The Great Neck community was shocked, outraged and heartbroken by some of this past year’s events.
Almost 10 times as many voters cast ballots in this year’s Great Neck Library election compared to last year. Behind-the-scenes drama ensued in Mimi Hu’s uncontested race for one of the four trustee seats when Qiping Zhang launched a very aggressive write-in campaign in response to Hu’s defending LGBTQ rights during a conversation on WeChat. While walking through the Street Festival and AutoFest in Great Neck Plaza with her 6-year-old son, Hu was verbally attacked with vicious racial and transphobic slurs, as many onlookers watched in disbelief. Read the story here.
Neighbors were shocked when resident Faye Doomchin, 66, allegedly stabbed a 60-year-old woman visiting from England in her home to “rid the house of evil.” Read the story here.
Many were also quite surprised when Great Neck brothers Parviz and Khosrow Hakimian pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns related to the failure to disclose overseas bank accounts and agreed to pay $15.4 million in civil penalties. Read the story here.
Though numerous residents complained, Judy Youngblood was so outraged that her quaint, quiet street was lit up like a Broadway stage after LED streetlights were installed that she sued the Village of Great Neck, asking for an order restraining the defendants from turning on the streetlight outside her home. Read the story here.
People on the peninsula were heartbroken to learn that 27-year-old Daniel Avinari died from an accidental overdose on Father’s Day. He was just one of at least a dozen Great Neck young adults, ages 16 to 28, who lost their lives in the past five years, prompting North Shore Action to present Suicide Town Hall: Hope and Healing, dedicated to Daniel. Read the story here.
As the winter holidays approached, the community mourned the loss of Former Alert Fire Chief and Village of Great Neck Deputy Mayor Raymond Plakstis, Jr., who passed away at 57 due to a line-of-duty 9/11-related illness. Read the story here.
Wishing you all a happy, healthy 2019, with much good news to celebrate.
