Assembly Member Aravella Simotas honored 43 local elementary school students with official NYS Assembly certificates congratulating them for successfully completing her 2018 Summer Reading Challenge. Each summer, Simotas presents this challenge for local students to read for at least 15 minutes a day, for at least 40 days during the months of July and August, using age-appropriate reading lists that […]

According to the Talmud, beginning with the 25th of Kislev, eight days of Chanukah are observed, during which no eulogies are delivered, nor is fasting permitted. This tradition began when the Greeks entered the Inner Sanctuary of the temple and defiled all the oils. When the Hasmoneans (the Maccabees) defeated them, they searched and found only one remaining jar of […]

In the 19th century, New York confined the poor, the insane, the criminal and the sick to Blackwell’s Island. Here, nestled between the teeming shores of Manhattan and the rural farms of Queens, these unfortunates were warehoused in deplorable conditions, squalor and neglect. Author Stacy Horn will describe the notorious history of Damnation Island at a lecture presented by the […]

On Monday November 19, St. Andrew Avellino Academy, in conjunction with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, held their 17th annual Turkey Distribution. With the help of Paul Halvatzis, turkey committee chair, over $4,000 was raised from local businesses and individuals. This money was used to feed over 100 needy families. A good portion of the turkeys and food was […]