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 became a phys ed teacher in Massapequa, but wanted to do something more. My business partner and I lived together in East Islip. We’d sit up at night and talk about things that interested us.’

Huntington

“Even when I was a kid, I wanted to make sure people around me were happy. If someone was at my house, I would always make sure they had enough food on their plate. That’s still me today. I like to take care of people, and I think that part of my personality connected me to the hospitality business.

“I’m from Huntington, but finished school in Islip, between 10th and 12th grades after my parents split. I was a big sports guy and played football, wrestling and lacrosse. I’m also a big foodie, and when you’re a wrestler, being a foodie is tough during the winters. I would lose 20-plus pounds just to reach a certain weight to wrestle and had to cut down how much I could put into my body. I would even eat flavored ice cubes to help control myself. I will say, after I would weigh in, my pop would always cheer me up with an egg sandwich or something.

“I went to college for phys ed. I wrestled as a freshman, but then didn’t want to anymore, and I thought about football, but when I changed schools my new school canceled their program, so I stopped sports and called it quits in my early 20s.

Sports didn’t teach me anything about owning a restaurant but did put me in a place where I didn’t want to fail at anything.

“I became a phys ed teacher in Massapequa, but wanted to do something more. My business partner and I lived together in East Islip. We’d sit up at night and talk about things that interested us. Food was always a big one.

“One day while on a lunch break, I was driving around and found a space in Massapequa Park. I fell in love and pictured it as a little burrito joint. I told my buddy, and we got the money together. He stopped what he was doing, I stopped what I was doing, and never looked back.

“One of the fun things about opening a restaurant is tasting all the food. It really unleashed fun eating for me, which is different after being so selective for sports. You’d bulk up for football, then slim down for wrestling, but now I’m just free.

“Sports didn’t teach me anything about owning a restaurant but did put me in a place where I didn’t want to fail at anything. A restaurant was a new venture, and now I have two. I do think my athletic background gave me a fighting-for-another-inch mentality that helped propel my success so far. I think that competitive nature helped get us to this point.”

Interviewed by Ian J. Stark

‘I remember that little girl version of me coming to Broadway, and now my picture is on the train from my own show.’

Bohemia

“As an understudy, it’s very hard to step into roles where people expect to see someone else. Throughout my time with ‘Waitress,’ I’ve had immensely big shoes to fill for the many leading ladies.

“The hardest was filling in for Sara Bareilles. She wrote it and sings it like a songbird. People paid a lot of money to see her. Even though I’ve done it so many times, it doesn’t get easier because I want to do the person they’re hoping to see justice.

“I go on and think, ‘Just have fun and celebrate your hard work.’ I’ve learned that I’m stronger than I think, and I can lead a show and have people be happy at the end of it.

“Growing up, I looked forward to taking the Long Island Rail Road to see Broadway shows. I grew up in the competitive dance world. I did a lot of sports at Connetquot High School. In the 10th grade, they needed dancers for ‘Oklahoma!’ so I decided to help them out and had the best time. As a junior, I didn’t do sports and got one of the leads in ‘Les Misérables.’ The rest is history. I did community theater at CM Performing Arts Center, then attended AMDA, and was very lucky when, at 21, I got the first national tour of ‘Wicked’ as the Elphaba understudy.

At the end of the show, we break the ‘fourth wall,’ look into the audience and celebrate together.

“I remember getting the call on the LIRR as I was going to a dentist appointment. I just sobbed! As an original cast member in ‘Waitress,’ I’ve seen that when you get to do what you do and how it changes people, you don’t take it for granted. We have moments where people express what our performance has done for them, and we’re surprised.

“It’s in those moments that I couldn’t love what I do more. At the end of the show, we break the ‘fourth wall,’ look into the audience and celebrate together. Even with masks on, we see people crying happy tears or smiling. It’s a moment of realizing that we can all go through this journey of ups and downs together.

“Recently, the MTA campaigned with Broadway to help promote the ‘Only Sure Way to Make it to Broadway.’ They recreated a 1970s campaign with amazing photos. I was asked to represent ‘Waitress’ in the shoot.

“It’s crazy because I remember that little girl version of me coming to Broadway, and now my picture is on the train from my own show.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘I soloed at age 17, flew an airplane by myself and received my private pilot certificate. I didn’t even have a driver’s license yet.’

West Gilgo Beach

“I was always interested in airplanes as a little kid. Growing up, I saw movies like ‘Iron Eagle’ and ‘Top Gun,’ that’s what did it. My dad was in the Army; he didn’t fly, but I was interested in military jets. Before I entered Central Islip High School, I went on a tour and there was a desk for the Eastern Suffolk BOCES program, and the guy said to me, ‘Hey kid, do you want to fly airplanes?’ I was like, ‘Of course.’ They had a flying program at Brookhaven Calabro Airport called Suffolk Aviation Academy.

“I finished 12th grade, I soloed at age 17, flew an airplane by myself and received my private pilot certificate. I didn’t even have a driver’s license yet. The first person I took flying as a pilot was my dad, and he had to drive us to the airport. I’m a Puerto Rican kid from Central Islip. I never would have had the opportunities had it not been for that program, but now it’s gone. I always had the passion for flying, but I took a break because it was expensive, so I got my associate’s degree in business, and I started working.

The instructor told me I would be a good controller; he encouraged me to take the test.

“I met a girl, and she suggested I go back to flight school because I was talking about it all the time. I went to Dowling College, which rented space to the flight school in the BOCES program. The assistant chief pilot was someone I went to BOCES with; he encouraged me to come back. Nothing happens by chance, so I knew I had to go there. I got my Bachelor of Science in general aeronautics and Master of Business in aviation management. I worked there, too, and eventually became the chief dispatcher there, so I had free tuition. They had a virtual simulation of an air traffic control tower. The instructor told me I would be a good controller; he encouraged me to take the test.

“I got hired as an air traffic controller and sent to Buffalo. I married that young lady who got me back into flying, and we’ve been married 14 years, and we have two kids. Now I’m at New York TRACON, and we handle arrivals and departures for Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia Airports. I still fly on the side and I’m a flight instructor. I meet interesting people as a flight instructor at a flight school at Republic Airport. The extra money is cool, but I just do it because I really love flying.”

Interviewed by Rachel O’Brien – Morano

‘I said, “Ronald, if you’re going to run your first marathon, do the biggest, the NYC Marathon.”’

Centerport

“You have 45 good years; I call that youth. Then you have an option, depending on your genes, of going downhill or, depending upon your decisions, going uphill. When I hit 45, I decided I had to start doing something for my body and health. I went up to the beach parking lot and started running. I found out two things: I was not very good at it, but I enjoyed it. So I bought running shoes, and I followed a program to be able to run 30 minutes straight — and I loved it. I found there was a spiritual component where running put me into a different zone, and the kinds of issues that come up in life fade out and the ambience starts to take over.

“When I turned 67, I started to really challenge myself. I joined a running club. I started to run short races. Then something happened. I fell. I face-planted and broke my neck. I broke the same bone the actor Christopher Reeve broke, who became paralyzed. The neurosurgeon saved my life.

I had my name on my chest and my back and people were yelling out, ‘Go Ron!’

“I didn’t run for a year. On top of all that, I found out I had a very virulent cancer growing in my right kidney. I lost my kidney and I lost another year. Then I got back into running, but I was extremely slow. When the pandemic started, I couldn’t go to the gym, so I started running six miles on a regular basis. By May 2021, I could run 20 miles. A light bulb went off: If you can run 20 miles, you can run 26.2. I said, ‘Ronald, if you’re going to run your first marathon, do the biggest, the New York City Marathon.’

“So, the Sunday of the marathon came, and it was everything you see on TV. I had my name on my chest and my back and people were yelling out, ‘Go Ron!’ I ran it under 9 hours. The conventional wisdom is when you run a marathon, rest for two weeks to a month. But I went out three days later on Wednesday. I said, ‘I’m just going to walk.’ After two miles, I started to run. I felt stronger than I did the week before the marathon.

“I have to figure out what to do as an encore. Maybe I’ll start to take swimming lessons and do a triathlon. I’m 76. I always used to think in terms of 10- and 20-year plans, but in 20 years I’ll be 96. There is an end somewhere down the line. But as long as I can keep pushing, I’m going to keep pushing.”

‘Boxing with other people is kind of like a chess game. You have to figure things out; you don’t just start whaling on people.’

Merrick

“I started boxing when I was 15 or 16. My dad got me into it. When I was growing up, I had pictures of myself at 4 or 5 years old with gloves on, but I didn’t know how to box. My dad found this boxing coach and I figured I’d try it out. My entire family boxes: my brother, dad, cousins. I’ve been with coach Nic Gialourakis at Slick Sluggers Boxing in Mineola, and he’s been training me for about four years now.

“I started it for self-defense. I’m a small girl, 5 foot and 130 pounds, and growing up, my mom wanted me to protect myself. I love the sport so much that I’m continuing with it. I’m slowly transitioning into doing it as more of a sport, boxing against men and women.

“I’m 19 now; I manage the boxing gym with coach Nic. I’m not coaching yet, but if I sit down and study the program, I can do it because I have that foundation underneath me. I picked up a lot of skills and techniques.

You have to read people. Boxing is a mental thing; you have to study the sport like a science.

“I was going to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and I took a semester off, but I’m going back to Nassau Community College for criminal justice. I’m probably going to be a cop in the NYPD; both my parents are retired NYPD, so I want to follow in their footsteps.

“In the first four lessons of boxing, you get a quick foundation — to understand your position, your straight punches, uppercuts and hooks, defensive skills like slipping, blocking and rolling. If you continue, you build up your skills and get a lot more comfortable with reacting. It’s all repetition. With anything you keep practicing, you get better.

“This would help me as a cop. I know you can continue it from there, even the NYPD has a boxing league. It’s 100 percent discipline. I’m very impatient and anxious where I like to get things done. Boxing with other people is kind of like a chess game. You have to figure things out; you don’t just start whaling on people.

“You have to read people. Boxing is a mental thing; you have to study the sport like a science. It’s not just throwing punches. Everyone has their own different styles; you can see what people are going to do.”

Interviewed by Rachel O’Brien – Morano