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Village Times Herald

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Celia Gordon
Julia Garcia-Diaz
Lea A. Nekrasov
Rebecca Blumenthal

Emma Clark Library board members and staff, the family of the late Helen Stein Shack, elected officials, representatives from the Three Village Central School District, and guests from the community gathered virtually on Monday, April 20, to honor the winners of the 2020 & 2021 Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award.

The Helen Stein Shack Book Contest called for teens in grades 7 through 12 who live in the Three Village Central School District to create a children’s picture book. Each entry could be the work of a single author/illustrator or a collaborative effort between an author and an illustrator.  The contest was divided into two grade categories, grades 7 through 9 and grades 10 through 12, with one First Prize Winner and one Second Prize Winner selected from each group.  

Library Director Ted Gutmann, along with the family of Helen Stein Shack, presented a slideshow celebration highlighting each of the winners and their books. The winners were a mix from Ward Melville High School, Gelinas Junior High School, R.C. Murphy Junior High School and a local homeschool student.  

2020 Winners:

In the grades 7 to 9 category, first prize  went to Celia Gordon (last year an 8th grade homeschooler) for her picture book titled Oliver’s Walk.

First Prize in the grades 10 to 12 category was won by Rebecca Blumenthal (last year an 11th grader at Ward Melville High School) for her book, Your Part.

Second Prize  in the grades 7 to 9 category was awarded to Ricky Herling and Ashton Hopkins (last year both 8th graders at Gelinas Junior High School) for The Knight and the Monster.

Second Prize in the grades 10 to 12 category went to Riley Meckley (last year a 10th grader at Ward Melville High School) for How Tom Talks.

2021 Winners:

In the grades 7 to 9 category, Julia Garcia-Diaz and Lea A. Nekrasov (8th graders at Gelinas Junior High) captured first prize for their picture book titled Alice Helps.

First Prize in the grades 10 to 12 category went to Rebecca Blumenthal (12th grader at Ward Melville High School) for her book titled A New Normal.

Second Prize in the grades 7 to 9 category was won by Matthew Blumenthal, an 8th grader at Murphy Junior High, for Frankie Gets Stuck.

Second Prize for the grades 10 to 12 category was awarded to Matthew Marchese (10th grader at Ward Melville High School) for Peanut’s Passion.

The library had all of the winning entries bound and made into hardcover books. The winners received copies of the books, along with monetary awards from an endowment created by the Shack family ($400 for first prize and $100 for second prize; in a case of two students collaborating on the book together, prizes are split). The winning books will be on display in the Library’s lobby for the month of May, and then they will be added to the Library’s Local Focus Collection.

The community is grateful to the children of the late Mrs. Shack, who have established a substantial endowment with Emma Clark to cover the cost of the awards as a tribute to their mother and her commitment to passing along the importance and joy of reading for generations to come. 

Mrs. Shack’s daughter, Sherry Cleary mentioned, “Our mother knew that a love of reading nurtured children’s souls as well as their brains.”

New York State Senator Mario Mattera was there to congratulate the winners, “I commend everyone for their hard work.” 

Senator Mattera, Assemblyman Steve Englebright, Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine, and Councilman Jonathan Kornreich spoke at the event, as well as sent certificates from the state and town to all of the winners. Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn also sent certificates and personalized letters to all of the winners (Legislative Aide Alyssa Turano was in attendance at the ceremony). 

“The ability to write and express your ideas is going to be such a valuable skill, and I have every confidence that you here who are recipients of this award are destined for great success,” said Councilman Kornreich.

Library Board President Deborah Blair and Vice President Christopher Fletcher were on the Zoom event to virtually applaud the winners. Three Village Central School District Trustee Deanna BavInka, Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich, Gelinas Junior High School Principal Corinne Keane, R.C. Murphy Junior High School Principal Brian Biscari, Gelinas Junior High School English Chair Michelle Hanczor, R.C. Murphy Junior High School English Chair Cathy Duffy, and Ward Melville High School Librarian April Hatcher were all in attendance.

Ms. Cleary, Helen Shack’s daughter, an expert in child development and education as the University Dean in Early Childhood Initiatives at the City University of New York, summed the honor up nicely:

“Every year my siblings and I are overwhelmed at the talent that emerges — it is almost impossible to select winners. We recognize the generosity, wisdom, artistry, and sensitivity each author displays in their book. And this year is no different, except that this year the external forces were very different. Between a global pandemic and some of the most disturbing hate crimes and violence of your young lives, you have shown us there is a reason to hope and to look to the future with optimism. We know that our mother would be so moved by your talent, drive and tenacity — and so are we!”

The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and on the web at www.emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District.

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Volunteers clean up the Greenway Trail in Port Jefferson on April 17. Photo by Herb Mones

Volunteerism — to some degree — still exists. When it comes to Earth Day and protecting our environment, this is a wonderful thing.

Two weeks ago, on our editorial page, we mentioned the increase in roadside litter along our towns’ roads and the importance of keeping garbage off the streets. In that editorial, we made a small mention of the groups that volunteer to clean up in our areas, but they deserve more than a sentence or two.

With Earth Day celebrated April 22, residents may have seen people out this past weekend with bags, gloves and trash pickers along roads, in parks and on beaches collecting the garbage of others. 

On Saturday, the Lake Ronkonkoma Improvement Group hosted a cleanup in conjunction with Suffolk County at Larry’s Landing, and Three Village Community Trust members along with the Friends of the Greenway could be found along the Setauket-Port Jefferson Station Greenway Trail.

Hometown Hope, a Port Jefferson nonprofit, gathered volunteers Sunday to clean up the beaches in the village. Dozens of people helped pick up trash along the four-and-a-half-mile shoreline. These are just a few of the cleanups that occur on our roads, trails and beaches throughout the year.

These volunteers deserve a standing ovation for helping to improve our environment and restoring a sense of pride to our communities. 

We would love to see cleanups like this happen more often throughout the year. While it’s the responsibility of individuals to treat the outdoors as they would their own living room or car, unfortunately many don’t follow this common-sense rule. 

Groups like the ones mentioned above have the ability to organize people and get things done and pick up where towns leave off — even though we would like to see highway departments out cleaning more, too.

Sadly, many organizations are in desperate need of volunteers. As more residents commute to the city or work two jobs, many civic associations, advocacy groups, nonprofits and even fire departments have seen a decrease in the number of people volunteering.

Yet so many groups just ask for a bit of time to help make our neighborhoods better places to live. One individual giving up an hour here and there to help others causes a ripple effect. It could influence many to do the same and create a wave of community engagement.

That wave is evident in these cleanups as not only a spot of land becomes cleaner but, in the long run, it helps our foliage and wildlife thrive and keeps our waterways clean.

So, thank you to all of you who took the time out of your busy weekends to make our little space on Earth a bit cleaner.

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

About 16 years ago, I stood on the warning track and held my then one-year old son high in my arms above the blue, outfield fence in right center field of the old Yankee Stadium. We asked him to extend his glove as if he had leapt in the air to catch a home run.

Now, as he prepares to graduate from high school, my wife and I are pondering the end of an era filled with the numerous triumphs and challenges of youth sports.

In the last few weeks, while we have awaited the time outs, batting glove adjustments, pauses to look for signs from the catcher, and warm up tosses by each pitcher, we have been replaying our own montage from his years on a baseball field.

A few years after his Yankee Stadium debut, our son donned a baggy uniform that hung from his slight four-year old frame, standing with his left arm out, hoping to catch a ball I tossed with a slight arc toward him.

As the years advanced, his skill set and intensity for the game grew more rapidly than the developmental rules of the sport.

Station-to-station baseball was an abomination for him. When he was six, he caught a ball at shortstop, tagged the runner jogging from second and stepped on third for, what he considered, an unassisted triple play. He tossed the ball to the mound and jogged off the field, only to hear that everyone hadn’t batted so he had to stay on the field. I can still see the disappointed look on his face as all the runners moved to the next base.

Every moment wasn’t athletic heaven. He struggled to find the strike zone when he was pitching, swung and missed at pitches he knew he could hit and suffered through the inconsistent coaching and advice of everyone from his father to the parents of his teammates to semi-professionals eager to give back to the community.

Despite playing a game of failure, he continued to venture to fields close and far for another opportunity to compete, get some exercise and join teammates who have become long-time friends.

He learned how to pick up his friends after their moment in the spotlight didn’t end the way they wanted.

He took us to places way off a tour guide’s map of the eastern United States, as we drove from single traffic-light towns, with their one gas station and one diner, all the way up to Cooperstown.

We paced along frigid sidelines, hoping darkness or snow would grant us a reprieve from frozen bleachers and numb toes. We drove on roads in which the car thermometer read 113 degrees.

When he was old enough, he stood on a 90-foot diamond, looking from third to first as if he needed binoculars to see his teammate and a strong wind to help his throw reach the target.

As he got taller and stronger, the distance became more manageable. 

As parents, we made our share of errors on the sidelines and in the stands. While we told him it was the effort that mattered, not the result, he could see the joy in our faces after a win and the slumped shoulders after a tough loss.

While he’ll undoubtedly play other games down the road, that road won’t be as close as the ones we’ve traveled together. 

In a recent game, our son raced back and caught a ball against the wall, in a place on the field similar to the one where he extended his tiny glove at Yankee Stadium. We have shared such a long and inspired journey between those two mirrored moments.

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METRO photo

By Leah Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Why, if there are 9,700,000 Americans looking for work now, some six percent of our population, are there so many signs outside businesses seeking helpers? Granted, many of those signs are in front of restaurants looking for waiters and shops needing salespeople, service industries in the main, but why the disconnect? And this is not just a regional problem but one in large cities like New York, villages like ours, as discussed at a recent local chamber of commerce meeting, and even rural communities. 

The situation could have some unwelcome consequences as the economy tries to recover. “It could act as a brake on growth and cause unnecessary business failures, long lines at remaining businesses and rising prices,” according to an article in last Saturday’s The New York Times, entitled “Businesses Challenged to Fill Jobs.”

The story, written by Neil Irwin, goes on to offer some possible answers. First is the suggestion that benefits are too generous. “The government is making it easy for people to stay home and get paid. You can’t really blame them much. But it means we have hours to fill and no one who wants to work.” That’s a quote from a pub owner in upstate Baldwinsville, New York, that appeared in the Syracuse Post-Standard and was reprinted in the NYT. 

Some people can make as much or more, thanks to the expanded weekly unemployment payments and the various stimulus cash that has been delivered by the government, at least for awhile. With the reawakening of restaurants and services now, there are more jobs than applicants, which doesn’t drive workers to seek work, compared to the opposite, when the pandemic first hit and jobs were disappearing. The recipients of the cash are doing what economists hoped they would do: spending it. That encourages businesses to reopen, but without enough help. Hence the problem. But it may cure itself when expanded benefits run out in September.

There are other reasons workers may not be inclined to rush back into the workforce. Some, especially those with public-facing jobs, may be afraid of getting sick themselves or perhaps bringing the virus home to vulnerable family members. There does seem to be a relationship between vaccinations of people and a rise in their employment rate, according to the NYT. Researchers have found that a “10-percentage-point increase in those fully vaccinated results in a 1.1 percentage-point increase in their employment.” It would make sense that vaccinated people are more comfortable serving the public.

Here is another possible explanation for the labor shortage. Some of the workers are still needed at home, especially women who might be caring for children, some taking classes remotely, or elderly members of their family. The Times goes on to quote a survey indicating that 6,300,000 million people “were not working because of a need to care for a child not in a school or day care center; and a further 2,100,000 were caring for an older person.” Many of those people, especially women, have disappeared from the rolls of the unemployed and are not even counted any longer. The answer here, as in everywhere else, is in conquering the virus and establishing herd immunity so schools and day care centers can open.

For those businesses that have thrived during the pandemic and have been able to raise the wages they pay workers, like Amazon or construction companies, there is less of a supply problem. But those businesses take away potential workers from industries like restaurants, with thin profit margins. And those workers may not return if they have found better berths for themselves elsewhere.

These issues will sort themselves out eventually, as public health improves and supply-and-demand comes to equilibrium. But one thing is certain. The return to any sort of “normal” will not happen without bumps in the road.

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Ryan and Aneta McGann with their daughter Mia stand in front of one of the climate-controlled containers where they grow produce on their East Setauket property. Photo by Rita J. Egan

An East Setauket husband and wife are looking for a change that has caused a bit of controversy in their neighborhood.

Inside the containers are movable walls where produce grows. Photo by Rita J. Egan

Ryan and Aneta McGann will ask the Suffolk County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board to recommend their Main Street property to be part of a certified agricultural district during an April 22 Zoom meeting. Once the request is presented to this county board, the McGanns will then have to appear before the Suffolk County Legislature for a final decision.

The McGanns currently have three climate-controlled containers that they use to grow produce and herbs on their property. Their request for the designation has raised some concerns by neighbors who contacted the Three Village Civic Association and local elected officials. Many are worried that if the property is designated farmland that the number of climate-controlled containers will increase and become unsightly. They also wonder if there will be customers coming and going, and will there be a potential for the couple to grow cannabis and hemp in the containers.

George Hoffman, president of the Three Village Civic Association, said the attempt to be included in the county’s agriculture district program could be seen as getting around local zoning, and that even one container on the lot could interfere with neighbors enjoying their own property.

Hoffman said the civic association is concerned with a violation of town zoning as the property is in a residentially zoned neighborhood in the East Setauket Historic District.

“Many of Mr. McGann’s neighbors reached out to the civic association to complain about the commercial use of the property and how it is diminishing their enjoyment of their property in having to live next to an industrial use,” Hoffman said.

“Many of Mr. McGann’s neighbors reached out to the civic association to complain about the commercial use of the property and how it is diminishing their enjoyment of their property in having to live next to an industrial use.”

— George Hoffman

The McGanns recently began running a vertical farm on their slightly more-than-1-acre land called HydrOrganic Farms. Crops are grown along vertical walls set up in three 40-by-8-foot climate-controlled containers. Each container has its own environment, according to Ryan McGann, where one is used for growing produce such as lettuce, while another can be used for herbs such as basil, sage and even edible flowers.

Ryan McGann said growing crops in the containers has many benefits including produce and herbs not being subject to the elements and the elimination of the use of pesticides. He added selling fresh produce helps to build relationships with local business owners and chefs.

“I get good feedback on the produce, and it’s fun to see what they do with it because it’s a little bit different than standard field-growing produce,” he said.

HydrOrganic Farms is approved to produce cannabis and hemp through the New York State pilot program. However, Ryan McGann said the couple have no plans to grow the products except maybe for a small yield study, to see if it grows vertically in such containers at the East Setauket location.

“Any large-scale production projects will be at another expansion site specifically for hemp,” he said.

He added that they have such a high demand for their current produce that it wouldn’t make sense to grow hemp on a large scale on their East Setauket property.

Bill Zalakar, president of the Long Island Farm Bureau, said it can cost “millions” to grow cannabis and hemp due to licensing fees, operations and security measures. He added the hemp plant also grows too tall to be in a container.

Zalakar said he has seen the McGanns’ containers and has been helping them with the process, which also included going before the Brookhaven Town Board.

“Any large-scale production projects will be at another expansion site specifically for hemp.”

— Ryan McGann

The McGanns have “been trying to do it right,” he said. “It’s not like they are trying to hide anything.”

Regarding adding more containers to the property, the McGanns said they have no plans to, but they are in the process of building a barn on their land. They also deliver the produce to their customers, which includes local restaurants, so there aren’t people coming to their home. Ryan McGann said with the property being a flagship-shaped lot they feel that the containers are not visible from the street, and he has taken the time to explain the process to neighbors.

The husband said if they do expand, they will have containers in other locations. This is possible, he said, because the containers can be controlled through the internet, and he can change parameters remotely from his home. The hope is to place more farming containers in a Huntington location to be closer to some of the restaurants they do business with.

Town of Brookhaven Councilman Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook) said while such pods are an excellent idea when it comes to growing produce, he said there need to be rules as to where the containers can be set up and they can’t be placed just anywhere.

“It can really change the look and feel of a neighborhood,” the councilman said. “That’s why we have zoning.”

He added it could set a dangerous precedent townwide if the McGanns were able to receive an agricultural district designation from
the county.

State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D) wrote a letter to the Suffolk County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board to object the possibility of the property being included in an agricultural district. Englebright echoed the civic association’s concerns that the McGanns live in a residential zone in a historic district. He added in the letter that in 1971, the New York State Legislature created Article 25-AA Agricultural and Farmland Protection Program as a part of the Agriculture & Markets Law. Englebright said it was clear that the intent of this law is to protect farm operations and the land base associated with it.

“Granting inclusion of the landowner’s 1.1-acre residential neighborhood parcel in an agricultural district is contrary to the legislative intent of the law as the landowner’s agricultural model does not involve soil, or land, or even sunlight,” Englebright wrote.

The McGanns said they are curious to find out the history of their property in the future to discover whether or not farming was ever done there in the past.

For now, the couple said they are hoping that the Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board will recommend their property for inclusion in an agricultural district so they can continue growing and delivering locally grown produce to nearby customers.

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Photo from town

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine recently stopped by the Town’s Rose Caracappa Senior Center in Mount Sinai — the site of a two-day COVID-19 vaccination “pop-up POD” for Brookhaven residents over the age of 50. 

During his visit, there was a continuous flow of residents into the center who were scheduled to receive their vaccine. The senior center has been closed in response to the COVID-19 health crisis.

“The Rose Caracappa Senior Center has been closed for over a year and this was an appropriate reason to open the doors again,” Romaine said. “I am greatly encouraged by the number of people who registered for the vaccine and I thank New York State for working with us to make them more convenient for residents. We hope to assist New York State with distributing more of vaccinations soon.”

For more information, eligibility, COVID-19 vaccine registration and more, call 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4827) or go to covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov. There is no charge for the vaccine.

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File photo by Victoria Espinoza

The Suffolk County Police Department and Suffolk County Crime Stoppers have been highlighting several unsolved cases on the department’s social media pages during National Crime Victims’ Rights week from April 18 through April 24.

Crime Stoppers is offering fast-cash rewards for information leading to an arrest in each of the cases. The rewards will be issued within 72 hours of an arrest.

Crime Stoppers has been proven to be an effective crime solving program since its inception in Suffolk County in 1994. During that time, more than $665,000 has been rewarded to tipsters who reported information anonymously and close to 2,800 arrests have been made.  

“Our partnership with Crime Stoppers has been instrumental in solving cases during the last three decades,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart. “By highlighting these unsolved cases, we hope to bring justice to these victims and their families.” 

Cases being featured include: A homicide during which Alejandra Vargas-Diaz shot and killed Albert Luis Rodriguez-Lopez during an argument at Billiards DBM in Port Jefferson on July 22, 2018. Detectives believe Vargas-Diaz may have fled to the Dominican Republic; The fatal-hit-run of 17-year-old Jenna Lopez who was walking home from work on Route 347 in Port Jefferson Station on Aug. 24, 2019. Lopez was struck by a vehicle, causing her to fall, and she was subsequently struck by additional vehicles. The first driver failed to stop. Drivers of the additional vehicles stopped and called 911, however, Lopez died at the scene; The fatal hit-and-run of Ronald Destefano who was struck while walking to work on Route 347 in Stony Brook on Dec. 20, 2020. 

“We are asking the public to reach out anonymously with any information to aid in these unsolved cases,” said Crime Stoppers president Nick Amarr.

Anyone who wants to submit information on a crime can call 1-800-220-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted by downloading the P3 tips mobile app or online at p3tips.com. 

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Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio joined Brides of Long Island founder Heather Cunningham asking the state to lessen wedding restrictions. Photo by Kimberly Brown

By Kimberly Brown

The Brides of Long Island organization, state Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Riverhead) and other Republican lawmakers gathered at the H. Lee Dennison building in Hauppauge last Friday, April 16, to call for action by Gov. Andrew D. Cuomo (D) to lessen the overly restrictive COVID-19 regulations on weddings.

Some of the state’s pandemic regulations include up to 150 guests or 50% of a venue’s capacity whichever is smaller with mandatory COVID-19 testing, distanced dancing in designated areas, congregating only at guests’ assigned tables, and wearing face coverings unless while eating or drinking.

Brides of Long Island founder Heather Cunningham. Photo by Kimberly Brown

Heather Cunningham, founder of The Brides of Long Island — a website and Facebook group that consists of thousands of brides across the Island — expressed her concern for the overmanagement of regulations the state has put in place, causing brides to postpone their weddings to unknown future dates.

“We take for granted that the world will wait for us, but time can take away a father who is supposed to dance with his daughter and it can send a fiancé halfway across the world in early deployment,” Cunningham said, “It may be easy for elected officials like Governor Cuomo to say that weddings are nothing but parties, but weddings are so much more than a party, they are the days that connect us to our roots, beliefs, values and to each other.”

Questioning the science behind the regulations around weddings, Giglio said the state government has gone too far when it comes to preventing COVID-19 in large gatherings.

“Honestly, does the virus pack up and leave after midnight or 1 a.m.?” Giglio said, “Because that’s what the governor wants you to do at your wedding — pack up and leave.”

Since the shutdown began last year, wedding businesses have been one of the many industries that have taken a hard hit financially. 

The wedding industry on Long Island generates an estimated $6 million a year in sales tax, as well as being one of the state’s largest employers.

John Salkowsky, owner of Silverfox Studios located in Lindenhurst, said the wedding industry has been brought to its knees, and lessening restrictions will help bring the businesses back to life.

“People make their decisions at the ballot box, and hopefully the governor will hear that and realize that by doing the right thing and lifting these restrictions will do great justice to this industry,” he said. 

Ronkonkoma business owner of Absolute Entertainment, Kevin McClafferty, said planning a wedding is supposed to be one of the most joyous experiences for couples. 

However, he has found that his clients are overly stressed when trying to plan their wedding around the state’s restrictions.

“A successful day at work for us is seeing exciting, smiling, happy faces — no masks,” he said. 

Pointing out the flaws in the state’s regulations and restrictions on weddings, McClafferty mentioned a few of the over-managed rules he observed while on the job. 

One of his observations included the state’s enforcement of “dance boxes,” where guests are allowed to use the dance floor in restricted zones with only the immediate members of their party. 

He said this is one of the most over-managed of all the reopening strategies.

“It’s a good idea in theory, but a terrible idea in application and needs to be eliminated now,” McClafferty said.

Brides who joined Cunningham last Friday also expressed their disappointment in not being able to plan their weddings properly, with some brides being forced to cancel or relocate their weddings to other states in order to celebrate appropriately. 

“We just want fair treatment.” Brittany Burton, an upcoming bride, said, “The people who are making the rules don’t see behind the scenes or worry about financials. They see money on their end before us.” 

With over 6,500 signatures as of April 20 on Cunningham’s BOLI petition, titled Lessen the Overly Restrictive COVID-19 Regulations on Long Island Weddings, the brides of Long Island are waiting to see if their voices will be heard.

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Every morning when we wake up, we’re reminded that we are still enduring this global pandemic.

Whether you think so or not, everyone’s lives have been impacted by it. Some people have lost loved ones to COVID-19, some have gotten so sick they suffer severe trauma and some haven’t seen their families in over a year. Beyond the physical, businesses have suffered financially, some even closing their doors for the last time. 

But luckily the vaccine has lifted the weight off a lot of shoulders — especially for the young people in our community.

Now that New York State has opened the vaccines to people ages 16 and over, more and more high schoolers and college students are looking to get the jab.

And we think that’s wonderful. They are trusting science and doing so to protect not only themselves, but their elderly or high-risk loved ones. 

We want things to go back to normal for everyone, but the high schoolers specifically.

Remember last year when the Class of 2020 missed out on their final high school sports, senior trips, proms and graduations?

Some of them have even been robbed of the college experience of living in a dorm, taking classes in a lecture hall and meeting new people. 

If we as a whole do not band together to combat this virus, then the classes of 2022, ’23, and ’24 may miss all those key lifetime moments, too.

The Class of 2021 has already lost their junior year — and most likely will not have the same “normal” experiences this spring as the rest of us had.

We know the unknown is terrifying, and people may not agree with getting a vaccine.

But is it worth not getting vaccinated? To constantly live in fear of the virus, or to not trust the medical professionals who saw death every day for more than 365 days?

We don’t think so.

We are grateful and commend these young people for getting their shots. 

The more people who do it, the more we’ll all be able to live as we did before.

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Stock photo

By Chris Cumella

On a conference call with New York college students last month, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) presented his plan to cancel up to $50,000 in debt for federal student loan borrowers.

The plan is derived from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), who proposed national debt forgiveness as a promise in her presidential campaign. Both Warren and Schumer’s joint plan involves using a presidential executive to nullify student debt up to $50,000.

“College should be a ladder up,” Schumer said during the call. “But student debt weighs people down, it is an anchor, and we have to do something about it.”

President Joe Biden (D) has the executive authority to substantially cancel student loan debt for students through the Higher Education Act, according to Schumer. This would also bypass the requirement to present the motion to Congress.

Biden has said that he supported alleviating students of loan debt up to $10,000, and now the call to action is being echoed loudly by his fellow Democratic Party members. 

On his first day in office, the president addressed the ongoing dilemma regarding student debt, where his plan was to extend the pause on federal student loan payments and keeping the interest rate at 0% through the end of September.

The United States national student loan debt has accumulated at an alarming rate. An Experian survey indicated the total amount reached a record high of $1.57 trillion in 2020, an increase of about $166 billion since 2019.

Nearly 2.4 million New Yorkers owe $89.5 billion in federal student loans as of March 2020, Schumer said. The average New Yorker owes $34,600 in student loans, greater than the national average of $32,700.

To relieve loan borrowers of their debts, Schumer mentioned that if the federal government forgave debts up to $50,000, it would greatly bounce the economy. He detailed how instead of repaying their loans, people can instead allocate their money for other immediate and urgent payments, as well as leisure spending.

Schumer told conference attendees that the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 includes roughly $2.6 billion for New York’s colleges and universities, with half of the allocations distributed as financial aid to students in addressing hardships brought about by COVID-19.

Some of the local institutions benefiting from the American Rescue Plan for “estimated minimum amount for student grants” were listed by Schumer during the conference call: City College $23.6 million, CUNY Queens College $25.8 million, Syracuse University $15.4 million, SUNY Buffalo $31.7 million and Stony Brook University $26.8 million.

Schumer also made an urgent request for the call participants, primarily college students, to stay informed by reading local and student-run newspapers. He likewise reinforced the importance of those attending the conference to take a call to action to write, call and email Biden and get their friends and family to do so to spread awareness.

“Student loan payments are on pause, but they are not going away if we don’t do something once the pandemic is over,” Schumer said. “These debts are just going to keep piling up.”

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