MLK Day celebrations on Long Island, NYC urge people to 'march forward'

Apprentice Martin, holding the American flag, and Vincent Aupied, holding a photo of Martin Luther King Jr., during the annual Martin Luther King Center march on Monday in Long Beach. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
Through service, activism and song, Long Islanders celebrated the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, observing what would have been his 96th birthday.
The civil rights leader’s message of peace and justice resounded with people who spent the day echoing his words and helping others. And the inauguration of President Donald Trump, happening simultaneously in Washington, D.C., seemed to loom large in the minds of some participants as they looked to the next four years.
In Long Beach, a crowd of several dozen people bundled up against the bitter cold to walk in the annual MLK Commemorative March along West Park Avenue to the MLK Community Center on Riverside Boulevard.
“It is imperative, it’s urgent," James Hodge, former chair of the center, said about honoring King.
“It’s important we don’t go backwards,” Hodge said, referring to challenges to voting rights and other issues impacting Black Americans today. “We have to continue to march forward with the strength of our ancestors and all those that fought so hard for us.”
Rahsaan Cruse Jr., of Long Beach, one of the grand marshals of the parade, said it is vital to remember the civil rights battles his grandparents and great-grandparents and others went through.
“We are still in a time still fighting for our rights, a lot of things are in danger of being taken away from us,” said Cruse, 21.
Gov. Kathy Hochul was in New York City on Monday to speak at the annual Brooklyn Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
She recalled the impact King had on her as a child and her large Irish Catholic family in Buffalo.
“My parents were social justice Catholics … marching against the war, marching for civil rights,” Hochul told the crowd. “They had their little kids, all of us, part of this journey.”
The day King was assassinated in 1968, nearly 10-year-old Hochul and her family “held hands, we prayed and we cried because we knew we lost one of the great ones.”
She noted that after King was arrested for civil disobedience in Birmingham, Alabama, he continued to motivate people with his powerful messages against discrimination and hatred, and she referred to expected challenges in the next four years under Trump.
“If a young man can do that from a jail with no hope in front of him, we can raise up my friends, as a community, as a people, as New Yorkers and say, ‘We'll fight for our rights with every fiber of our being,’ ” Hochul said. “So whatever comes our way for the next four years, we are ready.”
In Commack, about 40 volunteers gathered at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center to prepare more than 100 fresh, kosher meals for homebound seniors in surrounding communities, said Bat-Sheva Slavin, director of Jewish education for the Center for Jewish Life and Learning at the Suffolk Y JCC.
They handled trays of homemade marinated chicken and chocolate brownies cooking in commercial-sized ovens, drizzling oil and seasonings over chopped vegetables. Nearby, children colored cards that would accompany every hot meal.
“We feel this brings together the values that Dr. King taught with our Jewish values of ‘tzedakah,’ of ‘charitable giving,’ and ‘chesed,’ which is ‘loving kindness,’ ” said Rabbi Cara Weinstein Rosenthal, who volunteered alongside her family Monday. “What better day is there for us as a Jewish community to come out and honor Dr. King’s memory by doing work that supports those goals and by encouraging everyone else in our communities to do that as well.”
After the meals were packed, a ceremony by an interfaith group, Abraham’s Table of Long Island, was held that included Christian, Jewish and Muslim prayers, music by the Thea Bowman Gospel Choir and a speech by Long Island Cares CEO Paule Pachter.
Just as civil rights leaders like King hoped to address societal structures, Pachter said Long Island Care’s founder, Harry Chapin, “believed … that in order to eradicate hunger in our society, we have to be able to help people rise out of the cycle of poverty.”
Pachter and Abraham’s Table chair Richard Koubek said the lack of affordable housing perpetuates poverty and stands in the way of King’s dreams becoming reality. Pachter also called on the new administration and other elected officials to regionalize the federal poverty level and increase that threshold on Long Island to “at least $60,000 a year” so more residents can have access to “critical government benefits.”
“Families of four earning $75,000 and $80,000 on Long Island are living in poverty,” he added. “They cannot afford the taxes, they cannot afford repairs on their homes, they can’t afford college tuition for their children.”
With Howard Schnapp
Through service, activism and song, Long Islanders celebrated the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, observing what would have been his 96th birthday.
The civil rights leader’s message of peace and justice resounded with people who spent the day echoing his words and helping others. And the inauguration of President Donald Trump, happening simultaneously in Washington, D.C., seemed to loom large in the minds of some participants as they looked to the next four years.
In Long Beach, a crowd of several dozen people bundled up against the bitter cold to walk in the annual MLK Commemorative March along West Park Avenue to the MLK Community Center on Riverside Boulevard.
“It is imperative, it’s urgent," James Hodge, former chair of the center, said about honoring King.
“It’s important we don’t go backwards,” Hodge said, referring to challenges to voting rights and other issues impacting Black Americans today. “We have to continue to march forward with the strength of our ancestors and all those that fought so hard for us.”
Rahsaan Cruse Jr., of Long Beach, one of the grand marshals of the parade, said it is vital to remember the civil rights battles his grandparents and great-grandparents and others went through.
“We are still in a time still fighting for our rights, a lot of things are in danger of being taken away from us,” said Cruse, 21.

Vera Taylor and Spencer Cause during the annual Martin Luther King Center march. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
Gov. Kathy Hochul was in New York City on Monday to speak at the annual Brooklyn Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
She recalled the impact King had on her as a child and her large Irish Catholic family in Buffalo.
“My parents were social justice Catholics … marching against the war, marching for civil rights,” Hochul told the crowd. “They had their little kids, all of us, part of this journey.”
The day King was assassinated in 1968, nearly 10-year-old Hochul and her family “held hands, we prayed and we cried because we knew we lost one of the great ones.”
She noted that after King was arrested for civil disobedience in Birmingham, Alabama, he continued to motivate people with his powerful messages against discrimination and hatred, and she referred to expected challenges in the next four years under Trump.
“If a young man can do that from a jail with no hope in front of him, we can raise up my friends, as a community, as a people, as New Yorkers and say, ‘We'll fight for our rights with every fiber of our being,’ ” Hochul said. “So whatever comes our way for the next four years, we are ready.”
In Commack, about 40 volunteers gathered at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center to prepare more than 100 fresh, kosher meals for homebound seniors in surrounding communities, said Bat-Sheva Slavin, director of Jewish education for the Center for Jewish Life and Learning at the Suffolk Y JCC.
They handled trays of homemade marinated chicken and chocolate brownies cooking in commercial-sized ovens, drizzling oil and seasonings over chopped vegetables. Nearby, children colored cards that would accompany every hot meal.

Bat-Sheva Slavin, second from right, is joined by Audrey Dinstell, left, and her daughters Lauren and Samantha as they prepare food at the Suffolk Y Jewish Community Center on Monday in Commack. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
“We feel this brings together the values that Dr. King taught with our Jewish values of ‘tzedakah,’ of ‘charitable giving,’ and ‘chesed,’ which is ‘loving kindness,’ ” said Rabbi Cara Weinstein Rosenthal, who volunteered alongside her family Monday. “What better day is there for us as a Jewish community to come out and honor Dr. King’s memory by doing work that supports those goals and by encouraging everyone else in our communities to do that as well.”
After the meals were packed, a ceremony by an interfaith group, Abraham’s Table of Long Island, was held that included Christian, Jewish and Muslim prayers, music by the Thea Bowman Gospel Choir and a speech by Long Island Cares CEO Paule Pachter.
Just as civil rights leaders like King hoped to address societal structures, Pachter said Long Island Care’s founder, Harry Chapin, “believed … that in order to eradicate hunger in our society, we have to be able to help people rise out of the cycle of poverty.”
Pachter and Abraham’s Table chair Richard Koubek said the lack of affordable housing perpetuates poverty and stands in the way of King’s dreams becoming reality. Pachter also called on the new administration and other elected officials to regionalize the federal poverty level and increase that threshold on Long Island to “at least $60,000 a year” so more residents can have access to “critical government benefits.”
“Families of four earning $75,000 and $80,000 on Long Island are living in poverty,” he added. “They cannot afford the taxes, they cannot afford repairs on their homes, they can’t afford college tuition for their children.”
With Howard Schnapp
Romantic spas in the winter ... What's up on LI ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
Romantic spas in the winter ... What's up on LI ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV