Faces of Long Island celebrates the uniqueness of everyday Long Islanders. In their own words, they tell us about their life experiences, challenges and triumphs. Newsday launched this social media journey into the human experience to shine a light on the diverse people of this wonderful place we call home.

‘I am a new father and I want to teach my daughter how I always live my life by just listening to people.’

New Hyde Park

“I love being a geriatrician. For me, geriatric medicine is not just the care of older adults and vulnerable people; it’s the care of families as a whole. We help people navigate through complex health systems and diseases. Most importantly, we help people to live more functional and enjoyable lives. Many patients come in with a list of 10 doctors and 15 medications. It is my job to try to simplify things so that they can walk or eat better, and spend more quality time with their families.

“My father is a geriatrician as well. There’s a photo that he showed at my wedding of me as a 3-month-old reading a geriatric journal with him. I guess it was ingrained in me that I was going to go into this field. I liked science and writing; medicine incorporates everything. You can make such an impact as a physician, even if it’s not medical. In April 2020, when family members were not allowed in the ER, I spent time with a man who was in his 90s and only had hours of life left. We got his daughter on the phone, and she said incredibly personal things that I don’t think any person should have the privilege of hearing, but we’re there to help facilitate that. Her partner got on and whispered, ‘I don’t know if you can hear me, but I want to ask for permission to marry your daughter.’ I was taken aback. Then he said, ‘No matter where you’re going and no matter what happens, I want you to know that I’m going to be here to care for your daughter forever.’ I was speechless to be included in such a personal moment. The fact that we’re there to facilitate that is more valuable than any medicine than I could have given. The man died a few hours later, but we saved their lives in some ways by allowing that to happen. That experience drives the way I practice medicine.

If you’re not learning something new every day in medicine, you’re not looking around enough. There are certainly not enough of us geriatricians, but it is the most rewarding job.

“It was the most personal moment in the least personal way. I am a new father and I want to teach my daughter how I always live my life by just listening to people. Having that humility that you don’t know much allows you to learn a lot. If you’re not learning something new every day in medicine, you’re not looking around enough. There are certainly not enough of us geriatricians, but it is the most rewarding job.”

The person profiled here has been a guest on Newsday Live.

‘Singing is such a part of human existence. There is no culture on earth that does not sing.’

Nesconset

“I was one of those high school juniors who had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life, career-wise. I’ve always loved music but didn’t know if it was what I really wanted to do. When I was in 11th-grade, we went to this concert and it was a college choir that we heard. I was so moved, I thought to myself, ‘If I can make a living at experiences like this, as a creator of music, then that has to be the direction I go.’ That was kind of how it all started.

“Singing is such a part of human existence. There is no culture on earth that does not sing. We have this drive to make music with our voices. I think in young people it’s especially pronounced. My sons are seven and five and they wake up every morning and we hear them singing in their beds. It’s just something that we do as human beings.

“I teach 10th-through 12th-grade choir and music theory classes. I asked the students recently, ‘What does being involved in the school music program mean to you?’ and they all described the connections that it helped them make with their peers. One of the reasons this year has been so challenging is that it’s been hard to cultivate meaningful connections. For the first three-fourths of this year, the students had to be 12 feet away from each other at all times. Our friends in the phys ed department let us use their space. The pool where we were rehearsing is probably thousands of square feet, and we were so far away that they could barely hear each other. I tried my best and it’s probably the hardest I’ve ever worked.

I work hard not for any recognition but just because I find it so worthwhile. So, the fact that I get to do a job that I love, and then someone’s telling me from the outside that I’m doing a good job is pretty crazy.

“Thankfully, they’ve adjusted the guidelines and it’s been amazing getting to do the ‘choir thing’! In the fall, I found out that I was one of the 25 national semi-finalists for the GRAMMY Music Educator Award. Two of my former students—who are both studying to be music teachers—had nominated me. I did not win the award this year, but it was still really, really cool. I work hard not for any recognition but just because I find it so worthwhile. So, the fact that I get to do a job that I love, and then someone’s telling me from the outside that I’m doing a good job is pretty crazy. My students are extraordinary.”

‘You didn’t see many Rockettes of color when I was growing up.’

Freeport

“Rockettes wasn’t something I ever thought about doing. You didn’t see many Rockettes of color when I was growing up. At the time, they were trying to diversify more. They were having workshops geared toward minorities. I went to these workshops where you learned the precision dance styles and eye-high kicks and I was like, I can really do this. I auditioned a few times and always got far in the process but never quite got the job. After a couple of years, I had moved on to the commercial dance world, I was dancing in movies and TV. But then I came around to audition again and finally got the call. I ended up dancing with the Rockettes for 5 seasons, from 2006 to 2010. It was one of the highlights of my career and it was definitely the hardest job I had. The precision it takes to do that style takes a lot of rehearsal and you have to think about things in dance you’ve never thought of.

I had many people tell me I would never be a professional dancer, that I didn’t have the facility for it. Being strong and knowing what I want to do has carried over in everything I want to do in life.

“I’ve had the time over COVID to focus on what I want to do. I love dance. I love sharing dance. I love mentoring. I wanted to focus, as they did with me, on introducing the world of Rockettes and the world of dance to minorities and young dancers and show them that this is a career you can pursue. That’s been my focus. I want to develop a program where I can encourage dancers of color on Long Island. I’m trying to get dancers that are young to create a funnel of talent to keep feeding the Rockettes.

“I always say the greatest lesson about dance is that you learn discipline and perseverance. That crosses over to everything in life. You can’t have a career in dance if you don’t like to work hard and put in the work. I’ve had that be part of my life since I was 3 years old. I was never a natural talent. I had many people tell me I would never be a professional dancer, that I didn’t have the facility for it. I’ve been told I don’t have the pretty European look. Being strong and knowing what I want to do has carried over in everything I want to do in life. That lesson of being able to push through and get what you want — that has been the ultimate lesson.”

‘Finding a new passion at my age is really exciting. Anybody who has any type of passion should move forward with it at any age.’

East Northport

“My mother dabbled in art, so I was interested as a kid, but I never took an art class. I didn’t start drawing until I was in college and I did one charcoal drawing when I had spare time. It was a pair of shoes that melded into dried, cracked earth. Now I am exhibiting it. After that, I hadn’t done many drawings until I retired about seven years ago. It started out as a hobby.

“People really seemed to like my charcoal drawings. I focused on Long Island and New York City landmarks using photographs that I took. We went on a lot of family trips over the years, so I would use those photos too. Now I’m introducing pastel and splashes of color in my drawing. My wife thinks I draw a lot of architecture because I wanted to be an architect in high school; maybe that’s why my work is very detail-oriented. I’m still using my T-Square that I had used for architectural drawing.

I found Rebuilding Together Long Island. We do safety repairs for existing homeowners that can’t afford to maintain their homes. It’s done by volunteers of mostly retired people. It is very gratifying.

“I always said that if I’m successful in what I’m doing in my career, I have to give back. I do that through my art, but when I retired, I also looked for an organization that was going to have an immediate impact on the community. I found Rebuilding Together Long Island. We do safety repairs for existing homeowners that can’t afford to maintain their homes. Whether it’s electrical, plumbing, floors, fixing Sheetrock — it’s all free. It’s done by volunteers of mostly retired people. It is very gratifying.

“During the pandemic, we built desks for low-income areas that have kids that can’t afford desks or even space for them. It promoted good study habits too. I want to keep challenging myself because I feel like I can do a lot. I’m still pinching myself because people like my work. It takes me four months to make some of it. I’ve had some solo art shows and I’ve been accepted into rotational art programs. I won first place for charcoal drawings in one of them. I’ve been included in library galleries all across Long Island. I’m able to do something that I enjoy, so I consider myself extremely lucky. I owe that to my mother. On my drawing table, I have a photo of her drawing. Finding a new passion at my age is really exciting. Anybody who has any type of passion should move forward with it at any age.”

‘I’m planning on doing a fundraiser in the fall for the ALS Ride for Life, I’ll run a virtual Boston Marathon on the Greenbelt Trail.’

Port Jefferson Station

“I teach the Comsewogue High School choir, direct plays and musicals at the school and I’m the girls’ varsity cross country coach. The mindset required to become skilled at a sport or in music are similar. I was a science major in college, and I changed my major my first year because I was still singing in choirs. There were no music jobs in Massachusetts the year I graduated, not one.

“There were jobs on Long Island, so I moved to teach in East Hampton before I went to Comsewogue. That’s how I met Christine Pendergast. She was a phys-ed teacher there and dean of students, head of the union. She wore many hats. Her husband, Chris, was diagnosed with ALS and he started the Ride for Life, and he ended up raising millions for ALS research. The Ride for Life was going to come to Comsewogue, so I prepared a song for the kids to sing for Chris. Every year, Chris would come, and the kids would sing something they hoped would be meaningful to him like, “Blowin’ in the Wind” or “Fight Song.”

Chris was a big inspiration for that, and I would give him my medals. It was a nice tradition. We had a nice relationship for all those years.

“I ran the Boston Marathon about 20 times, and I would fundraise through the school, we did it for all those years until right before the pandemic. Chris died soon after in October. I’m from Gardner, MA, originally, and I grew up watching my mom running the Boston marathon, so I started running with my husband in 1997. I started doing triathlons, and I did the grandaddy of triathlons in Hawaii. The conditions there are very challenging. It’s very hot, humid and windy but it was really a celebration because I had done so many Ironmans before that. That they gave me an opportunity to compete there was special and to be able to fundraise for Chris.

“Chris was a big inspiration for that, and I would give him my medals. It was a nice tradition. We had a nice relationship for all those years. I’m planning on doing a fundraiser in the fall for the ALS Ride for Life, I’ll run a virtual Boston Marathon on the Greenbelt Trail. I don’t know what’s going to get cancelled because of the pandemic, so I want to plan something that I know that I can do. That way, I can continue to raise money and continue that tradition.”

‘I was drawn to pursue medicine to alleviate the suffering that others experience, and it has been a tremendous source of meaning to be able to be part of a process in which people heal.’

Calverton

“I was drawn to pursue medicine to alleviate the suffering that others experience, and it has been a tremendous source of meaning to be able to be part of a process in which people heal. I was always struck how people with substance issues were misunderstood, stigmatized or viewed as a caricature by the community at large and by medical providers. As I started to encounter people who specialized in treating addictions, I understood it as a complex yet treatable disease.

“I’m medical director at Wellbridge, an addiction treatment center in Calverton with collaboration between scientists and clinicians. Most medical schools have less than two hours of addiction-focused training in four years of medical training. Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, where I’m an associate professor of psychiatry, is expanding the amount of addiction-focused training to 40 hours. That goes a really long way. One of the primary areas of how to manage addictions, is teaching people how to communicate effectively and utilize their skills. That can change their behaviors and instill more hope that they can decrease the use of drugs and alcohol and lead to an array of healthy habits and coping skills.

Addiction itself is a complex disease that’s often marked by shame, embarrassment and denial and that can often make it challenging for someone struggling to be receptive to care and support. To be able to navigate that process requires a relationship with trust and safety.

“At Wellbridge, we have a resident addiction treatment program and a center for addiction science with lots of research activities that work very closely with our clinical activities. A close marriage between science and clinical care is a very well-established playbook from other areas of medicines, like oncology and cardiology. But there have been barriers to transition this work into the addiction arena. Very often, people struggling with addiction say their experiences in general medical settings have been really difficult.

“Addiction itself is a complex disease that’s often marked by shame, embarrassment and denial and that can often make it challenging for someone struggling to be receptive to care and support. To be able to navigate that process requires a relationship with trust and safety. Addiction is a treatable condition and the first and critical step is to reach out for support.”

The person profiled here has been a guest on Newsday Live.

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘Despite all the trials, teaching children is the most rewarding job you will have.’

Wheatley Heights

“I always wanted to be a teacher since I was little. I’m one of six children and we had one TV, so we had no choice but to make up games and we always played school. I got my teaching degree, but teaching is my second career. I was working for Chase Manhattan Bank and I was really moving up in the company, I got to travel all over the country. Because of that position and promotions that I was receiving, I decided to put the thought of being a teacher to the side.

“But my thoughts changed because I was a single mother at the time and I wanted to spend more time with my son, Marcus, who is now 26 years old. My Mom said, “You have your degree, go teach so you can be home when he’s home.” I’ve been at Hempstead schools for the past 20 years, got my masters, and during that time I met my husband, Jarvis. He helped me get through my masters, when I was up late studying, he was helping me take care of Marcus. I have been involved in the union for a long time, now I’m president of Hempstead Classroom Teachers Association. I always believed in fighting for people who didn’t have a voice. My father was in the New York City transit union and I remember him fighting for wage increases and benefits.

I encourage people who enjoy working with children to not let it bring you down, to stay on the path because it’s so rewarding.

“My husband is union president in the Town of Oyster Bay, so we support and help each other. Our contract expired in 2013 but we haven’t had any raises since 2010, so I’m fighting for a contract for my members. We’re the ones on the front line, doing the work, especially during COVID-19. A lot of the teachers work a second job, including myself, I have to do a little extra just to make sure my kids have what they need. I have members who are waiters, they tutor, they drive for Uber. Many teachers are leaving the profession in the middle of the school year and we’re going to have a teacher shortage. My son is going to school to be a math teacher and I’m encouraging him to continue that work because we need more teachers of color, especially in math and science. I encourage people who enjoy working with children to not let it bring you down, to stay on the path because it’s so rewarding. Despite all the trials, teaching children is the most rewarding job you will have.”

The person profiled here has been a guest on Newsday Live.

‘I speak to women, to youth, to minorities. I love the fact I have access to knowledge where I can impact and change someone’s life.’

South Islip

“Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of empathy towards children. There was a lack of love. I became very depressed. I didn’t feel heard or valued. I would go to school and keep my head down and get amazing grades, but if there’s no positive reinforcement that kid loses self-esteem. A 100 on a test doesn’t mean anything if no one at home is proud of you. That left me feeling unwanted and unloved for a long time. In ninth grade, I got so depressed I wanted to end my life. I tried twice and it wasn’t until the second time when I was admitted to the hospital that they said they weren’t going to release me back to my parents.

“For all of 10th grade, I was in and out of different schools and group homes. I was placed permanently in a group home my 11th grade year and I was more focused than ever on not staying there for a long period of time. I just knew I had a bigger purpose than being in the system. I didn’t want to be stagnant and I knew if I graduated and attempted college or to work, I would have a better shot at some normalcy for my life.

The motivation to do all this came from myself. The little girl no one ever listened to, I always go back to that girl. I had so many ideas and goals for myself that no one paid attention to. It wasn’t important to anyone. I only had myself to lean on.

‘The first day of 11th grade, I walked into my guidance counselor’s office and asked how I could graduate by the time I turned 18. I went to school year-round. I did summer school, night school, and I graduated at 17. Now, I’m the neighborhood aide for the Office of Minority affairs with the county executive’s Department of Human Services. I focus on community outreach; I see what is lacking in the community and in minority areas. I speak to women, to youth, to minorities. I love the fact I have access to knowledge where I can impact and change someone’s life.

‘The motivation to do all this came from myself. The little girl no one ever listened to, I always go back to that girl. I had so many ideas and goals for myself that no one paid attention to. It wasn’t important to anyone. I only had myself to lean on. Even now, things are better, but it’s still my job to protect that little girl. When I’m faced with things, I won’t disappoint her. I pull up strength from the depths of my soul and get things done.”

‘Art is itself a language. I want to eventually combine the neuroscience and art into art therapy.’

Jericho

“I grew up in India and I had a knack for biological sciences, I completed my master’s in Zoology, and I was ready to venture ahead. My dream was to come to America and do research work and pursue a PhD. I came here all by myself and studied neuroscience at Louisiana State University. But since childhood I loved drawing, sketching and painting.

“I met and married my husband, finished my PhD, and started my post doctorate fellowship at Mount Sinai. I was working there when I had my baby. I struggled between being a mom and being a scientist. I realized I’m not happy, I can’t give enough time to my kid nor to my research. In neuroscience I learned that the first few years in a child’s life is very important, so I had to step back and focus on him and get him on the proper footing.

“Being with my son full-time at home, I started drawing and painting again. It grew more and I learned more techniques that I saw online, and more avenues opened up. India is my foundation; my parents are still there, and I visit India but America helped me blossom. Now I do different types of painting, airbrush, marble painting, fluid art painting and more.

I don’t even speak the language, but I felt this art gives me a lot of self-esteem, a lot of confidence and at the same time it’s very therapeutic, your brain is always thinking of something.

“I found that I can do some optical illusions in sketching. I was interested because I studied in neuroscience how our eyes get adjusted to optical illusions. I was editorial coordinator of my child’s school magazine, “Pen and Ink,” and now I’m involved in Maharashtra Mandal, New York, people from India joining together. They use my paintings on their magazine cover page. I don’t even speak the language, but I felt this art gives me a lot of self-esteem, a lot of confidence and at the same time it’s very therapeutic, your brain is always thinking of something.

“Art is itself a language. I want to eventually combine the neuroscience and art into art therapy. Art can make me very happy. I think about how to bring people together and create things with them, especially with kids with ADHD and adults who are depressed, how this art can help improve their brain activity, their calmness.”

‘I realized I’d have to insert myself in the world in a way that felt like I had confidence because I had none at all except for with my piano playing and songwriting.’

Garden City

“I was not a particularly sociable young man. Theater and being able to play piano was a way for me to not ‘literally’ communicate with people, but to still communicate with people. I felt really uncomfortable being at a high school party and doing the things you’re supposed to do at high school parties that I’ve seen in teen movies, but I felt really comfortable at the party if the family had a piano and I could sit and play a song from ‘Les Mis.’ It was a great way for me to be like, ‘Hey, this is who I am,’ without actually ever having to communicate with another human being. That continued for me through undergrad at NYU.

“When I got there I realized I’d have to insert myself in the world in a way that felt like I had confidence because I had none at all except for with my piano playing and songwriting. I knew I wanted to write musical theater and would write the music with somebody else’s lyrics. Then I realized that finding another person to write the lyrics for me would involve having to insert myself into social situations with other human beings who I didn’t know. I thought, ‘What a terrible idea! I should just write lyrics myself.’

“By the end of my time in undergrad, lyrics became just as important to me as the music. I turned into the man I am as my writer voice was taking shape. My work has always been so tied to who I am as a person and how I’ve moved about the world. It doesn’t feel that long ago where I was nervous about being in small groups of people. It’s so funny to me that I don’t even think about it anymore. It’s the same with performing. When I was a kid I loved theater so much and I just wanted to be in the theater even though it scared me. I loved the environment.

“If there was anything I could do to be in a theater I would do it, even if it terrified me. I never imagined 15 years ago that I would be able to casually get on a Broadway stage with a keyboard and play a concert off-the-cuff, or that I would be playing a concert at Lincoln Center, talking to the audience and playing my own stuff. It’s not even work now. I love it and it’s just another day! It’s so far removed from what more than half of my life was.”

“When I started writing musicals, I was most fascinated by what it feels like for people who feel like they don’t quite fit in. I am fascinated by people who don’t necessarily seem remarkable in general. Part of that is from growing up in Garden City, in the suburbs. It’s not like living in New York City or Hollywood. It’s this idea that this is where normal people are. Finding the strangeness and the weirdness in people who are either normal or on the fringes is ingrained in me.

“I have many songs where a character will have a huge emotional moment, but the subject matter of the song is very small. In ‘Michael in the Bathroom’ from ‘Be More Chill,’ Michael has a panic attack in the bathroom about getting in a fight with his friend. I have a song in ‘The Black Suits’ called ‘Social Worker’ about a kid having a panic attack recounting a visit to the school social worker; he says the visit is no big deal. I love the idea of using musical theater to examine small moments and dramatize them in a way that makes them as dramatic on a stage as they feel in real life.

“The natural progression of that is looking at characters who normally have to exist on the sidelines. I’m drawn to misfits because in my experience, I have certainly felt like that. I have been able to find my tribe and find my family. I love that I think that’s something that happens in real life and I want to try to do that in my art. What’s funny about that is even in the show where everyone’s a misfit, there’s still going to be people who are more ‘misfitty’ than others. I’m always like, ‘But what happens to that one when she leaves?’ or ‘Why can’t that one have a song?’

“That’s why in my musicals I have huge songs for characters that other people would call minor. They’re only minor because we happen to be watching a story about character A, but when character B walks off the stage, they’re the center of their own story. That’s something that so amazing about theater, because at a certain point someone will have a scene and they’ll walk out of the playing space of that room and go somewhere. I love thinking about how that character is going somewhere and we don’t know where!”

“As my voice was forming as a musical theater writer, I wrote my first musical, ‘The Black Suits,’ which is set in Garden City. It’s about a high school garage band trying to win a Battle of the Bands. I couldn’t help but write about the suburbs and the world that I grew up in. When people see it or listen to it, they automatically assume that I was a rocker kid who was in a band. That could not be farther from the truth. As much as I see a lot of my own life and the people in my life in that show, it’s not autobiographical at all. It was this idea of looking at a garage band like a family that comes together with the knowledge that college is going to break everyone apart. That came from this idea of working on theater and being in rehearsal.

I love the idea of using musical theater to examine small moments and dramatize them in a way that makes them as dramatic on a stage as they feel in real life.

“I came up with the idea when I was musical directing my brother’s production of ‘The Wiz’ at Garden City High School. I was in undergrad and they had lost their musical director, so I did it. Being around high school kids after I was four years removed from high school made me feel like there was a real connection. I wanted to write something about theater and this idea that you’re so close to these people, you spend all of your time with them, and then the show opens and you don’t see them anymore. ‘The Black Suits’ comes from how it’s so celebratory but also melancholy. It takes on a new meaning now because of the last few really wild years. I was working pretty constantly after writing ‘Be More Chill’ and seeing it have a life on Broadway. BMC led right into ‘Broadway Bounty Hunter’ Off-Broadway, and that led to ‘Love in Hate Nation’ at Two River Theater, and that led to BMC in London. It was really exciting, and then the pandemic happened and shut it down.

“It has been the strangest year because I have been going nonstop since 2017 and then it felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. The city has always felt like home because my grandparents and my aunt would take me there all the time when I was a kid. I never thought there was any way that New York City was going to shut down. I could not imagine a world where Broadway was not happening even for a day. The fact that it has been this long is beyond wild.”