For the IPBRCC it's all about community

With sunshine and blue water sparkling outside, the Island Park Business and Residential Chamber (IPBRCC) gathered at Bridgeview Yacht Club on Feb. 28, to honor four people who make the community proud.

President Terry Reichel said; real estate developer and restaurant owner John Vitale, Pitmaster and owner of Matty Smokes Barbeque and Catering Matt Vascellaro, high school student and Aide to the Mayor of Island Park John “J.J.” Byrne, and Deputy Mayor and Trustee of Island Park and now Chief of Staff of the Town of Hempstead Steve D’Esposito, were “All instrumental in helping to make Island Park a place we are proud to call home.”

Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito acted as Master of Ceremonies.

The Irma Tice award, named after the long time Deputy Village Clerk, was given to Byrne not just for being active in school, Kiwanis and the community but for raising over $20,000 with his Team Shenanigans in the Great Strides Cystic Fibrosis walks. Byrne has Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that has no cure. Byrne and was proud of the fact that there are now more adults with Cystic Fibrosis than children (nearly half the C.F. population is over the age of 18 according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation).

After Hurricane Sandy, Byrne joined a contingent local residents and politicians who went to Washington D.C. seeking money to rebuild southern Nassau County. While there, in the gallery above, Byrne told Congressional members below to “Stop the Shenanigans,” they did, and Team Shenanigans was born. Byrne hopes to be Mayor of Island Park some day.

“I am honored and humbled,” Byrne told the gathering, and thanked his parents and many community friends for their leadership and guidance.

So much of what drives Island Park harkens back to Sandy. When Hurricane Joaquin hit South Carolina, Vascellaro recalled how important a hot meal was to him and his family in the days after Sandy. He packed up his smoker, donations of food from friends and businesses, and with a contingent of others from Island Park carrying supplies and necessities, headed south to feed 1,200 people that same hot meal he remembered. For his efforts Vascellaro was presented with the Good Samaritan Award.

John Vitale, Businessman of the Year, was called a visionary by Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford, who praised him for always being generous when someone was in need. Senator Alfonse D’Amato recalled when Island Park was “A garbage dump. You’d come off the (Long Beach) bridge and see abandoned cars, gas stations and junk— and look what you have here today,” referring to Vitale’s Barnum Landing Shopping Center, anchored by a King Kullen Supermarket, now on that same site. He is also the owner of Bridgeview. Vitale’s latest project is an 86 apartment residential development at the site of the former Patty McGees on Waterview Road.

Vitale praised the people of Island Park, “This is a tough town,” he said, adding “I will do all I can do to get the state and federal government to protect us from another storm.” Many of Vitale’s properties suffered damage in Sandy.

Vitale gave credit to his staff saying their hard work is the reason for his success.

Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky said “A single award would not be enough for Steve D’Esposito.” Island Park Mayor Michael McGinty called him “Deputy Mayor Emeritus,” and bemoaned his leaving the Village Board after 25 years.

D’Esposito, recipient of the President’s Award, had little to say about himself, instead he praised Senator D’Amato for the construction of a splash park at Island Park’s Masone Beach, than thanked the IPBRCC for their work on the bocce ball court, the handball court, and the cleanup and refurbishment of the beach.

D’Esposito thanked his wife family for “Helping me out with all I had to do in the village and the (Island Park, Point Lookout and Lido) Republican Committee (where he is Executive Leader), and I want to thank the people that are here, because they have all done something for the Village.”