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Yearly Archives: 2020

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Joseph Lloyd Manor. Photo courtesy of Preservation Long Island

Preservation Long Island, a regional preservation advocacy nonprofit based out of Cold Spring Harbor, recently announced the launch of The Jupiter Hammon Project, an initiative that aims to expand interpretive and educational programming at the Joseph Lloyd Manor, an 18th-century Long Island manor house owned and operated by Preservation Long Island.

The goal is to engage the site more fully to reflect the multiple events, perspectives, and people that shaped the house’s history including Jupiter Hammon (1711– ca.1806), the first published African American author who was enslaved by the Lloyd family and whose work was published during his lifetime.

Jupiter Hammon’s life and writings offer an exceptionally nuanced view of slavery and freedom on Long Island before and after the American Revolution. His works are especially significant because most literature and historical documents from the eighteenth century were not written from an enslaved person’s point of view. Consequently, Hammon’s writings provide powerful insights into the experience of the enslaved, as well as the social and moral conflicts slavery raised in the newly formed United States.

The Project will include a series of collaborative roundtables discussing the legacy of enslavement on Long Island and the life of Jupiter Hammon. Three public roundtable events have been tentatively scheduled during the summer of this year. Moderated by Cordell Reaves, Historic Preservation and Interpretation Analyst, New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the discussions will be held at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn on June 20; the Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead on July 11; and the Joseph Lloyd Manor in Huntington on August 8 in an effort to bring together scholars and professionals with local residents, descendent communities, and other diverse stakeholders across Long Island. 

These discussions will help develop a new interpretive direction for the historic Joseph Lloyd Manor that encourages responsible, rigorous, and relevant encounters with Long Island’s history of enslavement and its impact on society today.

This innovative project will also provide educational content for the development of revised school curricula and serve as a model approach to program development for other sites of enslavement in the region. It will foster collaborative relationships with local descendants and community stakeholders so that their voices continue to shape PLI’s mission of stewardship, advocacy, and education.

Kicking off the Jupiter Hammon Project is the Literary Landmark Ceremony tentatively scheduled for Saturday, May 30. United for Libraries and the Empire State Center for the Book will recognize the house where Jupiter Hammon lived and wrote (the Joseph Lloyd Manor) as a Literary Landmark. The unveiling of the bronze plaque recognizing Jupiter Hammon and the significance of the Joseph Lloyd Manor will take place as well as poetry readings and tours of the house.

For more information or to register for this free event, call 631-692-4664 or visit www.preservationlongisland.org.

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The Centereach store on Middle Country Road promotes clearance sales on March 13. Photo by Heidi Sutton
All stores on Long Island to close

Modell’s Sporting Goods, the nation’s  oldest, family-owned and operated retailer of sporting goods, athletic footwear and active apparel is going out of business.

Fourth-generation owner Mitchell Modell made the announcement last Wednesday after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and allowing for the liquidation of all of its 153 stores located in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. beginning March 13. 

Founded in 1889 by Morris A. Modell, the first Modell’s store was located on Cortlandt Street in lower Manhattan  according to the company’s website.

The retailer known for its “Gotta Go to Mo’s” ad slogan joins several other sporting goods giants including Sports Authority to shutter in recent years as online retail hurt brick-and -mortar sales.

The decision will affect 14 stores on Long Island including Rocky Point, Shirley, Centereach, Bohemia, Commack, Bay Shore and Huntington Station. The Riverhead and Farmingdale locations were closed last year.

“While we achieved some success, in partnership with our landlords and vendors, it was not enough to avoid a bankruptcy filing amid an extremely challenging environment for retailers,” Modell said in a statement on March 11. 

“This is certainly not the outcome I wanted, and it is one of the most difficult days of my life … but I believe liquidation provides the greatest recovery for our creditors,” he added. The stores began liquidation sales on March 13. 

Although the retailer did not announce it’s last day, Modell’s website states that online sales will continue during the process; Modell’s gift cards, MVP awards and returns with a receipt will be accepted through April 15; the Modell’s credit card and the Modell’s Visa card will no longer be accepted; and competitor’s coupons will no longer be honored.

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METRO photo

By Elof Axel Carlson

Elof Axel Carlson

Humans have known of epidemics throughout recorded history. 

Biblical “visitations” as they were called, include locusts, infectious diseases, fire and brimstone, and other calamities, the worst of which was the Noachian Flood that wiped out most of life that could not survive in the air, in the water, or on Noah’s ark. That is a religious, not secular event.

 Secular plagues go back to Roman, Greek, and Egyptian civilizations. These could have been typhus, cholera, and bubonic plagues. The most disastrous in more recent memory was the bubonic plague of the 1350s which killed one third of the population. 

Our present worry is the coronavirus pandemic. As I write this, it is in its still early stage, with only a few countries imposing a nationwide quarantine and testing program to check its spread. From the early statistics it does not seem to kill more than 3 percent of those infected. That too is skewed by the heavier mortality among the aged population (those over 65) where it is as high as 10 percent of those infected. 

I am 88 so I am aware of my vulnerability and follow the directives about travel, meetings, handwashing and being careful but not obsessed (I have not hoarded food or antiseptics). I am confident this will pass without killing a substantial portion of humanity. 

One reason it is hard to do a Noah-like massacre of all life on land is the nature of our immune systems. It is hard to design or conceive of a protein surface of a virus or bacterium that can penetrate any cell of any organism. In order to enter, a microbe must have a surface protein capable of attachment to the host cell. It must have one or more proteins capable of digesting that surface. It must have one or more capacities, once entering its DNA or RNA, to replicate and produce more of its kind than any effort by the cell or the infected organism to attack it. 

We know this has never happened in the past three billion years of life because we are alive. There is a constant, back and forth, relation of mutations that increase virulence or hosts and new mutations that prevent microbes from entering or surviving in a penetrated cell. The odds are also in our favor because humans can develop vaccines to immunize against infections.  

What this pandemic reminds us, however, is that our governments need to anticipate such events (usually once or twice a century) with public health programs and effective limits of public gathering and isolating those infected.  

At its early stages the temptation is to deny that an epidemic is starting or will be widespread. No one wants commerce to be disrupted by fears that empty our stores and diminish spending. For this reason, people who have spent their careers in public health are more trustworthy than politicians who are guided by wishful thinking that this is just a false alarm.  

Whenever I read of health workers dying from contact with individuals who sicken and die, the biologist in me says listen to the experts in public health, not those who are guided by their political ideologies and instincts.  

Elof Axel Carlson is a distinguished teaching professor emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Stony Brook University.

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'The Great Migration' 2019 Best-in-Show winner by Bryan Ray Image from Gurwin Jewish

Gurwin Jewish Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Commack invites all amateur photographers, including students, to submit entries for its 27th Annual Photo Contest. Winners of the unique contest have the distinct honor of not only receiving recognition and prizes for their work, but also the privilege of helping to enhance the lives of those who live and work at Gurwin as winning photographs are permanently displayed throughout the facility.

Those selected will be invited to a reception at the Gurwin Center (TBA) where they will receive their cash prize, award certificate and/or crystal trophy. Photographers may submit up to seven printed color or black-and-white 8×10 or 8×12 photographs for a fee of $5 per entry.  Entry forms are available for download online at www.gurwin.org/about/photo-contest or by calling 631-715-2568.  The deadline for submissions is April 15.

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CAC Theater Operations Director Ryan T. Perry with Barry Sonnenfeld
Barry Sonnenfeld being interviewed by Waldo Cabrera, Producer of MyLongIsland
CAC's co-director Dylan Skolnick with Barry Sonnenfeld
Kristen Ryan Shea
Jeremy Schwartz

The Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington had a charmingly “kooky” evening on March 5 with renowned film director Barry Sonnenfeld. 

Cinema Arts Centre co-director Dylan Skolnick interviewed Barry Sonnenfeld on stage, showing a series of clips from Sonnenfeld’s films (including The Addams Family with Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston, and Get Shorty with John Travolta and Gene Hackman). 

Sonnenfeld, a noted raconteur, cinematographer for When Harry Met Sally and Big, and then director of the Men in Black trilogy and Coen Brothers films as well as the two Addams Family movies, held forth hilarious stories that were “creepy, spooky, and altogether ooky,” to the delight of the CAC audience. 

Afterwards, in a reception with entertainment by New York Times acclaimed jazz guitarist Mike Soloway, attendees met Sonnenfeld personally as he signed copies of his new book, “Barry Sonnenfeld, Call Your Mother: Memoirs of a Neurotic Filmmaker.” The event was curated and produced by Jud Newborn, the Cinema Arts Centre’s Curator of Special Programs, as part of his on-going series of celebrity guest appearances.

Photos by Andy Attard/ Flashback Photography

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File photo

Hospitals in New York State have to develop plans to expand capacity by 50 percent within the next few weeks, and then, down the road, 100 percent, as the number of coronavirus cases increases.

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) today announced a State Department of Health Emergency Order requiring the expansion to prepare for the expected rising medical need.

“We’re going to continue to work with the state and with hospitals to do everything we can to help them meet that mandate,” Steve Bellone (D), the Suffolk County Executive, said on a daily conference call with reporters.

Bellone reiterated Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) expectation that the effort to contain the virus is likely a long-term commitment, which could be anywhere from two to eight months or more.

“We know we are engaged in this fight for the foreseeable future,” Bellone said.

Bellone also announced that Suffolk County Transit is implementing policies that are similar to the ones the MTA has created. Riders will no longer have the option of using cash for their payments. They should use Suffolk FastFare, which is a mobile app. The app is available for use on all Suffolk County buses. Riders can use smart phones to purchase tickets.

Starting on Monday, Suffolk County Transit will also do rear door boarding on fixed bus route service and will need to leave the first few rows of the bus empty to create a safe distance between drivers and riders, Bellone said.

“We are continuing to operate critical transportation infrastructure,” Bellone added.

Meanwhile, the number of positive tests in Suffolk County climbed to 1,034, according to the State Department of Health. As of earlier today, there were 89 people hospitalized because of the virus, with 28 people currently in the Intensive Care Unit.

The virus has contributed to the deaths of three more Suffolk County residents, increasing the number of virus-related fatalities in the county to 12. A man in his 80’s died in his home March 18, a man in his 60’s, who was also in a car accident, died at Stony Brook University Hospital March 14, and a man in his 50’s died at Southside Hospital. The man in his 50’s, who had other health issues, is the youngest Suffolk County resident felled thus far by COVID-19.

The Stony Brook University mobile testing site has conducted over 2,000 tests. Bellone cautioned people not to just show up because they wouldn’t receive a test. They need to receive a referral from a doctor or from a source through telemedicine.

Hospitals in Suffolk County currently have beds available, with 644 vacant beds out of 2,626 and 86 beds available out of 275 in intensive care.

As for Cuomo’s order to close businesses that are considered non-essential by 8 p.m. tonight, Bellone said his office was continuing to speak with state officials to determine which industries would be deemed essential.

Landscaping, for example, is “essential in the sense that we are in the growing season,” Bellone said. “We know that there can be public health costs associated with landscaping that is getting out of control.”

The dry cleaning business as well could be an essential service, especially because these establishments are cleaning uniforms for first responders.

Bellone said continued to meet with representatives from the food industry, who indicated that the supply chains remain open. The shortages on shelves are coming from people who are hoarding items, rather than from a reduction in the production of food, toilet paper, or other consumer staples.

“We confirmed with the industry today,” Bellone said. “They are going to continue to bring in those supplies as quickly as they can. [Food supplies] will be coming next week and the week after that. It is not stopping or shutting down.”

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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone has called on residents to donate PPE for health care workers and first responders. File photo by Kyle Barr
As the number of people infected and hospitalized by the coronavirus Covid-19 rises, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) is asking the community to donate personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of first responders and health care workers.

“We are launching a supply drive for personal protective equipment,” Bellone said on a conference call with reporters. “This is an opportunity for all of us to come together to support the men and women who are on the front lines to keep us safe to contain the spread of the virus.”

Bellone is seeking N95 masks, ear loop masks, gloves, and gowns from individuals or businesses. As Governor Andrew Cuomo’s (D) order to shut down barber shops, nail salons and other personal care services takes effect, some of the businesses may have equipment that could save the lives of those people who are helping others afflicted with the virus.

“We are going to be making a direct appeal to those industries,” Bellone said. “We will be doing direct outreach to them so we can ask them to support this effort.”

Starting on Monday, individuals and businesses can bring the supplies from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to the Suffolk County Fire Academy in Yaphank, located at 102 East Avenue.

Bellone expressed appreciation that Cuomo said this morning that Long Island would receive 500,000 masks, but indicated that the need in the coming weeks and months would likely exceed that supply.

“We need to do more,” Bellone said.

Starting on Monday, the Suffolk County Police Department, meanwhile, will require residents to report all non-emergency incidents online or by phone. These include harassing communications, lost property, criminal mischief and vandalism, minor traffic incidents, identity theft, among other non emergency reports.

“The last thing we can afford to do is take the people on the front lines off the battlefield,” Bellone said.

Bellone praised the efforts of schools to provide grab and go meals for students. He thanked Island Harvest and Long Island Cares for their ongoing efforts to meet this growing need.

The number of infected residents has climbed to 662. That includes 55 people who are receiving treatment in the hospital, with 14 of those in Intensive Care Units.

The virus has killed two additional residents. A woman in her 80’s passed away at Huntington Hospital, while another woman in her late 80’s died at Peconic Landing. A total of nine residents have died from the pandemic.

Officials expect the number of infected individuals will continue to climb, especially after the Stony Brook University Hospital mobile testing site started administering tests this week. At this point, the mobile unit has tested over 1,500 people.

Suffolk County Chief of Police Stuart Cameron reiterated the necessity of keeping up social distancing to contain the spread of the virus. He suggested that people aware of someone violating restrictions should call 631-852-COPS. He is aware of 26 such reports, with only one instance of a violation when officers arrived. Officers will attempt to seek compliance first.

“My experience, talking to younger folks, is that they don’t seem to be concerned about this because of reports that they won’t be seriously ill,” Cameron said on the call. “They need to be told that they can affect someone who is vulnerable and that [the person who gets the virus] could die.”

Cameron suggested that officers would start engaging in non-traditional law enforcement roles to protect the public amid this ongoing crisis.

Cuomo, meanwhile, urged seniors to follow Matilda’s law, which is named for his mother. This law provides protection for New Yorkers who are 70 and older and for people with compromised immune systems and those with underlying illnesses. He urged that group to remain indoors unless they are exercising on their own outside, pre-screen visitors by taking their temperature, not to visit houses with multiple people, wear a mask when others are near, ask others to wear masks in their presence, maintain social distancing of six feet and avoid public transportation when possible.

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Taking Vitamin D may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. Stock photo
Cumulative lifestyle changes can improve results

By David Dunaief

Dr. David Dunaief

According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, roughly 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) each year, and approximately one million Americans are living with PD (1). PD is a neurodegenerative (the breakdown of brain neurons) disease with the resultant effect of a movement disorder.

Most notably, patients with the disease suffer from a collection of symptoms known by the mnemonic TRAP: tremors while resting, rigidity, akinesia/bradykinesia (inability/difficulty to move or slow movements) and postural instability or balance issues. It can also result in a masked face, one that has become expressionless, and potentially dementia, depending on the subtype. There are several different subtypes; the diffuse/malignant phenotype has the highest propensity toward cognitive decline (2).

The part of the brain most affected is the basal ganglia, and the prime culprit is dopamine deficiency that occurs in this brain region (3). Why not add back dopamine? Actually, this is the mainstay of medical treatment, but eventually the neurons themselves break down, and the medication becomes less effective.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about the causes of PD; however, risk factors may include head trauma, reduced vitamin D, milk intake, well water, being overweight, high levels of dietary iron and migraine with aura in middle age.

Is there hope? Yes, in the form of medications and deep brain stimulatory surgery, but also with lifestyle modifications. Lifestyle factors include iron, vitamin D and CoQ10. The research, unfortunately, is not conclusive, though it is intriguing.

Reducing iron in the brain

This heavy metal is potentially harmful for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis and, yes, Parkinson’s disease. The problem is that this heavy metal can cause oxidative damage.

In a small, yet well-designed, randomized controlled trial (RCT), researchers used a chelator to remove iron from the substantia nigra, a specific part of the brain where iron breakdown may be dysfunctional. An iron chelator is a drug that removes the iron. Here, deferiprone (DFP) was used at a modest dose of 30 mg/kg/d (4). This drug was mostly well-tolerated.

The chelator reduced the risk of disease progression significantly on the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) during the 12-month study. Participants who were treated sooner had lower levels of iron compared to a group that used the chelator six months later. A specialized MRI was used to measure levels of iron in the brain.

The iron chelator does not affect, nor should it affect, systemic levels of iron, only those in the brain specifically focused on the substantia nigra region. The chelator may work by preventing degradation of the dopamine-containing neurons. It also may be recommended to consume foods that contain less iron.

Does CoQ10 slow progression?

When we typically think of using CoQ10, a coenzyme found in over-the-counter supplements, it is to compensate for depletion from statin drugs or due to heart failure. Doses range from 100 to 300 mg. However, there is evidence that CoQ10 may be beneficial in Parkinson’s at much higher doses. In an RCT, results showed that those given 1,200 mg of CoQ10 daily reduced the progression of the disease significantly based on UPDRS changes, compared to the placebo group (5). Other doses of 300 and 600 mg showed trends toward benefit but were not significant. This was a 16-month trial in a small population of 80 patients. Though the results for other CoQ10 studies have been mixed, these results are encouraging. Plus, CoQ10 was well-tolerated at even the highest dose. Thus, there may be no downside to trying CoQ10 in those with PD.

Is Vitamin D part of the puzzle?

In a prospective (forward-looking) study, results show that vitamin D levels measured in the highest quartile reduced the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease by 65 percent, compared to the lowest quartile (6). This is quite impressive, especially since the highest quartile patients had vitamin D levels that were what we would qualify as insufficient, with blood levels of 20 ng/ml, while those in the lowest quartile had deficient blood levels of 10 ng/ml or less. There were over 3,000 patients involved in this study with an age range of 50 to 79.

While many times we are deficient in vitamin D and have a disease, replacing the vitamin does nothing to help the disease. Here, it does. Vitamin D may play dual roles of both reducing the risk of Parkinson’s disease and slowing its progression.

In an RCT, results showed that 1,200 IU of vitamin D taken daily, may have reduced the progression of Parkinson’s disease significantly on the UPDRS compared to a placebo over a 12-month duration (7). Also, this amount of vitamin D increased the blood levels by two times from 22.5 to 41.7 ng/ml. There were 121 patients involved in this study with a mean age of 72.

So, what have we learned? Though medication with dopamine agonists is the gold standard for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, lifestyle modifications can have a significant impact on both prevention and treatment of this disease. Each lifestyle change in isolation may have modest effects, but cumulatively their impact could be significant. The most exciting part is that lifestyle modifications have the potential to slow the progression the disease and thus have a protective effect.

References:

(1) parkinsons.org. (2) JAMA Neurol. 2015;72:863-873. (3) uptodate.com. (4) Antioxid Redox Signal. 2014;10;21(2):195-210. (5) Arch Neurol. 2002;59(10):1541-1550. (6) Arch Neurol. 2010;67(7):808-811. (7) Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;97(5):1004-1013.

Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com.  

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The College Board has said they are pushing back this year's SATs to August. Stock photo

In response to schools closing around the country and to the ongoing isolation caused by the coronavirus Covid-19, the College Board has canceled face-to-face Advanced Placement exams, replacing them with a 45-minute only exam students can take at home.

The Advancement Placement tests often offer high school students the opportunity to receive college credit for subjects they have mastered.

The College Board is providing free remote learning resources. Beginning Mach 25, students can attend free, live AP review courses, which AP teachers across the country will deliver. The classes, which can supplement any online teaching students receive through their schools, will be available on demand and will focus on reviewing the skills and concepts from the first 75 percent of the course. There will also be some supplementary lessons covering the final quarter of the course.

The College Board will also unlock any relevant free-response questions in AP classroom for digital use, so students can study practice questions that are similar to the ones that would appear on the exam.

Any student registered for an AP test can choose to cancel at no charge.

The College Board decided to change the format of the exam after surveying 18,000 AP students, 91 percent of whom wanted to have the chance to take the exam.

To be fair to students who may have had more time off from school amid the virus outbreak, the College Board plans to focus the exam questions on topics and skills most AP teachers covered in class by early March.

The College Board indicated colleges supported this solution and are committed to ensuring that AP students receive credit for scores that meet their requirements. Colleges have accepted a shortened AP exam for college credit when groups of students experienced other emergencies, the College Board explained.

Students can take the exam on any electronic device. They will also be able to take a picture of handwritten work.

The College Board uses a range of digital security tools and techniques, including plagiarism detection software, to discourage and catch any potential cheating.

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