The year 2019 brought many highs and lows throughout New Hyde Park and its surrounding communities.
In early January, tragedy struck when a house fire that ripped through and destroyed a home on North 12th Street that claimed the lives of a grandmother and granddaughter. The fire started at around 3 a.m. when the New Hyde Park Fire Department, who were assisted by six other local fire departments, responded to the call, which consisted of 11 trucks and more than 200 firefighters, to fight the burning inferno.
In late March, the annual Saint Baldrick’s Day returned to the Village of New Hyde Park where people shaved their heads to raise money in order to fight childhood cancer. The annual event is organized in conjunction with the Nassau County Police Department’s Third Precinct and the village. Twenty businesses donated gift cards for the event’s raffle prizes while Pat Farrell, a former village clerk for New Hyde Park, provided music and entertainment.
In late June, the village mourned the loss of Florence Lisanti who was the first woman to ever be elected to the Village of New Hyde Park’s Board of Trustees. She was known as a force of nature by many who knew her and was instrumental in beginning the village’s annual Street Fair, which began in 1995. In her second term as village trustee, she served as deputy mayor. Lisanti passed away at the age of 91.
Fast forward to September when the New Hyde Park Illustrated News talked with Floral Park-Bellerose Elementary School teacher Tommy Sheehan, who was a contestant on CBS’ Survivor. Sheehan spent 39 days with his fellow cast members on a desolate island in Fiji.
In October, Covert Avenue finally reopened after being shutdown for the past six months due to the LIRR’s third track project. The grade crossing on Covert Avenue was eliminated and is now a two-lane underpass with a pedestrian sidewalk.
