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Times of Middle Country

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

If you’ve ever watched the show “The Voice,” which teenage sensation Carter Rubin from Shoreham won last year, you know the format involves celebrity judges making blind choices during a prolonged audition process.

With their backs to the performers, the judges listen to the contestants sing several bars of familiar songs, sometimes swaying, sometimes mouthing the words, until they hear something in the voices that clicks or that they think they can improve to lead these aspiring artists to the promised land of a music contract, fame and fortune.

The process is imperfect, as are most decisions we make.

The judges don’t get to rate everyone, listening to the entire array of singers before rank ordering or assembling their team. As they go, they add aspiring musicians to their teams, competing against the other judges to encourage performers to work with them.

This process is akin to so many others in so many contexts.

Many years ago, I attended a spectacular and extravagant holiday party for Bloomberg News at the Museum of Natural History. The organization had rented the entire museum during after hours. Fortunately, I brought my then-girlfriend, who is now my wife, to that event, which has given us a party to remember over two decades later.

Anyway, each room had a performer and a collection of tables with mouth-watering food. Hungry and maneuvering slowly through each room, we probably ate more than we should have in the first few rooms, until we understood the spectacular assortment of foods, culminating with sushi under the blue whale in the main room.

Pixabay photo

Having eaten more than I should prior to reaching the whale, I could only sample a few pieces of sushi before shutting down the food consumption. Well, that was true until we waited for the one person in the coatroom who was matching tickets to coats. At that point, servers brought trays of dark and white chocolate-covered strawberries up and down the line.

The point, however, is that the imperfect choices my wife and I made earlier in the evening affected how much we could eat as the night wore on.

In the last few months, I spoke with several researchers in Stony Brook University’s Department of Geosciences, including Joel Hurowitz and Scott McLennan. They are working with a rover on Mars that is choosing rocks in the Jezero crater, putting together a collection of samples that will, one day, return with a round trip mission to the Red Planet.

They can’t sample every rock that might reveal something about Mars, indicating whether life could have existed on the planet billions of years ago.

The decision to choose something in the present, like the rock in front of the rover on Mars, the current singer who is living out his or her dream on “The Voice,” or the morsel of food in a buffet that stretches throughout a museum, can limit the ones those same people have in the future.

Hopefully, along the way, we learn from the decisions we’ve made, the ones that work out and the ones that don’t, that enable us to improve our ability to make informed choices.

And, even if whatever we chose may not be exactly what we thought it was, we, like the judges on “The Voice,” might be able to mold the raw materials of our lives into something even better than we’d initially imagined.

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Help wanted sign in window

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Here is a possible answer to a couple of current questions. How to deal with the thousands of Afghans we have brought to our country ahead of the Taliban takeover and also those refugees from Central and South America who have massed at our border? That is one question. Another is how to respond to the ever-widening gap between the rising need for home health care workers and hospital aides, and the aging of the current United States population who will need such services?  And there are other such industries that urgently need workers, where there are not enough Americans to fill them.

Some of the immigrants may be well-educated or have needed skills. Those can probably be settled readily into American locations after they have been vetted and vaccinated. For those without obvious skills, the government will need to offer training, including English classes. The newcomers could be given a choice of what work they would want to do. Some may be or would like to be farmers, and we certainly need more workers in agriculture. Some may already be carpenters or landscapers or roofers or mechanics. If they can drive, we might be able to prepare them to drive trucks or buses, jobs that are going begging today. Perhaps they could help moving companies, which are understaffed and leaving customers stranded in their new homes waiting for their furniture to arrive. Some could help veterinarians, who are hugely overworked now by the many new pet owners who wanted companionship during the pandemic and acquired dogs, cats and other domestic creatures. 

Child care is a field that needs more workers. Mental health practitioners, overwhelmed by those experiencing anxiety, depression and stress could certainly use non-managerial help. So could both be teaching and non-teaching educational services, and sawmills turning out lumber for new construction and renovation, and textile mills trying to meet the sudden demand for back-to-school and back-to-work clothing places to welcome help. We have a desperate shortage of nurses in our country, both PNs and RNs. Hospitals, now newly reduced in their staffing because of the vaccine mandates, probably need help with basic services.

All of these positions, of course, would need varying degrees of training, and that in turn would offer new teaching jobs to the currently unemployed. Such programs would be no small task to organize, but it was doable during the Great Depression almost a century ago, and we can surely again put people to work where they are needed. Some of the jobs would be easier to prepare for than others. All could improve our economy, especially in areas with stagnant growth, and perhaps meet urgent needs.

I wonder if the federal government is thinking strategically when they place thousands of refugees in select communities. Currently, some 37,000 Afghans are at military installations in 10 states while other evacuees remain at overseas bases waiting to be processed, according to Nayla Rush, writing for the Center for Immigration Studies on Sept. 23. In total, the Biden administration has reported that over 100,000 Afghans were evacuated.

The top ten states receiving the newcomers, according to the Center, are California (5255), Texas (4481), Oklahoma (1800), Washington (1679), Arizona (1610), Maryland (1348), Michigan (1280), Missouri (1200), North Carolina (1169) and Virginia (1166). To coordinate this mammoth resettlement, President Joe Biden (D) appointed former Delaware Governor Jack Markell. He is also the former chairman of the National Governors Association and has held top positions in the private sector. 

“Nine religious or community-based organizations have contracts with the Department of State to resettle refugees inside the United States,” according to the Center, and they have final say on the distribution. These agencies, in turn, maintain nationwide networks of local affiliates to provide the necessary services. State and local officials are not involved and have no control over the program. Refugees are not resettled in states that do not have any local affiliates, which explains why some areas are skipped. 

Our country has a need of workers. Potential workers are entering the United States in significant numbers. Together that creates opportunity. We need some thoughtful and skilled management here.

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Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

Dr. Sunil Dhuper’s actions speak as loudly as his words.

The chief medical officer at Port Jefferson’s St. Charles Hospital is planning to get a booster for the COVID-19 vaccine this Thursday, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized Friday, Sept. 24, the additional shot for a range of adults, including those in jobs that put them at an increased risk of exposure and transmission, such as frontline health care workers.

Earlier, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration announced Sept. 22 that “a single booster dose” was allowed “for certain populations” under the emergency use authorization, although the EUA “applies only to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.” 

Dhuper received his first vaccination in January and would like to raise his immunity.

“I am very eager to get the booster dose,” he said in an interview. “I reviewed scientific data from all over the world — from the United States, Israel, the United Kingdom — and I had reflected that, after six months after the second dose, it’s time to get a third dose.”

While St. Charles and other hospitals haven’t required a booster, Dhuper believes that state and national guidance will likely recommend it before too long.

“Over time, I do anticipate people may begin to get severe infections or get hospitalized” if they haven’t enhanced their immunity with a booster, he said. “It would be prudent to get the booster dose in the arms of those who are fully vaccinated.”

Stony Brook University Hospital is providing boosters to employees and to eligible members of the public.

Meanwhile, Northwell Health and Huntington Hospital are deliberating how to proceed and will announce a decision soon, according to Dr. Adrian Popp, chair of infection control at Huntington Hospital.

While boosters are available for education staff, agriculture and food workers, manufacturing workers, corrections workers, U.S. Postal Service employees, grocery store workers, public transit employees and a host of others, the overall infection rate in Suffolk County has stabilized over the past few weeks.

Decline in infections

As of Sept. 25, the seven-day average rate of positive tests in the county fell below 4% for the first time since Aug. 15, dropping to 3.9%, according to data from the New York State Department of Health.

“We think the numbers might have plateaued,” Dhuper said. That decline coincides with the increasing number of people who are vaccinated. In Suffolk as at Sept. 29, 1,043,478 people (70.7%) have received at least one dose and 950,058 (64.3%) are fully vaccinated, according to Covid Act Now. Anybody who is at least 12 years old is eligible to be vaccinated.

The number of COVID Patients from Huntington Hospital has fallen in the last month, dropping to 20 from about 30, according to Popp. Five patients are in the intensive care unit at the hospital with COVID.

Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, described the downward trend in the seven-day average as “great news,” but added that such an infection rate is “not close to where we need to be to say we have turned a corner.”

The current infected population includes children, as “more kids are getting infected,” she said, with children currently representing 25.7 percent of all new COVID cases nationwide.

With the FDA and CDC considering approving the emergency use authorization that provides one-third of the dosage of the adult shot for children ages 5 to 11, Nachman urged residents to vaccinate their children whenever the shot is available to them.

“There is no advantage to picking the right age or dose for a child,” she explained in an email. “If they are 12 now, get that dose. If they are 11 and 8 months [and the CDC approves the vaccine for younger children], don’t wait until they are 12 to get a different dose. Get the dose now that is available for that age.”

When younger children are eligible for the lower amount of the vaccine, Dhuper also urged them to get that lower dose, which he feels “offers a good level of protection for the foreseeable future.”

Nachman said she sees the issue of weight or age bands regularly in pediatrics.

“The take-home message is to not play any games and treat the child at the age or weight that they are now and not wait for them to be older or heavier,” she suggested.

As for the next month, Dhuper cautioned that the county may show another peak, particularly with the increase of indoor activities where the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant is more likely. At this point, concerns about the Mu variant, which originated in South America and was much more prevalent in the United States and in Suffolk County in June, has decreased.

“We were seeing 5% of the cases in New York state were Mu variants and the remaining were Delta,” Dhuper said.

Popp estimated that the Mu variant constitutes between 0.1% and 0.3% of cases.

The World Health Organization has urged wealthier nations like the United States not to administer boosters to their populations widely before the rest of the world has an opportunity to vaccinate their residents.

Dhuper said the United States has contributed 500 million doses to the rest of the world this year and plans to donate about 1.1 billion doses to the rest of the world in 2022.

“I hope that other upper and middle income nations can do the same, so we can get [the shots] in the arms of those who need them,” he said.

Popp urged people to recognize that COVID is a global disease.

“We in the U.S. will not be safe until the epidemic is cleared in other parts of the world as well,” he explained in an email. “I believe it is in our national interest to help other countries fight the COVID epidemic.”

 

Popp said the United States has plenty of vaccine, with enough for boosters and to vaccinate those who haven’t gotten a shot.

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Photo by Julianne Mosher

Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) rallied with health care workers to boycott Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) vaccination deadline, Sept. 27.

Zeldin, who is campaigning for governor, joined other elected officials outside the state building in Hauppauge Monday just hours before health care workers were required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by midnight or risk losing their jobs.

On Monday night, Hochul signed an executive order to significantly expand the eligible workforce and allow additional health care workers to administer COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. 

According to the mandate, if health care workers do not receive at least one dose of one of the COVID-19 vaccines by the end of day Monday — without a medical exemption or having previously filed for a religious exemption — they will forfeit their jobs. 

The congressman has been vocal over the mandates, locally and nationally. 

“Our health care workers were nothing short of heroic the past 18 months,” Zeldin said. “We shouldn’t be firing these essential workers. We should be thanking them for all they’ve done for our communities.”

Zeldin was calling on Hochul to work with medical facilities and the state’s health care workers to “implement a more reasonable policy that does not violate personal freedoms, fire health care workers who helped us through the pandemic’s worst days, and cause chaos and staffing shortages at hospitals and nursing homes.”

Hochul stated this week that to fill the vacancies in hospitals, she plans to bring in the National Guard and other out-of-state health care workers to replace those who refuse to get vaccinated.

“You’re either vaccinated and can keep your job, or you’re out on the street,” said Zeldin, who is vaccinated.

State Sen. Mario Mattera (R-St. James) said he was angered when health care employees were given limited ability to negotiate the vaccine mandate through their unions.

“This isn’t a state of emergency, like a hurricane,” he said. “This is a state of emergency that people get fired, and not going to have unemployment insurance. I am a union leader. This is a disgrace to all Americans.”

According to the state Department of Labor, unvaccinated workers who are terminated from their jobs will not be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. A new Republican-led bill introduced in Albany would restore those jobless benefits.

On Tuesday, the state released data noting the percentage of hospital staff receiving at least one dose was 92% (as of Monday evening) based on preliminary self-reported data. The percentage of fully vaccinated was 85% as of Monday evening, up from 84% on Sept. 22 and 77% on Aug. 24.

 “This new information shows that holding firm on the vaccine mandate for health care workers is simply the right thing to do to protect our vulnerable family members and loved ones from COVID-19,” Hochul said in a statement. “I am pleased to see that health care workers are getting vaccinated to keep New Yorkers safe, and I am continuing to monitor developments and ready to take action to alleviate potential staffing shortage situations in our health care systems.”

Long Island’s three health care providers have already implemented the mandate and are taking action. 

Northwell Health, the state’s largest private employer and health care provider — and which includes Port Jefferson’s Mather Hospital and Huntington Hospital — previously notified all unvaccinated team members that they are no longer in compliance with New York State’s mandate to vaccinate all health care workers by the Sept. 27 deadline.

“Northwell regrets losing any employee under such circumstances, but as health care professionals and members of the largest health care provider in the state, we understand our unique responsibility to protect the health of our patients and each other,” Northwell said in a statement. “We owe it to our staff, our patients and the communities we serve to be 100% vaccinated against COVID-19.”

Catholic Health Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer Jason Golbin said in a statement that the provider is “incredibly proud of our staff’s dedication to protecting the health and safety of Long Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic and are grateful for their heroic efforts over the last 18 months.”

He added, “In keeping with our commitment to ensuring the health and safety of our patients, visitors, medical staff and employees, we are complying with the New York State vaccine mandate for all health care workers.”

Golbin said that as of Tuesday, Sept. 28, the vast majority of staff is fully vaccinated with only a few hundred people furloughed from across six hospitals, three nursing facilities, home health care, hospice and other physician practices. 

Stony Brook University officials added Stony Brook medicine has been preparing for New York State’s mandate all healthcare workers get at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the deadline. 

As of 8 p.m. on Sept. 28, 94.07% of Stony Brook University Hospital employees have been vaccinated, and this number continues to increase, 134 Stony Brook University Hospital employees are being placed on suspension without pay and will be scheduled to meet with Labor Relations representatives to discuss their circumstances. While awaiting this meeting, they can use vacation or holiday time off. If they continue to elect not to receive the vaccine, they will be terminated in accordance with the NYS DOH order. 

Less than 1% of the hospital’s total employee population are in a probationary employment period and while they are currently suspended without pay, they are still eligible to be vaccinated before their terminations are processed and could still return to work. 

Officials said these numbers are fluid and are expecting further declines.

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Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher
Photo by Julianne Mosher

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Rocky Point Historical Society and community members are Supervisor Ed Romaine, New York State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio, Councilwoman Jane Bonner and County Legislator Sarah Anker. Photo from Town of Brookhaven

On Sept.15, Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Councilwoman Jane Bonner (R-Rocky Point) joined members of the Rocky Point Historical Society and Suffolk County elected officials at the unveiling of a new interpretive sign in the Rocky Point Pine Barrens. 

The sign commemorates the 100th anniversary of the world’s largest radio transmitting station on the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Rocky Point Pine Barrens State Forest property. It was home to the world’s largest radio transmitting station until 1978. Towers at the station were 450 feet tall, and capable of transmitting and receiving radio signals across the ocean. 

Photo from Town of Brookhaven

“I am proud to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first radio transmissions from Rocky Point,” Romaine said. “This new sign represents a part of our history that is not well known to most people and I expect it will bring it to the forefront for everyone to discover.”

On Nov. 5, 1921, President Warren C. Harding pressed a button in the White House, which officially opened the RCA Radio Central facility at Rocky Point. 

“It’s great that Rocky Point has now been recognized in the history of worldwide communications,” Bonner added. “Thanks to everyone who played a part in securing the sign that will memorialize this historic property for generations to come.”

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Event will feature Newsman and TV Host John Quiñones, Chicana Author and Poet Angelica Maria.

Suffolk County Community College will celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month to recognize the achievements and contributions of Hispanic Americans with a robust schedule of guest speakers and events across the college’s three campuses.

“Our community and our nation are strengthened by the contributions of our Hispanic leaders and citizens,” said Suffolk County Community College President Edward T. Bonahue. “Everyone at Suffolk is proud to join in celebrating and honoring the heritage of our Hispanic communities.”

“These programs and activities provide the opportunity to learn about the richness of the Latinx community through the arts and sharing important traditions. Suffolk is proud to bring the community together to celebrate the many cultures that Hispanic Heritage Month represents,” said Suffolk County Community College Chief Diversity Officer/Title IX Coordinator Christina Vargas.

Second-generation Chicana writer, poet and internationally touring artist Anjelica Maria will highlight the beauty and struggles of the Latinx culture through storytelling, poetry and music, share her journey and show others how to manifest their dreams into reality. The California artist’s presentation will be in person and livestreamed from Suffolk’s Van Nostrand Theater on the Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood on Monday October 4 at 12:30 p.m.

John Quiñones, the Mexican-American newsman and television host of What Would You Do? will share his journey about how he turned disadvantages into assets and achieved his ambitions. John views a greater, stronger America built upon our dynamic cultural diversity. With a call to “build bridges, not walls,” he celebrates our differences as a powerful force and a proud part of our shared American character. Quiñones’ virtual presentation will be on Tuesday, October 5.

On Tuesday October 26, Taino-Borikua writer Ra Ruiz Leon and Weyhan Smith from Long Island’s Shinnecock Tribe present Healing Through our Heritage.  The program will present the similarities between the Latinx and Native American people.

About Hispanic Heritage Month

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.

The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15. It was enacted into law on August 17, 1988, on the approval of Public Law 100-402.

The day of September 15 is significant because it is the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on September 16 and September18, respectively. Also, Columbus Day or Día de la Raza, which is October 12, falls within this 30-day period. – Source: https://www.hispanicheritagemonth.gov/about/

Latinx Hispanic Heritage Month Events

  • Week of September 27th- Bienvenidos y Celebramos! (Welcome and Let’s Celebrate)

o   A display celebrating and honoring Latinx contributions, voices, dreams, and successes will be featured in the Nook of the Babylon Student Center on the Ammerman Campus, Selden.

  • Monday, October 4th – My People, My Power: Celebrating Latinx Heritage

12:30pm, Van Nostrand Theater

Angelica Maria, second-generation Chicana writer, poet and internationally touring artist from Los Angeles, CA will highlight the beauty and struggles of the Latinx culture. Through storytelling, poetry, and music, Angelica will share her journey and show others how to manifest their dreams into reality.

  • Tuesday, October 5th – 4:30 p.m. (virtual)
    Tri Campus Multicultural Featured Speaker-John” Quiñones 

John” Quiñones is an American ABC News correspondent and the current host of “What Would You Do?”  “What Would You Do” Uses hidden cameras, to explore how ordinary people behave when they are confronted with dilemmas that require them to take action or walk by and mind their own business.

  • Wednesday, October 6th – Tri Campus Multicultural Affairs and Campus Activities Board Collaboration presents Loteria –

Loteria is the Spanish word for lottery, a favorite pastime across Mexico and Latin communities for generations and growing in popularity all over the world. Students are invited to tune-in to a Zoom live-stream with a professional comedian host. Every Loteria game includes four chances to win and $200 in cash prizes! Winners receive their prize money directly to their PayPal accounts. Zoom information is forthcoming from artist/agency.

  • Wednesday, October 13th – The Who Am I Series Features: Café Con Las Tias

2 p.m., Conference Room 319 of the William Lindsay Building on the Ammerman Campus, Selden.

Engage in discussion and have some café with your Ammerman Tias, Deans Tania Velazquez and Katherine Aguirre. Discussion with students will include transitioning back to campus and how the College can support you. Light refreshments will be served. Space is limited. Registration is required. For more information, please contact Malika Batchie Lockhart at [email protected]

  • Thursday, October 21st – Representando!- Exploring and Celebrating Authenticity Through Latinx Culture 6-7:30 p.m. (virtually)

This celebration of Latinx/ Hispanic heritage will feature author Sulma Arzu-Brown and Afro Cuban Dance Company Echualaibode.

Sulma is the author of several books including the bilingual book Bad Hair Does Not Exist/Pelo Malo No Existe! Sulma is also an entrepreneur, executive director of the Garifuna Coalition, and vice president of operations for the New York City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. This program will feature an in-depth look about how to effectively and courageously dive into one’s own culture. This session dives into Sulma’s unique cultural journey as a Garifuna and Afro-Latina.  Discussion how authenticity is tied to one’s career advancement will also be explored. This celebration will also feature dance instruction from acclaimed Afro Cuban dancer Hansell Echualaibode.

All students who attend will receive a gift and have a chance to win copies of Sulma Arzu Browns books- Bad Hair Does Not Exist/Pelo Malo No Existe and My Hair Comes With Me..: shifting the Paradigm of What Success Looks like (No Pelo Malo Collection)

Zoom Meeting ID: 839 5442 2069
Passcode: represent

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Courtesy photo

Concern Housing, Inc. — a Medford-based nonprofit agency committed to helping individuals live with dignity and enhanced opportunities —celebrated the grand opening of Liberty Station in Port Jefferson Station last week. 

Liberty Station, a 77-unit rental community, provides workforce and accommodating housing options to persons in the community, including veterans 

“We are thrilled to join the Port Jefferson community and provide a housing option that is in desperate need for so many in our region,” said Ralph Fasano, Executive Director of Concern Housing. “Liberty Station offers veterans who have fought for our country quality, affordable housing as everyone deserves to live with dignity and respect.”

Courtesy photo

Standing beside its various partners and elected officials, Concern cut the celebratory ribbon welcoming six, two-story apartment buildings comprising 77 affordable homes. Seventy-five of the 77 apartment homes are one-bedroom units and the remaining are two-bedroom units. Twenty-five of the apartments are reserved for veterans, 20 additional units are given preference for veterans and the remaining units are for individuals making less than 50% of the Area Median Income. 

To ensure the quality living of residents, the community also provides residents with access to private parking lots and amenities such as a fitness center, a library and a computer room. 

Additionally, staff offices are on-site so that staff members can be available to help resolve any issues or needs. Residents also benefit by being in close proximity to major bus routes as well as the Port Jefferson LIRR station. 

“I am in an apartment on my own at a great location,” said U.S. Army Sergeant Harold Mains. “I could never afford an apartment like this on my income and also, live on my own. I am living 150% better than I was. I love my own space, the sense of community and appreciate all that Concern does for housing Vets, like me.”

According to New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, the $28 million affordable and supportive housing development will be an entity to the Town of Brookhaven. 

“With its affordable homes, health services and gorgeous grounds, Liberty Station is now a permanent piece of the Port Jefferson Station community — and the residents of Brookhaven will benefit as a result,”  Hochul said. “Making it possible for people to access stable, supportive homes that they can afford is one of the principal missions of my administration, and it is one that we will continue to fulfill.”

State funding for Liberty Station includes more than $18 million in equity from Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and more than $6.3 million in subsidy from New York State Homes and Community Renewal. 

The Community Preservation Corporation is providing a $1.45 million permanent loan funded through their partnership with the New York City Employees’ Retirement Systems, Suffolk County provided $900,000 and the Home Depot Foundation donated $300,000. OMH has provided $382,000 in start-up funding through a program development grant, and $1.1 million in annual support service funding through ESSHI. 

Liberty Station is part of the state’s $20 billion, five-year effort to provide New Yorkers with access to safe, affordable housing. The plan, now in its final year, makes housing accessible and combats homelessness by building and preserving more than 100,000 units of affordable housing and 6,000 units of supportive housing.    

Over the last decade on Long Island, HCR has invested $366 million to finance nearly 2,900 affordable apartments in multifamily developments, an investment that leveraged more than $272 million in funding from other sources.

c“An essential part of moving our region forward and remaining competitive is making investments in affordable and diverse housing options. Liberty Station will provide permanent, supportive housing for adults with disabilities, working-class individuals and families, and veterans,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Our goal is to ensure that all of our residents have a safe place to call home.”

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Photo from Hope Children’s Fund

The board of directors of Hope Children’s Fund, in conjunction with the Rocky Point Rotary Club, recently announced the ordering of an Isuzu 25 passenger bus for the Jerusha Mwiraria Hope Children’s Fund Orphanage in Meru, Kenya. 

The bus will provide safe transport for the 86 children of the home and is to be used for transportation to schools, medical appointments and food shopping. 

Photo from Hope Children’s Fund

The Isuzu bus is the culmination of the efforts of hundreds of donors. A GoFundMe initiated by Hope Children’s Fund board member Kyle Spillane raised thousands of dollars for the cause. 

In addition to the Rocky Point Rotary Club, several other clubs including Port Jefferson, Westhampton, Stony Brook, Riverhead, Patchogue and Ronkonkoma contributed to fund for the bus. All clubs are members of Rotary District 7255 led by District Governor Mary Ellen Ellwood.

On Sept. 21, at the People’s United Bank Wading River branch, a wiring ceremony took place where members of the board sent the money to the orphanage in Kenya. People’s United Bank is the official bank of Hope Children’s Fund, and has waived all wire fees on all transactions to the orphanage. 

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Congressman Lee Zeldin. File photo

Last week, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-NY1) formally announced that he is now in remission from leukemia. 

The Shirley native said that back in November 2020, he was diagnosed with the illness and after nine long months he’s now cancer-free.

It’s impressive. Zeldin has done quite a lot while battling cancer — and keeping it quiet from the public. 

He won his reelection the same month he was diagnosed; he was in Congress when the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol happened in January; he announced his run for governor and has been campaigning for that office since.

While he has been busy at work throughout his treatment, he also has done some things that a typical cancer patient would absolutely steer away from.

We’re happy to hear that he’s healthy again and he has beaten a disease that has taken thousands of lives. But what’s most concerning is that while going through chemotherapy, he chose not to wear a mask and, in fact, has taken a strong stance against them. 

Masks are protecting others — such as Zeldin now — who have compromised immune systems, and who are most at risk. 

It was discouraging to know now that the congressman has held several anti-mask and Unmask Our Kids rallies, where people were in close proximity to each other. 

Zeldin was the lucky one — other people are not always so lucky and with new variants spreading, immunocompromised people could be hit harder.

According to a new study published by University College London, cancer has become an increasing public health priority in the U.K. after vaccines and other measures continued to contain the spread of COVID-19. Findings from the study showed 40,000 late diagnoses of cancer due to a lack of emergency referrals by general doctors and fewer face-to-face appointments. Delays caused by lockdown could result in 10,000 people dying of cancer “significantly earlier” than would otherwise have been the case.

Could the U.S. follow suit? 

We hope that representatives such as Zeldin, who now has personal experience to relate to, will reconsider their stances on anti-masking, vaccinations and general public health. 

The cold months are coming, and germs will be everywhere — we need to keep each other safe. 

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Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

In a fractured and uncertain world, the skill sets that make us marketable to potential friends, employers and neighbors have shifted.

Sure, competence, professionalism and experience can and do come in handy in the context of numerous environments. These days, though, getting along with others and navigating through the cacophony of frustration beamed into our living rooms and phones on an hourly basis seems to have elevated what otherwise might seem like trivial skill sets in another time.

I have come up with a list of skills or, perhaps more appropriately, qualities that might be helpful in the modern world.

I don’t overuse the word “literally.” To emphasize a point, people often literally throw the word “literally” into phrases, as in “I literally hate tofu.” I’m not sure you can figuratively hate tofu, but I don’t overuse that word.

I keep a straight face: even when confronted with outrageous claims in which others hold fast to ideas, to heroes or to patterns I find questionable or even objectionable, I don’t wince, roll my eyes or shout them down until I’m in the safe space of my home with my wife.

I know how to write a handwritten note. Electronic communication has become so ubiquitous that sharing a personal touch that comes from writing something by hand has scarcity value.

I have trained my dog to do exactly what he wants. Sure, other people have trained their dogs to sit, roll over, fetch the newspaper and come to them when they call, but my dog does exactly what he wants. That means when he wags at me, he’s genuinely excited to see me and he’s not just wagging because he’s expecting some immediate reward or punishment.

I can find almost anything in a supermarket. Having spent an embarrassing amount of time searching the supermarket for foods that satisfy four diets and that take the place of in-person dining and social interactions, I can find most items sooner than supermarket employees.  

Through a hard-target search of every bed sheet, blanket and pillowcase, I can find the remote control. While that may seem trivial, it shows a willingness to go the extra mile to avoid having to take a few extra steps to change the channel.

I speak teenager. Yes, they are wonderful people who not only have a shorthand way of speaking, but also have a tendency to multitask while they are talking, looking at their phones or speaking through a mouthful of food. I can interpret much of what they say even when they appear to be offering disconnected sounds in a guttural and frustrated language.

I can finish an entire chapter in a non James Patterson book without checking email or texts. That means I can concentrate for longer periods of time. Patterson is excluded because the chapters in his violent novels are often shorter than this column.

I can make myself laugh. Every week, I enter the New Yorker cartoon contest. The captions I write never win, but they make me laugh.

I have a wealth of untapped ideas. I look at all the masks around me and think, “Hmm, I could come up with so many new mask products.” For example, how about mood masks, which change color depending on the person’s mood? Or, perhaps, masks with the outline of states, presidents of the United States, or images of abolitionists, important women in history or slogans? Masks could become the equivalent of educational posters hung on the walls of classrooms or, if you prefer, facial bumper stickers, giving someone starting at our covered mouths a chance to read or see something new.

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