for breaking news visit www.timesnewsweekly.com may 14, 2015 • times 31 victoria’s secrets VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS [email protected] tweet me @vschneps Driving down Memory Lane As my car turned onto Victory Boulevard off the Staten Island Expressway, I saw the stately brick gates leading into the College of Staten Island. As I drove up the wide, curving roads, the college buildings came into view surrounded by swaths of brilliant, green lawns. For me, this place has special meaning. It is the former site of the infamous Willowbrook State School where my daughter had briefly resided. In the early 1970s, Willowbrook was home to 5,400 people with a variety of disabilities. When my daughter, Lara, who was born in 1968, turned blue in the nursery just hours after her birth, she suffered irreversible brain damage. Doctors advised us to get her into an intensive rehabilitation program but as we searched the New York City region for such a place, we only found the newly created Infant Rehabilitation Center at Willowbrook. With much reluctance but also a glimmer of hope we pushed ourselves to bring her there. The setting was, and is today, a beautiful 204-acre property recreated as a four-year college in the ‘90s. It is accurately described by the school as a “park-like landscape with mature trees and woodlands, flowering trees and ornamental plantings. The great lawn has seating areas that create a rural oasis in an urban setting.” It was just as beautiful back in the 1970s, but what was happening behind the brick walls was not! When conditions deteriorated, my members of the nonprofit Life’s WORC moved from being fundraisers to marchers and picketers. We demanded restoration Dr. Willam J. Fritz (right), College of Staten Island president, presents Geraldo Rivera with a plaque recognizing his work and appearance at a lecture on Social Work and Disabilities Studies. of killing cuts to the budget by the insensitive Governor Rockefeller. A young cub reporter for Eyewitness News snuck into the stately brick buildings to uncover the horrendous conditions people were living in. Geraldo Rivera’s brilliant, sensitive, powerful, heart-rending coverage moved the parents association to file a federal class action lawsuit against the government, and moved a nation to disgust and dismay. The success of the lawsuit changed forever how people with disabilities are served. The remarkable piece of the Willowbrook story is that Geraldo Rivera has stayed involved with the cause for over 40 years. Each year for 27 years, he has helped Life’s WORC by leading the Geraldo Rivera Golf Outing, and recently he remarkably raised $720,000 for Life’s WORC as a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice.” Then, last week, Geraldo returned to Willowbrook, this time through the front door of the new Center for the Arts. He was there for the first lecture in a series made possible by his donation to the College of Staten Island to create a lecture series in Social Work and Disabilities Studies. The goal is to keep alive the eternal need to sensitize and educate people about people with special needs. The first lecture was this week and I was honored to be there as it was introduced by CSI President Dr. William J. Fritz and Geraldo, who was accompanied by his beloved wife Erica and their dear daughter Sol. It was an historic moment in the history of the college, never to forget what was before – Willowbrook and the inhumane services for the people who lived there. The lecture series reflects the college’s commitment to sharing knowledge about the changing field within the disability community, scholars and those creating public policy. There will be conferences, symposia, lectures and publications focusing on services for people with disabilities. I am so grateful to President Fritz, who also believes it must be remembered. And he has begun .... The school now has one of the largest programs of study training people to work with the disabled. Memory Lane for Mother’s Day It was a glorious Mother’s Day with celebrations for two days. The first was Saturday night when my children Josh, Samantha and Elizabeth with their children gathered for a feast at a restaurant that allowed the children “wiggle room” to move freely within the boundaries of our corner banquettes. Then, on Sunday, Elizabeth with 6-year-old Jonah and 3-year-old Addy went with me to lunch at a favorite restaurant from 40 years ago that still holds a reputation of greatness in Westhampton, Long Island – Starr Boggs. The namesake restaurant had a reputation for superb fish and fresh farm produce when I last visited 40 years ago. I remember eating the best swordfish I ever had. So, this past Sunday, I ordered it again, a massive twoinch thick piece of basil-crusted swordfish accompanied by orzo paella containing chorizo, peas, shrimp and mussels. It was juicy, succulent, tender and tasty. It did not disappoint my memory of the dish. Fortunately, there was a children’s menu that offered the children their favorite meatballs and rigatoni. It was brilliant of the restaurant to offer three tables, just a few steps from ours, outside with arts and crafts projects. It allowed Elizabeth and me to enjoy our slow-eating adult ways as the children more quickly gobbled their food and ran to the craft tables. The day ended with a walk in the charming town and an ice cream at the Shock store offering multiple choices for each of us as we found our favorite flavors, a sweet way to end a sweet day. My grandchildren at one of the Mother’s Day celebrations. For all the News 24 Hours, 7 Days a Week go to www.TIMESNEWSWEEKLY.com
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