Observer_1985-07-31; East Rockaway/Lynbrook Observer

              Official
Newspaper
INCORPORATED VILLAGE
East Rockaway
SCHOOL DISTRICT
INCORPORATED VILUGE
Lynbrook
SCHOOL DISTRICT
*'THE GOOD NEIGHBOR NEWSPAPER " <L
i ; . \i, ini))l i c T . i b i . a ry
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Executive Offices: Seifferf Building, 2787 Long Beach Road, Oceanside, NY 11572]
Post Office Box A, East Rockaway. NY 11518 (516) 764-2500
VOL. 32 NO. 36 Wednesday, July 31,1985
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Board Reduces School Tax Rate
WELCOME. Wefcomlns the iwople of Etst Rockaway to
the Bay Park Civic Associaiton Block Party on Saturday,
July 27, were, from left to right: (front row) Debbie Hansen,
Sue Daiz, Phyllis La Selva, and Pete Tortorici; (back row)
Joe Sala, Bob Califano, Joe Palazzolo, Mathew Gary, and
Gene Nelson. (More picture on page 3).
By Carol Moimco
Red, white and blue rib-bons
are going to be seen in
the Village of East Rocka-way,
representing those who
have contributed to the res-toration
of the Statue of
Liberty.
As part of the community
effort to raise $ 10,000 for the
statue, young people will be
going door to door, starting
in the middle of August, ask-ing
residents for donations.
"If a family contributes $2 or
more, they will receive a red,
white and blue ribbon to tie
around their tree or to dis-play
anywhere in their
frontyard to show that they
are supporting the statue,"
said Emma Tolmach, chair-person
of the East Rocka-way
Liberty Centennial
Committee.
Eas> Rockaway is the first
community on Long Island
to achieve Liberty Leader-ship
status. "The fundisiis-ing
campaign provides a
common thread which is
what the community needs.
You can't have a better
common cause than the
refurbishing of the Statue of
Liberty," East Rockaway
Mayor Theodore Reinhard
said.
Mayor Reinhard, who
along with Congressman
Norman Lent, is honorary
co-chairman of the commit-tee,
was the first to receive a
ribbon which has been tied
a r o u n d a tree in his
frontyard.
Letters will also be given
to East Rockaway organiza-t
i o n s , b u s i n e s s e s and
schools requesting their par-ticipation
in the community
effort to help save the statue,
according to Tolmach. "An
honor roll will be compiled
listing all those who have
contributed to this fundrais-ing
drive," she said.
It was announced at a
committee meeting in July
that on Saturday, August 3,
the committee will honor an
"American by Choice" at a
concert presented by the
East Rockaway Cultural
Arts Council and the village
in Memorial Park, begin-ning
at 8 p.m. "This is a
ceremony which honors an
individual who came to this
country to become an Amer-ican
citizen. At the concert,
Brendan Boyle of East
Rockaway who came from
(Continued on Page 4)
The East Rockaway Board
of Education has voted to
cut the revenue to be raised
by taxes by $100,000 in the
1985-86 budget, resulting in
a decrease in the average
school tax rate of approxi-mately
$.50. The action was
taken at a special meeting
held at the high school on
Monday, July 29.
Stating that an unexpect-edly
large end-of-year bal-ance
made this move possi-ble,
Board President John
Van Houten proposed and
Richard Meagher seconded
this tax reduction plan, "i
am confident that from the
figures given to us by Stan-ley
(Germain, Business
Administrator) and Bob
(Parry, Superintendent of
Schools), we have the funds
Lynbrook Fire
Department Active
On Saturday, July 27th at
2:30 p.m., an enclosed van
was being driven west on
Sunrise Highway at Atlantic
Avenue in Lynbrook. The
van was being operated by a
Valley Stream man and con-tained
his three children,
assorted foods for a picnic
and a 100 lb. cylinder of
propane. After striking a
bump in the roadway, the
propane cylinder's valve
opened leaking gas into the
van.
The driver stopped his
van on the north side of
Sunrise Highw^ adjacent
to the Fayva Shoe Store and
reported the problem to
Officer John Reichert on
traffic duty. Officer Reichert
opened the rear door of the
van, observed the propane
tank and immediately called
for the Lynbrook Fire
Department.
Headed by Third Deputy
Chief Richard Neidecker,
the Department responded
100 strong. Engine Com-pany
connected to the
c o r n e r h y d r a n t and
stretched two attack lines to
vent the van and keep the
vapors from concentrating.
Aided by men from Hose
Company, the two lines
advanced enabling Ex-
Captain Gary Pazmann to
shut off the leaking tank.
Once the flow was stopped
all that remained was dissi-pating
the vapors for the
next half-hour (in ninety
degree sun of course).
Chief Robert CitKovic
arrived shortly after to
supervise the careful inspec-tion
of the adjacent build-ings,
storm sewers, drains,
etc. Being heavier than air,
propane seeks a low point
and may remain undetected
for hours. An errant spark
can trigger a Hazardous
explosion. Ironically, the
members of Engine Com-pany
had just undergone a
(Continued on Page 12)
to carry out this motion,"
stated Van Houten.
Richard Meagher called
the move "a matter of jus-tice,"
staing "it's a positive
gesture to the community
after the events of 1984."
Board member Elaine Boll
stated that "last year, we
promised to apply any
excess to a reduction in tax.
That is ^ h a t we are doing."
B o a r d member Jane
Brezenoff stated "I prefer to
keep the funds—earning
interest in a bank, if
necessary—but I will go
along with the wishes of the
Board. 1 am afraid that we
will be caught like last year."
It was only one year ago
that the Board of Education,
coming to grips with a costly
oil spill and an unexpectedly
low end-of-year balance,
warfoFced to raise taxes in a
special session. The move
prompted fears by some on
the Board that the District
would never again pass a
school budget.
"As it is," stated Meagher,
"last year's budget did not
pass by too healthy a mar-gin.
1 believe that as a matter
of justice we take this action
as a good gesture of our
efforts to the community."
The rate to be collected
through real property taxes,
approved by the voters this
May, originally called for
$6,524,097, or an average
school tax rate of $32.62.
Through the application of
an additional $100,000 end-o
f - y e a r b a l a n c e , the
revenues needed amount to
$6,424,097, or an average
tax rate of $32.12.
The action in no way
affects the level of education
of the children of the school
district. "We're not cutting
the amount available to the
school," stated President
Van Houten. **t want to
stress that expenditures are
(Continued on Page 12)
East Rockaway Summer 1885
By Mildred Roemer
TYING A RIBBON. Mayor Ted Rleinhard displays the lib-erty
Committee's Patriotic Ribbon.
The Public Hearing sche-duled
for Thursday, August
8 at 8 p.m. at the East Rock-away
Village Hall on the
topic of a Zoning Variance
for the property known as
the Criterion Theatre has
been postponed. A new
hearing date has not been
scheduled at this time.
In an advertisement Cha-rles
Davison published, it
was stated that, "The Davi-son
Lumber Yard is the
place to buy building mate-rials
of all kinds at bottom
prices and his grist mill and
sawmill are the best on the
island." This according to an
article printed in the "South
Shore OBSERVER" and
written in a paper assigned
to Liso Lupo by her 6th
grade teacher, Mr. Tom
Carty. She continued: "Wil-liam
and Smith Abrams
shipped about 300 bushels
of oysters a week to
market." This read like a
bustling summer business in
the small Village, but there
were also accounts of a fatal
accident and mugging.
"A Fatal Accident" was
the heading on Jess Walker's
assigned paper: "Elward S.
Abrams was annoyed by
cats and took his revolver to
shoot them. A wagon was
passing at the moment and
he attempted to put his gun
in his pocket when it dis-charged.
The bullet entered
his back and went through
his pelvis. His funeral took
place on Tuesday from the
St. James Episcopal Church
in Pearsalls (Lynbrook)."
"A Brutal Outrage" was
w r i t t e n from a n o t h er
OBSERVER article by
Francine Castello con-cerned
Samuel Elderd,
flagman at the L.l.R.R.
B a r n um ( I s l a n d Park)
drawbridge on the Long
Beach Railroad. "Last
Thursday was payday," it
was reported, "and in the
forenoon he received $45 in
pay. Mr. Elderd 'started
home at 10:30 at night. After
the last train had passed,
near Powell's Creek, he was
attacked by two ruffians,
who knocked him down
with a bar of iron and beat
him in the most brutal
manner. They went through
his pockets for his money,
but he had taken it home to
his wife in the afternoon.
Elderd rallied and reached
the home of Joseph Combs,
and startled the family by
falling through the door. A
doctor was called and it was
found that Mr. Elderd had
sustained many injuries.
However, he survived the
ordeal, but the "ruffians"
were not caught." In a later
report it was stated that Mr.
Elderd received no pay or
assistance from the railroad
for the long period of conva-lescence
while he was absent
from his job.
I3TH ANNIVERSARY. Hempstead Town Presiding
Supervisor Thomas S. Gulotta (2nd left) attends the Lith
anniversary party of the Nathan Hale Senior Citizens Hous-ing
Complex in Lynbrook. Shown are: Dorothy La Barbera;
Lee Kelly; Artie Swaine; manager Jack Gordon; and
Gabrielle Ajosa, all of Lynbrook.