Honoring One of Long Islands Fallen Heroes

 

Garden City Park Volunteer Fire Chief Thomas Regan was laid to rest on Saturday February 19^th, 2011. Nearly a month earlier he was severely injured when he fell on the ice conditions in his driveway while responding to a carbon monoxide alarm. He was quickly taken to the hospital, but critical injuries to his spinal cord and the back of his brain proved too severe to be overcome. He passed away with his family at his side early morning on February 17.

           
There were at first some minor issues with the services were held at the Dalton Funeral home on February 16^th from 2-5 and 7-10 PM. With two locations: one in New Hyde Park and one in Floral Park, many mourners from the New Hyde Park area at first went to their local location, only to find out that the service was relocated to the Floral Park funeral home location due to additional space and parking.

The funeral at Notre Dame the morning of February 19^th 2011 proved to be a local morning of mourning with hundreds attending from across the area. Besides family and his large brotherhood of firefighters; an entire community displayed an out-pour of support in honor of a man who had given back so much to others.

 Thomas Regan served as a New York City Deputy Fire Chief for over 30 years. His tenure with the Garden City Park volunteer department is even longer, over 35 years. As a Chief who had fallen in the line of duty, Regan was laid to rest with full honors, and an extraordinary showing of both the FDNY and our local Nassau County volunteers.

          

            Regan, 83, is survived by his wife Elsie, two sons (Thomas and Timothy) and daughter (Christina) as well as 10 grandchildren. Besides his long tenure with the Fire Departments, Regan was a distinguished veteran of the Korean War. His service to his country and community was greatly valued, and though he has passed he will not be forgotten by hundreds if not thousands of family, friends and neighbors.

Ed Mangano: Making Nassau County Filmmaker Friendly

(Photo courtesy of www.seabythecity.com the unofficial blog of Long Beach)

NIFA (Nassau Interim Finance Authority) might be making its play to take over control of the county finances, but County Executive Edward P. Mangano has found a way to create millions of dollars in business with quite a unique approach.

Nassau County has become a new haven for the film industry. With a County initiative , the film and television industry has been utilizing available County facilities. Thanks to the initiative Nassau County saw a combination of over 30 films and television programs filmed in the 2010 fiscal year. With over $75 million infused into the economy, there was a clear boost to both the local economy and overall County revenue.

There were plenty of celebrities filming on Long Island, Nassau County especially; with A-Lister's such as Angelina Jolie and Samuel L. Jackson among the prolific of the bunch. It's not just about giving incentives to reel in the big fish, it's also about providing upstart opportunities for local filmmakers- not just the recent graduates of NYU's film school- the hardworking creative minds that are searching for opportunities to expand the local film scene.

Local filmmakers have noticed the County efforts. Adam Lawrence, co-founder of local production company Beast of the East Productions has expressed his support for the successful initiative.

"It’s great. They built Grumman Studios in Bethpage. They’ve shot a whole bunch of different stuff there already: those Peyton Manning Sony commercials (See Photo Below), parts of the film Salt, and even parts of the upcoming film The Avengers.  It’s forgotten that Long Island has a huge film community, and seeing Hollywood actors in your neighborhood can really drum up interest at the box office. We [Long Island} seems to fall into the 2^nd tier category under Manhattan in the region. Filming out here is really good business all around. These tax incentives bring jobs, and it shines a light on a county that is always overshadowed by the city."

(Peyton Manning and Justin Timberlake filming 

their Sony commercial at Grumman Studios)

(Photo courtesy of Grumman Studios)

While it doesn't look like Hollywood needs to worry about its place in the film industry, Nassau County is a unique location, providing a vast range of locations: beaches, plains, suburbs; not to mention being close enough to the mountains and of course New York City.  Out of the hundreds of Manhattan based filmmakers, the initiative might prove a haven for the upstart and established alike in an effort to trim costs in the tight economic situation.

Introduction

Long Island Politics Today is here to serve as a blog focusing on a myriad of issues that can and do effect Long Islanders on a daily basis. Within this large suburban community we can easily forget about the daily events that shape the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people that reside here.

Politics and Current Events will be the subject matter, with a specific lens to students and young adults. High school and University age students as well as recent graduates and young adults access information via the internet more often than any other demographic, and this blog will be tailored specifically to you.

Brett Hunter Spielberg

Adelphi University 13'

brettspielberg@gmail.com