New Hyde Park board remembers late trustee at meeting

Rebecca Klar
New Hyde Park Mayor Lawrence Montreuil said the presence of Trustee Donald Barbieri, who died last week, will always be felt in Village Hall. (Photo by Rebecca Klar)

There may have been an open spot where Trustee Donald Barbieri sat for 18 years on the New Hyde Park village board during Tuesday’s meeting, but his presence still filled Village Hall, Mayor Lawrence Montreuil said.

“Donny will always be in this room with us,” Montreuil said.

Barbieri died Feb. 23 at 58 after a decadeslong battle with multiple sclerosis.

Trustee Donna Squicciarino said Barbieri never stopped working for the village.

She said even when Barbieri could not attend meetings he would call her regularly.

“I was shocked at our conversations,” she said. “Most times he’d read all the emails, gone through all the documents – he’d raise things that I missed even.”

Trustee Richard Coppola said that despite everything Barbieri went through he “got up, he smiled, he was a fighter.”

Coppola added that Barbieri “bled New Hyde Park blue.”

Trustee Richard Palisco called Barbieri a “rock for this village.”

During the meeting the board also unanimously approved a special use hearing for Lavanya Akula, owner of Genome Pharmacy at 1105 Jericho Turnpike, to sell candy, ice cream, milk, yogurt and frozen drinks at her store.

Akula said she will not be preparing food or drinks at the store, just selling pre-made refreshments.

Montreuil also updated the public on the Long Island Rail Road Third Track project.

He said he recently met with representatives from the Long Island Rail Road as well as 3rd Track Constructors, the design and building firm hired to construct the project.

Montreuil said residents will begin to see preliminary work in coming weeks, including workers diggings “test pits” and removing vegetation by the tracks.

He also said the village was told it will get a rolling four-week look ahead issued weekly for the duration of the project, and he said he will keep residents updated.

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