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.

‘It makes so much sense to combine dance with ASL because, even though deaf people can’t hear it, dance itself, like ASL, is a visual language.’

Alexandra LaPlaca, Hicksville

“Dance is just me. It’s the purest form of self-expression that I will ever get. I feel most comfortable and at home when I am dancing. I fell in love with dance at one of my first recitals. Everybody tells me that I cried because I didn’t want to go on. If you were to tell me that now, I wouldn’t believe you because I beg to be onstage all the time! I remember being in the back of the audience waiting to bring my dad on, because dads were joining us.

“I’ve performed at June Claire Dance Center my whole life, and we do shows at the Tilles Center. In sixth grade, we had the option to take American Sign Language. I wanted to learn more about it, and I fell in love with it.

“There’s a musicality to signing because everyone signs at their own pace, and there’s different pauses and beats. There’s a whole community of deaf people who take dance. It makes so much sense to combine dance with ASL because, even though deaf people can’t hear it, dance itself, like ASL, is a visual language.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do what makes you happy.

“Dance is performance in storytelling. I’m also a dance student at Long Island High School for the Arts, and I’m looking at dance programs in colleges now. I’d eventually like to get my master’s degree in deaf education. I also want to continue performing.

“Through student-teaching at June Claire, I’ve learned that the best way to connect with kids is to be open and transparent with them. It’s important to realize with kids who are passionate about dancing that I was once that same kid who looked up to my student teachers and teachers, watched them dance and rewatched videos to see how they moved.

“I feel so privileged to be where I am with the ability that I have now. I’ve learned to let loose and not get in my head as much, which is hard, but it’s the only way that I’ll fully enjoy it. Dance has always been therapeutic. Any stress I have evaporates when I’m in the studio.

“For other people who want to dance, I recommend they try a bit of everything and see what makes them feel the most at home. I don’t need to dance with anyone watching; I can just be in a studio with music and I’d be happy. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do what makes you happy.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘The fact that I could make a living doing what I was doing made me very happy.’

Maurice Brandon Curry, Hicksville

“I started as a kid. My mom danced, and I was the last child, and my mom always had the hope that one of us would dance. Growing up in Manhattan, I was the only one left. I hated it at first, absolutely hated it. We had a recital, and people brought me presents, and my mother told me I couldn’t open those presents until I performed. And then when I got on the stage, I said, OK, this is cool. I was very young, and I loved it after that.

“I was 15 when I became an apprentice at New York City Ballet. I danced with them about a year and a half, but I wanted to do musical theater. I wanted to do other forms of dance, and that was how it all came to be. I did a lot of musical theater. I never did Broadway, but a lot of regional theater.

I definitely think we have created something very, very special.

“I was always happy to be working; being able to work was a gift. The fact that I could make a living doing what I was doing made me very happy. Looking back on how my role changed, I was always that kid who played with the boxes more than I played with the toys. I could make the box anything I wanted. I naturally fell into leadership positions, putting together little tours or shows here and there, choreographing some things. It kind of naturally evolved.

“I was the director of educational programs at Joffrey Ballet, artistic director of Lexington Dance Theater in South Carolina; I worked with the Boys Choir of Harlem as their choreographer for a while. I’ve done everything I wanted to do. In 2015, a former student heard the artistic director of Eglevsky [Ballet] was leaving and she called me, looking for someone to help them find a new director. I wasn’t interested in the job, but I said sure, I’ll help you find someone.

“But I got empathetic to the fact that these kids needed a leader, and that was what made me take the job. I think there is a historical element to holding this position. Mr. [Andre] Eglevsky started this company to teach kids, and I think that alone was super important — upholding the standards he set from the beginning, while balancing it with how dance has evolved. By upholding those standards that Mr. Eglevsky set from the beginning, I definitely think we have created something very, very special.”

Interviewed by Barbara Schuler

‘I really turned this pain into purpose, and it just continues to get better and better … I’m no longer scared.’

Cody Louis Cohen, Hicksville

“I was going through so much in my life from 2014 to 2020, where I was suffering from a very rare illness, Granulomatosis with polyangiitis. I was fighting for my life. My father ran off, so it was just my mother, my brother and sister and me having to fend for ourselves.

“And what came to mind was, I wonder if people who live in these estates suffer, too. Or is it all perfect, you know? From my head, I’m assuming they have a perfect picture of life. If you have a house like that, you know, must be a great family, must have a lot of friends, too. But I wonder what goes on behind the door. Is it as perfect as it looks?

“But I know looks can be deceiving. So then I came up with this idea for a show that portrays the truth. I was inspired by a lot of my own experiences growing up on Long Island. I would hear things about these families that I thought were perfect, and it made me realize we all have issues and we all struggle.

“It was here in Oyster Bay at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park where it all started, where I was inspired to write ‘Gold Coast.’”

“I used to come here to clear my head, walk down the water, just take a breath even when it felt like I was on quicksand. I was inspired to write the pilot for my show because after everything that I was going through in my life, from my illness to other personal issues. I would come here, and I would stare at these beautiful mansions across the water.

Growing up, I could never really say my feelings toward this environment.

“The show is called ‘Gold Coast,’ and it’s about six close friends on Long Island and how each one of them is hiding a secret, or they have an issue they can’t reveal and how they’re feeling the pressure from their family, trying to keep up that perfect picture of life. But as life always goes, their issues are coming above the surface that they tried to hide for so long. It shows the kids are living in this moment, but they’re also carrying the burden of their parents’ pasts and why they moved.

“Writing this show really healed me. Although it wasn’t 100 percent based on my life, it was the first time I felt like my experiences were being heard. Growing up, I could never really say my feelings toward this environment. And now having written this show, I feel free. This is how I feel, and you can disagree with me and that’s OK, but this was my interpretation of my experiences.

“The thing about chronic conditions is that they are forever. People sometimes think, ‘Oh, he was sick, but he’s fine now.’ I have my good days, I have my bad days. And at the end of the day, I still deal with a lot of trauma. I am so thankful for my mom, my brother and sister and my girlfriend. We are a tight family, and we all lean on each other.

“And that’s the most exciting thing I can tell people. I really turned this pain into purpose, and it just continues to get better and better. And now I’m excited for the future. I’m no longer scared.”

Interviewed by Maggie Melito

‘I like to serve the community because I live here. I see these people every day, whether here at the shop, restaurants or while in the grocery store.’

Hicksville

“We came to this country in 1994 with nothing in our pockets. My first job barely made the end goals. My brother-in-law was in the gas station business. He said, ‘Hey, why don’t you come and join me?’ I started as an outside full-service gas attendant and worked my way up to a night cashier and then a day cashier. My boss saw potential in me and gave me the job of assistant manager at the shop. This was back in 1998, and ever since, I have been running the shop. In June 2021, we took over the whole gas station: the service, the gas as well as the convenience store. My new name, AJ Petroleum, is the first initial of my wife and cousin’s name.

“I like to serve the community because I live here. I see these people every day, whether here at the shop, restaurants or while in the grocery store. It is not just a salesmanship here. I have a relationship with the customers — not just because they have a car, but just because we live in the same area. When I am out with my family on the weekend or day off, I see them. We meet. We talk. It’s not just a relationship that, ‘Hey, you’re my mechanic and that’s it.’ Outside the shop we also have a relationship with the customers.

I take every single car that I bring into the shop personally.

“I try my best to help them in any which way I can. Sometimes they don’t have enough money to pay the whole bill. So I give them the opportunities to pay in payments so at least they can get on the road safely with their cars. Their family members, kids and parents come over here. Our goal is to give them service in the best way possible.

“I have seen it grow a lot. Once they deal with me, they feel pretty comfortable and confident that they can rely on me. The hope for the business is to grow and have a steady clientele. We do that by giving the best service and honest advice. We make sure that we fix only what needs to be fixed. We are not trying to sell to you every time you come here. I tell it like it is and what needs to be done. Then, I give the choice to the customer. And by doing that, I gain their trust that I’m giving them the right opinion. People do value that. I take every single car that I bring into the shop personally. I treat it like it’s my daughter, mother or wife driving the car.”

Interviewed by Victoria Bell

‘I like to serve the community because I live here. I see these people every day, whether here at the shop, restaurants or while in the grocery store.’

Hicksville

“We came to this country in 1994 with nothing in our pockets. My first job barely made the end goals. My brother-in-law was in the gas station business. He said, ‘Hey, why don’t you come and join me?’ I started as an outside full-service gas attendant and worked my way up to a night cashier and then a day cashier. My boss saw potential in me and gave me the job of assistant manager at the shop. This was back in 1998, and ever since, I have been running the shop. In June 2021, we took over the whole gas station: the service, the gas as well as the convenience store. My new name, AJ Petroleum, is the first initial of my wife and cousin’s name.

“I like to serve the community because I live here. I see these people every day, whether here at the shop, restaurants or while in the grocery store. It is not just a salesmanship here. I have a relationship with the customers — not just because they have a car, but just because we live in the same area. When I am out with my family on the weekend or day off, I see them. We meet. We talk. It’s not just a relationship that, ‘Hey, you’re my mechanic and that’s it.’ Outside the shop we also have a relationship with the customers.

“I try my best to help them in any which way I can. Sometimes they don’t have enough money to pay the whole bill. So I give them the opportunities to pay in payments so at least they can get on the road safely with their cars. Their family members, kids and parents come over here. Our goal is to give them service in the best way possible.

“I have seen it grow a lot. Once they deal with me, they feel pretty comfortable and confident that they can rely on me. The hope for the business is to grow and have a steady clientele. We do that by giving the best service and honest advice. We make sure that we fix only what needs to be fixed. We are not trying to sell to you every time you come here. I tell it like it is and what needs to be done. Then, I give the choice to the customer. And by doing that, I gain their trust that I’m giving them the right opinion. People do value that. I take every single car that I bring into the shop personally. I treat it like it’s my daughter, mother or wife driving the car.”

‘If you find something you really love, stick with it. If it brings you happiness and makes you smile, just do it.’

Hicksville

“I’ve been dancing since I was 5. I grew up in the Bronx and went to the Paula Payson School of Dance. When I got married, I moved to Queens and then to Long Island, but no matter where I lived, I never stopped dancing.

“I taught elementary school in New York City for 34 years. After I retired in 2003, I inquired about joining the Red Hot Mamas dance troupe,but at that time, they were not accepting any new members.

“One day in 2009, my husband saw an advertisement in Newsday; the Red Hot Mamas were holding auditions. I applied, got accepted and have been a proud member of the group ever since. I have always loved tap dancing because it is a form of dance that turns your feet into instruments, and I love the sound my shoes make when they hit the floor. I have taken ballet and jazz, but nothing appeals to me quite like tap does.

Dancing is such a great exercise that taps into your physical, mental and emotional heath.

“The Red Hot Mamas perform a lot of Broadway-style tap dances — costumes and all — at venues such as senior citizen centers and libraries. We also appear at Heckscher Park in Huntington every year as part of the summer concert series.

“Once, we even auditioned for ‘America’s Got Talent’! We didn’t make the cut, but it was a fun experience. I love the camaraderie I have with the other women and the delighted reactions we get from audiences. I have six grandchildren and two of them, Layla and Jack, are dancers.

“In June of 2023, the Ella Marie School of Dance in Hicksville, where I have been a student for almost 30 years, is holding a 60th anniversary recital. I will be performing onstage with both of my grandchildren in honor of the occasion. I’m very excited because that will be the highlight of my career as a dancer. I am now 77 years old and I have been very lucky to maintain my movement, even though I don’t kick as high as I used to.

“Dancing is such a great exercise that taps into your physical, mental and emotional heath. It’s my drug of choice, and I get a rush of endorphins whenever I am onstage. If you find something you really love, stick with it. If it brings you happiness and makes you smile, just do it.”

Interviewed by Meagan Meehan

‘They called my parents and said, your daughter’s dying, and you have to come say goodbye now.’

Hicksville

“My journey with transplantation began when I was 13 years old. I made the first girls lacrosse team in Hicksville, and I was a competitive baton twirler, but I started to have these really severe stomach pains. I was going to different doctors, and nobody could find anything physically wrong with me.

“One day I went to the ER, and they told my parents the worst-case scenario was that my ovaries were twisted, which was very hard to hear as a woman because they said later on in life, I couldn’t have children. They said they wanted to do something called exploratory surgery in my abdominal region because I presented with stomach pains. When I went in to do the surgery, I went into cardiac arrest on the table, and they found out that my heart was so enlarged that I was in heart failure. They had actually sent my parents home, but they called them and said, your daughter’s dying, and you have to come say goodbye now.

“They brought my younger brother, my uncle and a family friend who was a priest, who gave me my last rites. There was one doctor there, thank goodness, who said, ‘If I could stabilize her enough, we’re going take her to a hospital from Long Island to Columbia Presbyterian in the city. She’s going to need a heart transplant.’ Everything happened so fast. I woke up to all these different doctors. They stuck something called a Broviac tube in my chest, which is a permanent IV, because I needed medication 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I ended up contracting something called cardiomyopathy, which in the transplant world is a very common thing. You get a virus, and it destroys your heart, and they can’t really pinpoint exactly where it comes from.

“Days turned into weeks, which turned into months, while I waited for a transplant in the hospital. On July 6, 1996, my life was saved by my donor angel, Matthew. About two days prior, they had added different medications, and they told my family to get ready to say goodbye again because I was so sick. The holiday time is sadly a very big time for organ donation because bad things happen. Through tragedy, though, comes life. This 13-year-old boy saved my life because his mother made that decision to donate his organs.”

I got to meet my donor’s mom, and the first thing she did was place her head against my chest and say, “That’s my boy.”

“After the transplant, things went back to semi-normal. I had my transplant July 6, and then by September I was back in eighth grade. I went back to being a competitive baton twirler, but it’s a very fine line. You live in healthy/sick world because you could be really good one day and then the next day you’re not. Still to this day, I don’t have hair because it was one of my side effects. I would have a rejection episode, and I’d be hospitalized a little bit, and then you go back to normal.

“I graduated high school in 2001. I ended up going to Nassau Community College and then Molloy College, where I got my bachelor’s in social work. I’ve been a part of various organizations since I was young. Long Island TRIO, Hearts for Russ, and the United Network of Organ Sharing, as well as the New York Blood Center, because I receive blood transfusions still to this day. I got trained as a women’s heart ambassador at the Mayo Clinic. I just won a Bounce Back Give Back Award with the Chris Klug Foundation Woman of Distinction Award.

“In 2015 on Feb. 14, which is National Donor Day, I got to meet my donor’s mom, and the first thing she did was place her head against my chest and say, ‘That’s my boy.’ And that truly is the power of organ donation. She didn’t even ask me, ‘Did I go to school; did I do anything?’ She just said, ‘How am I feeling? Am I having fun in life?’ She just wanted to see if I was OK. And things change. I had a plan at 13: I wanted to get married, have kids, do all these things. They told my parents after my transplant that I might not make it to my 18th birthday, my 25th birthday, my 30th, but next year I’ll be 40. So that’s an accomplishment to me in itself. I always tell people, if you would say yes to receiving a transplant and you’re not a registered organ donor, then maybe you should think about becoming one. Because if you’re willing to receive, you should be willing to give yourself.”

Interviewed by Hannah Fusaro

‘Sometimes people start out in one place and don’t end where they expect.’

Hicksville

“From the age of 7, I knew that I wanted to play piano for the rest of my life. I pursued it in college, thinking that I wanted to be a pianist and a music teacher. After playing and accompanying singers in college, I quickly discovered that I had an operatic voice. I worked really hard and auditioned to become an opera singer. I did many young artist and opera apprenticeship programs, and then I was an accompanist for ballet schools. I played and sang in churches and performed in operas throughout the U.S. In 2006, I met my now best friend and business partner at the Utah Festival Opera. We both happened to be named Jennifer, we met while singing, we became roommates for a summer and we are both from Long Island!

I’m glad that my partner and I were brave enough to realize our dream and put it into action.

“Later, we started working together at a church. She was the cantor, and I was the organist for 13 years. At the same time, we were both teaching piano and voice privately. We collaborated and did recitals with all of our students informally. We had a dream to build something bigger. We saw the need for lessons in the home. Now Long Island Studio of Music has over 50 teachers and over 400 students. Our teaching faculty has music degrees and plays all different instruments. I’m really proud of what we built and the fact that we’re seeing the students year after year getting better and better. Sometimes my partner and I just look out into audiences of parents and students and appreciate that we keep music-making alive. I didn’t realize that I am a leader.

“I thought that being a successful musician meant that you’re only performing. What I have to impart on my students is important and invaluable. Sometimes I have to pinch myself because it has grown into this. There’s a whole other level of performing that comes into this. I have grown a lot; I am good at it, and I really enjoy it. I’m where I’m meant to be. Sometimes people start out in one place and don’t end where they expect. You never know where your path is going to take you. I have been lucky, but I have taken the risks along the way. I’m glad that my partner and I were brave enough to realize our dream and put it into action.”

Interviewed by Iris Wiener

‘Sometimes moving to a new area and interacting with an environment you’re not familiar with can be difficult.’

Hicksville

“I started out in a small town called Petoskey, Mich. It’s way up north, just south of Canada. I was 22 years old when I decided I wanted to serve my country. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to experience what the army had to offer, and I wanted to go back to school. I first got to Long Island in January. I am active duty.

“My first duty station was at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, AL. It’s a little cold, but that’s expected. The summers there were beautiful, 24-hour daylight for one half of the year and then 24-hour darkness for the other half. I moved to South Carolina after four years in Alaska and then I went to Central America for almost a year.

“While I was stationed there, we deployed to Honduras and did a humanitarian mission down there. We built schools and houses. It was cool. Everyone’s career path is different in the army. I was selected to be a recruiter after a certain number of years. You don’t really get to pick where you go. Sometimes moving to a new area and interacting with an environment you’re not familiar with can be difficult. But once you start getting to know people in the community it becomes much easier.

The army is so full of diversity and different cultures. We each come from different backgrounds and we’re all part of a team.

“It’s all about breaking the ice. We talk to high schoolers, college students, and anyone under 35 years old who is interested in joining and try to pitch our jobs to younger individuals by offering free college and free health care. The army is so full of diversity and different cultures. We each come from different backgrounds and we’re all part of a team. We just want to express that we’re just a bunch of normal people doing our job and we just want to interact with the community. I went to college before I joined the army and I have a two-year culinary arts degree.

“I used to want to be a chef, but I found that I really didn’t enjoy it anymore. I’m not in school at the moment, but I plan to go back to school for a degree in physical therapy or nursing. I’m not sure which one yet. I have a 2-year-old daughter named Scarlett, who will be turning three in December. My daughter is what’s most important to me. One of the reasons I am in the military is to provide for my family.”

Interviewed by Dan Offner

‘We were very intentional about making sure we were aware of one another’s differences. We first and foremost really enjoyed them.’

Hicksville

“My husband, Raghu, and I were friends for many years before getting married. We met at a church in Queens. I would call him for good chai recipes because he was known for making it the best. He was a medical student, so I felt comfortable calling him and asking him questions. He was in my life for many years. Whenever we were on Facebook late at night, we would chat, and it was great. He was such a good friend.

“I was showing another friend around New York one day, and he asked me if I knew of a good Indian restaurant. I said, ‘I think I know just the person who would know!’ I called Raghu and he stopped what he was doing to escort us personally to a good restaurant. It was a really nice gesture. Friendship turned into something else. Raghu is South Indian; I am half-Italian, and a mix of Jamaican, French and Welsh. We were very intentional about making sure we were aware of one another’s differences. We first and foremost really liked them. We’re always having discussions about our differences, and it’s a constant understanding between us.

We enjoyed being able to share that we love our differences, but we know that our faith is what we have in common and that’s the glue.

“Early in our relationship we would get questioned because of our different ethnicities. ‘You’re so different, so how come you’re together?’ I don’t know if it was judgmental. People would find it hard to believe that I would enjoy his culture. ‘You’re American, so do you like Indian food?’ How do you get along with his family?’ They’re normal questions, but if you compare them to what you would ask two typical Americans dating, you get a different meaning behind them. I assume people mostly have nice intentions and I think curiosity is good. In response, we enjoyed being able to share that we love our differences, but we know that our faith is what we have in common and that’s the glue.

“We intentionally wanted everything at our wedding to be very authentic and 50/50. I wore two outfits, including a traditional South Indian silk sari. We did some of the traditional South Indian ceremonies and a Christian ceremony. We had South Indian food catered. It was very fun and really cool. In everything we’ve done, the goal was and is never to make those differences less, it’s really just to understand them better and enjoy them.”