New Hyde Park - Whats Happening & Whats New - This is New Hyde Park

New Hyde Park - Whats Happening & Whats New - This is New Hyde Park Local New Hyde Park News and Updates. For New Hyde Parkers By New Hyde Parkers. Stay tuned for the latest news updates, latest restaurants and more!
(3)

See why we Love New Hyde Park!

New Price! Take a look at the new price for 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village.
07/13/2021

New Price! Take a look at the new price for 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village.

OFFICIAL LISTING website. 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village, NY 11379, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathrooms, asking price of $565,000, MLS ID 3299739

New Price! Take a look at the new price for 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village.
06/17/2021

New Price! Take a look at the new price for 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village.

OFFICIAL LISTING website. 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village, NY 11379, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathrooms, asking price of $575,000, MLS ID 3299739

Just Listed! Take a look at this new listing at 89 Winter Street , Lynbrook.
06/11/2021

Just Listed! Take a look at this new listing at 89 Winter Street , Lynbrook.

Photos, maps, description of Property For Rent at 89 Winter Street , Unit 2, Lynbrook, NY 11563, asking price of $2,300 / Monthly

New Price! Take a look at the new price for 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village.
05/06/2021

New Price! Take a look at the new price for 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village.

OFFICIAL LISTING website. 66-66 70th Street, Middle Village, NY 11379, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathrooms, asking price of $579,888, MLS ID 3299739

Nassau GOP selects Elaine Phillips as candidate for county comptrollerFormer state Senator and Flower Hill Mayor, Elaine...
03/20/2021

Nassau GOP selects Elaine Phillips as candidate for county comptroller

Former state Senator and Flower Hill Mayor, Elaine Phillips, was chosen as the Nassau County Republican Party’s candidate for county comptroller ahead of the elections this fall.

The 61-year-old served as senator for the state’s 7th district from 2017-2018 after spending the previous four years as the mayor of Flower Hill. Phillips also spent 25 years working on Wall Street as a financial adviser in the private sector.

“I believe Nassau County really needs me right now,” Phillips told Newsday in an interview. “They need a strong financial watchdog. They need someone with financial experience. They need someone who’s able to make these type of decisions and who’s had this type of oversight in the past.”

Efforts to reach Phillips or a representative from the county’s Republican party for comment were unavailing.

Phillips will challenge Nassau County Democratic Party candidate Ryan Cronin in the race for county comptroller this fall. Cronin, in a statement, welcomed Phillips to the race and said he looks forward to discussions on how to prioritize Nassau’s taxpayers.

“I welcome Elaine Phillips to the race and look forward to a spirited conversation about how best to move Nassau forward during this difficult time,” Cronin said. “As our families and business continue to feel the hardships from COVID-19, I plan to bring my message of reducing Nassau’s tax burden to voters throughout our county.”

Cronin, a Garden City resident, said his initial goal if elected as comptroller is to lower the fiscal burden of Nassau taxpayers due to the current hardships already caused by the lingering coronavirus pandemic.

Lowering the cost of living is essential to sustain Long Island as a great place to live and raise a family,” Cronin said. “Now, more than ever, we need elected officials committed to this objective. COVID-19 has upended the lives of our families, friends, neighbors, and businesses. As Comptroller, I will ensure Nassau County government works efficiently and eliminates corruption, fraud, and abuse.”

The two will look to replace current Comptroller, Jack Schnirman, who cited leaving politics to other people as a reason not to run for re-election.

Before being elected comptroller in 2017, Schnirman served as the Long Beach city manager for six years beginning in 2011. Although Schnirman touted efforts to increase government transparency, his tenure as comptroller included some blemishes.

A 2019 draft audit conducted by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli showed Schnirman was one of 10 former and current Long Beach employees who received a total of more than $500,000 in excessive separation payments.

Schnirman’s overpayments were a combination of accrued sick and vacation days that exceeded the amount allowed under city codes, resulting in his getting total payments of $108,000. Schnirman ultimately returned all of the $52,780 in overpayments he had received.

Schnirman highlighted the work that his office was able to do over the past four years, including the implementation of the Open Nassau Transparency Portal, which allows residents to view county expenditures, budgets, payroll and other governmental aspects. Schnirman’s office also recently released a three-year progress update, which showed that the comptroller’s office recovered more than $149 million for county taxpayers.

Schnirman also lauded his office’s work in reforming the county contract system and having the public more involved in the office’s daily operations.

“It is no secret that I love focusing on this work because even though it is nerdy, finding more efficient ways to deliver critical services, supporting our economic recovery, and closing our equity gaps makes a difference for our communities’ families,” Schnirman said.

The post Nassau GOP selects Elaine Phillips as candidate for county comptroller first appeared on The Island Now .

The post Nassau GOP selects Elaine Phillips as candidate for county comptroller appeared first on The Island Now .

Featured,Great Neck News,Manhasset Times,New Hyde Park Herald Courier,Politics,Port Washington Times,Roslyn Times,Williston Times

Former state Senator and Flower Hill Mayor, Elaine Phillips, was chosen as the Nassau County Republican Party’s candidate for county comptroller ahead of the elections this fall. The 61-year-old served […]

Man arrested for aggregated harassment in New Hyde ParkA Garden City man was arrested in New Hyde Park after allegedly h...
03/20/2021

Man arrested for aggregated harassment in New Hyde Park

A Garden City man was arrested in New Hyde Park after allegedly harassing and threatening a woman, the Nassau County Police Department’s Sixth Squad said in a statement.

According to detectives, the female victim, 26, had been contacted through social media by Jon Christ, 30, of Pine Street in Garden City, whom she reportedly knew but did not want to contact her anymore.

“The victim’s boyfriend then responded to the subject through his social media and an exchange ensued,” police said. “[Christ] made threatening and inappropriate posts directed towards the female victim. The exchange escalated and [Christ] threatened physical harm to the male victim.”

An investigation was conducted and Christ was arrested for aggravated harassment around 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16 in New Hyde Park. The police said that Christ had been arrested “without incident.”

Christ has been charged with three counts of aggravated harassment in the second degree and one count of hate crimes. He was arraigned March 18 in at Nassau First District Court in Mineola, where he was represented by the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, and is scheduled to return to court on March 25.

The post Man arrested for aggregated harassment in New Hyde Park first appeared on The Island Now .

The post Man arrested for aggregated harassment in New Hyde Park appeared first on The Island Now .

New Hyde Park Herald Courier,News

A Garden City man was arrested in New Hyde Park after allegedly harassing and threatening a woman, the Nassau County Police Department’s Sixth Squad said in a statement. According to […]

Fitzgerald voted into mayoral seat in Floral Park, no immediate results for NHPFloral Park Trustee Kevin Fitzgerald rece...
03/17/2021

Fitzgerald voted into mayoral seat in Floral Park, no immediate results for NHP

Floral Park Trustee Kevin Fitzgerald received 434 votes for mayor in Tuesday’s election to succeed Dominick Longobardi, who decided not to run again.

Trustees Lynn Pombonyo, who received 422 votes, and Frank Chiara, who received 416 votes, were both re-elected for two-year terms.

Pombonyo, who was first elected to the board in 2014, served as the superintendent for the Floral Park-Bellerose school district. She holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Seton Hall University.

Chiara, a chief investigator in the Bronx district attorney’s office, was elected to his first term as a trustee in 2017 and has been a Floral Park resident for 19 years.

Fitzgerald was appointed to the village board in 2011 and was made deputy mayor in 2016 after James Rhatigan’s death.

He first got involved in village government as a member of the Third Track Task Force, fighting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan for a third Long Island Rail Road track in the mid-2000s.

A trustee seat will be vacant with Fitzgerald now elected as mayor, and village officials said the mayor will appoint someone to that position.

Longobardi, who was first elected in 2017, said stepping down after two terms is a longstanding tradition of the Citizens Party, of which he and Fitzgerald are members.

“There are no term limits in the village, but it is a [party] tradition carried on for many years, and it’s just my time to pass the torch,” he said earlier in a phone interview. “Kevin is a great guy and I have all the confidence in the world that he will thrive in the position.”

Longobardi touted his staff and the people of Floral Park for their support and efforts to constantly improve the village over the past two terms.

“I am absolutely honored, blessed, and very thankful to be a part of this board for the past 13 years and to also leave as its mayor,” he said. “I also thank the dedicated residents of Floral Park for their ongoing efforts and participation in countless numbers of committees and organizations to help make this village a better place to live every day.”

The Village of New Hyde Park did not have results available on Wednesday.

Village Mayor Lawrence Montreuil had announced that he would not seek re-election in the election. Montreuil has served as mayor since April 2017 and his term ends March 31.

“While it has been my absolute passion and privilege to serve my New Hyde Park neighbors for 30 cumulative years, I plan to shift my attention from the important concerns of my neighbors to matters closer to home,” Montreuil said.

All of the seats on the board and the village justice are four-year terms.

Trustee Richard Coppolla did not seek re-election but Trustee Richard Pallisco was running, Montreuil said at a meeting of the village Board of Trustees on Jan. 28.

The election had a new local political party throwing its hat in the ring with endorsements from a previous village mayor.

Former New Hyde Park Mayor Dan Petruccio, who served from 2001 to 2013, endorsed the New Hyde Park Unity Party’s slate of candidates.

The candidates were Christopher Devane for mayor, Madhvi Nijjar and Arthur Savarese for the two trustee positions, and Timothy Jones for village justice.

Devane served as a village justice from 2003 to 2021.

Nijjar is a 20-year resident of the village who works in the mental health and human services fields, teaching others who aspire to work in the same profession. Nijjar earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from John Jay College before receiving a master’s in social work with a major in psychotherapy from Adelphi University.

Savarese works in marketing and sales and has served on the board for and coached local Little League teams, and Jones is a trial attorney for the Scahill Law Group in Bethpage.

According to the party’s mission statement on its website, it stands for “the principles of an open, honest, diverse and inclusive form of Village government.”

Also running for trustee in the at-large election is Bassam Khoury, who ran on the Common Sense Party line.

The post Fitzgerald voted into mayoral seat in Floral Park, no immediate results for NHP first appeared on The Island Now .

The post Fitzgerald voted into mayoral seat in Floral Park, no immediate results for NHP appeared first on The Island Now .

New Hyde Park Herald Courier

Floral Park Trustee Kevin Fitzgerald received 434 votes for mayor in Tuesday’s election to succeed Dominick Longobardi, who decided not to run again. Trustees Lynn Pombonyo, who received 422 votes, […]

Greater NHP Chamber Of Commerce Elects New PresidentEarlier this year, the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce ele...
03/17/2021

Greater NHP Chamber Of Commerce Elects New President

Earlier this year, the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce elected its new president of the chamber, Cheryl Fajardo. Recently, Fajardo answered some questions from Anton Media Group about the chamber’s future and the effect that COVID-19 has had on it.

Q: How did you get involved in the chamber?

A: I was the area manager for a company called Monroe Calculator, and I wanted to expand the product to the territory I was assigned. What better way to meet decision-makers and also network with other businesses to grow my business. As I got involved in the chamber, I realized how important the chambers function was in the community. I also enjoyed working on the benevolence side of it.

Q: What challenges does the chamber face with COVID-19?

A: [The challenges are] raising money for our local charities and ensuring that our local businesses are still around to serve our community.

Q: As president, what do you hope to bring to the chamber of commerce?

A: Confidence. That we will make it through the pandemic and come back even stronger. We give our members a place to ask questions and get valuable information from experts in our community. We want to help them thrive by promoting and supporting them. We are an organization of fine businesses that do business with each other and serve our community. We have a pro-active, talented board of directors who I enjoy working with to keep the chamber running well with fresh ideas and good value for our members.

Q: Does the Greater NHP Chamber of Commerce have anything planned for 2021?

A: Yes. We have been having Zoom meetings to educate our members on various topics such as how to use social media and also Zoom networking. We hope to have in-person outside safe social distancing network meetings in May and June. In September, we are looking forward to having our annual golf outing to raise money for our nonprofit organizations. Your readers can go to our website for details and see our directory for a listing of all our members that we urge you to support. Go to www.nhpchamber.org. We also post on Facebook and Instagram.

Q: What is the one thing you want residents to know about the chamber you feel is most important?

A: The Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce is an organization of outstanding businesses in our community. The biggest thing I can say is to shop local and, by doing that, it keeps the money here in Nassau County. It helps businesses, the community, and each and every person to thrive.

Featured,New Hyde Park News

Earlier this year, the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce elected its new president of the chamber, Cheryl Fajardo. Recently, Fajardo answered some questions from Anton Media Group about the…

SUNY Old Westbury to open doors for COVID-19 vaccine appointmentsSUNY Old Westbury will open its doors to New Yorkers se...
03/17/2021

SUNY Old Westbury to open doors for COVID-19 vaccine appointments

SUNY Old Westbury will open its doors to New Yorkers seeking the coronavirus vaccine on Friday as eligibility to receive inoculations once again expanded throughout the state on Wednesday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the SUNY Old Westbury site is one of three mass vaccination sites that will open on Friday. The other two sites are the Southampton campus of Stony Brook University and the Brentwood campus of Suffolk Community College. The three sites will be permitted to schedule appointments as early as Wednesday, with the first appointments being Friday at 8 a.m.

“The single most effective vaccination mechanism is what we call a mass vaccination site,” Cuomo said Monday. “It is one large facility capable of doing thousands, in some cases keep them open 24 hours a day. From what we call a through-put from just getting needles in arms, these mass sites are the most effective. There’s going to be one here.”

Cuomo announced that vaccination sites throughout the state will be permitted to vaccinate any New Yorker who is eligible to receive the vaccine beginning on Wednesday.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced last week that the Nassau Coliseum will be turned into a mass vaccination site later this month. The announcement came after calls from the Nassau County Legislature to convert the venue into an inoculation center since January.

“We’re focused on continuing to ramp up our capacity for vaccination as more supply is anticipated to arrive in the coming weeks,” Curran said. “All of our residents must have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, and this iconic site will gives us the ability to deliver the vaccine rapidly.”

Cuomo said last week that the initial order of anyone at least 65 years of age being eligible to receive the vaccine would be lowered to 60. The eligibility was officially expanded to public-facing government and public employees along with essential in-person and public-facing building employees on Wednesday. Examples of these employees include child service workers, DMV workers, county clerks, election workers and building service workers.

“These are the people who are the everyday heroes who are out there doing their job,” Cuomo said. “They’re putting themselves in a possible position of exposure. They are essential for us to continue operating.”

As of Wednesday, more than 214,000 Nassau County residents had completed their vaccine series, with 379,000 receiving at least one dose, according to state figures. Throughout Long Island, more than 289,000 had completed their series, with more than 520,000 receiving at least one shot so far.

The post SUNY Old Westbury to open doors for COVID-19 vaccine appointments first appeared on The Island Now .

The post SUNY Old Westbury to open doors for COVID-19 vaccine appointments appeared first on The Island Now .

Featured,Great Neck News,Manhasset Times,New Hyde Park Herald Courier,Port Washington Times,Roslyn Times,Williston Times

SUNY Old Westbury will open its doors to New Yorkers seeking the coronavirus vaccine on Friday as eligibility to receive inoculations once again expanded throughout the state on Wednesday. Gov. […]

Kyra’s Champions to fill Blumenfeld Park, Davies Green with blue pinwheelsKyra Franchetti loved to play in the parks nea...
03/16/2021

Kyra’s Champions to fill Blumenfeld Park, Davies Green with blue pinwheels

Kyra Franchetti loved to play in the parks near her Manhasset home, according to her mother, Jacqueline Franchetti.

“At the Mary Jane Davies Green, she loved to go down the slide, and she demanded to go fast on the swings,” Franchetti said in a phone interview.

She’d also frequently took Kyra to Blumenfeld Family Park in Port Washington, where she played in the sprinklers, and would go to classes at the Parents Resource Center nearby.

“I vividly remember, there was another parent walking with their children when Kira was playing in the sprinklers,” Franchetti recalls. “They looked at Kira, who was giggling and laughing and having so much fun. And other parent said to their children, ‘If you have half as much fun as she’s having, it’s going to be a great day.'”

In the summer of 2016, Kyra was killed by her father at his home in Fairfax, Virginia, while on an unsupervised, court-sanctioned visit. The sleeping 2-year-old was shot twice in the back before her father set the house on fire and shot himself to death.

Franchetti, who had experienced physical and verbal abuse from Kyra’s father and left him when she became pregnant, had been embroiled in a yearslong custody dispute with him at the time in Nassau County’s Family Court system, and from then on dedicated her time to pursuing legislation to ensure that what happened to Kyra wouldn’t happen to any other child, founding the child safety advocacy group Kyra’s Champions.

Since then, she has obtained the passage of a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives which calls for hearings on the practices of Family Courts, says that evidence of abuse can only be submitted by an approved fee-paid professional and that states should have clear standards for the professionals, among other things; and testified before the New York State Assembly , with a bill named for Kyra introduced in the chamber last month .

Now, Kyra’s beloved parks in North Hempstead will commemorate what would have been her seventh birthday, with Kyra’s Champions poised to plant a total of 744 blue pinwheels at the Davies Green and Blumenfeld Park. The idea combines the blue ribbon that represented child abuse with the modern Pinwheels for Prevention campaign headed by Prevent Child Abuse America.

The number of pinwheels placed, 744, not only represent Kyra and the other 18 children in New York state who have been murdered by their father or mother while going through a child custody case, divorce or separation, Franchetti explained, but 725 children whose deaths are said to have been hidden by Child Protective Services.

Franchetti hopes the display will inspire more conversation about a topic that most feel uncomfortable discussing.

“People don’t want to admit there’s a bigger picture here, because people don’t always want to talk about child abuse or family violence,” Franchetti said. “These are things that are hidden and take place behind closed doors, right? But if we don’t talk about it, how many more children will die? How many more children will be abused?”

The pinwheels will be placed in the early days of April, recognized as National Child Abuse Prevention Month, by local children and teenagers, Franchetti said, leading to Kyra’s birthday on April 4.

“This is really an event for kids, being done by kids,” Franchetti said. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful way to honor their memories, and to hopefully bring about change and research.”

Kyra’s Champions is also encouraging members of the North Shore community to purchase a bundle of seven pinwheels for $28, to place around their homes during the month of April in support of child abuse prevention. Franchetti’s hope would be to drive around the areas on Kyra’s birthday and see the pinwheels in lawns and gardens.

“I’m extremely thankful and grateful that our community continues to support Kyra,” Franchetti said. “I’m overwhelmed by it and it’s absolutely wonderful.”

Remembering Kyra at two of her favorite places, and celebrating her birthday in the best possible way, brings fond memories to mind for Franchetti.

“They’re wonderful, wonderful places, and I have so many great memories of my time with Kyra,” she said.

Interested parties can purchase pinwheels for display around their homes and get more information about Pinwheels for Prevention at kyraschampions.org/pinwheels .

The post Kyra’s Champions to fill Blumenfeld Park, Davies Green with blue pinwheels first appeared on The Island Now .

The post Kyra’s Champions to fill Blumenfeld Park, Davies Green with blue pinwheels appeared first on The Island Now .

Featured,Great Neck News,Manhasset Times,New Hyde Park Herald Courier,News,Port Washington Times,Roslyn Times,Williston Times

Kyra Franchetti loved to play in the parks near her Manhasset home, according to her mother, Jacqueline Franchetti. “At the Mary Jane Davies Green, she loved to go down the […]

Locals, officials, community leaders rally to prevent anti-Asian violenceLocal officials and community leaders led by Na...
03/16/2021

Locals, officials, community leaders rally to prevent anti-Asian violence

Local officials and community leaders led by Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan (I-Woodbury) attended a “Stand Up to Hate” rally with hundreds of people to condemn increases in bias incidents and violence against Asian-Americans in the age of COVID-19 last weekend.

Lafazan’s office coordinated the event, held on the front steps of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building on Sunday, with Gordon Zhang, president of the Long Island Chinese American Association, and Farrah Mozawalla, executive director of Nassau County’s Office of Asian American Affairs.

“It’s on all of us to speak out in a loud, unified, and categorical voice to demand an end to this violence,” Lafazan said during the rally. “We know that we cannot drive out hatred with more hate. As Dr. King taught us many years ago, only love can do that. Which is why when you look at this crowd – and you see Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Jews standing together – when you see people of all different races and backgrounds standing together, when you see people of all different ages standing together, there can be no mistaking that love and unity is the answer.”

“We stand with our brothers and sisters. As Asian-Americans, we are all in this together,” Mozawalla said. “No one should be made to feel unsafe, uncomfortable or feel like they do not belong. It is important for us to reiterate that Nassau County is diverse and inclusive.”

“America is a great county built by immigrants. The anti-Asian violence is not just an attack on one group, it is an attack on our nation’s fundamental values of diversity, equity and inclusion,” Zhang said. “We must all condemn the rising of anti-Asian hate crimes in both New York and across the country.”

The rally comes months after the Great Neck school district was the subject of a letter from nearly 40 parents reporting that younger students of Asian descent had been asked if they ate bats and were called “COVID-19 spreaders” by other students. District Superintendent Teresa Prendergast said at the time that no anti-Asian incidents had occurred on school grounds.

In addition, the rally was attended by elected leaders, including Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), multiple members of the New York Senate and Assembly, North Hempstead Town Clerk Wayne Wink and Nassau County Legislator Ellen W. Birnbaum (D-Great Neck).

Community leaders like Tracey Edwards, Long Island regional director of the NAACP; Dr. Isma Chaudhry, spokesperson and past president of the Islamic Center of Long Island; Eric Post, Long Island regional director of the American Jewish Committee; Andrea Bolender, chair of the board of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County; and Dr. Asiah Mason, CEO of the Mill Neck Family of Organizations, which provided American Sign Language interpreters for the event; also spoke.

“Nassau County is standing together against the rising tide of Anti-Asian hate,” Curran said. “Although there have been no reported hate crimes targeting Asian-Americans in Nassau, the attacks we’re seeing in our state are alarming and unacceptable. Now and always there is no home for hate in Nassau.”

“The steady stream of hateful rhetoric linking Asian-Americans with COVID-19 and the ensuing number of anti-Asian hate crimes is abhorrent,” Suozzi said. “It is incumbent upon all of us to do everything in our power to call out and reject xenophobia and racism each and every time it rears its ugly head. We must always ensure that hate will never win.”

“The recent wave of hate crimes across the country, particularly against the Asian-American community, must stop,” DiNapoli said. “We must speak out against any form of hate and discrimination directed toward our fellow Americans and New Yorkers. Our neighbors must know we have their backs, and we won’t tolerate any violence or threats of violence or intimidation against anyone.”

“At a time when Asian-Americans across our nation are living with heightened fears about targeted, violent bigotry against their community, we have a responsibility to exclaim, in one voice, that we will stand up to hateful words and actions wherever they may occur,” Birnbaum said. “I was especially heartened to see such overwhelming support for a rally dedicated to conquering hatred in our county and our region.”

“To our Asian-American brothers and sisters – we see you, we love you, and we have your backs. And no matter how long it takes, we will stamp out hate on Long Island,” Lafazan said.

The post Locals, officials, community leaders rally to prevent anti-Asian violence first appeared on The Island Now .

The post Locals, officials, community leaders rally to prevent anti-Asian violence appeared first on The Island Now .

Great Neck News,Manhasset Times,New Hyde Park Herald Courier,News,Port Washington Times,Roslyn Times,Williston Times

Local officials and community leaders led by Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan (I-Woodbury) attended a “Stand Up to Hate” rally with hundreds of people to condemn increases in bias incidents […]

Alum accuses St. Mary’s of knowing predatory history of alleged abuser An alumnus of St. Mary’s College Preparatory Scho...
03/16/2021

Alum accuses St. Mary’s of knowing predatory history of alleged abuser



An alumnus of St. Mary’s College Preparatory School in Manhasset has filed a lawsuit against the school and the religious order operating it saying that a guidance counselor sexually abused him dozens of times, and they knew that the counselor had a history of abusing other students.

Steven Gormley, 53, of Connecticut, was a resident of Long Beach when he entered the then-St. Mary’s High School for Boys as a freshman in 1981, according to a complaint filed under the Child Victims Act in Nassau County Supreme Court last week.

Upon entry into the then-all boys school, he was assigned Brother Robert Ryan, a member of the Marist Brothers of Schools, the religious order which operates St. Mary’s and other educational institutions across the country, as a guidance counselor.

“Brother Ryan, for the next two years, frequently exploited and abused that role by — often at least twice a week — pulling [Gormley] out of academic classes, taking him to his office, and sexually assaulting him,” the complaint reads.

Ryan is alleged to have sexually abused Gormley in his office at St. Mary’s 75 times from the beginning of his freshman year in September 1981 to his junior year in September 1983.

“Brother Ryan’s sexual assaults of [Gormley] were malicious and extremely vicious,” the complaint said. “He frequently sodomized [Gormley] with hardcore sadomasochistic objects, which caused [Gormley] to suffer severe pain, caused severe re**al bleeding, and left him with serious and irreparable re**al injuries, including deep and permanent re**al scars.”

Also alleged in the complaint is that Ryan forced Gormley to consume alcohol and sedatives, “in an effort to make [Gormley] more relaxed and/or compliant in connection with Brother Ryan’s a**l rapes.” The complaint adds that the substance use forced by Ryan “severely impacted negatively [Gormley’s] academic performance and educational experience at St. Mary’s,” and that he suffered from serious drug and alcohol problems from 1982, his sophomore year of high school, through 2006.

The complaint also claims that Ryan allegedly sexually assaulted at least three other students in Gormley’s grade, “as well as numerous additional boys in other grades,” and allegedly developed a “notorious and unsavory reputation” and a nickname regarding his frequent inquisition of students’ masturbatory habits.

Gormley is being represented by attorneys Kevin T. Mulhearn of upstate Orangeburg and Jon L. Norinsberg of Manhattan, and filed the suit under the extended Child Victims Act, which opened a “look back window” for survivors of child sexual abuse to file a lawsuit against their alleged abuser up to age 55.

Over a decade after his experiences with Ryan, the complaint says, in 1993, upon learning that a family friend with an ill parent was preparing to attend the school as a freshman and becoming “extremely concerned that this young man would suffer a similar fate,” Gormley had an audience with the school’s then-principal, Brother Roy George, and told him that he had been r***d by Ryan.

“Principal George reacted with sadness and empathy, but did not discuss with [Gormley] whether he and the school had ever heard of any similar prior allegations in connection with Brother Ryan,” the complaint reads.

On the same day, Gormley met with an individual identified in the complaint as Brother Phillip, a St. Mary’s High School official and staff member.

“Brother Phillip told [Gormley] that news of his abuse would devastate [Gormley’s] mother, a very religious woman,” the complaint reads. “Brother Phillip also told [Gormley] that [Gormley] did not need to hire an attorney, did not need to meet with the press or otherwise publicize his account of abuse, and should take care not to ‘escalate’ the situation. Brother Phillip also implored [Gormley] to ‘protect the Church.’ Brother Phillip told [Gormley] that if he took any aggressive action with respect to his sexual abuse claim, the school would be unable to provide a scholarship to the family friend in need.”

What Gormley claims the administration did not reveal was that Ryan had been brought to St. Mary’s following accusations of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct toward minors at previous positions in the Marist schools, including at Marist High School in Eugene, Oregon, and at Marist High School in Chicago, throughout the 1970s.

In a phone interview, Mulhearn said that this discovery, made in 2020 when a former student at the Oregon school filed suit against the Marist Brothers and alleged that Ryan had sexually abused him, prompted him and Gormley to pursue the case.

“I didn’t prepare the complaint in earnest until we realized that not only this has happened to Steve, but that Marist brothers knew or should have known what, what this guy was all about, because he had done it to other kids,” Mulhearn said.

“By 1979, therefore, [the Marist Brothers] had a duty to prevent Brother Ryan from having access to, and control and authority over, minor boys who attended Marist Brothers schools, anywhere in the United States,” the complaint reads, also claiming that the order had failed to notify parents, students or local authorities about Ryan’s past actions before he was transferred to St. Mary’s in 1979.

Shortly after speaking with George and Phillip, Gormley said, he was contacted by a Marist attorney who had drafted a settlement agreement that would provide a full scholarship to the family friend and a sum of $15,000 in counseling expenses for Gormley himself.

The Marist Brothers also “promised to never again let Brother Ryan associate or interact with children,” but did not at any point disclose Ryan’s prior history at the Oregon and Chicago schools. Gormley then signed a general release from any and all future claims against Ryan and Marist Brothers with these terms in the summer of 1993, but alleges in the complaint that he was in a visible state of inebriation that was “obvious and apparent” to those present as he signed it.

Gormley’s attorneys claim that the agreement was breached since the Marist Brothers allowed Ryan to work at a children’s camp in New Hampshire in 1993 and 1994. Ryan died in 2017.

In 2006, Gormley was contacted by an investigator identified as Lester Amann who offered additional compensation for his abuse. Amann allegedly told Gormley that he did not need a lawyer, and that he “did not want to cause pain to [Gormley’s] mother by publicly revealing his sexual abuse.” Later that year Gormley was paid $40,000, also receiving a formal apology from the then-provincial of the Marist Brothers, but he maintains that he was inebriated at the time of that signing as well, and was still not told of Ryan’s past.

The attorneys argue in the complaint that the school and the Marist Brothers were “in reckless and conscious disregard of the rights, health, and safety of [Gormley], and were so malicious, willful, and wanton as to constitute a grievous injury to the public-at-large” and “give rise to punitive damages.”

Mulhearn said that he had sent a draft notice of the complaint to the current provincial leader of the Marist Brothers on Feb. 17, but has heard nothing from St. Mary’s or the Marist Brothers.

Efforts to reach the Marist Brothers and St. Mary’s for comment were unavailing.

A dollar amount for damages was not named in the complaint. Mulhearn said that as he and the other attorneys present the case, they will ask the jury to put a value on it.

“I mean, there’s no money that can make this wrong right,” Mulhearn said.

The post Alum accuses St. Mary’s of knowing predatory history of alleged abuser first appeared on The Island Now .

The post Alum accuses St. Mary’s of knowing predatory history of alleged abuser appeared first on The Island Now .

Featured,Great Neck News,Manhasset Times,New Hyde Park Herald Courier,News,Port Washington Times,Roslyn Times,Williston Times

  An alumnus of St. Mary’s College Preparatory School in Manhasset has filed a lawsuit against the school and the religious order operating it saying that a guidance counselor sexually […]

Address

1643 Hillside Avenue
New Hyde Park, NY
11040

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when New Hyde Park - Whats Happening & Whats New - This is New Hyde Park posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to New Hyde Park - Whats Happening & Whats New - This is New Hyde Park:

Share

Nearby media companies


Other News & Media Websites in New Hyde Park

Show All