New Year's resolutions: More peace, kindness and a stronger economy among LIers hopes for 2023
Long Islanders share their hopes for the new year, from world peace to personal prosperity, as 2022 draws to a close.
This story was reported and written by John Asbury, Jean-Paul Salamanca and Joe Werkmeister.
As he handed out gift cards to strangers to honor his late 21-year-old daughter, Phoenix, Robert Corozza said he hoped the recipients would be inspired to pay forward his random acts of kindness in the new year.
“My hope for the new year is that I just wish we could all live together and treat people the way you want to be treated," said Corozza, 44, of Shirley.
He was one of many Long Islanders hoping for more peace and kindness in the new year as well as more tolerance and acceptance.
Corozza said his daughter died suddenly two years ago from a bad drug interaction when she mixed two opioids. She started breathing heavily and didn’t wake up on Sept. 23, 2021. He said she struggled with depression at times, but was never suicidal or had an addiction before she took the medication.
“I know life goes on, but it’s very difficult to go on," Corozza said.
Grappling with grief before what would have been her 22nd birthday last December, he said he took an office collection he received and decided to donate it to charities she cared about, including the ASPCA. Then he decided to start what he called the Phoenix project — where he would donate 10 gift cards, each containing $121.30, totaling $1,213 to mark her birthday on Dec. 13.
He repeated the effort this year, going to shops that mirrored her interests, including the Nike outlet, Guitar Center, a tattoo parlor in Medford, and Stop & Shop, as well as the Cheesecake Factory, where he had the last meal with his daughter.
"It’s nice to have Phoenix be seen and spread her love in such a short time,” he said.
Corozza wanders the stores looking for strangers to help. He said he eavesdrops on conversations, listening for whether someone said something is too expensive, or looks for families with young children that remind him of his daughter.
He said he tries to interact with those he approaches, handing them the gift card and a letter explaining his cause, with no strings attached. He asks them to pass along donations, if they feel motivated to do so.
“It takes a toll by the end of the day, but it lifts my spirits. Even though it’s an odd thing going up to people at random, everyone is so kind,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to forget my daughter.”
One of the recipients, Valentine Edwards of Port Jefferson, said he was buying a gift at Guitar Center in Selden when he found a package on his order, containing a gift card and Corozza’s letter.
He said he tried to find Corozza, but he had already left.
“I cried when I read it and tried to find him and tell him thank you," he recalled last week while shopping in Patchogue. "This is not about me but about his message."
Edwards said he is planning to give back in the new year, and said while the last year was mostly about emerging from the pandemic, he hoped to find more kindness for humanity in 2023.
“I want peace and for us to come together with progress for our country and people who may be overlooked to get their fair share,” Edwards said. “Some people may be going through a tough time and people need to look out for one another. We can do an act of kindness and pass it on to the next person.”
Dennis Schluessler, 61, a former Bellmore resident who now lives in Las Vegas, was visiting family on Long Island. With his daughter, they shared their hopes for more peace and positivity in the year ahead.
“I want to see more positivity and smiles on people’s faces,” he said. “We need more goodness; throw all the negativity out the window.”
His daughter, Emily Schuessler, 20, said she wanted to see less violence in New York and in the world.
“Hopefully there will be less violence and we can build toward more happiness. There’s a lot of hate in the world,” she said. “People need to be happier and more peaceful.”
For some residents on the East End, the ongoing war in Ukraine remained prominent in their thoughts as the new year approached. Luis Villalobos, 53, of Southampton, said he hopes to see the violence in Ukraine end in 2023.
“I think that war makes everything different,” he said as he walked his Jack Russell Terrier, Yeti, in Southampton Village Thursday morning.
Patrick Looney, 62, of Westhampton, said he was hopeful that the world will be a better place in 2023.
“More hopeful than optimistic,” he said, adding that his big concern is also with Ukraine and the threat of Russia launching nuclear weapons.
Steve Bonom, president of the Nassau County Vietnam Veterans, arrived at Eisenhower Park’s veteran’s memorial last week, looking forward to the completion of the county’s memorial to Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.
He said he hoped for good health for veterans suffering health ailments from the Vietnam War like cancers and effects from Agent Orange, described by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a tactical herbicide the U.S. military used to clear leaves and vegetation for operations mainly in Vietnam. He also hoped for the end of the war in Ukraine.
Other Long Islanders looked to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and focused on personal growth.
Jahshua Taylor, 21, of Westbury, who works in the Nassau County Office of Health Equity, said he spent the last year traveling the country as a chef.
“The past few years, the nation has been in mourning or on lockdown and I saw the people come together as one," he said outside the Nassau office for Spanish Americans. “This past year has been an amazing ride, following the pandemic and cooking for more than 20,000 people."
He still wants to spread more information about improving health and nutrition, but said, "I’m more than happy to be home and not stressed about cooking every day."
And, he added, "I hope we would let it be the one year we go out to vote and have proper representation in government.”
Adele Wallach, 69, of Riverhead, said she wants to resume traveling — which she has put on hold since the onset of the pandemic.
“I do want to travel a little bit more, and do things that are healthy and just for me” such as eating healthier, she said.
Wallach said she would like to visit Italy again or places that she has not visited before.
“I haven’t really been going anywhere and doing anything, so it would be nice to start doing stuff again,” Wallach said, adding with a chuckle, “At this point, I’d be happy to go on a bus and go into the city.”
Sitting with a friend at the Dark Horse Restaurant on Main Street in Riverhead, Steve Kramer, 54, of Riverhead, said his New Year’s Resolution was to become "a better functioning human being.”
A buyer at Riverhead Building Supply, Kramer explained that the pandemic had at times made him feel somewhat bogged down, and that he looked forward to working toward making the best version of himself in 2023.
As far as what he was looking forward to in the new year, Kramer, a co-founding member of the Heart of Riverhead Civic Association — which was founded in May of this year — said he hopes the new civic group will grow and flourish. He also hopes that downtown Riverhead will have a brighter future in the coming year.
“I’m a glass half-empty guy sometimes, but I truly believe that the future of downtown Riverhead is bright,” Kramer said.
Other Long Islanders said they were hoping for a better economy and hopefully a cap on rising prices through inflation.
Miguel Chiriboga, 38, of Coram, said he wanted to see more bipartisanship in government and also have that lead to other reforms for the economy and immigration.
“Hopefully the economy on Long Island will improve and help small businesses like mine getting better,” he said. “My goal is to try to do the best I can every year and keep growing as a person.”
He too expressed a desire to see an end to global conflicts including in the war in Ukraine.
And at home, he said, "I’d like to see political parties work together for the betterment for the people of this country.”
And then there are those who prefer not to look too far into the future like Locksley Pommells, of Westbury, who said, "I don't make resolutions."
Pommells said the pandemic paused many of his plans to travel to Europe, but he instead was able to travel to the Caribbean islands with his Christian fellowship.
“God has been good to me and I have no complaints," he said. "I just try to love every day trusting the next day will be better."
Love, he said, is what he'd like to see more of in 2023 though. "I’ve seen upheaval in hate and I’d like to see people caring more for each other."
”
As he handed out gift cards to strangers to honor his late 21-year-old daughter, Phoenix, Robert Corozza said he hoped the recipients would be inspired to pay forward his random acts of kindness in the new year.
“My hope for the new year is that I just wish we could all live together and treat people the way you want to be treated," said Corozza, 44, of Shirley.
He was one of many Long Islanders hoping for more peace and kindness in the new year as well as more tolerance and acceptance.
Corozza said his daughter died suddenly two years ago from a bad drug interaction when she mixed two opioids. She started breathing heavily and didn’t wake up on Sept. 23, 2021. He said she struggled with depression at times, but was never suicidal or had an addiction before she took the medication.
“I know life goes on, but it’s very difficult to go on," Corozza said.
Grappling with grief before what would have been her 22nd birthday last December, he said he took an office collection he received and decided to donate it to charities she cared about, including the ASPCA. Then he decided to start what he called the Phoenix project — where he would donate 10 gift cards, each containing $121.30, totaling $1,213 to mark her birthday on Dec. 13.
'I just wish we could all live together and treat people the way you want to be treated.'
-Robert Corozza, 44, of Shirley, with his late 21-year-old daughter Phoenix
Credit: Courtesy of Robert Corozza.
He repeated the effort this year, going to shops that mirrored her interests, including the Nike outlet, Guitar Center, a tattoo parlor in Medford, and Stop & Shop, as well as the Cheesecake Factory, where he had the last meal with his daughter.
"It’s nice to have Phoenix be seen and spread her love in such a short time,” he said.
Corozza wanders the stores looking for strangers to help. He said he eavesdrops on conversations, listening for whether someone said something is too expensive, or looks for families with young children that remind him of his daughter.
He said he tries to interact with those he approaches, handing them the gift card and a letter explaining his cause, with no strings attached. He asks them to pass along donations, if they feel motivated to do so.
“It takes a toll by the end of the day, but it lifts my spirits. Even though it’s an odd thing going up to people at random, everyone is so kind,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to forget my daughter.”
One of the recipients, Valentine Edwards of Port Jefferson, said he was buying a gift at Guitar Center in Selden when he found a package on his order, containing a gift card and Corozza’s letter.
'I want peace and for us to come together with progress for our country and people who may be overlooked to get their fair share.'
- Valentine Edwards of Port Jefferson
Credit: Newsday/ Steve Pfost
He said he tried to find Corozza, but he had already left.
“I cried when I read it and tried to find him and tell him thank you," he recalled last week while shopping in Patchogue. "This is not about me but about his message."
Edwards said he is planning to give back in the new year, and said while the last year was mostly about emerging from the pandemic, he hoped to find more kindness for humanity in 2023.
“I want peace and for us to come together with progress for our country and people who may be overlooked to get their fair share,” Edwards said. “Some people may be going through a tough time and people need to look out for one another. We can do an act of kindness and pass it on to the next person.”
Seeking 'less violence' in 2023
Dennis Schluessler, 61, a former Bellmore resident who now lives in Las Vegas, was visiting family on Long Island. With his daughter, they shared their hopes for more peace and positivity in the year ahead.
'We need more goodness; throw all the negativity out the window.'
-Dennis Schluessler, 61, a former Bellmore resident who now lives in Las Vegas
Credit: Newsday/ Steve Pfost
“I want to see more positivity and smiles on people’s faces,” he said. “We need more goodness; throw all the negativity out the window.”
His daughter, Emily Schuessler, 20, said she wanted to see less violence in New York and in the world.
'Hopefully there will be less violence and we can build toward more happiness.'
-Emily Schluessler, 20, from Las Vegas
Credit: Newday/ Steve Pfost
“Hopefully there will be less violence and we can build toward more happiness. There’s a lot of hate in the world,” she said. “People need to be happier and more peaceful.”
For some residents on the East End, the ongoing war in Ukraine remained prominent in their thoughts as the new year approached. Luis Villalobos, 53, of Southampton, said he hopes to see the violence in Ukraine end in 2023.
“I think that war makes everything different,” he said as he walked his Jack Russell Terrier, Yeti, in Southampton Village Thursday morning.
Patrick Looney, 62, of Westhampton, said he was hopeful that the world will be a better place in 2023.
“More hopeful than optimistic,” he said, adding that his big concern is also with Ukraine and the threat of Russia launching nuclear weapons.
Steve Bonom, president of the Nassau County Vietnam Veterans, arrived at Eisenhower Park’s veteran’s memorial last week, looking forward to the completion of the county’s memorial to Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.
He said he hoped for good health for veterans suffering health ailments from the Vietnam War like cancers and effects from Agent Orange, described by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs as a tactical herbicide the U.S. military used to clear leaves and vegetation for operations mainly in Vietnam. He also hoped for the end of the war in Ukraine.
A year of healthier choices and more travel
Other Long Islanders looked to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and focused on personal growth.
Jahshua Taylor, 21, of Westbury, who works in the Nassau County Office of Health Equity, said he spent the last year traveling the country as a chef.
“The past few years, the nation has been in mourning or on lockdown and I saw the people come together as one," he said outside the Nassau office for Spanish Americans. “This past year has been an amazing ride, following the pandemic and cooking for more than 20,000 people."
He still wants to spread more information about improving health and nutrition, but said, "I’m more than happy to be home and not stressed about cooking every day."
'I hope we would let it be the one year we go out to vote and have proper representation in government.'
-Jahshua Taylor, 21, of Westbury
Credit: Newsday/ Steve Pfost
And, he added, "I hope we would let it be the one year we go out to vote and have proper representation in government.”
Adele Wallach, 69, of Riverhead, said she wants to resume traveling — which she has put on hold since the onset of the pandemic.
“I do want to travel a little bit more, and do things that are healthy and just for me” such as eating healthier, she said.
Wallach said she would like to visit Italy again or places that she has not visited before.
“I haven’t really been going anywhere and doing anything, so it would be nice to start doing stuff again,” Wallach said, adding with a chuckle, “At this point, I’d be happy to go on a bus and go into the city.”
Sitting with a friend at the Dark Horse Restaurant on Main Street in Riverhead, Steve Kramer, 54, of Riverhead, said his New Year’s Resolution was to become "a better functioning human being.”
A buyer at Riverhead Building Supply, Kramer explained that the pandemic had at times made him feel somewhat bogged down, and that he looked forward to working toward making the best version of himself in 2023.
As far as what he was looking forward to in the new year, Kramer, a co-founding member of the Heart of Riverhead Civic Association — which was founded in May of this year — said he hopes the new civic group will grow and flourish. He also hopes that downtown Riverhead will have a brighter future in the coming year.
“I’m a glass half-empty guy sometimes, but I truly believe that the future of downtown Riverhead is bright,” Kramer said.
Hoping for a stronger economy and bipartisanship
Other Long Islanders said they were hoping for a better economy and hopefully a cap on rising prices through inflation.
Miguel Chiriboga, 38, of Coram, said he wanted to see more bipartisanship in government and also have that lead to other reforms for the economy and immigration.
'Hopefully the economy on Long Island will improve and help small businesses like mine getting better.'
-Miguel Chiriboga, 38, of Coram
Credit: Newsday/ Steve Pfost
“Hopefully the economy on Long Island will improve and help small businesses like mine getting better,” he said. “My goal is to try to do the best I can every year and keep growing as a person.”
He too expressed a desire to see an end to global conflicts including in the war in Ukraine.
And at home, he said, "I’d like to see political parties work together for the betterment for the people of this country.”
And then there are those who prefer not to look too far into the future like Locksley Pommells, of Westbury, who said, "I don't make resolutions."
'I just try to love every day trusting the next day will be better.'
- Locksley Pommells, of Westbury
Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Pommells said the pandemic paused many of his plans to travel to Europe, but he instead was able to travel to the Caribbean islands with his Christian fellowship.
“God has been good to me and I have no complaints," he said. "I just try to love every day trusting the next day will be better."
Love, he said, is what he'd like to see more of in 2023 though. "I’ve seen upheaval in hate and I’d like to see people caring more for each other."
”
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