Stories – Greene Gazette 2021

The year of living virtually

By Ianna Banfield
Park Slope Collegiate

Daniel Polonia
Baldwin High School

Across New York, performance groups and community organizations have adapted to COVID-19 restrictions by turning to streaming to continue to showcase their events.

Venues such as libraries, concert halls and theaters traded ticket booths for Zoom links.

The Brooklyn Public Library stitched community together via a virtual crafting circle on July 22, 2020.

The Brooklyn Public Library offered virtual programs during the pandemic, now people can come back to check out books in-person. (Photo by Alex Chen)

As positive as those events are, library spokeswoman Fritzi Bodenheimer says she worries about those who don’t have access to the technology that virtual programs require.

“The downside is, despite the great job that our librarians did, we know that in Brooklyn and in New York and anywhere that there are people who are on the wrong side of the digital divide,” Bodenheimer said.

While many people do have Wi-Fi and other means to connect to streams, some are not as lucky.

“We put towers on many of our library branches on the roof that extend the Wi-Fi signal so that people living nearby are able to access it,” Bodenheimer said.

For cultural organizations such as the Mark Morris Dance Group, an international touring dance organization based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, COVID restrictions led to creative ways of keeping the music going.

The group produced “Listening Parties with Mark Morris and Colin Fowler,” a series of live-streamed conversations about music, similar to a podcast.

“From a technical standpoint, there was a lot of research that needed to be done and preparation to understand how to best present live-streamed events and what platform made the most sense,” said Tara Treffilettia, a spokeswoman for the group. “We also needed to figure out what the registration process would look like.”

The Guggenheim Museum’s Works and Process program commissioned performances from a number of dance groups, including the Ladies of Hip-Hop. They performed in the New York Public Library’s Library for the Performing Arts at the Lincoln Center in Manhattan in April 2021. These performances were streamed on the Lincoln Center’s website.

It wasn’t always easy, organizers said.

“We initially began programs on Google Meet … which was complicated because in the beginning, you can see everybody,” said Jennifer Schantz, the executive director of the New York Public Library’s Library for the Performing Arts. “So, for instance, we would have a program, and then there would be a gentleman eating his sandwich during the program. Or someone would forget to mute, and we wouldn’t be able to control the mute. … By July, we used Zoom webinars.”

The Brooklyn Tabernacle, a church in downtown Brooklyn, has a youth ministry for people between the ages of 13 and 18.

C.J. Cody, a co-director of the ministry, saw how the pandemic changed his job.

“We had to build an online presence via YouTube, Instagram, Zoom,” he said.

This transition was a learning curve for Berenise Jean, the youth administrative assistant for the ministry and the creator of the Zoom meetings and live-streams.

“I had to learn how to edit videos,” Jean said. “I had to research which platform would be the best for us.”

A branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. (Photo by Ianna Banfield)

One of these videos was the ministry’s “I Must Remain” special. It included pre-recorded trivia, performances by the church’s choir, bible readings, and more. It was live-streamed on March 12, 2021, on YouTube.

Baldwin High School on Long Island has about 1,200 students and used a hybrid format in order to have school both in-person and virtually.

Jordyn Schneider, a rising college freshman, participated in Baldwin’s Virtual Cabaret, which was a pre-recorded compilation of Disney song covers and was streamed on March 5.

“I think a lot of theater is the exchange of the energy between the actors and the audience.” Schneider said. “Without the energy for the actors to exchange, the people watching were not as enthusiastic.”

One of the performances of the school’s Concert Choir was pre-recorded and posted online in December, and the other was live-streamed on May 25. Kristine Costello, the teacher for the school’s Concert Choir, saw how their performances were affected.

“Think about it: When you were learning from home, boop, you get a text message, you get a Snapchat, whatever, your attention goes elsewhere,” she said. “You could’ve missed the moment that sucked you in and transformed a few moments of your day. … And all these things that make us forget we experience something as one thing.”

Alex Chen contributed to this report.

Popular SBU film fest curtain rises again

By Chadwick Roy
Campus Magnet High School

The Stony Brook film festival is back for people to enjoy in-person (Photo by Miles Reese)

Movie lovers can again enjoy the in-person experience of a 1,000-seat theater at the annual Stony Brook Film Festival, offering a post-pandemic treat that can draw spectators from far beyond the Long Island venue.

Spectators and moviegoers have a lot to look forward to during the festival, which runs from July 22 to July 31. It features 35 new, independent flicks ranging from opening night’s documentary The 5th Man — about local and legendary track coach, Paul Limmer — to closing night’s French-language feature film, Final Set.

This year, each of the films will be available for virtual viewing — but only after the in-person film-watching ends. The Virtual Festival runs from August 5 through August 30.

“There’s nothing like the in-person experience,” said Festival Director Alan Inkles, who has high hopes for attendance at the week-long event at the Staller Center for the Arts on SBU’s campus.

Despite the fanfare of the return of the festival, some uncertainties remain. After all, it’s been two years since the Festival hosted a live audience. How will social distancing work? Will the movie buffs return like they did in years past?

Inkles is optimistic that they will.

When discussing the difficulty of creating such a big event year to year, Inkles made it clear that hard work always pays off in the end when it’s something you love to do.

“It’s definitely not easy,” he said during an interview over Zoom. “But with the help of my team, and the work we put in, it always pays off.”

Inkles said he always has a great time picking movies to put into the festival, adding that he and his team watch up to almost 3,000 thousand movies.

However, he said he becomes indecisive when it comes to selecting movies.

“There’s always movies that are easily decided, but there are like 300 that are so, so tough to decide on,” he said. “I wish I could add them all!”

“Can’t wait to see you there!,” said one lover of the annual film festival who chose to remain anonymous as she walked by the theater on opening day.

Rafer Guzman, a Newsday film critic who covers the film festival, is also excited for the revamp, and he credits Alan Inkles and his team for the hard work they put into making the Film Festival after such a rough two years trapped in a pandemic.

“I credit Alan Inkles for the labor of love him and his team put into making this all happen,” said Guzman.

He also says Inkles’ creative scheme is much different from other Film Festivals.

“He uses a lot of foreign films,” said Guzman. “Films that you would never see anywhere else except at the Stony Brook Film Festival. It’s a smart and creative way to get people to come out to the film festival.”

Guzman also notes that Inkles puts “one hundred percent effort” into the annual festival, “like it’s his baby.” Guzman expects that the attendance will still be big even though the pandemic put a pause on the event.

“The event so far has been a huge success,” Guzman said. “The comeback of the Film Festival goes to show how dedicated Inkles and his team to make a huge come back after such a difficult COVID-19 pandemic.”

Furry friends for a frenzied year

By Sophia Herrera
Our Lady of Mercy Academy

One brave kitten shyly scopes out a potential forever family. (Photo by Oona Montandon)

During the lonesome isolation of quarantine, many people welcomed new pets to fill their quiet homes. But as restrictions are lifted and many return to offices, some of those owners are finding the commitment and responsibility of having a “pandemic pet” too much to handle.

A May survey by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of people who acquired pets over the pandemic found that 13 percent are considering rehoming their animals. The majority of people who considered this suffered financial trouble and saw no other option other than to give up their pet, according to the survey.

Megan Hanken, a veterinarian at Los Gatos Dog & Cat Hospital in Los Gatos, Calif., said her practice experienced a major increase in clients over quarantine — so vast that it had to stop accepting new patients for a brief period.

Hanken said she was glad so many animals found homes, but she worried that owners had not considered all the possibilities of having pets, especially dogs.

“I don’t think a lot of people anticipated the difficulty of properly socializing and training your puppy,” she said. The window in which a puppy can be socialized is short, therefore the owner must be proactive about behavioral training.

Hanken is also concerned that pets adopted over the pandemic would develop separation anxiety. “People are just starting to leave the house and realize that there may be an issue with leaving their pet at home,” she said.

Hanken’s pet hospital noticed that most of the pets were more afraid than usual to be at the vet when they were away from their owners. For some owners, obstacles like these were too difficult to conquer.

A few of Hanken’s clients encountered especially hard times during quarantine or found that the difficulty of a pet was too much, resulting in a slight increase in pet surrenders.

“We haven’t had a lot of people who had been in so much hardship that they had to give them up,” Hanken said.

“I think everyone needs to do what is right for themselves,” said Jordana Sobey, an attorney, and owner of a pet adopted over quarantine.

Prior to the pandemic, Sobey, 41, adopted and subsequently gave up a pet. She understood the responsibilities that came with a pet, so she was ready to welcome one into the family. Since she had made long-term considerations and preparations, Sobey has happily lived with her dog, Tiki, since quarantine. But those without this knowledge may not have had such a happy ending.

“What do you say to someone who makes a commitment and can no longer take on that responsibility? It’s not the nicest thing in the world, but everybody has to do what’s right for themselves, their families and hopefully the pet as well.”

Hahn’s bill seeks to stem harm of opioid epidemic

By Isabella Lenarduzzi
Kings Park High School

Opioid medications, such as oxycodone, above, are highly addictive and can be abused by people who are prescribed them. (Photo by Michelle Paszek.)

After a five-year legal battle, three pharmaceutical companies and distributors reached a settlement with Suffolk and Nassau counties on July 12 for their roles in furthering the deadly opioid addiction crisis. Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn announced this week that she plans to introduce a bill to ensure that money gets to where it is most needed.

Suffolk County expects to receive approximately $100 million in total from the settlement, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in a press conference this week.

As lawsuits and settlements like this play out in courtrooms across the country, people are raising concerns over how this money will be spent.

“Any money we get has to be invested into treatment and prevention,” Hahn said during a news conference Tuesday, rather than reimbursing county agencies “for funds they’ve already expended” on other issues.

She said with her new proposed legislation, the money would go to addiction and mental health treatment centers, methadone clinics, and other support services for people who are addicted to opioids. She also said it is important to make healthcare accessible for people who are addicted.

According to the Suffolk County Addiction and Support Advisory Panel, there were 1,381 reported overdoses, both fatal and non-fatal, in 2019. In 2020 that number increased to 1,515 overdoses in the county. Across the U.S., there were an estimated 93,330 reported overdoses in 2020, which is 5 percent higher than in 2019, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports.

“This was not the drug-slingers on the street who were causing the problem,” Robert Calarco, the presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature, said in a news conference this week. “It was the drug-slingers in executive board offices causing the problem, sending this problem back to us in Suffolk County . . . We are finally holding them accountable today.”

Hahn said she wants to ensure there is no misuse of the settlement money, saying, “It’s important we spend it right.”

Her plan would establish a task force of experts and individuals from organizations like the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence who would assess and decide where the money should go. This settlement is also a big win for LICADD, as its executive director, Steve Chassman, puts it.

“Certain U.S. pharmaceutical companies put dollars and cents ahead of public health and people’s lives. [It] is tragic on many levels,” Mr. Chassman said in an interview this week. “We weren’t just fighting the disease of substance abuse disorder or opioid dependence, we were fighting big capital and big pharma, over-prescribers.”

Johnson and Johnson’s executive vice president, Michael Ullmann, said in a statement on the company’s website this week that “we recognize the opioid crisis is a tremendously complex public health issue . . . This settlement will directly support state and local efforts to make meaningful progress in addressing the opioid crisis in the United States.”

Hahn’s new legislation builds upon her previous work in the Suffolk County Legislature. Because of a bill she wrote in 2012, which was adopted by the Suffolk County Legislature, all Suffolk County Police Department officers are now trained and equipped with a medication called naloxone, also known as Narcan, in order to prevent opioid overdose deaths. New York State eventually followed suit.

According to the New York State Department of Health, in 2019, law enforcement officers across the state reported using naloxone 1,558 times.

Congressional hopefuls offer competing visions

By Dan Stark
Westhampton Beach High School

The 2022 midterm elections are still over a year away, but many candidates have already started their campaigns. Bridget Fleming and Kara Hahn, two Suffolk County Legislators, have announced competing plans to seek the Democratic nomination in New York’s First Congressional District.

Kara Hahn (left) and Bridget Fleming (right) are running for the Democratic nomination in New York’s First Congressional District. (Photos courtesy of Hahn and Fleming campaigns)

The seat is now held by Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley). The district has supported both Democrats and Republicans for Congress and in presidential elections since the 1990s, but has swung rightward over the past decade. In 2020, incumbent President Donald Trump carried the district 51 percent to 47 percent over Joe Biden, while Zeldin won reelection with 55 percent of the vote. But with Zeldin leaving his seat to challenge Andrew M. Cuomo for governor of New York in 2022, Fleming and Hahn say they view his absence as an opportunity to flip the district despite its recent Republican lean.

Fleming, 61, announced her campaign on May 3. She ran for the same seat in the 2020 primary, but finished in third place behind Nancy Goroff and Perry Gershon with 27.5 percent of the vote. She said she was motivated to run by her dissatisfaction with Zeldin, claiming that “his positions don’t accurately reflect our communities.”

Fleming said she has designed her campaign to cover issues that are important to both Democratic voters and swing voters, including infrastructure reform, reducing gun violence, and expanding renewable energy usage on Long Island. In an interview this week, she referred to these as “critically important issues to our community” and said they would be her top priorities if elected to Congress.

Fleming has served as Suffolk County’s 2nd District legislator since 2016. Her district is based on the East End and stretches from Montauk to East Moriches. Previously, she worked as an attorney in Manhattan and served on the Southampton Town Board from 2010 to 2015.

“I’m fortunate in that I’ve had such success with my team in local offices, both with the town board and county legislature,” Fleming said.

Hahn’s campaign launched on June 2. A former social worker, she said her desire to help ease the problems of Long Island residents is her main reason for running.

If elected, healthcare would be one of her top priorities. “It’s so important that we don’t separate healthcare and mental healthcare,” she said during a press conference this week. “It’s all part of healthcare together.”

She also expressed support for fighting climate change, calling it “incredibly important, especially living here on Long Island.”

Another top priority for Hahn is voting rights. She said she is particularly dissatisfied with new, restrictive voting laws passed by states like Georgia, saying, “It’s very frustrating as an American who believes every American has the right to vote.”

Hahn, 50, represents the 5th Legislative District, which includes Port Jefferson, Stony Brook, and Setauket. She has been serving the district since 2011. She currently serves as deputy presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature and served as majority leader from 2016 to 2019.

The date of the primary has not yet been announced by the New York State Board of Elections. The general election will be held on November 8, 2022.

The Suffolk County Democratic Party has yet to endorse a candidate, but Fleming was endorsed by Suffolk County Democratic Committee chairman Rich Schaffer at her campaign launch. She has also been endorsed by Robert Calarco, the presiding officer of the Legislature. Meanwhile, Hahn has been endorsed by Goroff and by New York State Assemblyman Steve Englebright (D-Setauket).

Both legislators have acknowledged that it’s hard running against each other, but they are staying positive about it.

“This is a democratic process,” Fleming said. “Anyone who feels they want to challenge anyone in the primary is welcome to do that.”

Hahn expressed confidence in the Democrats’ chances in the 2022 general election, saying, “I believe one of us will be the next Congressperson.”

Crowds are back at the ball park

By Shayaan Tirmizi
Centereach and

Chloe Findlay
Long Island Lutheran High School

After staying at home for over a year, people are finally beginning to go out in large, outdoor, public gatherings again this summer. Many fans are especially excited to return to Fairfield Properties Ballpark to see the Long Island Ducks play again. People like season ticket holder Dorothy Straus are happy to be back. “No mask, normality is coming back, and I’m very happy about it,” she said.

About 5,500 fans came out to the Long Island Ducks game after more than a year of no games during the COVID-19 crisis (Photo by Chloe Findlay)

Stony Brook University alum Nick Musumeci, 24, was ecstatic to be back at a ballgame. “It’s just nice to be back at a ballgame for a change,” he said. “I miss this.”

While masks weren’t a requirement at the ball bark, some fans chose to wear them. Spectator Tinamarie Zuber was cautious about the COVID-19 variants. “I wish more people had masks on,” Zuber said.

And even with another variant of COVID-19 rapidly spreading, Dr. Sharon Nachman, an infectious disease specialist at Stony Brook University Hospital, described sporting events as safe. “You’re probably okay because you are in an open area, and you’re really not breathing on top of each other,” Nachman said. “You are kind of separated in your seats.”

Fireworks captivated fans at the Long Island Ducks game (Photo by Chloe Findlay)

But Dr. Nachman also emphasized the importance of getting vaccinated. “We do not have a good vaccination rate in young adults, [aged] 12-30 … That can be easily addressed by having more of that age group vaccinated.”

Michael Polak, the vice president of communication for the LI Ducks, said there was an amazing turnout for the July 12 game. “So now I think, since all those [CDC guidelines] have been lifted, we’ve certainly seen more and more people coming out and enjoying games,” Polak said. The ballpark, which has a capacity of about 6,000, was filled with loads of fans eager to cheer the Ducks on. “We had almost 5,500 people this Saturday night when we had fireworks,” Polak added.

He said that he is grateful for the many fans that have supported the team: “We are leading the league in attendance right now, so that’s a really good thing.”

Health care workers still fighting COVID-19

By Julia Capitelli,
North Shore High School and

Tneil Gooden
Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences

Jessica Mongelli, a critical care nurse at Northwell Health Hospital in Lake Success, was dispatched to the front lines of the war against COVID-19 when the pandemic hit the New York area early last year.

Jessica Mongelli and other nurses at Northwell Heath Hospital in Lake Success were on the front lines during the COVID-19 crisis (Photo courtesy of Jessica Mongelli)

“We were the first team that cared for the sickest people in our tri-state area.” she said.

From working directly with COVID patients to seeing the effect COVID had on the hospital’s atmosphere, medical workers were tested in every way possible.

“Being a critical care nurse is really stressful, it requires a mindset where we have to be extremely empathetic but be brave enough to disconnect ourselves because it is the worst time of a family’s life that you are participating in,” she said. “When we were put into the pandemic it was this situation but on steroids.”

The COVID crisis caused a lot of sadness and distrust in where the world was heading.

“When I was caring for a really young patient in his 20s, I lost faith,” Mongelli said. “I felt like we couldn’t save any of these patients. I cried hysterically during a group huddle and I am usually really optimistic.”

Aside from the mental health aspect, lack of equipment was also a challenge.

“There were so many changes in the hospital due to COVID,” said Sasha McKenzie, a medical assistant at Mount Sinai Hospital in Jupiter, Florida. “If we were caring for a patient that had tuberculosis every time we would go into the patient’s room and put on a set of PPE (personal protective equipment), once we came out of the room all that would be discarded.”

She added: “Post COVID, we were literally saving everything possible, PPE’s were being used for the entire day versus a one time entrance into a patient’s room.” There was a limited amount of equipment available due to the high demand for them.

There was also a drastic change in direction in the hospital system because COVID patients became the top priority.

“All hands in every area were on deck,” said Nick Pertoso, a hospital administrator at Montefiore Medical Center in New York. “Separate COVID units were created to handle the influx of people. No surgeries were being done, only COVID. Staff were coming from other facilities just to help out.”

Dr. Andrew Wackett, far right, and some of his fellow first responders. (Courtesy of Dr. Andrew Wackett)

People were taken out of their fields and thrown into COVID scene in such a haste that COVID became the main aspect of the hospital.

Stony Brook University medical students were not immediately deployed — but they sprang into action when they got the call.

“When it first started, we actually had to suspend our medical students from their clinical rotations.” Dr. Andrew Wackett, Vice Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education said. “The reason for it was mainly because of the lack of PPE.”

This was just another obstacle to overcome.

“A lot of it came from the N95 masks, those are very special filtered masks,” Dr. Wackett added. “In the past we would use those masks for other airborne diseases, Tuberculosis is one, measles, but these diseases we don’t see all that frequently, so the amount of masks that healthcare requires for this is very limited.”

Eventually, they were able to obtain more equipment and personnel.

“When we brought [the students] back, the pandemic was still going strong so they actually still had a lot of opportunities to take care of patients also.” Wackett added.

With all of the changes that COVID has forced in both the medical field and the world in general, the question becomes whether we will return to pre-pandemic conditions.

“I do not think that normal is possible post-pandemic,” McKenzie said. “A lot of individuals are now scared and possibly paranoid.”

Unfortunately, COVID’s effects are long lasting.

While we may not be able to return to what “normal” was prior to the pandemic, some lessons were learned. The magnitude and gravity of the event are impossible to ignore. The medical community and world as a whole were faced with the unexpected. Healthcare workers’ perseverance has gotten the world back to a new normal.

“It opened up the eyes that there needs to be more interest placed in public health,” McKenzie said.

News doesn’t stop on campus

By Tyler Wong
Millennium Brooklyn High School

Campus media was hit hard during the pandemic. (Photo by Miles Reese)

COVID-19 has taken millions of lives worldwide but also impacted small institutions including the Statesman, Stony Brook University’s main student publication. Due to the pandemic and now having to stay at home, the Statesman was forced to stop its print version.

“We announced on instagram when COVID broke out in March when it first hit it was the first time we went off of print for the first time in 63 years,” said Brianne Ledda, the Statesman’s former editor-in-chief, “it was really chaotic.”

Aside from the forced change, the pandemic was also a good opportunity for the Statesman to update its norms. “On the other hand, we were able to expand the Statesman’s multimedia capabilities,” Ledda said.

“We launched a weekly newsletter,” Ledda said. “Things continued to evolve.”

When the pandemic hit it forced entire governments to lockdown countries. The lockdowns created ghost towns and cleared campuses, leaving student news outlets like the Statesman unable to cover the news like they normally would.

“We went remote and lost the ability to collaborate,” Ledda said. “It wasn’t quite the same.”

Aside from institutions, several campus staff members were also shocked by the need to pivot to a new mode of operation. Isobel-Breheny Schafer, Assistant Director of Student Media and general manager of WUSB 90.1 and 107.3 FM, said that the campus’ media rose to the challenge of having to adjust to new norms.

“The fact that they were already working in a multimedia mindset made it easier,” Schafer said.

However, with things opening back up, several campus institution members are beginning to see a silver lining when it comes to getting back to normal and being able to once again conventionally cover the news. Sara Ruberg, current editor-in-chief of the Statesman said that it is going to be tough getting back into the normal workflow.

“We are all going to be very busy when school starts,” Ruberg said. “It’s going to be interesting coming back and reinventing the wheel with our news staff.”

Shian-James Harden and Chloe Findlay contributed to this report.