There is no place on earth I would rather have raised my children than in our South Shore hamlet on Long Island. Not only does our community provide a foundation for achieving greatness, but our children are provided opportunities to make our community great. Our children are our most precious treasure. As president of the North and Central Merrick Civic Association, I’ve come to know some of Merrick’s children through our community service program. I want to thank the parents for giving me the opportunity to get to know your children. For more than a year, Merrick’s children have been coming…

Parking conditions at the Merrick and Bellmore train stations is atrocious. And the snow certainly hasn’t made the situation any better.  As president of the North Merrick Community Association (NMCA), several members have asked me for their help in remedying this situation. I speak especially on behalf of the disabled. They report that snow is often cleared from the general public spaces and dumped in the handicap parking spaces. Several disabled and elderly individuals claim that it is dangerously hazardous for them to get around in these severe winter conditions. To add the burden of …

Can anyone remember the last Tuesday when they didn’t predict the snow storm of the century? Winter in Merrick can be a beautiful time, if you stop to taste the snowflakes.  When was the last time you looked up at the sky, let the flakes tickle your cheeks as you open your mouth wide and catch some snowflakes?  When was the last time you just sat on your living couch, and watched the softly fallen snow paint your evergreens with white blankets, turning your suburban yard into a Currier and Ives painting? There’s something about a snow day that turns every adult into a 12-year-old.  You wake …

All I can say is, “Enough is enough.” This week must have held the record for reports of ineptness, waste, fraud and abuse in both Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead governments.  First, NIFA took over Nassau’s finances.  It was embarrassing to watch our county executive use scare tactics to try to deceive people to believe that NIFA will raise our taxes when we know that NIFA lacks the authority to do. The people of Nassau County are smart. Mangano and the Republican legislators should stop their campaign to discredit the NIFA team and work toward fixing their budget. This …

A recent comment from Bob Rabey regarding Mangano’s budget really struck a chord. Our misdirected angst is apparent when you seriously consider the fact that the school’s portion of our property tax dollars stands at about 68 percent - the county takes about 14 percent, while the town is about 18 percent.  I don’t think there’s much fat to cut from the county budget when you compare it to the Town of Hempstead’s overinflated budget, yet we are so quick to cut vital county services.  However, as Rabey suggests, the real culprits are those who control 68 percent of our tax dollars, the part of …

It's that time of the year again–time to take stock, count our blessings and make New Year's resolutions.  So, I decided to look back at last year's resolutions, which I wrote about for Patch.  Upon reflection, I realize that we accomplished a little more than I had thought.  I would like to thank all those who climbed these mountains alongside me.  We, as a community, should be very proud.  Together we moved mountains.  Last year, I resolved to : "do everything possible to right the wrong that allows the Town of Hempstead to provide some of its residents with public water and not others.  I …

Every year I go to my house upstate the day after Thanksgiving, start a fire, take out boxes of Christmas cards and begin the tradition of writing my cards.  Notice that I say "tradition" and not "task"– because I truly enjoy this ritual.  It sets off the beginning of the holiday season for me.  And seemingly by cue, every year without fail, it begins to snow.  I watch the snow fall on the lake and dream of a Norman Rockwell Christmas as I watch my It's a Wonderful Life DVD.   Every year that I watch that movie, I get something different out of it. It's a Wonderful Life could have taken …

I was walking through a Seaford neighborhood recently. The weather was glorious– unseasonably warm.  The colors of fall took my breath away.  The trees were hosting bird parties–as I used to tell my kids when they were young–when the chirping seemed to come from hundreds of birds, gathering in one tree.   I thought–this sounds more like spring than fall.  But I was taking it all in, storing its beauty in my memories to sustain me through a silent gloomy winter. I then drove through Wantagh and Bellmore and back to Merrick.  As I've said before, there is nothing that gives me more hometown …

I write in response to the October Vanity Fair article about Lindsay Lohan's hometown–Merrick. It is a tale of two towns–one Merrick created by an author who paints a decadent town that shaped the life of the troubled Lindsay Lohan and the "real Merrick" that 23,000 people aspire to live. I began to think of the contradictions between the two opposite tales of the same town and decided to rattle off some of the reasons why I "aspire to live in Merrick." Merrick is a great place to raise a family.  What first attracted me to Merrick were the schools. Our children performed as well as or better…

After recently hearing that the price of a pack of cigarettes had climbed to $10, I asked my husband half-serious, "Are we now going to see people breaking into homes and robbing people just to support their addiction to cigarettes?" Turns out, people are already stealing cigarettes, and right here in Merrick.  A  crime update on Patch reported that cigarettes were stolen from a store on Merrick Avenue on July 10. Cigarettes were also recently taken from a CVS Pharmacy in Wantagh, according to published reports. When I quit smoking eons ago, I paid $10 for a whole carton.  I find it hard to …

Six cell antennas on the roof of a Jewish center in Wantagh.  A 100-foot monopole at a fire house in North Bellmore.  A cell antenna encased in a flagpole at the North Merrick Library.  More than 150 cell antennas on utility poles in the Town of Hempstead–35 in Merrick alone.  When is enough, enough? Almost 300 people filled the auditorium of Wantagh High School Monday night to hear about the provisions of the new code that Senior Deputy Town Attorney Charles Kovit and Mr. Richard Comi, the consultant hired by the town, are drafting to address cell antenna installations. Comi explained that …

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo chose the Jewel Quinn Senior Center in North Merrick to hold his press conference last week about his proposal for a 2 percent property tax cap.  Politics aside, I don't think any of us who live in North Merrick would question why he would choose a senior center in a town that has practically no commercial tax base.  North Merrick residents pay a larger tax rate than some of our neighboring towns and our seniors on fixed income are finding it very difficult to pay taxes, especially since there was no cost of living increase in their Social Security…

I was ecstatic to hear that the proposal to build an liquefied natural gas (LNG) island less than 14 miles off the shores of Long Beach has been pulled.  Although the permit applications were not officially withdrawn, we are confident that they will be pulled shortly.  Atlantic Sea Island Group has backed away because of local opposition. Leading the local opposition was County Legislator Dave Denenberg's taskforce, fighting to protect the shoreline of two states and with the support of the Merrick, Bellmore, Long Beach, Lido, Freeport and other south shore communities, grew a grass roots …

T-Mobile wants to erect a 50-foot cell tower, which will double as a flagpole and replace the old, rusty flagpole currently stationed in front of the North Merrick Library.   At last week's North Merrick Community Association meeting, T-Mobile representative Tom Erwin explained how all the mechanics of the cellular antenna will be housed inside this 50-foot flagpole.  It will have a 22-inch diameter and a range of approximately three-quarters of a mile. I love my country and I consider our flag to be sacred.  It is a symbol of our freedom.  Men and women have put their lives on the line to …

One thousand U.S. soldiers have died during the nine-year conflict in Afghanistan.  Today, there are 94,000 troops in Afghanistan.  More casualties are expected when the campaign kicks into high gear this summer.  Between 2006 and 2009, 6,829 Afghanistan civilians were killed.  Nearly 4,500 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq in its seven-year conflict in Iraq.  There are 92,000 troops in Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died since our invasion in 2003.We are being sheltered from the atrocities of these wars.  Thousands of our soldiers who are lucky enough to come home alive, …

I was nervous this year heading into Tuesday's school budget votes.  Times are bad.  The people have had enough.  We just can't afford a tax increase.  Would people vote against their own interest for the greater good? Last November, some people voted out county executive Tom Suozzi because they were fed up with our high taxes.  Ironically, Suozzi put up a balanced budget every year he was county executive and only raised taxes two out of nine budgets.  Yet, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray has raised our taxes every other year she's been in office, but somehow she escapes responsibility…

I fear Ed Mangano's vision for Long Island's future. For our county executive to even consider building a casino on the Nassau Coliseum site is just plain dumb. If the Lighthouse Project epitomizes "smart growth" development, then Mangano's vision can only be considered "dumb growth."  Former county executive Tom Suozzi envisioned a new suburbia designed to avoid urban sprawl, advocate compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including complete streets, and mixed-use development with a range of housing choices.  It has a sports theme, attracting youth and helping Long …

On Earth Day, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced that as long as he is governor, he will not allow any liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities off the New Jersey coast.  This is a huge victory for our oceans.  The governor of an adjacent coastal state has significant veto power over an LNG project, such as Atlantic Sea Island Group's (ASIG) proposal to build a 60-acre island 13.5 miles off the shore of Long Beach to import, store and regassify natural gas.  This project needs the approval of both the New York and New Jersey governors. As co-chair of Legislator Dave Denenberg's Taskforce …

About two weeks ago, Freeport resident Pat Rowen reached out to me, regarding Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick's pursuit to build a waste-to-energy facility in southeastern Freeport.  She stated that Mayor Hardwick went to China back in October to engage a Chinese corporation to build this incinerator in Freeport.  At first, I was intrigued.  I thought it admirable that a village mayor would seek ways to bring in revenue to Freeport, increase its tax base and reduce the tax burden of Freeport residents. The mayor claims that it would also save the Village of Freeport money in disposing its …

Have you ever thought about going solar?  I like to think of myself as an environmentally conscience person and like the idea of doing my part to reduce my environmental impact and improve air quality…but how much does it cost to go solar and is it worth it? So I wanted to learn more about what's involved.  Yes We Can! LI, an issue-driven nonpartisan organization, founded by Merokean Marvin Kreutzberger, recently held a climate change conference in Glen Cove.  Besides explaining how the earth's climate is changing, experts in the field suggested ways to save energy with solar, wind or …