FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 41
Victoria’s
SECRETS
Victoria
SCHNEPSYUNIS
vschneps@schnepsmedia.com
Last Thursday, Life’s
WORC, the group I founded
in 1971 to serve people
with multiple disabilities, like
my daughter Lara, opened a new
day program in Islandia.
Joining board members and
state offi cials at the ribbon-cutting
ceremony was Suffolk
County Executive Steve
Bellone.
What fun when he presented
me with a proclamation
announcing Thursday, Sept.
17, was forever to be Victoria
Schneps-Yunis Day in Suff olk
County. It’s a ceremonial thing,
but I’m glad that the organization
I founded so many years ago
is getting recognition for its critical
work with people who have
special needs.
Life’s WORC opened its fi rst
home in Little Neck in the early
‘70s and now runs 50 homes in
the New York City region.
Sadly, funds for staffi ng those
homes have been slashed and
now, with a new governor, we
must educate her about the people
we serve and their needs.
Th e fi ght for people with developmental
disabilities and those
who are on the autism spectrum
is never done.
We must help make sure that
the people living in our group
homes are getting support for the
critical and powerful life-changing
services they need.
Stay tuned.
FEEDING THE SOUL
OK, I admit it, I haven’t cooked
a dinner in years.
I’m really good at making
breakfast — my favorite meal of
the day. A good breakfast is my
launchpad to a packed day fi lled
A busy, exciting week
with action, work and play.
But dinner is quite diff erent.
Since the kids have left
home, there seems little need
to cook. My late husband,
Stu Yunis, was a lover of
food and a creative “chef.” He
liked to take one of our many
cookbooks from the three
shelves that fi lled our kitchen
walls and follow a recipe.
I was never good at math,
and following all the measured
ingredients required in
most of the recipes always felt
like an enormous task. If there
were more than three items to
the recipe, I passed it by. Th at
was almost every dish.
My late beloved Aunt
Gertie had a wonderful
method that my cousin,
Judy, recorded and then
transcribed into “Aunt Gertie’s
Famous Recipes,” and had it
bound and sent to all the cousins.
I brought that book with me
as I moved from house to house
over the years.
Gertie used her palm and fi ngers
for measurements. If a dish
called for half a palm of fl our
and a little sprinkle of salt and
pepper, her fi ngers did the task.
I found that much easier to follow
than the traditional measurements.
But most evenings, Stu preferred
to take me out for dinner
so there were no distractions and
we could be together aft er a busy
day. I loved those quiet evenings
together.
Fast forward to today and my
life is fi lled with dinners out.
Now that I live part time on the
East End of Long Island, I’ve
developed some favorite spots.
What better way is there to get
to know new friends and refresh
old relationships in a relaxed
environment?
Last weekend, I went to a few
of my favorites in Westhampton:
Eckart’s Luncheonette on Mill
Road for a breakfast meeting
and Salt & Loft on Main Street
for dinner. Th en on Sunday,
I was off to Southampton to
Union Sushi & Steak. Behind
each of these terrifi c restaurants
are their unique owners.
Salt & Loft is owned
by the warm and welcoming
attorney, Barry
Bernstein, who decided
he would build a restaurant
on property he
owned. It sits on the farthest
corner on the shopping
block of Westhampton’s
Main Street. Th e eatery is
known for its American
cuisine, juicy hamburgers,
highly stacked and delectable
pastrami sandwiches and
my favorite: crusty salmon
grilled to perfection!
My old friends from
Bayside Vinny Riso and
Georgiana Reese were surrounded
by fellow Baysiders
Lois Christie and Linda De
Sabato on the restaurant’s
outdoor patio. Our uninvited,
but welcomed guest
was the big, bright, glowing
moon that lit up the warm
night sky.
Th e next evening, I dined
at one of my other favorite
restaurants. Ian Duke’s
Union Sushi & Steak has
become my “home away from
home” in Southampton. It’s
only open for dinner, but the
companion contiguous Union
Burger Bar — with outrageous
milkshakes — is open for both
lunch and dinner.
It was still warm on Sunday,
but as the sun set, a chill fi lled
the air on their outdoor patio.
New friends Ehab Shehata and
his wife Nermin joined old
friends Rebecca Seawright and
her husband Jay Hershenson,
who shared his experience
receiving his knee replacement.
Joan McNaughton, who works
with me and also runs her
Leggz Limited Dance Studio
in Rockville Center, sat with
me, and Brooklyn friend Patrick
Condren completed the round
table of friends.
As the restaurant’s name
would suggest, steak and sushi
were our choices for dinner. Th e
skirt steak was juicy and succulent
and the sushi fresh and tasty.
How great it is to have nights
fi lled with good friends and great
food!
A SPECIAL FILM FESTIVAL
Since we own both La Noticia,
our Spanish language newspaper
on Long Island, and El Correo,
based in New York, I was delighted
to attend the Ola Latino Film
Festival held at the prestigious
Parrish Art Museum in Water
Mill.
Ola is a respected community
organization serving the hispanic
community on Long
Island and I had wanted to meet
Minerva Perez, the organization’s
executive director. And
there she was!
Rushing through the Parrish,
where the fi lms were showing on
the outdoor patio, Minerva and I
had a moment to chat and meet.
Th e short that started the festival
brought tears to my eyes as
I heard the stories of the struggles
of immigrants being here
in America. Th ey talked about
working hard and paying taxes,
yet fi nding no path to citizenship.
I wondered what happened
to our belief engraved on the
Statue of Liberty: “Give me
your tired, your poor, your
huddled masses yearning
to breathe free, the wretched
refuse of your teeming
shore. Send these,
the homeless, tempest
tossed to me, I
lift my lamp beside
the golden door!”
It seems our
country has lost
its compassion, as
told by the speakers
in the fi lm.
I enjoyed a delicious meal with great
friends at Union Sushi & Steak. Minerva Perez with fifi lmmaker Christiane
Arbesu at the Ola Latino Film Festival.
What a thrill to be a part of the opening
of Life’s WORC’s new day program!
Steve Bellone surprised
me by announcing Victoria
Schneps-Yunis Day.
Dan’s Papers events
raised $1,500 for the Ellen
Hermanson Foundation.
(From l. to r.) Exec. Dir. Anne
Tschida Gomberg, Founder
Julie Ratner and gallery
owner Yuval Marquez Fleites.
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
