and Brooklyn. School chief to leave District 15 Dr. Paul Kelleher, who was hired as Lawrence Public Schools superintendent three years ago to provide the district with stability after several tumultuous months under the prior school chief's leadership, said he will leave the district for another position in Texas at the end of August. The superintendent's announcement shocked school board members, teachers and parents, who thought that he would spend more time in the district to help boost academic achievement. Kelleher, who had a five-year contract, surprised the school board with his announcement Tuesday night, May 15, before the votes in the school board election were tallied. He said he timed it so that the announcement would not impact the election and not be seen as a reaction to the vote results. He left his roughly $190,000-a-year post in Lawrence and retired from public education for a job at Trinity University in San Antonio, Tex., where he became a professor of educational leadership and chairman of the Department of Education. About two or three months prior, he was contacted about the new post. Trinity is a small liberal arts college enrolling about 2,500 students in graduate and undergraduate programs. Kelleher, 58, was hired as Lawrence superintendent in March 1998, after an exhaustive year-long nationwide search for a replacement for Dr. Stewart Weinberg. The board bought out the remainder of Weinberg's contract after board members determined that he had become an ineffective administrator and they could no longer work with him. The board lured Kelleher from his job as superintendent of the Westport, Conn. school system in what they termed at the time to be a perfect match for the Lawrence district. The job as Lawrence superintendent has taken its toll on Kelleher, whose son told him he had both a day job and a night job. JUNE Change of plans for Woodmere MS It is back to the drawing board for the Hewlett-Woodmere school board, which is requesting new plans to either rebuild or renovate the overcrowded, mold-infested Woodmere Middle School. This time around, however, board members chose Kaeyer, Garment and Davidson of Mount Kisco over the Spector Group, the architectural firm which came up with a $51 million plan to build a new middle school, a proposal rejected by district voters in March 2000. Board members said they wanted to take a more thorough approach to addressing the building needs of the Woodmere Middle School and the financial concerns of residents by meeting with a few architectural firms. In the past the district has gone with the Spector Group, located in New Hyde Park, for many projects, such as the ongoing renovations at Hewlett High School. Cops rescue boy in Inwood Fourth Precinct police officer Raymond Navarra said saving a three-year-old Inwood boy from certain death after the toddler accidentally wrapped a plastic wire around his neck in his home is all part of the job. Navarra and his partner, officer Brian O'Connor, rescued the three-year-old from asphyxiation by cutting the wire. "Absolutely, that's why a lot of us take the job, just to do that," Navarra said of saving lives. "That's why we're out here. We were glad to help them out." The officers and the family of three-year-old Dominic Tavella have a Automatic Electronic Defibrillator kit to thank. The kit, which has recently been made available to all officers on patrol to shock a victim's heart when it stops beating, comes equipped with a pair of heavy-duty scissors. The officers used the shears to cut into the thick wire, allowing the boy to start breathing again. "Another few moments and the child could have been dead," said Inspector George Gudmundsen, commanding officer of the Fourth Precinct. Ex-cop gets charge dropped Disgraced former Fourth Precinct cop Jay Seifert beat another criminal charge against him -- this time a coercion charge was dropped, joining previously dismissed charges against him of rape and sodomy and leaving prosecutors with hopes that remaining charges of bribe-receiving and official misconduct would finally stick. Nassau County Court Judge Donald DeRiggi dismissed the coercion charge against Seifert during a hearing on the motion to dismiss the charge on Tuesday, June 5. Seifert, 31, of Port Washington originally was charged with rape and sodomy for an October 7, 2000 incident in which the officer stopped a car after he spotted the driver making an illegal U-turn on Rockaway Turnpike. He led the vehicle to Doxey Creek Park in North Woodmere, where he told a female passenger to exit the car and have sex with him, officials said. But a grand jury refused to indict him on sodomy and rape charges and indicted him instead on coercion, bribe-receiving and official misconduct. Seifert's attorney, Joseph Falbo, wanted those charges tossed out as well and made a motion to dismiss. Coercion in the first degree was dropped in that court proceeding. Fate of Hewlett Homestead up in air The Hewlett-Woodmere school board continued discussions about what to do with the remainder of land surrounding the Hewlett House property -- but have yet to come up with a decision. At their Thursday, June 7 work session, board members talked about the possibilities and benefits of what could be done with the land: to lease, sell or retain it. "The district has a lot of financial and space problems," said trustee Ellie Greenberg. "We can't afford to let that property just sit there. We have to make a decision." The idea of selling the property, which is valued at around $200,000, left a bitter taste for many board members and residents. Years ago, the Hewlett-Woodmere community was angered when the district sold the Woodmere Middle School South building and land. The district could have used that facility at this time to help solve the overcrowding problems at Woodmere Middle School, residents said. To alleviate that problem temporarily, voters passed a referendum this year to build three, double-wide portable classrooms for $450,000. The other option confronting board members is to lease the remainder of the Hewlett House property to 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Coalition, which acquired the Hewlett House on East Rockaway Road for use as a comprehensive breast cancer resource center. After a series of delays and setbacks, the facility is expected to open to the public by the end of the year. Town orders work halted on project The Town of Hempstead admits that it made a mistake in issuing a building permit for construction on a parcel of property in Woodmere Park, leaving the developer in limbo since more than three-quarters of the work has already been completed. Officials have issued a stop work order on the construction of work at Clubhouse Road and Fairway Drive, a project that has drawn the wrath of some neighbors who said it is out of character with the rest of the neighborhood. The developer bought a single-family house in 2000, knocked it down and subdivided the property, building two five-bedroom homes instead of one to maximize his profits, neighbors said. According to a letter from the town to the developer, Kamran Pourgol, "the building permit was issued in error" and should not have been issued because the building exceeds the allowable building area for the size of the lot. Longtime Cedarhurst trustee is leaving Harry Taubenfeld, who has served in Village of Cedarhurst government for almost three decades, the last 12 years as trustee, announced he will step down. Taubenfeld said he will retire as trustee either July 1 or August 1 when he moves to Westchester, which is closer to his grandchildren. "Besides, I've held the office of trustee a long enough time. It's time for me to step aside for a younger person [on the board]," said Taubenfeld, who will turn 72 this month. He said he will commute from his new home to his Cedarhurst law practice, Zuckerbrod and Taubenfeld, which has been operating for 42 years. AB mayor's candidates win elections The majority of Atlantic Beach residents who cast their ballots in the June 19 village elections voted for all three candidates supported by Mayor Stephen Mahler's Integrity Party. The outcome of the election marks the first time in several years that Atlantic Beach may see a cohesive village board. "A group of trustees that now no longer exist on the board were voting against things and it was all just nonsense," Mahler said. Four-year trustee Anthony Basso gained 244 votes, but lost to newcomer Paul Gruskoff, who received the most votes with 362, and incumbent John McCrystal, who collected 306 votes. Basso, 67, was the last in the group of anti-Mahler board members to be voted out. A total of 553 Atlantic Beach residents cast their ballots in the June 19 elections. The anti-Mahler group disagreed on projects to find a permanent home base for the Atlantic Beach Rescue Squad, to mediate a settlement in the dispute over the development of the former AJ's Restaurant site and to approve a sports day and picnic at the beach for village children, because they felt they were excluded from initial negotiations on these matters, Mahler said. Francine Rosenberg and Edward Radburn, the other members who often voted against Mahler's proposals, were replaced last year with Janice Goorland and Sam Mevorach, Atlantic Beach Integrity Party members. JULY Drowning near AB Bridge Three girls from Paterson, N.J., were frolicking in the water at Beach 19th Street, near the Atlantic Beach Bridge, when they were pulled by a rip current and drowned on July 23. The bodies of the girls, Jubeda Ahmeda, 16, her sister, Shajeda, 13, and their cousin, Rahela Begum, 12, were recovered within a week. They were spending the summer in Elmont with an uncle, who took eight children to the beach that day for swimming and fishing. Members of the Lawrence-Cedarhurst and Inwood Fire Departments were called in for assistance, because the girls were believed to have been dragged by the powerful current to the Lawrence side of the bridge. They sent rescuers in lifeboats, joining efforts of Nassau and New York City Police and the Coast Guard in the frantic search.
Police manhunt ends in 2 arrests
      A burglary suspect turned the streets of the Five Towns into a scene from "NYPD Blue" when he led police on a short but wild car chase from Cedarhurst to the Queens border, resulting in a multi-car accident.
      Police conducted an intensive, car-by-car manhunt for the suspect, Kevin Parker of Lakeview, and his friend, Raheem Hester of Inwood. The search, which involved police dogs, stalled traffic for about a half-mile in each direction along Rockaway Turnpike.
      The two-day ordeal began on Monday, July 16, when Parker allegedly climbed to the second floor of a home at 333 Peninsula Blvd., Cedarhurst, and broke the bathroom window to enter the building, police said.
AUGUST Worker crushed to death A 5,000-pound sheet of metal fell on the plant manager at New York Depot Corp., killing him Aug. 9. Police said that Jose Carlos Forte, 32, of Rosedale was on the ground directing the movement of a steel plate attached by chain to an excavator at the plant in Inwood that recycles soil. Witnesses said the chain either snapped or slipped off, causing the 8-by-20 foot roadway plate to drop on Forte's head. Virus spreads in 5T Several Five Towners became stricken by viral meningitis, which appeared, by some accounts, to be spreading through the community in unusually large numbers, although an exact count was difficult to ascertain. The disease is extremely debilitating, and many of its victims have been hospitalized when they became dangerously dehydrated and required intravenous fluids. Viral meningitis, also known as nonbacterial meningitis, is an infection of the meninges, a thin lining covering the brain and the spinal cord. It commonly occurs in the summer with 500 to 700 cases reported in New York State per year. According to the New York State Health Department, outbreaks are rare. Taxpayer surprise The Lawrence Board of Education voted to increase property taxes by 14.16 percent to cover an overspending of $1.8 million in the 2000-2001 budget and an additional shortfall of $700,000 in the current budget, giving the district a grand total $2.5 million shortfall. District 15 administrators sprung the surprise on school board members Aug. 14, when they got together to set the tax levy, which determines how much the district must raise in property taxes to cover the budget. The board's two options were to cut student programs, services and teacher positions, or to raise taxes. The board voted 4-2 to increase taxes. Dr. David Sussman and Chickie Granet voted against raising taxes. The budget mishap and tax increase led to future heated board meetings and angry reactions from district residents. SEPTEMBER Local firefighter dies in WTC attack Kevin O'Rourke of Hewlett, a volunteer firefighter with the Hewlett Fire Department, was among those who lost their lives in the World Trade Center attacks. O'Rourke rushed into the building as a member of Fire Rescue Company 2 in Brooklyn when the twin towers were struck on Sept. 11 by terrorists who hijacked two planes and plowed them into the buildings, resulting in the loss of thousands of lives. NYC fireman from Inwood missing in tower attack After serving 18 years as a dedicated New York City firefighter, Joseph Rivelli, Jr. of Inwood was holding on for two more years before he wanted to retire and follow his dream to move to Florida to become a commercial airline pilot. His dream ended abruptly in the nightmare of Tuesday, Sept. 11. He was one of the first firefighters to arrive at the World Trade Center after it was attacked by terrorists. As a member of the search-and-rescue team for Ladder Company 25 on the upper west side of Manhattan, he rushed into the second tower and was apparently taking the elevator to the 40th floor with six fellow firefighters to help victims when the 110-story building collapsed, burying them under tons of rubble and debris. PA chief among victims One of the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy was Neil Levin, 47, a former Atlantic Beach resident who was appointed this year as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Levin reportedly was having breakfast on the 106th floor of the center, where the PA's offices were located, just before the planes hit the buildings. Levin, who attended Woodmere Academy, is the son of the late Morton Levin, former commissioner of the Nassau County Bridge Authority, and Gloria Levin. H-W soccer coach perishes in WTC Howard Selwyn of Hewlett was working as a money market broker for EuroBrokers on the 84th floor of the South Tower when the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11. Selwyn left behind a legacy of service to the community through his dedication to the Hewlett-Lawrence Soccer Club. At the time of this tragic occurrence, he was still coaching his 10-year-old son Alex's soccer team, the Hewlett Blue Blast. Howard and his wife, Ruth, married in England in 1979 and he came to the United States two years later. After initially living in Manhattan, they settled in Hewlett and had two children, James, age 19 and Alex. Robert Richner, former publisher, dies Robert Richner, founder of the award-winning Herald Community Newspapers, died of congestive heart failure on Sept. 18, at New York Hospital, after an extended illness. He was 79. Mr. Richner was the former president and publisher of Richner Communications, which owns the Nassau Herald and 13 other weekly newspapers on Long Island. He resided in Hewlett Harbor and Boca Raton, Fla. Mr. Richner, who kept a low profile in the community, was a powerful force behind the scenes. He did not choose to be the face of the newspapers; he was the backbone. He gave his staff complete editorial freedom, demanding only truth and fairness, and he supported his editors' decisions when there were political and financial consequences. In 1964, while practicing accounting, he invested in two struggling community newspapers, The Rockaway Journal and Nassau Herald, which were published a block away from his office in Lawrence. By sheer determination and hard work, he established a dynasty in community news. Farewell bid to hero firefighter One of the fallen heroes in the World Trade Center disaster was brought "home" to Cedarhurst on Friday, Sept. 28 as thousands bid a final farewell to Firefighter Kevin O'Rourke. More than 2,000 mourners packed into St. Joachim R.C. Church on Central Avenue. Those who couldn't squeeze in lined the street outside. Family, colleagues, friends and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani eulogized O'Rourke as a true hero who put the safety of others in front of his own security as he dashed into the building at Tower One after it was hit by terrorists. His was one of the bodies recovered -- among the more than 323 firefighters and 5,000 overall victims -- by rescue workers amid the tons of rubble and steel at the Twin Towers. OCTOBER Lawrence athlete shot Friends and teammates of a 16-year-old Lawrence High School athlete reacted with shock after the teen was shot and wounded on Oct. 17 as he talked with friends outside an Inwood deli. The victim, a junior at Lawrence High School whose identity was being withheld by the Herald, was talking with three friends in front of Landmark Minimart, at 148 Doughty Blvd., when he was struck by a bullet. Six others were also standing in front of the shop but they were not with the victim, police said. The shot was fired into the crowd from a passing car. It was not clear who was the intended target of the gunfire, police said. The gunman was sitting in a rear passenger seat of a late-model black Nissan Maxima occupied by five male passengers and one female passenger, investigators said. Anthrax panic grips 5T Fourth Precinct police said they have been bombarded with phone calls from jittery residents who suspect they may have received a package or letter tainted with anthrax in the wake of the anthrax scare gripping the U.S. Police were called to the Hewlett Post Office on Hewlett Plaza for a second time in two weeks to investigate a suspicious letter that was received by postal workers. Fourth Precinct police were called to the post office at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 24, and officers from the Nassau County Emergency Services Unit were called in to remove the letter for investigation. Officials would not say what made the letter suspicious. The incident came more than a week after another suspicious letter caught the eye of mail carriers at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 16 and was removed by emergency services. Both letters appeared to be a false alarm, officials said. NOVEMBER Suozzi romps! Led by the spirited victory of Tom Suozzi over Republican Bruce Bent for county executive on Tuesday, Nov. 6, Democrats scored a resounding victory in the Five Towns as Jeff Toback and Michael Zapson held onto their county legislative seats. Riding his energetic campaign all the way to the top county post, Suozzi defeated Bent by a large margin. Toback won re-election to a second term in the Seventh Legislative District, which encompasses the Five Towns, with a victory over Republican challenger, Merik Aaron. In the Fourth Legislative District, which takes in Atlantic Beach, Zapson beat his Republican challenger Michael Mullhall. Plane down! Just two months after two planes hijacked by terrorists plummeted into the World Trade Center, a commercial American Airlines jetliner with 255 passengers and crew aboard crash-landed into a residential section of Belle Harbor, Queens on Monday, Nov. 12. The cause of the crash was unknown, as investigators continued to sort through the wreckage that spilled across Beach 129th and Beach 131st Streets, near Far Rockaway. According to witnesses and neighbors, the plane sounded as though it were in trouble in the skies above, before it nose-dived into a row of private homes below, damaging or destroying many of them. Several homes were set on fire. It is not known how many residents were injured on the ground, but there were several reports of residents being rescued or evacuated from their homes. Initial reports indicate at least seven injured were taken to area hospitals, officials said. There were no indications of any terrorism, federal investigators said, as they continue to search for answers to the cause of the crash. American Airlines Flight 587, called an airbus 8-300, crashed landed in the Belle Harbor community at about 9:15 a.m., when many adults were off from work and children off from school because of the Veterans Day holiday. The plane apparently experienced difficulty shortly after takeoff from JFK Airport. The plane was headed toward the Dominican Republic. DECEMBER Suspected robbery trio nabbed A suspected robbery trio has been rounded up by police and charged with terrorizing youths during three incidents in Woodmere and Cedarhurst on Nov. 5, when they grabbed cash and other valuables from their victims after assaulting them, police said. Police arrested Michael D. Koegel, an 18-year-old homeless and unemployed youth. Earlier, police had arrested Kirk Smith of Inwood and a 15-year-old Inwood boy, whose name was being withheld because he is a minor, and charged them in the mini-crime wave. "They [the suspects] would walk down the street and eventually find some youths that they felt confident they could overcome," Det. John Clinton of the Fourth Squad said. "They would then confront them and demand the money they had on them, and take it out of their pockets. They would also take whatever else they had on them." Teen is torchbearer for winter Olympics Jason Black of North Woodmere appeared to be a normal and healthy pre-teen who immensely enjoyed sports and starred on his soccer team, the Valley Stream Bulldogs. But life changed for him and his parents about a year ago when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. After an operation to remove the tumor and several chemotherapy sessions -- with four weeks of chemo left -- his parents are hopeful and confident that Jason, now 13 and a student at Woodmere Middle School, has beaten the illness. When he was in the hospital at Beth Israel North in Manhattan, a doctor contacted the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses and told the organization about Jason's inspirational story. The foundation asked Jason what his wish would be and the teenager said he longed for his whole family to go to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The foundation granted that desire and the Blacks -- father Andy, mother Christine, brother Keith, 15, and sister Kim, 9, will join him for about a week at the Olympics in an all-expenses paid trip. But the foundation went it one step better. His story was so inspirational that he was chosen by Chevrolet as one of its 23 Make-A-Wish children and volunteers who will have the honor of participating in the torch relay. So at 1:44 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 23, Jason was handed the torch on 4th Avenue, from 9th to 5th streets, in Brooklyn and carried the flame for about .2 miles, where he handed it off to another torchbearer.