Mineola is set to see a new neurosurgery and spinal practice and taekwondo school after trustees granted both permission to open during their Wednesday night meeting.
Dr. Lewis John Nkrumah, practice manager Dona Wu and architect Jing Xie appeared before the board with a proposal to expand Nkrumah Neurosurgery and Spine from Lake Success to Mineola, presenting plans for the two buildings at 85 and 89 East Jericho Turnpike to be the practice’s new flagship office.
“We think this location is ideal for us and for our practice to grow,” Wu said.
Wu said Nkrumah, who has undergraduate and master’s degrees in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from Yale University and an MD and Ph.D from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, was a doctor and surgeon who was in high demand and at the top of his field.
“Dr. Nkrumah has established himself so well that a lot of hospital staff and employees will refer their friends and family to him directly, because they know that he’s the one to go,” Wu said.
Nkrumah also completed his otolaryngology residency at Johns Hopkins, his neurological surgery residency at Emory University Hospital, and his fellowship in complex and minimally invasive spine surgery at Virginia Mason Medical Center.
For the past five years, he’s been practicing out of his Lake Success office while performing surgeries across the island’s major hospitals.
Nu said the Mineola practice would serve only as a consultation space for patients, with Nkrumah performing the actual surgeries at nearby hospitals like St. Francis Catholic Hospital and multiple Mt. Sinai Hospital locations.
Xie said the building at 89 Jericho Turnpike would have eight to 10 exam rooms and the smaller building at 85 Jericho Turnpike would be used as an administrative office, potentially with a receptionist area and small lecture area.
Nkrumah emphasized a commitment to giving back to the community, saying he’d love to work with Trustee Jeffery Clark to explore providing free or low-cost physicals to the village’s volunteer fire department and Mayor Paul Pereira, who doubles as a high school teacher, to attend the high school’s career fair and potentially provide lectures to students or allow some to shadow at the hospital for credit, if possible.
“I’d be honored to do it,” Nkrumah said. “I hope that will be available for both the fire, the police, the teachers, everybody in the community.”
He said he’d likely have a few medical students shadow him as the practice becomes more established and hopes to provide community lectures on warning signs of spine or neurological issues and ways to stay healthy.
The board approved his practice, welcomed him to the village, and wished him luck.
After Nkruma and his team sat down, Brian Lanci stood to address the board with a proposal for a taekwondo and wrestling school at 172-174 Herricks Road.
Lanci, who was previously a lead instructor at a martial arts school on Covert Avenue that burnt down in a 2020 fire that decimated a dozen storefronts, said he was excited to open a new practice in Mineola.
“I have been teaching for over 30 years. I’ve influenced and helped a lot of children and adults over the years to really have a positive way of thinking and positive health,” Lanci said. “Now, I’m back in action.”
Lanci said he thought the school would be a good addition to the neighborhood because there were not any other martial arts schools in the area and it would support the high school’s elite wrestling program, which Deputy Mayor Janine Sartori said she thought was positive.
“The high school has a very good wrestling program…and I think that’s new to our community outside of the school district,” Sartori said. “I find it’s a wonderful tool for all kids. My children became black belts, and I think it definitely taught them things outside of the realm of fighting, just in mental confidence.”
Lanci said he believed the school, which will offer both private lessons and 45-minute group classes based on students’ age and ability level, would provide opportunities for social connection for kids, positive physical and mental health, and self-defense training.
“What I’m noticing these days is kids are on their computers all the time, on their phones all the time,” Lanci said. This is something that would be a very beneficial thing for them, to encourage them to come out, be physical, and interact socially with each other.”
“And, these days, you definitely need some form of self-defense,” he continued. “It’s a non-aggressive style. It’s strictly defensive.”
Lanci said he’d be planning to open as soon as he was able to set the space up with the necessary equipment and would be open from roughly 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, by appointment for private lessons on Fridays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays.
He said the school would be a family affair, with his two sons, who are collegiate wrestlers, helping him run the wrestling side while he heads up the taekwondo portion of the school.
The board said they wished him luck as they approved his application.
“Hopefully this will be you coming out of the ashes,” Pereira said. “Welcome to Mineola.”
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