The Community Alliance Blog

Same Tax, Next Year?

2011-12-31T14:16:00.000-05:00

Are Your Property Taxes Lower Today Than They Were One Year Ago?

Dollars to doughnuts -- or to school districts, sanitary districts, towns, counties, and taxing districts by the dozen -- your property tax bill was higher this year than it was last. And higher still than that tax bill for the very same services was 2 years, 5 years, 10 years ago.

Talk of cuts, consolidations, transparency, efficiency, and, yes, even caps aside, your property taxes are no lower than they were a year ago, and the prospects of that bottom line coming down -- or even staying the same (a cap not being a reduction, or, truth be told, even a cap on the tax you will pay), zero to nil.

Bully for the Tax Revolt. Hooray for the Two-Percenters. A great big YeeHaa for the folks who promised smaller, leaner, more efficient government.

It truly is the property tax, stupid. The tax that drives seniors out of their homes, our workforce to other states, our children to find livelihoods, buy homes and raise families eleswhere.

The question is no longer whether we have had enough. That train left the station years ago. What must be asked -- though we've asked it before -- is when are we finally going to do something -- something tangible, something real, something that actually translates into a true reduction on the bottom line -- to lower the property taxes on Long Island?

Comments? Suggestions? Ideas? Solutions? Write us at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com.

Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/CommunityAlli.
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In 2012 The Community Alliance Blog becomes an open forum, where you can post your own thoughts on building that better, sustainable, Long Island. Hey, it's where you live. Be a part of it!

The Community Alliance

Reimagining Long Island

Yelling "Fire" On A Crowded Island

2011-12-01T11:18:00.001-05:00

Special District Elections (Fire, Water) Set For Tuesday, December 13

What if they held an election and nobody came?

Well, here on Long Island, it happens all the time. Every year, twice a year, when elections for Commissioners (the folks who set the budgets for which We, The People, are taxed) of the Special Taxing Districts -- Sanitary, Water and Fire) are held.

Forget all the talk about disolving or consolidating special districts -- the very hobgoblin of local government fiefdoms that take from our wallets and keep on taking. If we can't even muster the will to get out the vote for general elections in November, and School Budget votes in May, what are the chances of a decent turnout for little publicized and hardly noticed special district elections that take place in August (Sanitary Districts -- Ooops. Missed those) and December (Fire Districts and Water Districts)?

Typically, it's the pocketbook issues that bring voters to the polls. The bread and butter. The property taxes. The stuff that Tax Revolt parties would be made of if they weren't the machinations of the very folks who laid those taxes upon us in the first place!

Not so on our Long Island, where special district elections are barely a blip on the radar screen.

Odd, as special district taxes account for more than 30% of the General Tax Levy, and nearly 11% of the total property tax bill, including school taxes.

In fact, as per the Statement of Taxes for the 2011 General Levy, which details County, Town and Special District taxes, the total tax paid per household for Special Districts is actually greater than the total tax paid per household for Town services.

One would think residents would be up in arms, waiting in line one hundred deep, if not to eliminate the special districts, then at least to elect Commissioners who would be held accountable for every last tax dollar they bill us for, down to the penny.

Truth is, most of us don't know who the Commissioners are, and many of those Commissioners (often cronies of the local political club) go unchallenged, both in elections and when drafting a budget, where the only "oversight" (in the literal meaning of the word) is a rubber stamp review by the Town Board.

Hmmm. Wonder how many of our special district Commissioners -- the vanguards of that last bastion of "local control" (or so the folks at Town Hall would have us believe) -- will feel compelled to adhere to the 2% cap on property tax increases?

Yes, the special district Commissioners hold so-called public meetings -- and even make their proposed budgets available for public review, if begrudingly, but who goes and who looks?

This blogger attended recent board meetings at the local Sanitary, Water and Fire Districts, respectively. On all three occasions, there was not another member of the public in attendance. And to say that I was not made to feel welcome would be an understatement.

Sure. Notices of Special District elections, budget hearings, and, sometimes, the budgets themselves, are posted (as they must be, by law) on the Town's website. You'll find Fire, Water and Sanitary, should you be so inclined. [Why, there's even Sewer Districts, if you're feeling particularly inquisitive.]

Frankly, you won't learn all that much from what's posted. Mostly, because the powers that be -- the one's with both hands in your pockets -- really don't want you to know. Still, you have every right to attend the hearings and public meetings, as posted, and, for what these special taxing districts are draining out of your bank accounts, you darn well should.

You can -- and, by all reason, should -- visit the websites of your local Fire Distict, Water District and Sanitary District, where notices of meetings, hearings and, sometimes, proposed budgets are posted for public consumption. [You may have to dig a bit, as "conspicuous" is not a word readily known to district Commissioners.]

There is no consistency, of course. Were you expecting any? Search for Franklin Square Water District, for instance, and you get a single page listing little more than a telephone number, some district trivia, and the fact that the district was the winner of the Best Tasting Tap Water Contest in Nassau County in 1991 and 1994. Many of the special districts do not even have a presence on the web, and where they do, don't expect to find pertinent information -- like dates, times and places for Commissioner elections -- popping up at you from the home page!

We'd say that Long Island residents are being kept in the dark about the goings on at the special districts. Then again, that would be an affront to the dignity of your local Lighting District, which also takes a chunk of cash out of your account twice a year.

Ignorance may be bliss, or so the old adage goes. In the case of the special taxing districts, with their clandestine operations, closely held bonds to the Town under which they conduct business, and private club-like mentality that has the public damned, ignorance -- not to mention apathy and indifference -- has become a burden that We, The People, can no longer afford.

So, mark your calendars. Tuesday, December 13. Water District and Fire District Elections. Find out the what, when, where and how. After all, they're playing with the tax dollars you're paying!
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For more on Long Island's Special Taxing Districts:
Residents for Efficient Special Districts
Long Island Progressive Coalition
Nassau County Government Efficiency Project

The Community Alliance

Common Sense Solutions To Common Community Concerns

The School Property Tax Paradox

2011-11-23T14:46:00.005-05:00

Where Is Albert Einstein When You Need Him?

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” — Albert Einstein, physicist

Apparently, Professor Einstein never had to deal with school taxes on Long Island. Unfortunately, we do!

This blogger attended a meeting of the local school board Tuesday evening, during which a discussion ensued (as it often does) on school budgets, past, present and future.

While the school board, and its attorney, did their best, we suppose, to explain the impact of assessments, valuations and tax rates upon the actual school property tax, confusion, and much frustration, was clearly evident.

Compound what is, on its very face, a system of taxation that would turn the heads of NASA engineers, with costs (such as transportation, insurance, utilities, salaries and pensions, to list a few) that are constantly rising and rarely contained, and you've got trouble, with a capital "T" -- which stands for "TAX."

A letter circulated at this meeting, from an attorney who handles tax grievances, attempted to explain the school tax dilemma as follows:

"It is important for property owners to understand the Level of Assessment (LOA), which is the fraction by which an assessment is converted to an equalized market value. Even though your assessment may remain the same, or even be lowered during the assessment freeze, the LOA may change. As a result, the equalized market value of your home may increase. While the assessment may currently seem accurate, a change in the LOA may mean you have a meritorious case for a reduction.

"New York State Law allows a taxpayer to challenge the LOA along with the market value, as part of the same process. The taxpayer is entitled to present evidence regarding the correct LOA at a Small Claims Assessment Review (SCAR) hearing. Statistical studies can determine whether the LOA selected by the Assessor accurately reflects the true LOA. These statistical studies rely on appraisals, actual sales data, or econometric models. Example: If a house is valued by the County at $350,000, which translates to an original assessment of 875 (350,000 x .0025 = 875), and it is proven in a SCAR hearing that the correct market value is $310,000, the owner is entitled to a reduction in assessment. If the LOA is .25%, the new assessment would be 775 (310,000 x .0025 = 775). However, if the homeowner also successfully challenges the LOA, and shows the correct LOA to be .22%, the new assessment would be even lower still at 682 (310,000 x .0022 = 682). The school tax rate is then applied. Assuming by way of example a school tax rate of 400%, thereby lowering the owner’s school taxes from $3,500 (875 x 4 = $3,500) to $3,100 (775 x 4 = $3,100), for a savings of $400 ($3,500 – $3,100 = $400) in school taxes. After successfully challenging the LOA, however the new school taxes will be $2,728 (682 x 4 = $2,728) for a total annual savings of $772 ($3,500 - $2,728 = $772). The additional savings in school taxes as a result of successfully challenging the LOA will be $372 ($3,100 - $2,728 = $372). General taxes are similarly affected."

Ah. So that's what it all means! How's that for clarity, folks? About as muddy as the Mississippi during the height of crawfish season. All of this would be quite amusing, if the implications -- and the impact upon our wallets -- weren't so serious.

Anyway, many of us -- dare I say, most of us -- left this conclave more confused (some even dazed) than before, wondering just when, and how, a system of taxation that can neither be understood nor explained, and which is, in so many instances, forcing Long Islanders out of house and home, will be reformed.

We can hardly wait until January, 2012, when the next round of Tentative Assessed Valuations come out, or for shortly thereafter, when local school boards begin to formulate -- and attempt to justify with straight faces and fingers crossed -- their proposed budgets for 2012-13.

The income tax, by comparison -- with sincere apologies to Professor Einstein -- is mere child's play!

Extreme Makeover, Hempstead Turnpike Edition

2011-11-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

A Call To Take Back The Turnpike

Forget Occupy Wall Street. Smack dab in the middle of the road, bisecting hamlets from Elmont to Wantagh (actually, Farmingdale), is that once venerable (really? when?) biway that, quite literally, carves its way through the very heart of America's largest, if not most blighted township -- Hempstead Turnpike.

Good old NY 24. Once described by The New York Times (as later adopted by this blog) as Twenty Miles of Ugly, and oft times, with its hodge-podge of ill-placed brownfields and dilapidated storefronts, as an open sewer, Hempstead Turnpike cries out for renewal, revitalization and a rebirth.

If the Champs-Élysées, with its cafes, cinemas, luxury specialty shops, and stately horse chestnut trees is the pride of Paris, and one of the most beautiful boulevards in the world, then Hempstead Turnpike, with its dilapidated streetscapes, leaning utility poles, gangle of overhead wires, and structures that are one side or the other of condemnation-worthy, is the bane of Hempstead Town.

Don't get us wrong. While the Champs-Élysées has its cinemas, luxury shops and sidewalk cafes (from which, it is said, one can watch the entire world go by), Hempstead Turnpike has the ruins of the Old Argo theater and the wasteland that is the parking lot of the Nassau Coliseum, and more after hours clubs, storefront iglesias, and purveyors of shlack than Paris could have laid claim to during Napolean's Reign of Terror. The Turnpike is where the masses run from, not throng to.

Decades of what can only be characterized as "turn-the-other-cheek" (not to mention checkbook) zoning, lackluster (if not entirely absent) planning, and sheer neglect by municipalities and commercial property owners alike, have given us today's excuse for a major bisecting roadway that transverses the township, leaving in its industrial waste-filled wake a scene straight out of The Great Gatsby. [They may, to a great extent, have reclaimed the Flushing Meadows of F. Scott Fitzgerald's day. Not so Hempstead Turnpike!]

Ugly, dirty, outmoded, the very mauling of Main Street. And let's not forget dangerous, too!

Designated as THE most dangerous road in the region -- a dubious distinction that both motorists and pedestrians are reminded of daily -- it is almost as if the Turnpike was made deadly as well as unsightly by design.

The roadbed of Hempstead Turnpike may be under control of the Department of Transportation of the State of New York, and the utility poles and appurtenances the stuff that keep the likes of LIPA in the money, but what lines the Turnpike -- the zoned, the exceptions, and the downright illegal -- all comes under the province (though certainly not the watchful eye) of the Town of Hempstead.

What could have been the pride of every community through which the Turnpike so ignobly passes has instead become the great detractor of suburbia. Rather than a mecca for shoppers, or an oasis for the meandering walker, Hempstead Turnpike has become the antithesis of sustainability. A means to get from here to there (unless it can be avoided). A distinct failure of aesthetics and mobility, the Turnpike is a declaration of defeat rather than a destination of choice.

Vison? None. Viability? Little. Promise? Only the broken.

From drawing board to drafting table, plans to bring new life to an old roadway perenially fall by the wayside. Each year, we hail "the Hub," "the new Elmont," the era of "Streetscape enhancement." And with the passing of the months, we witness only decline, dismay, and the ocassional Victorian-style streetlamp, shedding dim light upon a dreary boulevard of shuttered stores and broken dreams.

And so, having only recently survived earthquake and hurricane (not to mention the return to office of the very folks at Hempstead Town Hall who pride themselves -- at taxpayers' expense -- at giving us the very best suburbia has to offer (cue the white picket fence), we call upon residents to rise up, take to the streets (just don't try to cross Hempstead Turnpike), and join the crusade (call it a "movement," should it stoke the embers of revolutionary zeal) to TAKE BACK THE TURNPIKE!

Call Kate Murray's Helpline at 516-489-6000, and let them know you want a boulevard befitting America's largest (even bigger, when you include illegal renters) township. TAKE BACK THE TURNPIKE from the neglect, the missing Code enforcement, the hands of a Zoning Board/Planning Board which has demonstrated that it is not very good at either.

And as for you, our elected, if not highly exalted officials... No more talk of urban renewal plans, Lighthouse lite, distinctive planters and brick pavers. The time to TAKE BACK THE TURNPIKE has come!

We've tired of the artists' renderings and engineers' sketches. The mock-ups and wink-and-nods won't do it for us anymore. We want -- no, we DEMAND -- a Hempstead Turnpike that is attractive, inviting, open for business, and, yes, safe for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists alike.

Come Chambers of Commerce and civic associations. Rotary and Kiwanis. Lions and Pythians. John and Jane Q. Public. Stand up. Speak out. TAKE BACK THE TURNPIKE. This generation, and the hope of the next for a thriving, vibrant "Main Street," implores you to act today!

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For more on TAKE BACK THE TURNPIKE, email The Community Alliance at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com, and follow us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/CommunityAlli.

The Community Alliance

New Visions for America's First Suburb

The Community Alliance Endorses. . .

2011-11-03T21:57:00.002-04:00

Election Day: Tuesday, November 8

Okay. You twisted our virtual arm. So, without further ado, here are our endorsements for the upcoming election.

Take them for what you will -- or won't. Frankly, if you don't know who has been a friend of community and which of the elected or wannabes is in it for themselves, there's little hope that you'll catch on now.

For President of the United States (so what if that's not until 2012 :-): Herman Cain (R)
Yup, Herman Cain. We like his 9-9-9 Plan. That's 9 pizzas with 9 toppings for 9 dollars. You just can't beat that, now can you?

For Town of Hempstead Supervisor: Kate Murray (R)
Do we hear a collective, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?"
Is it the tax freeze? The fiscal conservatism? The experience in office? The smile? The photo ops? The fact that, in each preceding election, we endorsed the challenger, and look what happened? [Read into that what you will!] No. It's the TV ads and radio spots. Anyone who can be that creative in straining credulity, and actually gets the electorate to buy in, lock, stock and barrel, has truly earned our vote!

For Hempstead Town Clerk: Mark Bonilla (R)
He's done a fantastic job in bringing Town Hall to the people, and not just the mobile Passport office.

For Town of Hempstead Receiver of Taxes: Don Clavin (R)
We all need someone to Boooo-Hisssss when it comes to our property tax bills. Who better than Don? :-)

For Hempstead Town Board:
Ed Ambrosino (R) (a true friend of community, even if he no longer returns our telephone calls)
James Darcy (R)
Angie Cullen (R)

For Nassau County Legislature:
Kevan Abrahams (D)
Robert Troiano (D)
Carrie Solages (D) (if for no other reason than we all know what John Ciotti knew and when he knew it)
Denise Ford (R)
Joseph Scanneli (D)
Francis Becker (R)
Adam Moser (D)
Vincent Muscarella (R)
Norma Gonsalves (R)
David Denenberg(D)

Well, there you have it. Remember, it's all about transparency, accountability, and the uncanny ability to avoid either while convincing the public that you're doing both!

And now, like the rest of you, we'll lock the doors, close all the lights, pull down the shades and hide under the covers, hoping against hope that tomorrow never finds us.

Good night and good luck!

Happy Daze Are Here Again!

2011-10-21T16:06:00.004-04:00

Election Time In America's Largest Township. Oh Boy!

In case you hadn't noticed -- and how could you not, what with all the lawn signs planted and election placards plastered (many illegally) on boarded up commercial buildings and upon fences that surround nearly every abandoned property and festering brownfield -- there's an election coming up in Hempstead Town.

Yes, it's the seemingly perennial (as the same folks keep popping up year after year) races (if you can call them that) for Town Supervisor, Town Clerk, Receiver of Taxes (boooooo hissssss :-), and so on down the line.

This year's yawn of an election -- one, for all intents and purposes, surrendered by the Democrats at inception -- pits the always polished, ever effervescent Team Murray (Kate Murray, Supervisor) against the listing badly, we hardly knew ye Team Port (Gary Port, standard bearer for the walking wounded and permanently disengaged).

Inspiring music on the Team Murray site. And nice to see Supervisor Murray switch out the iconic red blazer for a crisp white one. Other than that, the story is much the same as it was in the last election, and the one preceding that. Ersatz tax freezes. Value for your vanishing tax dollar. Trusted on Main Street, Reviled on Brownfield Turnpike. Yada. Yada.

As for Team Port, or more aptly, the Nassau County Democrats, there's no music, perhaps indicative of the silence of the Party on many of the great issues of our time, and only a listing of candidates for office, with highlights from last May's Nominating Convention.

Yes, there are the typical and customary GOP videos and the Dem YouTube moments (we won't bore you), but, for the most part, you've not only heard it all before, you've lived it! [If you could call this living...] There's even mention, by Gary Port, of "Murraygrams," a word we, at The Community Alliance, coined, and duly expect to be paid royalties on. Thank you, Gary!

The Democrats, in a nod to the 21st Century perhaps, have their blogs. The blog of the Democratic Committee, posted sometime last century, being as vacuous as the achievements of the Party the last time it held favor in the State Senate and the Nassau County Legislature. Gary Port's blog, entitled Future Vision (to be distinguished from the Tunnel Vision that too often defines politics, on both sides of the aisle, here on our Long Island), is more a biopic (myopic?) jaunt down memory lane, peppered with the failings of the Murray administration -- from the Coliseum to the Courtesy, the Animal Shelter to personal animus -- than it is a view toward a better, brighter tomorrow.

The GOP offers no blog, per se. At least not one this blogger could discern. Heck. Who needs a blog when you have a fine-tuned machine to rally the troops and get out the vote? We did find a Team Murray blog in our search. It, thankfully, had absolutely nothing to do with either the upcoming election, or, for that matter, politics. There is a God!

To say that this campaign season has been lackluster, if not a complete ho hum bore, would be an understatement. But for the lawn signs and eye-polluting placards -- with ongoing forays into the enemy camp for sign-snatching, unlawful postings, and the hurling of racial epitaphs (as if we needed even more reason to dissolve the Town's Special Taxing Districts, including Sanitary District 6) -- there hasn't been all that much one could call election excitement.

No shows -- mostly the Democratic challengers, whose capitualtion from the get go is overshadowed only by their absence from community forums, News12 Debates, and interviews in the local papers.

No ideas -- well, not any new ideas. On the economy. On Taxes. On the Coliseum. Nothing. Nunca. Nada. Let's just rehash the old ideas one more time, and call them new. Yeah. That's the ticket!

No vision -- other than those backward glances over the shoulder, to make sure yesterday isn't catching up with them before November 8th.

No cooperation between the parties or players. No cessation to the finger-pointing and opposition-bashing. No independence of thought or action. No deviation, by anyone at anytime, from the party line.

Thank the heavens above for the likes of Sanitary District 6's Vinny Prisco, posting signs -- on the taxpayers' dime -- for GOP Legislator John Ciotti outside the Dem opponent's office, while muttering racial slurs -- on camera, no less. At least we have something to break the monotony, and to remind us that not only are we alive, but we still live in a very dark age where the antics of henchmen, hoods and goons are not only tolerated, but, at least until caught on video, condoned and encouraged.

In reading this tirade, one would think that this blogger was disenchanted with the state of politics in Hempstead Town, if not on Long Island, and well beyond these pristine shores.

I am. Or do I say, he is. This blogger should be saying, "We are," as in we've all had more than we can stand and, thank you, Popeye, we "can't stands no more!"

Looking back, more than 100 years of single party rule in a township that is noted more for blighted biways and bloated patronage than for innovative planning and the cultivation of anything more than Victorian-style street lamps and decorative planters. Nothing changes. Nothing.

Looking forward, toward that tomorrow, with the promise of the rebirth of a vibrant, vital suburbia, we see little offered, by either party, to reflect upon, let alone as harbinger of the ideals upon which a suburban way of life fluorishes and thrives. No, beyond the rhetoric of that poorly paved-over yellow brick road lined with lawn signs lies only the perception of Oz, behind which curtain we are forced to admit, with disheartening tomes, "there's no place like home." No place, indeed.

Over the years, our credo has been echoed from the Turnpike to the Boulevard, Elmont to Wantagh. "The status quo is never good enough!"

But change for the sake of change alone, out of the proverbial frying pan into the all-consuming fire, doesn't quite do it for us.

The party now in power in Hempstead Town offers us more of the same. They tell us that, after a century, their work is not yet done. Two more years. Three more years. One hundred more years. Whatever it takes.

And the party that would be king? Well, just put us in and.... Wait. We saw that in Albany, where the State Senate devolved into nothing short of a three-ring circus, and in Mineola, where the magical mystery bus tour of revitalization left us all stranded.

What were those lyrics again? "The buyers and the sellers are no different fellas than what I professed to be..."

Maybe so.

If you are looking for an endorsement here, as has been our practice and policy over the years, move on. Not now. Perhaps not at all. Well, maybe later, because sitting on the sidelines, cursing at the darkness to our right, and raising a clenched fist to the faint light of an oncoming freight train, far in the distance, to our left, is simply not our style.

For while we respect all who hold or run for public office, there being no higher calling (well, maybe blogger :-) in service to the community, and, in more than political circles, we call many in or seeking office "friends," we must profess, with profound sadness, that, as benefactors of the portended public good, collectively, systematically, and, perhaps, unwittingly, they have let us down.

The status quo may not be good enough. Not now. Not ever. It is, nevertheless, what it is, what it was, and, what might yet be. The Devil we know versus who the heck knows what. Mediocrity, like water, seeks its own level.

We'd like to think, and even believe, with all of our hearts, that we can do better; we must do better. That happy days will, indeed, be here again. If not by way of this election, with an electorate duly motivated, or should we say, incensed, and candidates with the gumption to fight for the causes of community, or to at least talk about them, then maybe in the next!

A Facelift for Sagging Coliseum?

2011-09-22T10:26:00.000-04:00

Latest Plan for Nassau Hub Scrubs New Arena

In the most recent twist along the aging Turnpike of dreams turned nightmares, developers -- under the guise of the Association for a Better Long Island ("better" for whom?) -- have proposed not a new arena as home to the NY Islanders, but rather, a facelift for the NHL's oldest building. In addition, the proposal calls for a minor league ballpark as well as retail and recreational space.

Call it Lighthouse Lighter Than Lite!

A facelift for the Coliseum? Not to disparage, but wouldn't that be akin to putting Phyllis Diller under the knife -- yet again?

Raise the roof. Add more seats (as if the view from the current nose-bleed sections wasn't bad enough). Give the place a paint job.

The $346.5 million plan as proferred has yet to be reviewed or commented upon by either the County or the Town of Hempstead, which has jurisdiction over zoning, or by the owner of the Islanders, developer Charles Wang.

Included, in addition to updating the Coliseum and a minor league ballpark, is restaurant space, a 6800 car parking garage, and an indoor ice skating rink. No mention of residential housing, of any kind. [Not that we need housing on Long Island, particularly of the affordable kind!]

What the plan lacks in scope and vision, it makes up for in, um, er, nothing. But for the fact that this so-called sports and entertainment complex (a combination Hooters and Adventureland, minus the rides and the pretty girls) is to be financed privately (rather than by bilking the taxpayers), the latest attempt to reinvent the Hub brings little to the table, and yawns from the masses.

Watch for the "Task Force's" proposal to go nowhere, as the light grows even dimmer in Uniondale.
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From Newsday:

Task force unveils $346.5M Coliseum plan

by RANDI F. MARSHALL / mailto:randi.marshall@newsday.com

Architects, engineers, government officials and labor leaders Wednesday unveiled a $346.5 million proposal to renovate the Nassau Coliseum and turn the surrounding 77 acres into a sports-entertainment complex.

But the development, for which the builder would have to secure financing, drew noncommittal responses from key players, including County Executive Edward Mangano, the Town of Hempstead and Islanders owner Charles Wang, who all would have a say in the project's future.

Under the plan, developed by a task force of the Association for a Better Long Island, a private developer would spend $100 million to renovate and expand the existing Coliseum. The height of the arena would increase by as much as 25 feet, and there would be between 17,000 and 20,000 seats -- compared with just over 16,000 now.

The site would include a minor league ballpark, a parking garage with room for 6,800 cars that would join the Coliseum and the Long Island Marriott, a new indoor ice rink for practice and public use, and 70,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. West Hempstead architect Angelo Francis Corva, who designed the plan, left about 25 acres on two parcels undeveloped for a future phase.

"It would be an economic boost for Long Island," Corva said. "This is vitality being brought to a site which has none at the present time, which is something we will need."

"The goal is to keep the Islanders" in Nassau, said North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman, a Democrat and a task force member.

The proposal, which did not mention any specific developers, follows the rejection by Nassau voters on Aug. 1 of a referendum to spend $400 million of taxpayer funds on a new arena and ballpark.

The ABLI, a real estate group, campaigned against the referendum.

Mangano, a Republican, said in a statement: "Everything is on the table. . . . No one has the market cornered on good ideas when it comes to a project of this magnitude."

Mangano added that moving ahead, "I am firmly committed to a process that ensures that whatever path we ultimately take provides the greatest benefit to our citizens, not the greatest profit to a chosen few."

Wang, who has said the Islanders will not play in the current arena after the team's lease expires in 2015, said, "If somebody comes up with anything definitive, we will obviously look at it. I can tell you one thing very definitively. Oct. 8 the puck drops. And we will have a hell of a season."

Hempstead Town spokesman Mike Deery said: "If and when a proposal comes before the town board, we'll review it, consider it and act accordingly."

Town attorney David Levy, a task force member, did not attend the announcement.

Oyster Bay Planning Commissioner Frederick Ippolito, a task force member, took the lead on the plan, bringing in Corva and engineering firm Sidney B. Bowne & Son.

With Robert Brodsky

On A Clear, Crisp, Sunny Day. . .

2011-09-09T09:36:00.000-04:00

. . .It Feels Like 9/11

Ten years. A decade. And it seems like only this morning.

The shock. The horror. The fear. The pain and sorrow. It all comes streaming back, though the void that penetrated both psyche and soul on that otherwise remarkably brilliant fall day has never really left us.

An open wound that scars over but never fully heals. An emptiness deep within that time cannot fill. A longing for the perceived safety of seemingly more innocent times. A return to 9/10.

On the 10th Anniversary of one of America's darkest days, we remember.

We remember the lives of friends, neighbors and loved ones tragically lost to senseless acts of terror, and the lives of countless others forever changed on that fateful day.

We remember the brave, the selfless, the tried and true. Those who gave all, gave some, or gave what they could.

We remember those who have taken up the causes near and dear to those who perished, of country, of community, of service beyond self.

We remember that freedom is never truly free, and that freedom's flame must be constantly stoked to keep its light burning brightly.

And we remember, at least it is our hope and prayer that we do, that, even in the depth of despair, in these times of social, political and economic turmoil, as in other such times throughout our nation's great history,when uncertainty abounds and the "new normal" is anything but, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself!"

At this time of remembrance, take a moment, at the very least, to pay tribute both to the fallen and to those who continue to stand tall, at home and abroad, in the face of enormous adversity. Take a moment to reflect upon the meaning of those lives too soon taken, and the lives we, the living, must strive to lead in their memory. Take a moment to resolve to do more, try harder, go just one step further in making our community, our country and this world a better, safer, happier place.

And then, take a moment -- or as many as you may spare -- to hug your kids, your spouse, your significant other, your mom and dad, uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbors, friends and acquaintances, and to say "I love you."

9/11 will forever be etched on our minds and embedded in our hearts, as it should be -- as it must be. We remember. And we move forward, with hope, with strength, with determination, to 9/12 and beyond.

Earthquakes And Hurricanes And High Taxes, OH MY!

2011-08-25T11:23:00.001-04:00

Weathering The Imperfect Storm On Long Island

First it was the property tax bill, exploding out of our mailboxes and burrowing into our wallets like some kind of Tasmanian Devil.

Then came the earthquake. The Stuff that ad nauseum reports by the likes of Wolf Blitzer, who must have interviewed every last rock in Mineral Springs, VA, are made of.

And now, batten down the hatches and secure your lawn chairs, as Long Island tracks a strong and virulent Hurricane Irene.

What next? Locust? [Wait. We've seen the skeletal remains of the Cicada clinging to the tree trunks. The locust have arrived!]

We survived the earthquake, and have the tee shirts to prove it. We are enduring the tax bills -- barely, and with ever deepening dismay. We tolerate the Cicada. But a full blown Hurricane with torrential rains and winds nearing 100 mph?

If you thought the flooding and downpours of the other night were of Biblical proportions, just wait!

Forecasters are not exactly sure where the storm will track (are they ever?) -- east, west, or out to sea (although the computer models don't indicate this at the moment). So, where to, Irene? Who knows?

Long Island has a long history of Hurricane hits, some impressive and deadly, others little more than a passing shower. From Doria to Gloria, Belle to Bob, we've weathered them all.

What will Ms. Irene bring our fair Island?

The best adivce we can give you -- short of becoming stranded on one of Long Island's faux Coastal Evacuation Routes, heading for higher ground atop the Covanta Incinerator tower or the H. Lee Denison Building, or hastily ordering your personal (autographed?) copy of Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray's Guide to Hurricane Safety -- comes in the form of two words: BE PREPARED!
- - -
Nassau County Office of Emergency Management

Hurricane Irene is currently forecast with a 50% chance of hitting the Greater New York City region - passing Long Island at or just east of Montauk - at around 4 PM Sunday, possibly as a category 1 hurricane
with maximum sustained winds of 74-95 mile per hour.

Hurricane Irene, at that level of strength, can produce storm surges, high tides, strong winds, driving rain, and severe thunder storms. These, in turn, can cause flooding, toppling of trees or other structures, dangerous driving and walking conditions, and downed power lines, presenting dangerous street conditions and leading to extended power outages.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency reminds everyone to Be Prepared.

Please visit the NOAA website for information on disaster preparedness http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/disaster_prevention.shtml and pay particular attention to the disaster supply list at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/prepare/supply_kit.shtml.

The information below was supplied by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy's Office to help in accessing help during emergencies.

For more information and storm safety and preparedness tips:

http://www.lipower.org/stormcenter/safety.html
http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/oem/hurricane/prepare.html
http://www.ready.gov
www.petsafecoalition.org

If all else fails, and you still have power, check out the Long Island Hurricanes.

The Day The Earth Shook Long Island

2011-08-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

Shake, Rattle & Roll Along The Turnpike

The aftershocks of yesterday's 5.9 on the Richter (neither Mike nor Barry) Scale quake are still being felt today on Long Island.

Hardest hit was the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County. America's largest, and heretofore most blighted township, suffered devastating damage, with only two structures that remained standing after the tremors subsided -- the Nassau Coliseum and the Covanta Incinerator tower.

Main Street was eerily empty on Wednesday morning, with storefronts shuttered, infrastructure crumbling, and debris strewn along the sidewalks and in parking fields. [In other words, it was business as usual in "downtown!"]

Nassau County Executive, Ed Mangano, manned the Emergency Response Desk at the County Seat in Mineola, reassuring residents and attempting to allay fears.

Surveying the damage to the now scaffolded Executive Building in Mineola, Mangano told reporters that calm would prevail.

"We've already called for a September 1 vote on a $400 Billion Rebuild Nassau Bond Referendum," said the County Exec. "The proceeds will be used, primarily, to raise taxes by way of artists' renderings of what Nassau would look like assuming we ever got off our butts and actually did something."

Meanwhile, at what was left at Hempstead Town Hall [a bust of Joe Mondello embracing Al D'Amato, a stack of Murraygrams, and a half-eaten ham sandwhich from the Coliseum Deli], Supervisor Kate Murray issued a statement -- full color copies of which will be mailed to all 200,000 homes in the Town -- on Earthquake Preparedness.

"Remember to wear clean underwear," Murray began. "And avoid standing under falling buildings..."

Sage advice, from those who know.

Murray, speaking on behalf of the entire Town Board, declared Hempstead Town a disaster area, and ordered the creation of a taxpayer-funded Special Earthquake Relief District (Joe Ra, Commissioner). Details on the nature and scope of the District were sketchy at press time.

Also heard from, by way of the now famous Campfire Express, was NYS and Nassau County Democratic Committee Chairman, Jay Jacobs. Jacobs, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied that there had been an earthquake. "Just a GOP ruse," asserted the Party Chair, "to divert our attention from the real problems of Nassau County. I urge all residents to vote 'no' on the September 1 Bond issue."

At the MTA and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, spokespersons said there had been no damage to the bridges, tunnels and rails, and that there were no quake-related delays. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Expect the usual 20-30 minute delays, random cancelations, and daily disruptions."

In anticipation of future disasters -- such as cloudy days and a 5 MPH breeze out of the west -- the MTA and Port Authority have both requested 200% fare increases, retroactive to 1997.

Chaos and destruction notwithstanding, County and Town residents appeared to take yesterday's earthquake in stride.

Wandering along Nassau's Hurricane Evacuation Route (no doubt getting a jump on Irene, likely to be headed our way this weekend), some of Long Island's most notable took pause to comment.

Adrienne Esposito of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment said that the quake resulted from hydrofracking in the shale of Virginia. "Was it a coincidence that the quake happened on the very day hydrofracking hearings were being held in Albany? Of course it was. But we needed a good tie-in."

Elmont civic activist Patrick Nicolosi looked at the bright side of the quake. "Before the earthquake, the roads were cracked and pitted. Look at them now. Like new!"

Congressman Peter King blamed the earthquake on the rage of terrorist-hugging Muslims. "There's nothing natural about this," muttered King. "The mosque is the epicenter of all evil!"

And former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani added his now familiar tagline, "9/11!"

End-of-the-World believers were also having their best day ever, predicting floods, mudslides, typhoons and round-the-clock Mister Softee music playing all over town. The End Is Nearer Than It Was On Tuesday tee shirts were already being promoted on the Internet and hawked in the streets.

As they do most everything, LIers shrugged off the earthquake as simply another day on the island of misplaced dreams.

"Just add it to out property tax bills," said a passerby, not even stopping to pay homage at the makeshift memorial set up in front of the Receiver of Taxes' office. "Absolutely nothing surprises us anymore!"

Nassau Coliseum BEFORE Earthquake Hit Long Island

Dude, Where's My Tax Freeze?

2011-08-23T09:40:00.000-04:00

So Much For "Holding The Line" On Property Taxes

Well, those pesky property tax statements for Town of Hempstead and County of Nassau taxes are in the mail once again, leaving most homeowners to wonder, "Which part of 'tax freeze' am I missing?"

All of it, apparently, judging from the increased tax levies, virtually across the board.

We won't name names, but wasn't it the Nassau County Executive who, broom in hand, told us that he "stopped" the outrageous hikes in the property tax? And wasn't it the Town of Hempstead Supervisor, smiling all the way to the office of the Receiver of Taxes, who pledged to "freeze" property taxes across the board? [Oh wait. That was for 2009 and 2012. Stuck right there in the middle of the worst recession since the Great Depression were hefty property tax hikes!]

Did someone, somewhere, not get the memo? Where are our Republican/Tax Revolt Party tax cuts?

But enough of the rhetoric. Let's look at the numbers.

For the County of Nassau, where ideas aren't the only things being swept under the rug, here are just some of the property tax increases over 2010 tax levies:

General Purposes -- +9.89%
County Police -- +6.05%
County Environmental Bond -- +26.94%
County Sewage Collection District -- +11.88%

Thank goodness taxpayers won't have to add a Coliseum/Hub Bond to the list!

On the Town of Hempstead side:

Highway Repairs/Improvements -- +6.50%
Building-Zoning-Etc. -- +6.47%
Town Lighting District -- +3.96%
Town Park District -- +9.07%
Town Public Parking District -- +12.33%

And while the tax levy for the Town of Hempstead's Refuse Disposal District actually decreased by 19.46%, the levy in the Town's Sanitary District (#6), whose budget is approved (or should we say, rubber-stamped?) each year by the Town Board, went up by 15.07%. That's a lot of garbage, folks!

We've been had, blind-sided, played for fools! So, what else is new?

Yes, our local governments are holding the line, all right, while taxpayers are left holding the now empty bag!

Sure. Wait 'til next year. A freeze. A Tax Cap. A promise to be made and later broken. One hand patting us on the back while the other picks our pockets!

We asked you to let us know if that "bottom line" on your property tax bill for 2011 had, in fact, gone down compared to 2010. Well, has it?

Just looking at the bottom line, we are moved, like so many of our fellow Long Islanders, to pick ourselves up, lock, stock and barrel, and venture to greener, less taxing, pastures. And we would. But who can afford the tolls to cross the Hudson?
- - -
Won't Get Foooled Again? Yeah, Right!

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

2011-08-22T10:02:00.000-04:00

The Abandonment of the Nassau Hub

In case you hadn't noticed -- assuming you even care -- the deadline for new proposals for the redevelopment of the Nassau Hub/Coliseum has come and gone.

Newsday reported that eight -- yes, count 'em, 8 -- proposals had been put forth, each to be "carefully reviewed" by the County.

As per Newsday, of the eight ideas (none either novel or entirely new), "One response offers a revenue-sharing model; several 'appear to revisit leveraging the surrounding areas as a means to finance a new arena;' others seek to develop without an arena; none would privately finance a new Coliseum..."

Inspirational, isn't it? One wonders where all the visionaries have gone? To the Farmers' Markets, we suppose...

Developers are vying, if not drooling, to get a foot in the door. Special interest groups, under guise of that "better Long Island," are still lobbying. Taxpayers, at least those left here, are still reeling from hit after hit to their wallets.

Ideas? We have an idea? Bring back Charlie Wang, his Lighthouse and his money, and let's get a move on.

Ho. Hum. Been there. Done that.

So, now that Ed Mangano & Company's rushed Referendum on an ill-conceived, patchwork plan to bilk taxpayers out of $400+ million has gone down the tubes, it's back to "wait and see." Delay. Obfuscation. Put the patient back on the respirator and hope for the best.

And what has become of the great protagonists of progress -- or, for that matter, the antagonists, who "just say no" to absolutely everything?

Eleceted officials have gone back to doing what they do -- issuing boistrous press releases and smile-filled photo ops signifying nothing. Islanders fans have retreated to the shadows of a crumbling arena, back to discussing trades, jerseys and prospects for the coming season. Community groups and civic organizations, wishy-washy on the Coliseum/Hub issue, at best, have returned to their perceived core issues of suburban life. Why, even the naysayers have been silenced momentarily, awaiting, no doubt, the next big idea, and yet another opportunity to say "no."

If the Nassau Hub itself has not been abandoned, in great measure, by those who declared themselves the strongest supporters of development, then certainly, logic and reason have been left on the curbside of a Hempstead Turnpike at the crossroads of desolation and hopelessness.

To borrow from Bob Dylan, via Peter, Paul & Mary (did they ever play the Coliseum?), Don't Think Twice, It's All Right:

We're walkin’ down that long, lonesome road, babe
Where we're bound, we can’t tell
But goodbye’s too good a word, gal
So we’ll just say fare thee well
We ain’t sayin’ you treated us unkind
You could have done better but we don’t mind
You just kinda wasted our precious time
But don’t think twice, it’s all right
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Click HERE to read the Anton News Viewpoint, Bigger Than One Building

Driving Miss Daisy

2011-08-11T09:25:00.004-04:00

Or Is It, Dawn?

A hardly-noticed blurb, hidden in the hinter-pages of Newsday, chronicled, in short order, a motor vehicle accident involving a car owned by the Town of Hempstead and operated by a TOH employee, one Dawn Kurutz.

Nothing remarkable, on the face of it. After all, accidents happen.

What struck us, though -- raising a red flag -- was one salient fact: The accident took place in Copiague, County of Suffolk.

While the Town of Hempstead is, indeed, America's largest township, its reach extending far and wide, when last we looked, neither Copiague nor Suffolk were within the Town's boundaries.

So, what was a Town of Hempstead employee, driving a car owned by the Town (and, presumably, paid for by the Town's taxpayers), doing out in Suffolk County?

According to the Town's Minister of Misinformation, Mike Deery, as reported in Newsday, "Kurutz was on her way to work and was authorized to have the town vehicle."

Is there a reason Kurutz could not use her own vehicle to drive to and from work in Hempstead Town, this even if the TOH-owned car was used by her in the course of her employment? Did the Town have "business" out in Suffolk County for which Kurutz required use of an "official" vehicle? Do Town of Hempstead employees typically use Town-owned/taxpayer paid for vehicles to travel to and/or from work? Exactly what was this car doing out in Suffolk, other than providing a free ride to a TOH employee on the taxpayers' of Hempstead Town dime (add in gas -- unless this was one of those new-fangled Hydrogen-propelled vehicles -- and we're talking real money here)?

We won't even get into why a Suffolk County resident is on the Town of Hempstead payroll, especially at a time when so many qualified Town of Hempstead residents are unemployed, ready to work, and have more than vested interests in the municipality's affairs. [Will assume, for purposes of this blogpost, that Miss Kurutz is a relative, friend, or significant somebody connected in some way to the GOP.]

But we digress.

In a time of economic upheaval, when government, from the feds to the counties, is cutting back, firing workers, and moving toward austerity, how is it that a Town of Hempstead employee is "authorized" to take a Town-owned car to and from work?

In a Town that boasts -- time and time again -- the highest possible credit rating on Wall Street (and we all know now exactly how much credence we can put into that, thank you, Standard and Poors), how does allowing employees to have use of Town-owned vehicles for non-business purposes equate with fiscal prudence?

In an election year, with a campaign slogan of, "Trusted on Main Street," how can citizen taxpayers of Hempstead Town continue to place their "trust" in Town officials who squander hard to come by tax dollars on after-hour honorariums, such as use of official cars for unofficial business?

Maybe it's not just the "crash" in the stock market we have to worry about!

Of course, we may be off base here. Perhaps, way off. Could be that there was a very good reason for Dawn Kurutz having a Town-owned car to travel to work from Copiague in the County of Suffolk. Assuming a valid and reasonable explanation is in the offing, we'll report it right here on this blog, leaving you to decide the propriety -- or not -- of the act.

We are, however, painfully -- although not shockingly -- reminded of the many reports of Town employees operating "official", taxpayer-funded vehicles outside the scope of employment, ala Sanitary District supervisors driving Town-owned SUVs to, from, and virtually everywhere in between.

Yes, it gives us pause when we see, for instance, a vehicle emblazoned with the markings of a local fire, water or school district driving on a roadway outside of, say, Oneonta, New York. Seeing a "Chief's" SUV from a nearby hamlet's fire district on the NYS Thruway north of Westchester, we are tempted to flag 'em down, pull 'em over, and ask, "Where's the fire?"

The use of publicly owned vehicles to perform non-government tasks can sometimes be substantiated. More often than not, however, unofficial use of official vehicles is just plain wrong, if not outright unlawful (think Alan Hevesi's first conviction).

More than this, it prompts this blogger to ask two simple questions: Who is watching the pot at the Town of Hempstead, and do Town taxpayers really give a damn when their tax dollars are literally going out the exhaust pipe in Suffolk County?

We await Mike Deery's response. Stay tuned...
- - -
From Newsday:

Town of Hempstead car in Copiague crash

August 10, 2011 by WILLIAM MURPHY / william.murphy@newsday.com

A car owned by the Town of Hempstead was one of three vehicles involved in a collision Wednesday morning in Copiague, Suffolk County police said.

All three drivers were treated for minor injuries after the accident, which occurred about 9 a.m. in front of 30 Merrick Rd., police said.

One of the drivers, who was not identified, was cited for aggravated driving without a license, police said.

The Town of Hempstead employee driving the town vehicle, Dawn Kurutz, was not issued any summonses, a police spokeswoman said.

Town spokesman Michael Deery said Kurutz was on her way to work and was authorized to have the town vehicle.
- - -
Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter @CommunityAlli. E-mail us at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com.

The Community Alliance

Today's Vision. Tomorrow's Reality.

Coli-SeeYa?

2011-08-04T10:35:00.002-04:00

Back To The Drawing Board At Nassau Hub

Could it have been the VOTE NO robo-calls running 4-1 over the VOTE YES phone tags, with sponsors postured disingenuously under monikers such as Association for a Better Long Island ("better" for whom, the developers that comprise the association?) and Committee for Smart Growth on Long Island (whose members wouldn't know "smart" if it came up and smacked them in the face)?

Or maybe it was the fact that the Referendum was foolishly held in the dead of summer, on a Monday, in the midst of the lazy days when even die-hard voters won't come out to the polls.

Perhaps the full strength of the most ardent of Islanders fans was no more able to secure a victory for the Mangano Plan than they were in bringing the elusive Stanley Cup back to the Island.

Did NIMBYism kill the Coliseum? Taxpayer disgust? The Tea Party?

While no one factor doomed the proposition, suffice it to say that the negatives tugged harder at the purse strings than the positives did at the heart strings, the Referendum to borrow $400 million on the taxpayers' tab going down to a resounding defeat on August 1.

Sure, we are all Islanders. Or not. Few argued that the outdated Coliseum should stand forever, the icon of the protracted debate of small-minded politicians and closed-minded residents. State-of-the-Art, circa 1970, clearly has no place in today's suburbia.

On the other hand, even those who wanted desperately to build a new arena had qualms about paying for it with our tax dollars, particularly when, just the year before, billionaire Islanders owner Charles Wang was ready, willing and most able to put up his own money to finance the overall redevelopment of the entire site that we call the Nassau Hub.

Bottom line: Not with our tax dollars, you don't!

Okay. The battle has been lost. What's next?

Islanders to Brooklyn? Cleveland? A Farmers' Market Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Coliseum parking lot? Guided tours of the county's answer to the ruins of the Acropolis?

There was to be no Plan B, according to Nassau County Exec Ed Mangano -- that is, until the Referendum failed, when, suddenly and without fanfare, there was to be a Plan B. Much like Plan A, there are no details and even fewer ideas (although the call for ideas now goes out), there not being much on the vision front in Mineola.

Politically, the Dems blew it (as they seem to do every year), and the GOP flubbed it. "Just say NO" appears to have won the day in Nassau County.

Credibility? Not Wang, whose billions remain in his pocket while taxpayers are out some $2 mil for the failed vote. Not Ed Mangano, whose every proposal since his surprise election has faded into obscurity or been left behind in the dust. Not even Islanders fans, who, despite some gallant efforts and a torrent of blogs and Tweets, could not muster enough YES votes to carry the measure.

So, now what?

Re-enter Town of Hempstead Supervisor, Kate Murray, quietly waiting in the wings to sing out (ala Mighty Mouse), Here I come to save the day!

Yes, it was Kate who denied us the Lighthouse. Too big. Too much. Too bad. Preserving the character of suburbia while figuratively cutting off its head. Lighthouse would morph into Lighthouse Lite, and then, to a new Development Zone, lower density, less height, more suburban. [If it seems that the Town of Hempstead has almost as many "zones" as it does special districts, it does!]

Kate's 77 acres under the Mitchel Field Mixed Use Development Zone has a lower profile, a smaller scale, and, perhaps, a more palatable appeal for the masses. Not so much a grand plan and yet, in the scheme of things, in giving the people what they want as well as what the Island needs (assuming LIers have any clue along those lines), a leaner model may just be that lean forward Nassau County could go for. A Plan B (or are we up to C? D?) that both preserves the suburban character and positions the county for growth.

Would Charles Wang go for the Murray Plan now that the Mangano Plan is dead, cremated, with ashes strewn over the Coliseum?

Depends. It all boils down to economic feasibility. The economy of scale. Would a Lighthouse Lite give Charles & Company sufficient bang for the buck to make this project pop.

We'll leave crunching the numbers to the analysts and wonks. Frankly, it would be difficult to imagine that there wouldn't be enough of a profit in moving ahead with the Murray Plan (details to be forthcoming, to be sure), given Charles' insistence that a new arena alone, as base for the Islanders, is a profit generator. Throw in 500 homes, myriad retail businesses, and a host of recreational facilities, and voila -- a suburban paradise!

Can residents be sold on a Murray Plan? You betcha. Why, even we, at The Community Alliance, are coming around to embrace a Lighthouse Lite. And if there is anyone who can sell the public on such a redevelopment scenario, short of P.T. Barnum, it is Town of Hempstead Supervisor, Kate Murray!

What better time, in an election year [There's an election? Really? Hey Gary Port, did you hear that?] for Kate and Team Murray to triumphantly proclaim (with respects to Andy Kaufman), Here I am to save the day!, unveiling and, yes, championing the Murray Plan for the Nassau Hub. [General Marshall, you had absolutely nothing on Supervisor Kate!]

Kate. Charlie. The puck is, as they say, in your arena...

Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter @CommunityAlli

The Community Alliance

Today's Vision. Tomorrow's Reality.

As Hempstead Goes, So Goes The County

2011-07-25T11:21:00.000-04:00

Town GOP Key To August 1 Referendum

Whether the Referendum to build a new home for the Islanders and a minor league ballpark at the Hub floats or sinks next Monday doesn't depend as much upon the YES votes of Islanders fans as it does the appearance of the GOP faithful of Hempstead Town at the polls.

Fact: In Hempstead Town, regardless of registration numbers, Republicans turn out to vote. This is particularly so for non-Election Day polling, where the turnout is traditionally low.

Face it. For better or worse, little if anything happens in America's largest township -- the Town of Hempstead -- without the blessing and consent of the local GOP.

Be it planning (what little there is of it), zoning (whatever the rhyme or convoluted reason), or filling elective office (from Sanitary Commissioners to Town Supervisor), the GOP is calling the shots. When it comes to shaping the vote, nobody but nobody does it better.

Call an election for special district commissioners, for instance. Be it the dead of winter or the Dog Days of summer, with nary a registered voter aware that an election is even in the offing, and GOP voters show up at the local polling places to cast votes for the party's designated (wink, wink) victor.

No surprise in a town where almost everyone has a relative who is somehow connected or beholden to the local GOP, if not actually on payroll. The patronage web is huge, and while the reward for the individual voter may be miniscule -- or nonexistent -- one dare not take the chance.

The party says "jump!" The party faithful asks, "How high?"

Suffice it to say that, in Hempstead Town, one party rule is still the norm, and upsetting the Republican apple cart the most rare of exceptions.

So, what does this have to do with the Coliseum/Hub plan?

Everything!

Lest we forget, the memory of LIers being shorter than the lifespan of the cicata, it was the Town of Hempstead GOP that dimmed the lights on the Lighthouse project, reducing same, in perfunctory fashion, first to Lighthouse Lite, and then, unceremoniously, snuffing out the candle entirely under guise of zoning change.

Sure, Town officials cloaked themselves under the "We Are All Islanders" banner, but the road signs, from constant delay and deferral to overly burdensome demands upon the developers, all pointed to a dead end.

Then came the Mangano Plan, di minimus in comparison to even Lighthouse lite, sparce in detail, and to be financed not by private enterprise but rather, by you and I as taxpayers.

The reception at Hempstead Town Hall? Lukewarm, at best. No hoisting of County Exec Ed Mangano -- a fellow Republican -- upon the broad shoulders of Town Supervisor Kate Murray. A tacit nod of approval, if that, more akin to sitting on the fence, awaiting the outcome of the August 1 Referendum, than it is to getting aboard the Coliseum Express, selling the plan, lock, stock, and ballpark.

Not necessarily a bad move on the part of Town officials and the local GOP, given the ambivalence of residents ("Sure we need a new Coliseum, but why the heck should Nassau County taxpayers foot the bill?"), and the hesitation to add even a dollar to the property tax in a year when most Town officials must seek re-election. Wait and see seems to be the order of the day, and, quite possibly, the death knell for Ed Mangano's plan.

A thumbs down to the Referendum puts the future of the Hub back into the Town's court, after all. A town which is loathe to cede control on any matter, whether trivial, or, here, of major significance.

Not that the Town of Hempstead didn't have a fair shot at redeveloping the Hub many times over during the past decade. Maybe they just didn't want to. The timing wasn't right. The plan wasn't entirely theirs. The piper had yet to be paid to play.

In a Town where mailings and TV spots urging residents to do even the mundane (along the lines of checking to make sure the light goes off in the fridge once the door is closed) are commonplace, the deafening silence from Hempstead Town Hall on next Monday's vote gives one pause to consider whether there will come an 11th hour call to muster the troops, summon them to the polls, urging them to vote YES.

Without that bugle call from Town Hall, not even the YES votes of every stalwart Islander fan is likely to alter the outcome. Turnout will be low. NO voters always managing to find their way to the polls, come hell or high water. The urge to Vote YES not quite as strong as the inclination to stay home.

With defeat, the Town can say, "We told you so," leaving a hapless Ed Mangano with yet another black mark in the loss column, and the Town again holding all the chips. And should the Referendum pass? Well, then Kate Murray and Kompany can hold their heads high and proclaim, "We were with you all the time!"

Voices From The Ledge

2011-07-21T15:33:00.002-04:00

A "Thumbs Up" And A "Thumbs Down" On Nassau Hub Plan

The vote is scheduled for Monday, August 1.

The pols have spoken. The Unions have chimed in. The Isles have broken the ice. Even we at The Community Alliance have put in our two cents (or was that $58, $13.65, or a tax figure to be added to the bottom line later?). Soon it will be your turn to give the Coliseum Referendum a YEA or a NAY.

Now, two more voices can be heard: Eric Alexander, Executive Director of Vision Long Island, and Jay Jacobs, Chair of both the NYS Democratic Committee and Nassau County Democratic Committee.

Reprinted from the Editorial pages of the LI Herald, the debate sallies forth:

Pro and con on Nassau Coliseum redevelopment

Vote ‘yes’

After years of meetings planning the future of the Nassau Hub area, it is time to support the bond act that will refinance Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Public financing of the arena would allow the Islanders to stay on Long Island, preserve the tax base and provide the opportunity for mixed-use development and revitalization in the surrounding area.

A responsibly financed Coliseum redevelopment would enhance the quality of life in Nassau County by providing the state-of-the-art sports and entertainment complex the county deserves. It would be a strong first step toward a new town center at the Hub, one that would expand the tax base, provide jobs and create tangible economic development benefits well into the future.

For the many residents, civic associations, small businesses, chambers of commerce and other local organizations that supported the Lighthouse project and other past proposals for redevelopment, supporting the bond is a logical choice. There are many reasons why the Lighthouse project did not move forward, despite wide and deep public support. Chief among them was the Town of Hempstead’s fear of the project’s impact, as well as the failure to secure necessary state and federal infrastructure funding by former county officials.

The kind of “smart growth” proposal offered by the Lighthouse project is critical to Long Island’s future. The current redevelopment proposal offers similar promise while using different methods. Redevelopment of the Coliseum would serve as a companion to the town’s recently approved mixed-use code in the area around the arena, which includes housing, office and retail with new development guidelines.

The county is expected to prepare a request for proposals for development around the Coliseum. Vision Long Island encourages this development to include an integrated mix of uses, various housing options, including a work force component, accessibility to public transportation, walkable streets and a strong, safe link to Hofstra University, Nassau Community College, Museum Row and offices in the area. Additionally, we hope to see ample state and federal dollars for infrastructure improvements around the new development, which was absent from previous proposals.

Long Islanders need jobs. One of the region’s most pressing challenges is to keep workers, including young workers, from leaving the area. Revitalizing the Nassau Coliseum would not only create a regional high-quality entertainment hub that would cater to a wide demographic range, from the very young to seniors, it would also create expanded employment opportunities for residents of a densely populated area.

According to Nassau County’s economic impact statement, the project would provide a positive cash flow of $2.2 million annually, in excess of the debt service of $26 million. The new Coliseum would attract about 1.37 million visitors each year, versus the no-build alternative of 100,500 visitors — or far fewer if the Islanders ultimately move.

The $400 million bond proposition would provide key infrastructure and facility financing in and around the Hub area. This bond could spur critical economic growth for Nassau County. After careful analysis and discussion with business and government leaders, we believe this plan to be responsible and appropriate.

We are happy that the public will be able to weigh in on this project via a referendum on Aug. 1. Vote “yes” in that referendum.

Eric Alexander is executive director of Vision Long Island, a nonprofit smart-growth planning organization that has long supported redevelopment in the Nassau Hub.

Vote ‘no’

Two weeks ago I was featured in a Newsday story about County Executive Ed Mangano’s plan to revamp Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum with $400 million in borrowed money. The paper described me as “one of the loudest opponents of the proposal,” and I described the Coliseum bond as “something that is not going to pass.”

After the story ran, the Nassau Democratic Committee received a dozen emails from people who took my words to mean that Democrats don’t want the New York Islanders to stay in Nassau County.

There’s a difference between supporting the Islanders and supporting bad fiscal policy. I like the Islanders. I want them to stay on Long Island. But it doesn’t make sense to rebuild their arena on the taxpayer’s dime.

While it’s true that a new-and-improved Coliseum would be a nicer place to see sporting events and concerts, we need to ask ourselves: Is a nicer Coliseum worth a 4 percent increase in our county’s sky-high property taxes? I don’t think the people of Nassau County will vote to increase their own taxes. We’re smarter than that.

The people who stand to benefit most from a new Coliseum are private businessmen and women, with Islanders owner Charles Wang chief among them. With all due respect to Mr. Wang, it’s clear that he recognizes how much he has to gain from a new arena. Five years ago he was willing to partner with Reckson Associates to renovate the aging Coliseum and develop the surrounding land — without taxpayer money.

The Wang-Reckson plan fizzled owing to inside baseball in the Town of Hempstead. I won’t go into the details because that’s water under the bridge, but I want to remind county taxpayers that we came close to getting a new Coliseum financed entirely by private enterprise. That’s the solution we need to pursue today, because the county can’t afford to take on $400 million in new debt to pay for this project.

If voters approve this massive bond on Aug. 1, the county will have to pay about $26 million in debt service every year for the next 30 years. In return, the county will receive about $14 million in profits from the new Coliseum. That would leave taxpayers on the hook for $12 million to cover the rest of the debt service — every year for the next 30 years.

Unless my calculator is broken, Mangano must be stringing us along when he says his Coliseum plan wouldn’t cost taxpayers a thing. It’s hard enough to raise a family on Long Island. Our finances are already stretched to the limit by the cost of owning a home, sending our children to school and paying the taxes that accompany all of these things. We can’t afford to increase our property-tax bills by paying for a project that Mr. Wang could easily finance himself.

Nassau County is proud to be the home of the Islanders. We’d love to have a new arena, but we simply don’t have the money — not in the county’s coffers, not in our overstretched budget and certainly not in taxpayers’ pockets.

Jay Jacobs is chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee and the New York State Democratic Committee.
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Sensing quite a bit of ambivalence on the issue of the Hub/Coliseum redevelopment plan among County residents (notwithstanding the lopsided numbers in our own unscientific survey), and having expressed, in this blog, our own uncertainties, we are disposed nevertheless to err -- if, in fact, it is to err -- on the side of the visionaries (limited though their sights may be in this scaled-back, taxpayer-financed, decades-delayed redevelopment project).

While Mr. Jacobs makes a number of valid points -- from debt we can't afford to a town's refusal to move a privately funded, comprehensive plan, in the form of the Lighthouse Project, forward -- the gist, we fear, is more "us vs. them" political grandstanding and opportunism than it is true concern over taxpayers' wallets and Nassau County's future.

Whether the Hub/Coliseum plan, if passed by the voters on August 1, and thereafter approved by the County Legislature and the Nassau Interim Finance Board (NIFA), ushers in an era of "Smart Growth", as Mr. Alexander so justifiably supports, or stands as iconic monument to far-fetched folly, remains to be seen.

One thing, though, is certain. Doing nothing bears the greatest cost of all to the citizens of America's first suburb. We take a chance that we are, indeed, at least beginning to move forward in the right direction, or, we stand pat, with little left for us to do but cue the tumbleweeds!

VOTE AUGUST 1
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Contact The Community Alliance at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com/ Follow us on Twitter @CommunityAlli.

Destination, Nassau County

2011-07-08T10:32:00.003-04:00

A New Beginning, Or The Beginning Of The End

August 1 will either usher in a new era of engagement for America's first suburb, or the final bugle call for the continued exodus from Long Island.

That's when the Referendum for County Exec Ed Mangano's Nassau Hub/Coliseum Plan goes before John and Jane Public for a thumbs up or thumbs down.

The hubbub on the hub is plentiful, from the local papers to the blogs (there's a Facebook page, of course), and we post below a mere sampling (feel free to Google more) for your reading pleasure.

Newsday

Patch

LI Herald

Let There Be Lighthouse (or whatever the heck may follow in its wake)

The New York Islanders (with Kevin James, no less)

Facebook

You can read the official report, partake in the polls, and wade knee deep in the written word, most of which, thankfully, remains online, saving countless forests. Push comes to shove -- or wink comes to nod -- not much will matter but the actual vote on Monday, August 1. [Yes, aside from the fact that the vote will be held other than on Election Day, it will be put before voters on a Monday, rather than a Tuesday. Only on Long Island!]

So, where exactly do we, at The Community Alliance, stand on the present plan, which, in essence, gives Nassau a new Coliseum (the old one to be returned to Rome) and a minor league ballpark?

Well, the heartstrings are certainly pulled toward a YES vote.

As Islanders fans, coming off some pretty lousy seasons of what only the likes of a B. D. Galoff may call "play", we certainly take note of the fact that the Coliseum, by far the oldest arena in the NHL, has become little more than a brownfield set within a larger brownfield, whose backdrop is just a sinkhole shy of a, um, er brownfield. An asphalt wasteland attracting little more than tumbleweeds, smack dab in the center of Nassau County.

We need a new Coliseum. [And can we call it something other than the Coliseum?] We could use a few new Islanders, too, but that's a story best left for our Isles/NHL blogging friends.

A minor league ballpark would also be a welcome addition, obviating the need to venture out to Islip to take in a Ducks game, or battle the traffic on the Belt to see the Cyclones in Brooklyn.

And let's face it. Development -- or in this instance, redevelopment, albeit partial in nature and muddled in detail (or the lack thereof) -- tends to spur growth, re-energize the economy, and, yes, attract both visitors and residents.

On the downside (where the brain begins to kick in and say, "Whoa! Wait a minute."), there's the questionable economic gains (long term), and the obvious short term loss (increased taxes to pay for borrowed money).

Sure, there will be job creation -- mostly surrounding the construction project -- but in the long run, how many permanent jobs will be created and sustained?

Then there's the projected revenues. Enough to cover costs and to give the County something extra in its coffers at day's end? So they say. Then again, in a County that boasts a surplus one minute, then lays off hundreds the next, we wouldn't exactly start counting on money in the bank -- or, for that matter, in our pockets.

Speaking of money -- our money -- the projected tax increase for the average Nassau County homeowner (are you average, or a cut above?) is said to be $58 per year. A drop in the tax bucket, one might say. Then again, this is just a projection. And we all know that taxes only go up, not down or away. And will there really be a return on our investment?

Consider, too, that when the Lighthouse Project was on the table (remember the Lighthouse, and Lighthouse Lite, before we were left in the dark?), private developers were set to pick up the tab (to the tune of $3.75 billion), fully funding a comprehensive (arena, ballpark, hotel, residential, retail, you name it) revitalization plan. Come now the Mangano Plan and, voila, already overburdened taxpayers are asked to cough up some $400+ million to finance the project. Your tax cap "savings" (which, as followers of this blog already know are nonexistent, a "cap" not being a "drop") gone in one fell swoop. Well, actually, a swoop that picks tax dollars out of our wallets for some 30 years. [Geez. We're still paying off those Environmental Bond issues, aren't we?]

Do you feel the tug of a NO vote, or its equivalent, the "stay at home and don't bother to" vote? Um. The empty pockets and equally vacuous promises say so. The hope, the dream, no, the reality of a truly viable, sustainable Long Island, say otherwise.

Progress has a cost. As history shows, the act of doing nothing (something we've become all too accustomed to here on Long Island) has a much greater cost.

If the surveys are correct (and is the LI Index ever wrong?), they're leaving -- or planning to leave -- Long Island in droves. The young. The old. Whatever may be left of the middle class. The tired, yearning to be free of outrageous taxes, unaffordable housing, unbearable congestion (another issue not adequately addressed under the Hub plan) and an ever encroaching malaise that accompanies the sinking feeling that our island's -- and, perhaps, suburbia's -- best days are behind her.

Hold that thought. Then, embrace the vision. [I said, "embrace the vision." Not get forever stalled in a visioning process that circles the wagons but leads us nowhere!]

Nassau County, with all of its wounds -- economic, social, political -- many of which were, of course, self-inflicted, is due (long overdue) for what can only be categorized as an extreme makeover. It's infrastructure is aged out and crumbling. The spirits of the populace, sagging. There is little to look forward to on a horizon that has been built out upon a foundation of miserable planning and lousy zoning.

The grand plan -- and, perhaps, best plan -- would have been to scrap it all and start again. Bulldoze, from the Turnpike in Elmont to the Grand Avenue in Baldwin. Begin anew.

Of course, here on Long Island, grand schemes and big thinking -- like the Lighthouse Project itself -- tend to fall by the wayside, prey to the hobgoblin of little minds and provincial mindsets.

Piecemeal "improvements," though little more than facades themselves, seem to be all that we can tolerate.

The Mangano Plan for the Hub/Coliseum, while far from the renaissance called for, gives Nassau, and, yes, all of Long Island, the chance -- at least in theory -- to rebound, to restart, to reinvigorate the suburban landscape.

True, the plan, as presently constituted, is no panacea. Small potatoes in a land that once called vast potato farms home. And yet, the "build it and they will come" concept has more than a little merit to it.

Yes, we could leave the Coliseum as is, perhaps setting up a farmer's market in the parking lot on alternate Tuesdays. [Smart Growth dumbed down to the lowest level. If you can't rebuild Main Street, hawk cauliflower!]

Fact is, despite the drawbacks -- and there are many we have yet to touch upon here -- doing nothing is simply not an option. Take another route? Well, just how long can we wait here, on the side of the pot-marked road, for Godot?

Do something, and Long Island has a shot at redemption, and so much more. Sit tight in the great void of NYMBYism, and we forever foreclose the opportunity to emerge from the doldrums into which Nassau has descended.

The decision on August first is not easy, by any means or measure. It is, however, a necessary one that every County resident must make.

To move forward, although with trepidation, toward a future where Nassau County is once again a destination. Or, to stand in place, mired in stagnant waters (the precursor of regression, decay, and, ultimately, the suburban demise), with Nassau being the place to flee rather than to flock.

That decision, of course, is yours. We, at The Community Alliance, encourage all Nassau residents to VOTE ON AUGUST 1. And, indeed, we implore you to VOTE YES!
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The Community Alliance

Common Concerns. Common Sense Solutions.

Get More Out Of Your Long Island Community. . .

2011-06-29T09:20:00.003-04:00

. . .Read The Community Alliance Daily!

All the news that fits we print?

Not quite. But all the news -- or much of it -- that concerns YOU, as a Long Islander, YOUR COMMUNITY, as a stakeholder, YOUR WALLET, as a taxpayer, and YOUR FUTURE, as the harbinger of Long Island's tomorrows.

That's what you will find in The Community Alliance Daily, a compendium of timely news, information, human interest and community coverage, pulled from the headlines -- and inside pages -- of the community interests that we follow. All delivered, in Morning and Evening editions, directly to your Twitter feed and/or you e-mail in box.

So Click It. Read It. Subscribe to It. Bookmark It.

The Community Alliance Daily. Your Community. Your Vision. Your Future!

The Community Alliance

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Albany Snafu Sinks Gay Unions

2011-06-27T09:57:00.002-04:00

Omnibus Bill Caps Limits On Same Sex Marriage, And Still The Rent's Too Damn High

Special to The Community Alliance Blog, via Al Jezeera

June 27 -- Albany, New York -- Weekend revelers, concluding their celebration of Pride Week, together with the long-awaited passage of New York's Marriage Equality Act, awoke this morning, bleary-eyed and dismayed.

Same Sex Marriage in New York, while not quite dead, has been dealt a serious blow.

"It seems that, in the New York State Legislature's haste to bring the Same Sex Marriage bill to the floor," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, "someone in bill drafting co-opted the language from other last-minute legislation, including the 2% Property Tax Cap and NYC Rent Control bills, essentially limiting severely Gay marriage in this State."

Silver, who announced during this weekend's Gay Pride Parade that he was a closet transvestite, and would hereafter only go by the name, "Shelly," said that as the Legislature now stands adjourned for the session, there is little that could be done to rectify the situation.

What had been called, both by political insiders and the media, "the big ugly," the Omnibus legislation -- which included the highly charged and extremely controversial measures on Same Sex Marriage, the Property Tax Cap, and Rent Control -- got caught in the hopper, with no one (not even Governor Andrew Cuomo, who signed the legislation into law just hours after it was passed by the State Senate) noticing the mix-up in the language.

"In essence," said Mr. Cuomo, appearing jovial despite the apparent setback, "the language of the legislation, as adopted and now the law of this State, caps the number of Gay couples that can marry in any of New York's 697 school districts at 2% per year. Period."

"The good news," Cuomo continued, "is that Gay couples, once married, will enjoy the benefit of affordable rent contolled living for the next three years!"

Reached for comment at his office in the Legislative Office Building, NYS Senator Dean Skelos, the Majority Leader who many say was responsible for bringing the measures to the Senate floor for a vote, demonstrated a restrained exuberance in his tone.

"Yes," said Skelos. "I noticed the language in the Omnibus legislation before it came to a vote. But who am I to stand in the way of progress?"

Given the modus operandi of dysfunction in the State Legislature, the linguistic blunders were not picked up, let alone addressed, by other legislators prior to the votes, and barely noticed thereafter.

"There was great concern over the language in the legislation," Skelos continued. "Guess this clears it up for most of us on the Republican side of the aisle." [It is noted that the Long Island delegation, while voting in favor of amendments to the language of the bill, voted "no" in its entirety, on the main body of the legislation.]

Representatives of the Cathotlic church, which vigorously opposed the Marriage Equality Act, appeared enraptured by the mix up in Albany.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, speaking from the pulpit at St. Patrick's during morning Mass, called the Albany Snafu, "one of God's many mysterious and wonderous ways."

"We were concerned," Dolan countenanced, "about Man-Dates, and the impact upon religious institutions as well as the sanctity of marriage itself. The church, and Altar Boys everywhere, are most pleased with this unexpected but divinely propitious outcome."

Under the language of the law, as adopted, the Mandate provisions of the property tax cap legislation were rolled into the Marriage Equality Act so that, effective in August of this year, all New York State Man-Dates -- as well as Women-Dates -- shall be unfunded.

"They can marry, in small numbers," said an ecstatic opponent to Gay marriage, attending a prayer vigil inside the now vacant Senate gallery, "but they won't get a dime from New York!"

"Okay, but we still have rent control, right?", shouted a Gay rights activist from below.

"True," replied the voice from the Peanut Gallery, "but you're gonna pay higher tuition at SUNY and CUNY!"

Asked if the State Senate would return to Albany this year to mend the error of its ways, Senator Skelos, boarding a hot air balloon bound for his hometown of Rockville Centre, New York, exclaimed: "We can't come back. We don't know how to work this thing. Goodbye folks!"

And so, another remarkable year of business as unusual drew to a close in Albany, New Yorkers once again safe from the whimsical fancies and off-the-wall oddities of their State Legislators.

As for Gay Marriage, the property tax cap, and controlling the rent that's too damn high? In New York, where anything and everything -- by way of Omnibus legislation -- is possible, it's the law of the land!

Build Something -- Anything -- And They Will Come! Maybe.

2011-05-23T12:51:00.001-04:00

From Blighthouse To Lighthouse To....

In a land where the vertically challenged rule the roost (or at least the Zoning Boards), where density is more or less a four-letter word, and Smart Growth, as it is typically defined, is something of an oxymoron, development -- and, where brownfields abound, redevelopment -- has become somewhat of a challenge.

With NIMBYists on every corner, mega-developers vying to trade open space for the next big thing, and zoning boards sitting as planning boards, doing neither with any alacrity or clarity, the road to rejuvenation, from downtown to the Hub, has been blocked with more obstacles than Carter had little pills.

Standing at the crossroads here in Nassau County, straddling the intersection of No Place and No Where (particularly where the street signs are missing, obliterated or hidden behind overgrown vegetation), residents are now faced with a referendum on the very future of Long Island. And while the question to be posed concerns whether we issue bonds -- some $400 million worth -- to build a new Coliseum, the real referendum ponders a more long term fate. Do we stand still, mired in yesteryear, leaving our island to be overrun by tumbleweeds, or do we move forward, laying the foundation for a viable, livable, smartly designed Long Island.

Frankly, standing still is not an option. To do nothing is to entomb Long Island in its own decaying infrastructure, assuring that the surveyed, who have been leaving our island in droves for decades (by the poll numbers, there should be no one left here but the squirrels), will yet again affirm that this is no place to live, to work, to raise families.

To build recklessly, on the other hand, by piecemeal, while increasing the tax burden to homeowners and business owners alike, is certainly not forward-thinking.

So, what to do?

Does a spanking new arena for the Islanders to have ice time -- or, for that matter, a minor league ballpark at Mitchel Field -- really change the landscape, opening the door not only to job growth but to a sustainable suburbia?

Sure, the Isles will have a new place to play, but, given the dirth of affordable housing, particularly for Generation Next, the diminishing job opportunities, the skyrocketing property taxes, and the ever-eroding tax base, where will their fans live?

What of the region's lack of transportation alternatives? Are we talking walkable here? You can get there from here, but only by car, through congested, pothole marked streets, with nary a Long Island Bus on the horizon. Light Rail, anyone?

Do a new arena, a minor leage ballfield, and, should the State, Feds and Indian Chiefs allow, a casino at Belmont park, truly change the dynamics of Long Island?

And what about Elmont's Argo, Baldwin's Grand Avenue and the many Main Streets, byways and downtrodden downtowns that dot Long Island? Will this be a "turn-the-corner" moment for communities across the island, or merely a pause in the disaster that has been the hallmark of planning, zoning and development in the region since the LI Regional Planning Board inked its very first Master Plan?

Panacea? Surely not. A fresh start for America's oldest suburb? Indeed!

We need to start down that road to revitalization sometime and somewhere. The "sometime" is now, not in 2035. The "somewhere" is the Nassau Hub, as cornerstone for rebuilding the spokes that are Long Island's neighborhoods.

Yes, we've managed to turn a $3.8 billion, privately financed, comprehensive plan to reinvent suburbia at the hub (the Lighthouse Project), into a $400 million, taxpayer financed, scantily detailed proposal to build a couple of stadium -- stadia?

Still, we need to get out of the starting gate.

Granted, there remain many more questions than there are answers. About revenues. About plans for the 77 acres surrounding the Coliseum. About who will develop what, when, and exactly where.

How do we preserve the suburban character of our Long Island while necessarily taking this region out of the 1950s and into the 21st century?

Hopefully, come August 1 (the date set for the referendum vote), we will be all the more knowledgeable and informed on the prospects of the hub as Ground Zero for the island's, if not the Islanders', resurrection. Then too, maybe we will have a clearer picture of what the plans are -- assuming there are any plans -- beyond the arena and the ballpark.

It's not simply about a new arena. On the line is whether Long Island's "Asphalt Wasteland" (we dare not conjure up visions of a paved over paradise) is transformed into a centerpiece of suburban renewal, sparking that long-awaited, much needed renaissance for points north, south, east and west.

"Build it and they will come?" That all depends upon the "it" to be built, and the "they" we hope to attract. That said, the imperative is clear. Have a plan. Not a notion. Not a sound byte. Not a shortsighted fix. A viable, doable, sustainable plan. Then, actually build something -- anything (well, almost anything) -- and let's begin to move Long Island forward together!
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Thoughts on the proposals for the Nassau Hub, a casino at Belmont, creating a truly sustainable Long Island? Post your Comments Below. Write us at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CommunityAlli.

Be a part of Long Island's tomorrows!

The Road To Redemption. . .

2011-05-12T13:13:00.000-04:00

. . .Begins In West Hempstead

Photo courtesy of Ed Schnapp, Newsday

Perhaps not since God handed down the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mount Sinai has there been such a gathering of the powerful, the faithful and the huddled masses now, at long last, free.

Okay. The demolition of West Hempstead's notorious Courtesy Hotel might not have been the momentous occasion witnessed back in Biblical days -- when the community's efforts to shutter and raze the infamous no-tell hotel first began -- but don't tell that to the nearly 300 West Hempstead residents who showed up this day to see their hamlet bask in the warm, cleansing sunlight, finally out of the shadow of the discourteous Courtesy. Why, even Newsday was all a Twitter!

Dignitaries on hand included Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, Council Members Ed Ambrosino, Jim Darcy and Dorothy Goosby, Town Clerk Mark Bonilla, Town Receiver of Taxes Don Clavin (who was lovingly booed by the adoring taxpayers in attendance ;-), State Assemblyman Ed Ra and County Legislator and West Hempstead resident Vin Muscarella.

Also present were civic and community leaders, clergy, firefighters, and auxiliary Police officers who stood shoulder to shoulder with the masses to usher in a new day for West Hempstead.

Yes, there were speeches and pats-on-the-back amidst the cheers from the crowd. All well-deserved considering the long, hard battle, fought, over nearly 15 years, to close the Courtesy.

Truth be told, this coming together of the community, and those who so doggedly and fiercely represent it, would not have happened today had it not been for the joinder of hearts and minds, from the man on the street along Hempstead Avenue to (you heard it here first) Supervisor Kate Murray at Town Hall.

The atmosphere was festive. There were speeches. There were photo ops. There was Kate Murray and Rosalie Norton, President of the West Hempstead Community Support and Civic Associations, donning hard hats, climbing aboard heavy construction equipment, and taking their respective whacks at the backside of the Courtesy, the crowd cheering them on as if gladiators in the arena. [No, not the Coliseum. Another story for a different blogpost...]

Good for them. Kudos. [Yes, we said kudos!] to Kate Murray, Rosalie Norton, Ed Ambrosino and the legion of elected officials and community stalwarts who worked tirelessly to see this new day dawn upon West Hempstead.

All right. So we threw everything we had at Kate Murray over the years, on this and other issues -- even as late as this morning. And who knows, we may do so again tomorrow. But, for the moment, the Supervisor of America's largest (and soon to be not as blighted) township deserves much credit for closing the book on what was a sordid and all too lengthy chapter in this hamlet's history. The closure and demolition of the Courtesy Hotel would not have taken place today without Kate Murray. Period!

On this, the 12th day of May, 2011, if but for a few glorious hours, we were all West Hempsteaders, and each of us, from those on the front lines since time immemorial, to the onlookers who just came by to see what was happening along this heretofore forgotten milepost on the Avenue, could stand tall.

Yes, Kate Murray was all smiles as the wrecking ball (actually, to our disappointment, there was no wrecking ball, just a huge dozer leaking hydraulic fluid) chewed into the Courtesy's facade. And so were we all!

If It Is Broke. . .

2011-04-27T11:21:00.000-04:00

Why Ain't We Fixin' It?

You know that old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Meaning: It's working. Leave well enough alone.

Well, here on Long Island, things have been "broke" -- physically and fiscally -- for quite some time, and grumble as we may, seems we've been content to leave it alone rather than to even attempt a fix.

Infrastructure crumbling. "Downtowns" in the doldrums. Housing, even in a down market, unaffordable. Transportation system outmoded. Employment opportunities evaporating. Generation Next fleeing. Commercial centers, such as Nassau's hub, slowly becoming the Chernobyls of our island.

And those property taxes. New meaning to the chant of, We're Number 1!

Yes, for too long, Nassau County had to play second fiddle to places like Westchester or Jersey. But now, we are firmly holding our own ('cause nobody else will touch it) in the highest property taxes in the nation category. Hooray for us!

Our prospects for unloading the burden? Not too promising, we're afraid. School taxes, which account for upwards of 60% of our property tax bills, are projected to continue to climb, while State Aid, in real dollars for our school districts (all 56 of them in Nassau, 127 island-wide) will likely fall.

School District administrators continue to rake in the big bucks. Teachers' Unions continue to demand more. Costs, from transportation to insurance, pensions to utilities, continue to skyrocket.

And here we remain, frozen in place, caught between the proverbial rock of wanting the best possible educational opportunities for our children, and the hard place of emptying our wallets to pay for what has too often become mediocrity and excess.

FixAlbany is little more than a special interest spin cycle. FixNewYork hangs its hat on that precarious 2% school tax cap, as if that was a cure-all. [Which part of "TAX INCREASE" don't we understand? Let's see. 2% per year. Ten years. Okay, you do the math...]

Consolidate school districts? Sure, but not ours.

Cap Superintendent salaries? All right. You go first.

Insist that Albany deliver on the guarantee of our State Constitution to provide a system of free public schools? Right. Freedom, even in our schools, is never free.

Do something to eliminate the inequities of State Aid, which favors upstate districts and shortchanges Long Island? Well, maybe next year.

Replace the regressive school property tax with a progressive income tax (or simply adjust the existing State income tax to earmark the dollars for our public schools)? Did someone say tax???

Tie the property tax to real income, rather than the artificial value of one's home? I'm still hearing the word tax...

Keep things the way they are, doing absolutely nothing, save talk a good game? Sounds like a plan to us!

Whether we're pining over school taxes, kvetching about special taxing districts, cursing the potholes or bemoaning the empty, dilapidated storefronts along "Main Street," other than paying hollow tribute to a bygone era (and paying that over the top tax bill), what are we really doing to correct our course, invest in our future, and right the mighty ship that once was the promise of suburbia?

Sure, they'll give us a farmer's market, or twelve, but with business districts little more than open sewers, housing, even in today's economy, out of reach, jobs nonexistent - and did we mention those outrageous property taxes - who's going to be left on Long Island to eat those delicious, organic, home-grown fruits and veggies?

Where development -- beyond the facetious ode to facade improvement by virtue of a wrought iron bench here, a planter there, and Victorian-style street lamps seemingly everywhere -- is no better than a four-letter word (with planning cum zoning rounding out the Scrabble board, letters all hoarded into one corner), just what are the prospects for a re-energized, reimagined, re-emergent Long Island?

Coliseum? Casino? Lighthouse Lite? Let's put it to a referendum, and then do nothing for the next ten years.

When talk -- or, worse still, Tweet -- supplants the very notion of action, and polls, surveys, conferences and endless visioning sessions have upended shovel to dirt, what is the hope for Long Island's future?

Believe it or not, we're optimists here at The Community Alliance. We truly believe that Long Island's best days, after far too many sleepless nights, are yet to appear on the horizon. Of course, we are realists, as well. Rather than to stand in place, immobilzed by fear, by inertia, by entrenched indifference, we need to begin to move forward. We need to take a long hard look at the big picture -- while taking into account the details -- and do more than merely consider our options. We need to take sustainable development, Smart Growth, and civic engagement well beyond the drawing board. Less talk. Much less. More doing. Much more.

It's broke, folks. Let's fix it!

Recycle. Reuse. Re, Er, Um, Whatever...

2011-04-22T10:05:00.000-04:00

Remembering When Earth Day Really Meant Something

Back in the 1970s (why does that suddenly seem soooooooo very, very long ago?), when Earth Day, if not the Earth itself, was young, there was much ado, not only to commemorate, but actually to help heal, our planet.

Clean ups of parks, beaches, roadways, rivers and streams. Rallies to protect and improve the environment. Observances in every nook and cranny of this great land, from college campuses to local vest pocket parks.

Why, even the government joined in the celebration, clamping down on polluters, regulating emissions, and offering up public service announcements proding the nation to keep our planet clean.

Today, with more years behind it than many on this blue sphere have been alive, mention Earth Day, and, if you evoke more than a disengaged yawn, about all you'll hear is, "Oh yeah. Earth Day."

Sure, Google Earth Day (at least they remember), and you will no doubt find that our concern for Planet Earth abounds in cyberspace. Elsewhere, little more than mere mention.

Yes, towns, hamlets, civic and community organizations and, of course, those darn tree-hugging believers in the climate change hoax, recall the day, echoing its promise, evoking a faint hoorah. Still, Earth Day ain't what it used to was.

In our schools, there's little in the curriculum, other than a passing homage, perhaps, to Earth Day. Not enough time to expound on the virtues of keeping our planet safe for all creatures, great and small, what with the need to spend every classroom hour teaching to the tests.

Going Green used to mean something tangible. Doing something, proactively, to save the whales, cut down on CO2 and greenhouse gases, or help close that gapping hole in the Ozone layer. Today, Going Green is too often little more than a marketing tool. From Radio Shack to Starbucks, Earth Day is but a merchandising scheme to lure in the masses.

Why, even Congress (or at least one side of the aisle) has thrown Earth Day under the fume-spewing bus, hoping to end the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) role in oversight and regulation.

Granted, movements gain and lose momentum over time. They wane and ebb, much like the brown, oil-laden tides that blanket our shores with toxic waste. Wonder whether, a generation hence (if either mankind or any life on this good Earth will still be here), we'll be embracing the metaphors of Sustainability and Smart Growth the way we do Earth Day and Going Green? Sure, we'll have talked the talk. There's an abundance of that. But what will we have to show for it?

Clean air? Who needs it? Clean water? Highly overrated. Life as we know it? We'll worry about it tomorrow. Maybe.

Whatever happened to Keep America Beautiful? Remember those TV spots (pre-cable) featuring the Native American (we called them American Indians back then) shedding a tear over some inconsiderate boob tossing litter out of a car window? He'd be mortified if he had lived to see what we're doing to our poor planet today. And where's Woodsy Owl when we need him most?

Earth Day. Reduced, unlike Carbon emissions and water-borne carcinogens, to little more than a Hallmark moment.

We suppose that A Billion Acts of Green just don't go as far as they used to...

Happy, ho hum, Earth Day!

Passover Through The Ages

2011-04-18T09:04:00.000-04:00

The Angel of Special Districts Passes Over The Houses Of Taxpayers [And He Stops Along The Way To Pick Up The Bread]

Hard to believe that we've been blogging this Passover Story going on seven years now, with absolutely nothing but matzo crumbs to show for it.

No surprise, then, that a recent survey shows that while New Yorkers as a whole favor consolidation of local government services, including special taxing districts, Long Islanders are more ambivalent, favoring, we suppose, not only the status quo, but greater cost and less efficiency as well.

We really do enjoy paying more while getting less, the notable exception being the folks in Town of Hempstead's Sanitary District 1, who not only continue to have their trash picked up at the back door (really?), but also get special sanitation trucks on the streets to pick up the leftover unleaven food during Passover.

Whether or not consolidating or eliminating local taxing districts, be they sanitary or fire, school or water, would actually save money or beget greater efficiency is a matter of ongoing debate. But, in the interest of our wallets and the efficacy of our Long Island, don't we owe it to ourselves, and our children (or so many of those who still choose to remain here) to at least try?

What is it they say about fools and their money?

Happy Passover to all!
- - -
From The Community Alliance Blog, March 9, 2005:

The Bread Of Our Affliction

A Passover Story, As Told By Counsel For Town Of Hempstead Sanitary District 1

An article appeared in a recent edition of the Nassau Herald on the subject of the Nassau County Comptroller's pending audit of several of the Special Districts, including Sanitary District 1. [We are reprinting the article below in its entirety, because you simply cannot make this stuff up!]

Commenting on the services provided by the Sanitary District, Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said "The district... accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday."

Now, don't get us wrong. We appreciate the great lengths our Sanitary Districts go to in order to serve the public, but "special trucks during... Passover" to collect the bread?

What next? The fire districts placing extra fire trucks in service just in case the horse radish on the gefilte fish burns the roofs of our mouths? Or maybe the water districts will pump in extra water to our homes to help wash down the matzo?

Let's face it, Jews, be they Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated, are not hording bread prior to the holiday. Indeed, most Jews, logic dictates, try to consume the bread they do have in the house before Passover. Assuming any bread remains, most Jews I know (this blogger included), clean the house of bread BEFORE the start of the holiday, and not, certainly, "during the eight holy days" referred to by Mr. Swergold. Just what are these "special trucks" picking up?

Is this the best counsel for the Sanitary District can offer up as a raison d'etre for these Special Taxing Jurisdictions? If so, we've only one word for him: Gevalt!

One has to ask, do we really need three garbage collection days, a recycling day, a bulk pick up day and a yard waste pick up day, keeping in mind that it is Town Highways, not the Sanitary Districts, that sweeps our streets (all too infrequently) and plows the snow. Why - and we’re embarrassed to say this - there are some days when we have absolutely no trash to put out at the curb. Are we eligible for a rebate?

It doesn't take an Einstein - who, by the way, celebrated Passover in a secular vein - to realize that the existence of the Sanitary Districts, and other Special Districts within the township, cannot be substantiated "as is," and the cost to run these districts - special trucks for Passover aside - cannot be justified. At least not with a straight face. Why, in Sanitary District 6, we only have six Commissioners, shy of the ten required for a Minyan!

Clearly, what the Sanitary Districts are trying to put over on the taxpayers amounts to nothing less than unmitigated chutzpah.

According to Andrew Parise, the Mayor of Cedarhurst (which is in Sanitary District 1), "Curbside service wouldn't fly here." You mean to tell me they're picking up garbage at the door? [And here we are, in Sanitary District 6, paying twice the rate for mere curbside service.]

We just have two simple questions: (1) How many Sanitary District Commissioners does it take to change that dim light bulb over the head of the unwittingly inane Nat Swergold, and (2) How long will we, the taxpaying homeowners of the Town of Hempstead, allow ourselves to be played for fools?
- - -
FROM THE NASSAU HERALD:

Sanitary district audit planned County comptroller plans to explore consolidation of garbage pickup
By Andrew Coen

In an effort to save county residents money on the taxes they pay for services like garbage pickup and water, Nassau County Comptroller Howard S. Weitzman has announced plans to begin auditing some of the more than 400 special taxing districts throughout the county.

Sanitary District 1, which services the Five Towns and small portions of Lynbrook and Valley Stream, is among the five districts to be audited and considered for consolidation with other areas.

Other districts that will undergo audits include Sanitary District 2, which encompasses Baldwin, South Hempstead and Roosevelt; District 6, which takes in Elmont, North Valley Stream, Franklin Square, West Hempstead and Lakeview; the Port Washington Garbage District in the Town of North Hempstead, and the Syosset Sanitary District in the Town of Oyster Bay.

The districts were selected for audits based on criteria such as high tax rates, large accumulated surpluses and high tax increases in 2004-05, the comptroller said.

According to Weitzman, along with residents paying village, town and county taxes, there are nearly 400 sanitation and water districts with 1,600 different tax rates, amounting to a "hidden government" that adds to the already heavy tax burden. Weitzman said he would like to explore the feasibility of town governments' consolidating some of the special districts to save taxpayers money and operate them with greater efficiency.

"The growth of these special districts reflects the haphazard development of Nassau County in the last century, from a collection of unassociated towns, villages and hamlets," said Weitzman. "Some of [these districts] may be necessary and some may be well-run, but the persistence of so many separate governmental authorities, with their own employees and tax rates, tends to hide the true cost of local government and contributes to our high local tax burden."

Nat Swergold, the chief counsel for Sanitary District 1, said he does not see his district meeting any of Weitzman's criteria for an audit, since, Swergold said, the district does not have a high surplus, has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and has not had any hefty tax increases. "We are probably a target for this audit because we are the largest [sanitary district]," said Swergold, adding that Sanitary District 1 services more than 30,000 households.

According to Swergold, last year's tax rate for single-family residences in District 1 was $12.58 per $100 of the assessed value of a home, which is half the rate of District 2 ($24.62 per $100) and District 6 ($26.05 per $100).

"[District 1's] tax rates are much lower than the rest of the districts," said Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise. "I don't know who would provide better service than we get here."

Swergold said that while he welcomes an investigation into his district, because it is well run, he does not think the audit is necessary, since the state comptroller audits the district periodically. He added that he could not envision any sort of consolidation of the areas to save money, since each sanitation district has different needs. "I think [consolidation] is not a good idea, because each area and each district is unique," said Swergold, who has been the attorney for District 1 since 1972. "There is no way we could keep these services if there were consolidation."

Swergold said that District 1 is unique compared with other sanitary districts, in part because its workers pick up trash in the rear of residents' homes, which means residents do not have to place garbage curbside unless they are disposing of heavy items. The district operates its own recycling plant in North Lawrence and, as a result, has the highest recycling rate of any sanitary district in the state, according to Swergold. The district also accommodates the large Orthodox Jewish population in the area by arranging for special trucks during the eight holy days of Passover so bread can be disposed of, since observant Jews do not eat bread during the holiday.

"Curbside service wouldn't fly here," Parise said of the unique services offered to residents in District 1.

According to Weitzman, the goal of the audits is to provide a better understanding of the districts'

expenditures, hiring and procurements practices and the efficiency of their operations. He said that additional audits of other special districts in the county would be considered depending on how the initial examination goes.

The comptroller's decision to initiate audits follows a January report by County Assessor Harvey Levinson that showed that many special taxing jurisdictions, like garbage and water districts, spend millions of dollars each year with little observation by the public. The report prompted Levinson to call on the comptroller to audit those districts in the county.

"Homeowners who pay widely different tax rates for the same services within a town are entitled to know how their ever-increasing tax dollars are spent," said Levinson. "I am confident that Comptroller Weitzman's independent examination of sanitation districts operating within the towns will lead to sensible cost-cutting measures, consolidation or possibly even the elimination of these unnecessary invisible governments."

The planned audits have the support of some top state officials, including Comptroller Alan Hevesi, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "In beginning these audits, Comptroller Weitzman is addressing the need for greater public oversight of these taxing districts," said Hevesi. A 2002 audit of some of these special districts by then state Comptroller Carl McCall found that several districts kept unreasonably high reserve balances.

Weitzman's audits will examine administrative and operating expenses and the appropriateness of fund balances.

Comments about this story? ACoen@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 210.

"How'r They Doin'?"

2011-04-15T12:39:00.000-04:00

"Not So Well," According To Former NYC Mayor Ed Koch

Long Island Legislators fail to live up to pledge

This may not surprise you (it certainly came as no surprise to us), but many of those same State Legislators who hail from Long Island -- signers all of Ed Koch's New York Uprising Pledge to reform redistricting -- have now reneged on their promise.

And here you thought their word was their bond. Well, it was, until the election was over.

We can go on and on about promises unkept and pledges broken, but why not let Mayor Koch tell it like it is. The sad tale of, "41 Dishonorable Legislators."
- - -

As you know, there are some lawmakers who, despite signing written pledges last year, are now standing in the way of redistricting reform. 41 of them, to be exact, including nearly the entire Republican conference in the Senate.

Make no mistake, this betrayal of the public trust can only be described one way: Dishonorable.

This week, thanks to your support, we were able to push back. Your generous contributions allowed us to send 100,000 automated "robo-calls" into the districts of lawmakers who reneged, so I could inform voters that their Senator or Assemblymember is breaking their promise, and holding up reform.

Click here to hear one of the calls yourself - this is the one to voters in Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos' district.

And the impact of the calls is snowballing. Media around the state - in Rochester, Westchester, Buffalo, Utica, Hudson Valley, Albany, Auburn, Long Island, Watertown, and more - is covering the pledge-breakers, and scorning them in editorials. Not to mention all the other groups that have put the new "Enemies" on notice - from ReShapeNY, whose members are holding forums in districts around the state, to the New Roosevelt Initiative, which just announced a rally in Senator Greg Ball's district.

At least one legislator got the message right away: The day after the robo-calls began, Sean Hanna, Assemblyman from Rochester, announced that he had just become a co-sponsor of the redistricting bill. I halted the calls to his district immediately, and congratulated him; we hold no grudges.

Below, you'll find a list of the 41 legislators who signed our pledges, and have so far reneged. They deserve the scorn of their constituents and - and all New Yorkers - for dishonorably breaking their word.

Sincerely,
Ed Koch
Founder, New York Uprising

These are the 41 lawmakers named "Enemies of Reform" this week, for reneging on their pledges. Please use the links to call or write them, and demand that they keep their word on redistricting.

ASSEMBLY

Al Graf, AD 5

Joseph Saladino, AD 12

Michael Montesano, AD 15

Thomas McKevitt, AD 17

David McDonough, AD 19

Edward Ra, AD 21

Bill Scarborough, AD 29

Ken Blankenbush, AD 122

Christopher Friend, AD 137

Andrew Goodell, AD 150

SENATE

Ken LaValle, SD 1

John Flanagan, SD 2

Lee Zeldin, SD 3

Owen Johnson, SD 4

Carl Marcellino, SD 5

Kemp Hannon, SD 6

Jack Martins, SD 7

Chuck Fuschillo, SD 8

Dean Skelos, SD 9

Marty Golden, SD 22

Andrew Lanza, SD 24

Bill Larkin, SD 39

Greg Ball, SD 40

Stephen Saland, SD 41

Roy McDonald, SD 43

Hugh Farley, SD 44

Betty Little, SD 45

Joe Griffo, SD 47

Patty Ritchie, SD 48

John DeFrancisco, SD 50

James Seward, SD 51

Tom Libous, SD 52

Tom O'Mara, SD 53

Michael Nozzolio, SD 54

James Alesi, SD 55

Joe Robach, SD 56

Cathy Young, SD 57

Patrick Gallivan, SD 59

Mark Grisanti, SD 60

Michael Ranzenhofer, SD 61
George Maziarz, SD 62

"Nassau County Is In A State Of Repair"

2011-04-13T09:44:00.003-04:00

Or Is It, Disrepair?

"Repair" signifies that things -- like roads along Main Street, the infrastructure that is the foundation of our local economy, the tax base, long-eroding, the deficit -- are getting fixed.

Unfortunately, there is little, beyond the hollow rhetoric from both sides of the aisle, to indicate that Nassau County is on the road to recovery, let alone that the road is in the process of being repaved.

County Executive Ed Mangano is quick to point out the problems (and to blame most if not all of them on his predecessor), but falls short of offering real solutions. [Someone needs to clue us in on the numbers, too. If Mangano, as per his TV spot, turned a $133 million deficit into a surplus, how is it that we now have a $176 million deficit in Nassau County? We need more smoke to cover the mirrors here!]

The loyal opposition, meanwhile, is swift with its condemnation, telling us what we do not need -- a casino, for instance -- but offering little more than homage to what we do need -- next-generation housing, among them -- without providing a roadmap (potholes sold seperately) showing how to get there.

State and Nassau County Democratic Chair, Jay Jacobs, calls Mangano's governance, "bumbling." With hindsight, it becomes all too clear that leadership during the Democrats' tenure wasn't all that much better.

So what's the problem and who's to blame? The old borrow and spend, hallmarks of both sides of the political spectrum, the stuff that county, town and school districts alike are made of, creating huge deficits and, ultimately, gargantuan paybacks, as in taxes, fees and rate hikes.

Who's to blame? Not Ed Mangano (he said so himself). Not Jay Jacobs. Not the Dems or the GOP. Heck, they've simply tried to give us, their constituents, exactly what we want. More of this. More of that. And then a bit of these and those to go along with them.

Never mind the cost. We'll worry about that later.

Well, folks, "later" is suddenly upon us. [Actually, it was upon us more than a decade ago, when Nassau County, in boom times, was at the brink of the financial precipice. We changed administrations, but every one of us wanted the good times to continue to roll.]

We can't blame the elected. After all, they are merely a reflection of our own sordid desires, and our unwillingness to pay the pipers for the tunes we demanded they play. And imperfect as they are in implementing our wishes, our representatives, bumbling and blithering, term after term, have given us what we have asked for -- sort of. A great colossus of government-induced spending for which there appears no end (nor cap) in sight.

Whom did we expect to bear the burden of paying for 56 separate school districts in Nassau County alone? What about those 200-plus special taxing districts, each emptying our wallets into their coffers? In a good economy -- make that a great economy -- Nassau floundered. And now, with markets wallowing, fiscal cupboards bare, NIFA barking at our heels, and inflation on the horizon? Exactly what did we expect?

Generation Next is fleeing. Seniors are struggling. The middle class is shrinking. The infrastructure -- much of it still mired, by the inertia of local government, in the 1950s -- is crumbling.

The mindset of the electorate here on Long Island? Apparently, doing nothing remains a viable option.

Perhaps Ed Mangano said it best (though not quite eloquently): "We're doing what the people are looking for..."

The cartoon character, Pogo, may not have been entirely off the mark when he said, "We have met the enemy and he is us!" Indeed, we have only ourselves to blame, really, for this awful mess we're in.
- - -
From the cyberpages of patch.com:

The Democratic Response:

Nassau Dem Chair Responds to State of the County

Nassau Democratic Chair Jay Jacobs offers the following response to the State of the County.

It was hard to watch County Executive Ed Mangano stand before every resident of Nassau County and twist the truth about the situation we're in.

Mangano campaigned on a promise to improve our county’s finances, but his tenure as county executive has been marked by incompetence and fiscal irresponsibility.

The economy is struggling. There’s no argument about that. Too many of our neighbors can’t find jobs. Too many of our kids are leaving Long Island to seek their fortunes elsewhere – and why should they stay here? Our county executive has done nothing to help our communities weather this storm.

Mangano and the Republican majority in the county legislature promised to fix our county’s broken property tax assessment system, which overcharges homeowners by a total of $100 million every year. Their idea of a fix, however, was to make schools responsible for providing refunds to homeowners who pay too much.

The recession has forced school districts across Nassau to cut programs, fire teachers and raise taxes. Now that Mangano has made them responsible for doling out property tax refunds, they will be forced to make more cuts and increase their share of your property tax bill.

I want to emphasize this point: Ed Mangano wants us to believe that his budget doesn’t raise taxes, but he isn't telling the truth.

Mangano has also levied a new tax on nonprofit organizations, although he insists the new tax is a “fee.” This new tax charges nonprofits like hospitals and universities for using the county’s sewer system. To pay it, these nonprofits will have to raise tuition rates and levy fees of their own. Whatever you call this new burden, it amounts to more money out of your pocket.

Mangano needs to be honest with the people of Nassau County. He hasn’t fixed our broken assessment system. He simply shifted the burden away from the county. He didn’t pass a no-tax budget. He is forcing other entities to charge you for the costs of his policies. Our county executive can't keep treating the county budget like a shell game.

Under Mangano’s bumbling tenure, the state has had to take over the county budget. Simply put, our current county executive isn’t up to the challenge of governing during these difficult times. We need leaders who will make smart cuts and pursue real reform of our county’s assessment system, rather than passing the cost of the problem onto our schools. We need leaders who will support smart growth.

We don’t need a casino. We don’t need the traffic it would bring. We need next-generation housing. We need places for our kids to move when they get their first jobs. We need places for young people to congregate and socialize and form the bonds that hold communities together. With well-designed neighborhoods come new residents, who pay taxes and help our county invest in its future. We need a place for a new generation of Long Islanders to settle and grow.

We’re all in this together. That’s why we have to be careful about the cuts and investments we make in hard times – and Ed Mangano isn’t thinking in anyone’s future but his own. That’s why he slashed funding to Long Island Bus. That’s why he is imposing a new tax on hospitals and colleges. That’s why he wants to build a casino instead of a neighborhood. These proposals all sound good the way he spins them, but underneath his rhetoric, they are bad policies that will leave Nassau worse off in the long run.

Jay Jacobs is the chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee as well as the New York State Democratic Committee.

Bay Park Follies?

2011-04-06T11:11:00.001-04:00

The Price (Tag) of Privatizing Public Parks

Our good friends at PARCnassau find the County Legislature's approval of the private use of Bay Park's athletic fields -- at taxpayer expense -- dismaying, to say the least.

Are we giving away our public parks and open spaces? And, at what cost to taxpayers, homeowners, and future generations of park-goers? A boon in revitalizing and maintaining a local community park, or a sellout to a private group with the public to bear the burden?

Read on, and feel free to comment below. They are your County parks, after all. Well, at least they were...
- - -
Yesterday, Monday, April 4, 2011 the Rules Committee of the county legislature voted to allow the County Parks Department to finalize an agreement with Molloy College, Rockville Centre for the Occupancy and Use Permit for the Bay Park athletic fields. In effect, this commits COUNTY TAXPAYERS to underwrite Molloy College’s athletic program for $3 million up front and field maintenance costs for up to 30 years. This decision begs the question, why?

· Why was this proposal brought up in the Rules Committee instead of the Parks Committee?
· Why did the Republican majority ignore calls for further data that would insure an informed vote?
· Any logical reading of the agreement shows it to be, in fact, a lease and not a permit. Giving a private entity total use and control of most of a county park for up to 30 years is a lease, nothing less. Calling this a permit is just a way of avoiding scrutiny under the Alienation of Municipal Parklands case law which would require approval of the NYS Legislature. So, why was this done?

The vote was along party lines with the Republican majority outvoting the Democrat minority. (Will we ever see voting in accordance with personal knowledge and belief? Apparently not in Nassau County.) Testimony by PARCnassau and Vincent Esposito, former president of the Bay Park Civic Association against the proposal, stimulated a lively debate among the legislators about public access to the fields. A motion to table the matter until glaring omissions of public rights and access were investigated was totally ignored.

So who is the real loser in all this? The taxpaying Nassau County resident who will now have to finance a $3 million capital project bond to improve the fields for a private college to play on to the exclusion of the general public. The same residents will have to pay tax moneys to maintain those fields for up to 30 years for the private college’s sports and continuing exclusion of the public.

The only remaining hope is that either NIFA will nix this expensive agreement as not in the public interest or that the NYS Department of Parks will bring action to have this agreement brought under jurisdiction of the Alienation of Municipal Parklands case law. Any and all citizens of Nassau could and should petition NIFA and the State to weigh in on this issue.

For too long the very government entities charged with the fiduciary responsibility for our county parks have instead either violated or ignored that responsibility at the expense of the public that voted them into office. Shame on Them!

Park Advocacy & Recreation Council of Nassau
Bruce Piel, Chairman
246 Twin Lane East, Wantagh, NY 11793
(516) 783-8378
http://parcnassau.blogspot.com

Town of Hempstead Tries Harder

2011-04-05T10:17:00.000-04:00

Redevelopment of Avis Site Begins on Old Country Road

It may have taken nearly a decade, but the long-abandoned former headquarters of Avis, the car rental company, situated on Old Country Road in Westbury, is coming down, making way for commercial and retail space, a stone's throw from the Roosevelt Field and Source malls.

Long ripe for redevelopment considering its decade-old brownfield status, it will be wonderful to see the old eyesore of the Avis site reinvented. It is also heartening to see the Town of Hempstead partnering with Equity One, a major player in the development of commercial properties, this toward the removal of what has long been a blight upon Old Country Road.

Hopefully, the new space, once completed, will be utilized wisely, and we will not see merely the addition of vacant storefronts and retail space that has plagued not only Old Country Road, but Main Streets across Long Island, since the economic downturn. Just down the road, the half empty Source Mall is floundering.

If "build it and they will come" heralds in a new era of prosperity for Old Country Road, the project may well be a boon for the local economy.

Clearly, the Avis building had to go. What was left of it was a ramshakled shell of its former self. Breathing new life into that Old Country Road could only be for the better.

Turning the corner, heading just south, lies yet another major corridor in desperate need of a facelift. Hempstead Turnpike, where another brownfield, the dilapidated Nassau Coliseum and the surrounding desolation of the Nassau Hub, awaits a renaissance of its own.

Onward and, one can only hope, upward!
- - -
From the Town of Hempstead:

Knocking Down Old Offices & Building Up the Economy - Hempstead, Equity One Kick Off $100 Million Development at Former Avis Site

A decade after Avis Rent-A-Car moved its headquarters from Garden City to Parsippany, New Jersey, Hempstead Town and Equity One, Inc. knocked down some of the last remaining walls of the car rental giant's decrepit former corporate headquarters. At a media event attended by Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby and Jeffrey Olson, Chief Executive Officer of Equity One, Inc., the officials announced the upcoming construction of an impressive 330,000 square foot retail, banking and restaurant development that will boast a $100 million investment into the local economy through direct construction related expenditures. Also at the press conference were Hempstead Town Clerk Mark Bonilla, Receiver of Taxes Don Clavin.

"As we knock down this office building, we are building up our local economy," stated Murray. "While significant development projects have stalled across the nation during this economic crisis, Hempstead Town is proud to have worked together with a highly respected developer to bring about a progressive project at this Old Country Road site. At the same time, I would like to commend Equity One for investing in America's largest township."

Impressive in scale and aesthetically attractive, the new development will restore luster to a major Long Island commercial thoroughfare. The projected composition of the buildings will include over 315,000 square feet of retail space, almost 11,000 square feet of restaurant area and over 3,200 square feet designated for a financial institution.

Increased tax revenues, positive economic impacts as well as the creation of construction jobs and long-term employment are key benefits of the Equity One venture. Sales tax receipts totaling over $4.5 million are anticipated.

Permanent employment in management, retail service, business and financial operations, among other fields, is expected to result in over 600 jobs. During the construction phase an annual average approaching 500 workers will be employed. Finally, the total economic activity that would result from the construction of the former Avis site is projected to be in the range of $160 million.

"Creating jobs, stimulating the economy and generation of tax revenues are important, particularly in a difficult economy," stated Murray. "This Equity One venture will beautify Old Country Road, create a great new destination and expand our economy," added Goosby.

"We're thrilled to be here celebrating with Supervisor Murray and other elected officials. The Town of Hempstead has been a tremendous partner during the entire development process, and we look forward to working with them as we prepare to start construction on this wonderful project," stated Olson.

Officials from Hempstead Town and Equity One called the project a uniquely positive emblem of the resiliency of the area's economy, the strength of Hempstead Town's finances and the ability of Equity One to successfully develop vibrant construction projects through strategic planning and comprehensive economic analysis. Many developers have pointed to the importance of governments that are fiscally well managed with stable tax bases in selecting sites for economic investment. Hempstead Town boasts the highest Wall Street credit ratings available, and Supervisor Murray has already commenced work on a 2012 budget that will freeze all town taxes. Additionally, the resiliency of the town's tax base has been evidenced through increased sales tax revenues over the past three quarters (year to year comparison).

"We're pleased that Equity One has selected America's largest township for this important project," said Murray. "Progressive and reasonable development like this contributes to our stable tax base and bolsters the town's top-notch finances."

Olson noted, "Between this project and our recent acquisition of Westbury Plaza, Equity One will invest more than $200 million in this municipality. Old Country Road is one of the strongest retail corridors in the nation, and we believe our commitment to this area will be beneficial both to our company and to the surrounding community."

Hempstead Town officials played an important role in facilitating the development at 900 Old Country Road. Murray and the entire Town Board reviewed and approved the developer's site plan for the project. Ensuring that the development was consistent with surrounding real estate uses, determining that the construction could be accommodated by the local infrastructure and reviewing aesthetic impacts of the project were all issues that the Town Board considered when they approved the site plan. Additionally, the town's Board of Appeals granted variances that allowed for a reasonable increase in the allowable density of the development as well as relief from other zoning restrictions.

"Today we're knocking down walls and building up the economy at the same time," concluded Murray. "Working together, Equity One and Hempstead officials are beautifying a major business corridor, bringing about progressive development, creating jobs, stimulating the economy and generating tax revenues. This major project shows that even in difficult economic times, quality developers and financially strong governments can accomplish great things together."

Make Mine A Dissolution, On Rye

2011-03-30T13:37:00.000-04:00

Rye Town Supervisor Leads Charge to Dissolve

When one hears about campaigns to dissolve municipal entities -- whether fire districts, water districts, or entire townships -- rarely are the proponents of such initiatives the very public officials who run (and benefit from) the place.

Come now the Town of Rye, NY, where no one less than the Supervisor himself, Joe Carvin, is leading the charge to, in effect, cut off his own nose despite his face. [Actually, Mr. Carvin waives the $17,000 salary offered by the Town.]

Granted, the Town of Rye, with an annual budget of $3.6 million, doesn't provide much in the way of services, same being provided by the villages that lay within its borders, or by the encompassing County of Westchester. Still, to even entertain the notion of eliminating an existing layer of government -- particularly one that does little more than collect taxes -- is appealing. That the wheels are being put in motion by the Town Supervisor himself is, to say the least, refreshing, if not extraordinary.

Now, dissolving the Town of Rye is not likely to save all that much in dollars and cents. Indeed, the Town itself is spending $50,000 in State grant money to study whether it should do itself in. [We're quite good at "studying" here in New York. "Doing," not so much...]

That said, efficiencies are not always readily visible on the balance sheet. Sometimes, there's that proverbial "read between the lines" in terms of eliminating duplication of effort, streamlining operations, and having one less layer of bureaucracy to deal with in picking up garbage, removing snow, fixing streets, and so on.

Of course, we'd be delusional to so much as think that any Supervisor, Mayor, Commissioner or Trustee here on Long Island would be so bold as to follow Rye Town's Carvin down the road to dissolution. Then again, with dwindling resources, changing demographics, and the migration of both young and old from our shores, economy may dictate where reason so refuses.

In an era when doing more with less -- or even less with less -- has become the calling card of fiscal conservatives, and doing without (as in, do we really need sanitation services 6 days per week?) has become the new normal, maybe, just maybe, more of us -- including a local official or two -- will give some serious thought to dissolving a couple of taxing districts (or at least to consolidating a few), and calling for lower (not merely capped) property taxes in the morning!
- - -
From The Wall Street Journal:

Pondering the Why for Rye

RYE, N.Y.—Town Supervisor Joe Carvin wants to issue his own pink slip.

He's leading a charge to dissolve the Town of Rye, the 350-year-old municipality he's headed for three years. The town is the government version of a holding company, serving as a shell for the Westchester County villages of Port Chester and Rye Brook, and Mamaroneck's Rye Neck section.

Despite its $3.6 million budget, the Town of Rye doesn't provide any sanitation, health or police services; they are provided by the other municipalities and by Westchester County.

The town collects taxes, conducts property assessments and maintains two parks, a number of bridges and a court. It employs 18 people, and paid out close to $2 million in salaries and benefits last year. Mr. Carvin, a hedge-fund manager at Altima Partners in New York City, has declined the $17,000 salary his predecessor received.

"The question is: What exactly does the town of Rye do?" said Gary Zuckerman, a former Rye Brook village trustee.

This spring, the municipalities are using a $50,000 state grant to study the idea of doing away with the town.

The move comes amid a state-wide push to consolidate more than 4,000 local municipalities in an effort to pare away layers of bureaucracy that drive up costs and taxes.

The problem is particularly acute in Westchester, Rockland and Nassau counties, all among the top 10 counties with the highest property taxes in the U.S., according to an analysis of Census data by the Tax Foundation.

In 2009, then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo proposed since-enacted legislation that allows citizens to launch a dissolution process without government approval—if they can get 10% of an area's registered voters to sign a petition. And last year the state gave $1.3 million to local governments to study municipal dissolutions and consolidations.

The push has yet to yield many consolidations. Last year's budget halved the state's $11.5 million appropriation to fund efficiency grants, and next year's budget is likely to keep the funding flat at $5 million. While at least a dozen municipalities have taken steps toward dissolution, only 38 villages have actually dissolved since 1920, according to a state report.

Last March, the village of Perrysburg in upstate New York voted to dissolve the village into the town. With 408 residents and a $290,000 annual budget, the village's population declined by 5% and the tax base was eroding. New York's Department of State estimates $125,000 in annual cost savings.

Currently, more than 30 local governments are looking into dissolution.

Dissolving local entities isn't easy. Over the years, municipalities have taken on billions of dollars in debt that other local governments don't want to assume. What's more, leaders of municipalities that seem prime for dissolution often have no interest in volunteering their jobs for elimination.

Mr. Carvin took office three years ago with the idea of consolidating the myriad local governments. His ideal solution would be to merge everything into the City of Rye. It split away from the town in 1942, and provides police, fire and trash services. Unlike villages, it has the power to tax residents.

"We'd go from lots of levels of government to just one and reduce expenditures by 20%...but we couldn't get the political support behind that," Mr. Carvin says. So he turned to Plan B: garnering support for dissolving the Town of Rye.

The growth of the villages over the decades has left the Town of Rye performing a hodgepodge of functions. It budgeted about $7,500 to put on holiday celebrations, $18,000 to run elections, $131,000 for legal expenses and $3,500 for veteran flags. More than $230,000 is used to pay down the town's $4.6 million debt.

Mr. Zuckerman, an attorney who moved to Rye Brook more than 25 years ago, pays taxes to New York state, Westchester County, the Blind Brook school district, the Town of Rye and the Village of Rye Brook.

"If it sounds confusing, it's because it is," says Mr. Zuckerman, who has been studying local layers of government for more than a decade. "We need to study what governments should provide and at what costs."

Write to Shelly Banjo at mailto:shelly.banjo@wsj.com

No Shelter from the Storm

2011-03-14T09:40:00.000-04:00

Animal House!

Be prepared for what you are about to see. The woman in the video with the short hair is Pat Horan, the current director of the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter. She is the person who says "kill the kitty." By the way, Pat makes over $100,000 a year as a Town employee. Yes, we said over $100,000 a year. Just keep adding the alleged misdeeds to the list while padding the Town's payroll, and load on the insult to the ever-mounting injury!

Call Kate Murray, Town of Hempstead Supervisor, at 516-489-6000 and demand that Pat Horan, Shelter Director, be dismissed. Better still, let the buck stop with the Town Supervisor. Demand Kate Murray's immediate resignation!
- - -
---

We Won't Get Fooled Again!

2011-03-14T08:53:00.000-04:00

Or Will We???

Another tax year, and yet another promise by Town of Hempstead Supervisor, Kate "The Merciless" Murray, to "freeze" Town property taxes.

Take a look at Kate's press release, republished below, and those of tax years past, all alluding to a "freeze" of Town property taxes. Then, if you dare, pull out your property tax statements for this year, last year and the year before that, and tell us, were your Town property taxes "frozen?"

We suppose, like any big lie, this one, told long enough and spread far enough, through media ranging from the fabled "Murraygram" to the ever-regurgitated Town press release, will eventually be accepted as the truth.

The bottom line, of course, on that property tax bill, tells a much different story. The numbers, translating into dollars out of the pockets of homeowners and business owners, do not lie. The net increases in the tax levies convey a reality that stands in stark contrast to the hyperbole of Kate Murray's land of make-believe. Then again, a lie will make it half way around the world -- and all the way around Hempstead Town - before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.

To accept the notion that the Town of Hempstead "freezes" anything, but for the vision of suburbia, long-frozen in a 1950s myopic mindset of a Levitt home surrounded by that white picket fence, is to be delusional - or a GOP Committeeman on the Town's payroll.

One wonders whether residents will eventually wake up to the truth behind tax "freeze" and "holding the line," calling out the Supervisor, and holding our elected officials accountable. The day when beleaguered taxpayers will finally say, "Enough, already!"
- - -
From the Town of Hempstead Ministry of Misinformation:

Murray To Present Tax Freeze Budget - Hempstead Town Boasts Highest Credit Ratings, Rock Solid Finances

"Budgeting during an economic crisis is not easy," cautioned Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray as she announced that she is crafting a budget that will freeze all town taxes for 2012. "I am working with my colleagues on the town board, and will present a tax-freeze budget that is accountable to taxpayers later this year. We will be able to do this because we have adhered to the simple yet profound Boy Scout credo, 'Be Prepared.'"

The Supervisor pointed out that controlling the town's discretionary costs, as well as preparing a multi-year fiscal plan and adjusting budgeted amounts such as mortgage recording revenues for the current economic downturn have resulted in rock solid budgets that have earned the highest available Wall Street credit ratings (Aaa, Moody's Investor Service; AAA, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services). Furthermore, Murray's administration has rejected reliance on "one-shot" (non-recurring) revenues to balance budgets and scrupulously avoided increased borrowing to meet ongoing government costs. These measures have protected the township's residents from the fiscal instability that plagues the federal government, New York State and many localities.

"Unfortunately, many other governments did not prepare and plan for the recession, leaving taxpayers to deal with painful cuts in government services and exposing future generations to the fallout of staggering budget deficits," stated Hempstead Town Senior Councilman Anthony J. Santino. "Kate Murray and I will not take taxpayers down that path. Because we have prepared for a difficult economy and budgeted carefully, we can offer a tax-freeze budget and maintain all services in force."

Perhaps the best indicator of the integrity and reliability of a particular government's budgeting practices lies in the reviews of independent financial analysts and the credit ratings of Wall Street rating agencies. In fact, the independent Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has conferred its Excellence in Financial Reporting Award upon Hempstead Town every year since 2003. And, Moody's Investor Services, the respected Wall Street rating agency, has based its top rating of Hempstead's finances on "the town's prudent fiscal management characterized by conservative budgeting practices, development of multi-year financial forecasts..."

"Our straightforward approach to budgeting has earned the respect of credit rating agencies on Wall Street and won the trust of neighbors on Main Street," said Murray. "We'll continue to justify that trust with a budget that is responsible and holds the line on all town taxes."

The officials pointed out that a key benefit of aggressive fiscal management is that it allows the town to maintain important programs and initiatives that stimulate the economy and create jobs while encouraging development that expands the town's tax base. One such job-creating town service is HempsteadWorks, the town's one-stop career center. Almost 15,000 clients found employment in 2009 through this fee-free service center. Hempstead Town is also supporting the creation of local construction, engineering and associated jobs in the private sector through a $50 million capital improvement program. The program funds road and building construction, marine bulkhead work and other job-boosting projects. Finally, Hempstead's well-managed budgets and stable tax base have attracted three major development projects for the coming year that will create jobs and generate local economic activity.

"During tough economic times it's important that we do everything possible to help neighbors make ends meet," concluded Murray. "We're freezing all town taxes and at the same time crafting a local stimulus program, offering career services to job seekers, and encouraging responsible development that will pump needed private sector dollars into our local economy. In short, we've heeded the Boy Scout credo, "Be Prepared,' and taxpayers in our township are benefiting from our fiscally responsible budgeting practices."

A Tax Revolt By Any Other Name. . .

2011-03-03T09:49:00.000-05:00

Tax Levies Rise As "Revolt" Subsides

They may have taken to the streets in Egypt, Yemen and Libya, but here on Long Island, there's every indication that our protests are limited to the penned gripe and the occasional public moan, ventures to the streets confined to a walk to the mailbox to pick up the latest Statement of Taxes.

That "line" they say is being "held" or "frozen" is moving again, steadily upward, as property taxes continue to spiral out of control.

Arriveth the Statement of Taxes for the Nassau County/Town of Hempstead 2011 General Tax Levy, and, lo and behold (more like, high and be shocked), someone's finger apparently got stuck on the "+" key.

County General Purposes tax levy, up 9.89%. County Police, up 6.05%. County Sewage Collection, up 11.88%.

Sure, there's only so much $435 million in County tax levies can buy, but didn't the County Exec say he wasn't raising our taxes? You can do the math, but clearly, the pluses outnumber the minuses in the "Change from Prior Year" column by nearly 48%.

So, how's that tax revolt working out for you?

Meanwhile, over at the Town of Hempstead, where Supervisor Kate Murray's "freeze" leaves us out in the cold, Parking District taxes rose by 12.33%. The Town Park District levy is up 9.07%. Kick up Town Lighting by 3.96%, Town Building/Zoning by 6.47% (must be for all those enforcement officers), and Town Highway Repairs/Improvements (who is kidding whom?) by 6.50%.

And while the tax levy for the Town Refuse Disposal District decreased by 19.46%, those who "enjoy paying more" for the privilege of the "local control" offered by the so-called special districts saw the tax levy rise in Sanitary District 6 by a whopping 15.07%. So, let us see. There's less garbage to dispose of, but more garbage to collect? Hmmm. Guess it's a matter of efficiencies...

Yes, the Town's General Purposes tax levy was essentially "frozen." The remainder of the Town's tax bill (save Refuse Disposal), more icing on the Town's cake.

The bottom line on the latest tax bill, for most Nassau County/Town of Hempstead homeowners, is a nearly 6% net increase in property taxes. Not exactly a "freeze." Nowhere near "holding the line."

Mind you, this does NOT include school property taxes. Depending upon your district, that was an additional increase in the tax levy of upwards of 8%.

Hey, it's only money. Your money. Well, it was. Now it's their money...

Maybe next year, they'll talk "cap" instead of "freeze." Either way, that's more property taxes, not less, or even the same. [If a "freeze" means higher taxes, you can only imagine what a "cap" would portend!]

Okay. It costs alot to light the roadways and fix the streets. Apparently, it costs even more to keep taxpayers in the dark (we told you to close the lights when you leave LI) and turn biways into lunar landscapes (are we zoned for that?).

Tax revolt? Perhaps next year. For now, the only thing revolting is the property tax bill!

P.S. Wonder where the Town of Hempstead hid the $7 million tab for running the Town's Animal Shelter. Clearly, we need a special district for that...

We Haven't Stopped Posting...

2011-02-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

We Simply Tweet More Than We Blog!

Miss us on The Community Alliance blog? No need to. We're still out there. The voice of your community. The sounding board for new ideas and lofty ideals.

Want to hear from us in between blog posts? [Sort of like those between-meal snacks, without the calories.] Care to stick in your two-cents?

Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter @CommunityAlli.

Join the conversation. Be a part of your community!

Ed TV

2011-02-18T10:12:00.000-05:00

Nassau County Exec Sweeps Clean On YouTube

It's not even an election year for Nassau's chief executive, and yet, the posturing through political ads has already begun.

Inspired, perhaps, by the widespread use of the Internet to rally support around the world, Ed Mangano (who finds himself, at the moment, without so much as control over the county's finances, and at odds with the County Comptroller, a fellow GOPer) has posted an ingenious, though somewhat disingenuous video on YouTube, entitled, Ed Mangano: Cleaning Up Nassau's Problems.

Granted, 270 views is hardly "going viral," and Mineola is not Cairo, but hey, when it comes to pushing back against the Nassau Interim Finance Authority (NIFA), or, for that matter, the truth (as in, saving us from a 16.5% increase in the property tax and turning a $133 million deficit into a surplus, the fact-o-meter stretching its limits), taking a broom to the county's problems by virtue of video is pure Madison Avenue.

The video is short, slick, and, even we must admit, pretty clever. And for most within the County Exec's purview, particularly those of limited attention span and myopic hindsight, the ad will more than satiate.

Yeah. Sweep away all our problems. Or are the issues that confront our county, our Island, merely being swept under the rug?

Enjoy the video. One of many more cutsie spots yet to come, no doubt. Then ask yourself, whatever happened to the tax revolt that "swept" Ed Mangano into office, and are taxpayers really being saved from reckless spending, crushing debt and punishing property taxes, making Nassau County more affordable, or simply being sold the same broom, over and over again, at the check out counter?

Truly, we'd like to believe Ed, to see him succeed. Who wouldn't? After all, relieving the burden of the taxpayer, the homeowner, the senior, the under 40 crowd, is a cornerstone of Long Island's revival.
The proof, we suppose, will not be in what we see on the small screen, but rather, what we read on the bottom line. Watch those property tax bills, and stay tuned to Ed TV.

The Tumbleweeds Loom Larger On Long Island's Horizon

2011-01-20T10:17:00.001-05:00

"Exit" Poll Finds LI's "Under 40s" Primed To Flee

Maybe it's the lack of affordable housing, or the dearth of jobs that provide a living wage. Perhaps the over-the-top property taxes are the cue, or the diminishing return on one's investment. Could be the general decline in Long Island's quality of life that's driving Generation Next away from here, or the spector of "downtowns" that are perennially depressed, "Main Streets" that are little more than open sewers, and those lofty visions of the suburban dream that have faded into memory, leaving only a nightmarish presence as defined by the ugliness of the Turnpike and the aloofness of local government.

Whatever the reasons -- and they are, to be sure, many and varied -- the young are poised to leave Long Island, in droves, further eroding the tax base, devastating the local economy, and leaving behind those who, by dint of their stubbornness or foolishness, must stay behind to foot the bills.

We watch the tides roll in and roll out on our Long Island. Day after day. Year after year. What washes ashore, aside from the occasional body or discarded tampon, is a mass of toxic seaweed that threatens, in its wake, to overrun the beach head.

Further inland, at places like the Nassau Hub, the tumbleweed gather outside the Coliseum like so many Tribbles, unruly masses ready to roll down the Turnpike, smothering everything in their path.

Maybe it's not simply the taxes, the housing shortage, the egregious cost of living, the jobs, the sheer magnitude of the down and out in our towns and hamlets. Maybe it's that local government, rarely proactive, and, of recent vintage, barely able to react with even so much as a knee jerk, has all but abandoned efforts to renew, revitalize, re-energize, or so much as read the writing on the crumbling walls of blighted brownfields.

And when reports and studies issue declaring, with admonishment, "Long Island's young people are leaving," populace and politicos alike, as if amused by Henny Penny's cry of "the sky is falling," do little more than shrug.

Guess what? The sky is falling!

Where opportunity knocks, local officials hide under the bed, never answering the door. Where big ideas are proposed, our local politicos think small. In lieu of future design, there is the default of resignation. Actions supplanted by words delivered on colorful leaflets in residents' mailboxes. Master Plans shelved. Citizens' visioning dismissed.

Projects ill-conceived. Plans left to turn to dust on the drafting board. Proposals rejected. Promises and artists' renderings regurgitated, rehashed, and recycled, but nary a shovel taken to the street.

"A better burb is coming." Yes, and so is the Messiah.

Even where there is progress, it is, at best, nominal, coming too late and costing too much. The "one step forward, two steps back" approach to everything from reclaiming downtrodden downtowns to reducing property taxes that are out of control.

Sad, we think, where the only quantifiable measure of progress is a township's disingenuous claim of having advanced the cause of transit-oriented development, when, truth be told (though who will be left to tell it?), town government did absolutely everything within its power to derail redevelopment.

The folks at Long Island Index aren't telling us anything new, really. We've heard it all before. Last year. The year before that. A decade ago.

And maybe that's the problem. Nothing changes. Not for the better, anyway. Mired in the past. Clueless about the future. We refuse to adapt. We choose not to evolve. We have truly become the town where time stood still.
- - -
From Newsday:

Report says rentals are key to keeping LI's young

by PAUL LAROCCO / paul.larocco@newsday.com

Adapt or watch a generation of young professionals flee.

That's the message to municipalities from this year's Long Island Index report, which is to be released Thursday. It again focuses on underutilized downtowns. With few exceptions, the 13 towns, two cities and 22 villages that participated have been slow to embrace smart growth, the report concludes.

Outdated master plans and zoning codes hurt, but the report lays most blame on restrictions for developing high-density rental housing that typically anchors downtown redevelopment and attracts young adults.

Of the Long Island residents age 18 to 34 who participated in an Index survey, 64 percent said they plan to leave in the next five years. Three-quarters of the total 807 Long Island residents polled said the loss of younger residents is a serious problem, compared with 40 percent of those in suburban New Jersey who also participated in the 8th annual report, "Getting It Done: Aligning Long Island's Development Processes with Sustainable Economic Growth."

"All my nieces and nephews are moving away. And all my old friends, they're gone," said Mira Garland, 33, a Mastic stay-at-home mom and survey respondent. "They complain they can't afford to live here."

Nancy Rauch Douzinas, president of the Rauch foundation, a Garden City charity that funds various family and environment programs as well as the Long Island Index, said, "it's obvious we have not kept pace." Last year, the index identified 8,300 acres with development potential in 150 Long Island downtowns.

Hicksville was one such area. The Town of Oyster Bay, which includes the large hamlet, didn't participate in the index's land use planning survey, but town officials have opposed increased density.

"This bigger-is-better, or denser-is-better, approach, where one size fits all, we don't believe in that," Hal Mayer, Oyster Bay's environmental consultant to the supervisor, said Wednesday. "Each community knows what's best for itself."

The index acknowledged some progress. It cited Patchogue, Amityville and Mineola villages and Babylon, Islip, Brookhaven, Riverhead and Hempstead towns as trying to reshape their downtowns.

But only Hempstead, Long Island's most-populated town, has undertaken a transit-oriented development. The district around West Hempstead's LIRR station is to include a 150-unit apartment complex within walking distance of the station, a town spokesman said.

The index concluded other towns mostly ignore potential around the Long Island Rail Road, creating "isolated station(s) in a sea of parking."

The Huntington Town Board in September rejected the transit-oriented Avalon Bay housing development in Huntington Station. Critics claimed the project would have overburdened the community while supporters called it key to revitalization.

What Number Please?

2011-01-18T10:15:00.000-05:00

Important Winter Telephone Numbers from Nassau County Exec Ed Mangano

Never mind that by the time you wade through the litany of numbers it will likely be spring. Nothing beats having "local control" over that snow plow and salt spreader, right? Just imagine, for a moment, if the simple public service of snow removal was to be consolidated into a single, county-wide command. Nah. What fun would that be, especially for those of us who so enjoy paying more to play in the snow...

Dear Neighbor:

Winter is upon us in full force! In preparation of another snowy season, I want to provide you with important contact information for emergency services that you may need:

To report power outages or downed power lines:
•LIPA Hotline: (800) 490-0075
•Freeport Electric: 378-0146 (Village of Freeport residents only)
•Rockville Centre Electric: 766-5800 (Village of Rockville Centre residents only)

Information on mass transit service:
•LI Bus travel information: 228-4000
•LIRR 24 hour travel information center: 718-217-5477
•MTA/LIRR/LI Bus online: www.mta.info
•NYC Transit travel information: 718-330-1234

Up to the minute information about traffic conditions on Nassau County's major roads:
•NYS Department of Transportation's 511 service: www.511ny.org or by calling 5-1-1.

To Report snow plowing issues:

City Maintained Roads
•City of Glen Cove: 676-4402
•City of Long Beach: 431-1000 EXT. 7232

Town Maintained Roads
•Town of Hempstead: 489-5000, 538-1900 (after hours)
•Town of North Hempstead: 311 /869-6311
•Town of Oyster Bay: 677-5757

Village Maintained Roads
•Village of Atlantic Beach: 371-4600
•Village of Baxter Estates: 767-0096
•Village of Bayville: 628-1439
•Village of Bellrose: 354-1000
•Village of Brookville: 626-0973
•Village of Cedarhurst: 295-5770
•Village of Centre Island: 922-0606
•Village of Cove Neck: 922-1885
•Village of East Hills: 621-5600
•Village of East Rockaway: 887-6316
•Village of East Williston: 746-0782
•Village of Farmingdale: 249-0111
•Village of Floral Park: 326-6321
•Village of Floral Park South: 352-8047
•Village of Flower Hill: 627-2253
•Village of Freeport: 377-2289
•Village of Garden City: 465-4001
•Village of Great Neck Estates:482-0083
•Village of Great Neck Plaza: 482-4500 EXT. 115
•Village of Great Neck: 482-0019
•Village of Hewlett Bay Park: 295-1400
•Village of Hewlett Harbor: 374-3806
•Village of Hewlett Neck: 295-1400
•Village of Island Park: 431-0187
•Village of Kensington: 482-4409
•Village of Kings Point: 482-7830
•Village of Lake Success: 482-2559
•Village of Lattingtown: 676-6920
•Village of Laurel Hollow: 692-8105
•Village of Lawrence: 239-5149
•Village of Lynbrook: 599-8838
•Village of Malverne: 599-1200 EXT. 6
•Village of Manorhaven: 883-7000
•Village of Massapequa Park: 798-0244 EXT. 38
•Village of Matinecock: 759-7021
•Village of Mill Neck: 922-5440
•Village of Mineola: 746-0750
•Village of Munsey Park: 365-7790
•Village of Muttontown: 364-3476
•Village of New Hyde Park: 354-0064
•Village of North Hills: 627-3451
•Village of Old Brookville: 671-4664
•Village of Old Westbury: 626-0800
•Village of Oyster Bay Cove: 922-1016
•Village of Plandome Heights: 627-1136
•Village of Plandome Manor: 627-3701
•Village of Plandome: 365-2757
•Village of Port Washington N: 883-5900
•Village of Rockville Centre: 678-9288
•Village of Roslyn Estates: 621-3541
•Village of Roslyn Harbor: 621-0368
•Village of Roslyn: 621-1961
•Village of Russell Gardens: 482-8246
•Village of Saddle Rock: 482-9400
•Village of Sands Point: 883-3044
•Village of Sea Cliff: 671-0468
•Village of Stewart Manor: 354-1800
•Village of Thomaston: 482-3110
•Village of Upper Brookville: 759-7522
•Village of Valley Stream: 825-8494
•Village of Westbury: 334-0062
•Village of Williston Park: 746-2193
•Village of Woodsburgh: 295-1400

County Maintained Roads
•Nassau County: 888-684-4274

State Maintained Roads
•NYS Department of Transportation: 631-904-3059

As always, you can also contact my office at 571-3131 should you have any questions or need additional assistance.

Sincerely,

Edward P. Mangano
Nassau County Executive

"Whatever Happened to...?"

2010-12-28T11:03:00.000-05:00

A Year (or ten) In Review. . .

As 2010 comes to a close, our Long Island blanketed in snow, with winter's wrath coming early in the season, we look back and ask, "Whatever happened to...?"

Whatever happened to resident-initiated referenda to dissolve local governments?
Whatever happened to the rehab of Cedar Creek?
Whatever happened to the revitalization of Grand Avenue in Baldwin?
Whatever happened to the closure and demolition of the Courtesy Hotel in West Hempstead?
Whatever happened to converting Elmont's Argo Theater into a much-needed supermarket?
Whatever happened to the Lighthouse Project at the Coliseum, or Kate Murray's Lighthouse Lite?
Whatever happened to the Tax Revolt Party's tax revolt? [Anyone's property tax bill lower this year than it was last?]
Whatever happened to Nassau County's "Master Plan" (or any one of them)?
Whatever happened to "outing" government secrets being a good thing?
Whatever happened to face-to-face conversation?
Whatever happened to Guest Bloggers?
Whatever happened to "25 miles of ugly" along Hempstead Turnpike? [Wait. It is still there! Never mind.]
Whatever happened to the other 75 cents of your tax dollar that went to Albany but never came back to Long Island?
Whatever happened to transparency and accountability?
Whatever happened to ending the dysfunction in Albany?
Whatever happened to a Nassau County 311?
Whatever happened to volunteerism? [True volunteerism, without remuneration, pension credits or tax breaks.]
Whatever happened to building a better burb?
Whatever happened to "Re-Evolution Island?" http://thecommunityalliance.blogspot.com/2010/09/somewhere-between-evolution-and.html
Whatever happened to preserving open space, rejuvenating local parks, and all that Environmental Bond money?
Whatever Happened to Harvey Levinson's lawn signs?
Whatever happened to affordable housing, revitalized "downtowns," the rebirth of "Main Street"?
Whatever happened to the New York Islanders? Charles Wang? The dollar hot dog?
Whatever happened to the "War on Christmas?"
Whatever happened to those Town goats? http://thecommunityalliance.blogspot.com/2009/03/foreigners-displace-american-workers-in.html
And what were their names again? http://www.townofhempstead.org/content/home/news/namekids.html
Whatever happened to the reason we got rid of LILCO? Whatever happened to a "free" public education?
Whatever happened to all the issues we've blogged about over the years at The Community Alliance? http://thecommunityalliance.blogspot.com
Whatever happened to those who read tweets, reply to tweets and retweet (other than @reidepstein)?
Whatever happened to the outrage over that which never happened???
Whatever happened to your Assessment challenge? Tax refund? STAR rebate? Tax cap? Tooth fairy?
Whatever happened to that "kinder, gentler..." er, ah, um, whatever?
Whatever happened to the Town of Hempstead's "Quality of Life Initiative?"
Whatever happened to suburbia?

Tweet your "Whatever happened to...?" @CommunityAlli and add to our list. Be a community advocate, not a potted plant.

Happy New Year (whatever happened to that, too?) from The Community Alliance!
- - -
Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter @CommunityAlli.

License To Kill?

2010-12-28T10:23:00.000-05:00

Or Was That To Merely Neglect And Abuse?

Another in our continuing coverage of alleged abuse and wrongful conduct at the Town of Hempstead's Animal Shelter.

Come now the great State of New York, offering its seal of approval of the conduct of business at the Town's shelter.

We find the State's nod to be somewhat less than reassuring, given a track record over the years of approving facilities and behavior less than becoming (i.e., the treatment of patients at State psychiatric hospitals. Anyone remember Willowbrook?).

Take these reports for what they may be worth and from whence they came. Also consider the Town's post-abuse allegation window-dressing, ala Red Cross visits to prisoner-of-war camps.

We report. You decide. [Or something like that.] Awaiting the findings of the ASPCA and the Nassau County District Attorney.

And thank you, Kate Murray, for reassuring the public of the Town's love for the dogs and cats in its care. Shame the same can't be said of the people under the Town's thumb!
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From the Town of Hempstead:

Hempstead Town Animal Shelter Receives State's Approval, Shelter and Animal Control Officers Rate Top Scores on Inspection Reports

As Hempstead celebrates one of its most successful "Home for the Holidays" Pet Adoption Programs ever, town officials got even more reason for seasonal cheer in the form of top ratings in two New York State inspection reports on their municipal animal shelter.

"We're working hard to create the best environment for cats and dogs who come to the town's animal shelter," stated Murray. "I am pleased that New York State has given the town shelter positive reviews."

The two reports, both issued by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets on December 14, 2010, gave the town its top ratings (state ratings fall into two categories: "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory"). Furthermore, no deficiencies were noted in all 30 categories contained in the two reviews.

"I'm proud that the town's shelter passed the state's review with flying colors," announced Murray. "Not only did we get positive overall reviews, but the state found no deficiencies in 30 separate categories covered in the reports."

One of the reports, a "Municipal Shelter Report," covered the facilities and services at the town shelter. "Standards of Care" and "Records" categories contained in the Municipal Shelter Report found, among other things, that housing area and equipment were regularly sanitized, dogs were handled safely, veterinary care was provided when necessary and clean food and water were furnished in ample quantity.

The second report, a "Dog Control Officer Inspection Report," detailed practices, procedures and equipment as related to the performance of duties by the township's animal control officers. This report determined that equipment was available to capture and hold stray animals, dogs were safely held and transported, equipment was sanitized regularly and all dogs were licensed before release.

"These reports make it abundantly clear that animals are cared for professionally and responsibly," concluded Murray. "We have a clean shelter that provides proper care to cats and dogs. What's more, we have a staff that works hard and loves the dogs and cats in our care."

"Help, I need somebody, Help, not just anybody, Help, you know I need someone, help..."

2010-12-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

Town of Hempstead Helpline Answers The Call

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me.

For all the railing we do about the folks at Town Hall in America's most blighted township (that's Hempstead Town, for those who may have missed a blogpost or three), there's a bright spot out there in the darkness, and it is known as -- dare we say it -- Kate Murray's Helpline.

Okay. In reality, it's the Town of Hempstead Helpline, but, as we know, the Supervisor likes to put her name anywhere and everywhere (look for it the next time you lift up the toilet seat), from street signs to town vehicles. It's in your face, and, of course, in your mailbox.

But we digress...

Have a problem with any aspect of life in the Town [don't get us started...]? Simply call the Helpline at 516-489-6000, or log on to the online Helpline Form, and a friendly, courteous (they're even nice to us, believe it or not), knowledgable staff member will speak with you or call you back with information, guidance, and a good listen.

Got a pothole in your street? Streetlamp (Victorian or otherwise) out? Illegal basement apartment next door? [No. Not in Hempstead Town. Never!] Get on the Helpline and get help!

Even if your concern is one that comes under the jurisdiction of an entity other than the Town of Hempstead (i.e., Whose roadway is that, anyway?), the Helpline personnel -- the best workers the Town of Hempstead could possibly have, in our humble opinion) -- will not only point you in the right direction, they'll personally make the call.

And this is something we rarely see from a Town where "proactive" is a four-letter word. The folks at the Helpline will actually follow up. [No, your eyes do not deceive you. We said "Town" and "follow up" in the same paragraph.]

Of course, your communication with the Town through the good graces of the Helpline will be succeeded by a perfunctory, pro forma letter* from the Supervisor herself, advising that your matter is being looked into and/or forwarded to the attention of the appropriate party. Oh yeah. Kate will also ask you to contact her if there is "anything else" she can do. Not that she'll do it, but thank you for asking. [We have so many of these letters that we've wallpapered three rooms with 'em! *Make mention to the good people at the Helpline that you'd rather not get a letter from Ms. Murray, and, most times, they will oblige.]

By the way, if you have an environmental complaint (i.e., illegal dumping of waste), there's a form for that, too. Click HERE for Environmental Complaints. Not sure if it's Town, County or State? No matter. Put it in writing, and the Town Helpliners will take care of it.

We are often amazed, given the customary knee-jerk reaction of the Town, and the dilatory, obstreperous nature and behavior of Town Supervisor Kate Murray, at just how responsive the Town can be, from Highways to Engineering to Sanitation (even though the Town claims absolutely no control over the latter), once the Helpline comes into play. It is as if, almost by magic, the problem, from misplaced street signs to graffiti on a commercial building, is resolved, almost before you hang up the phone or hit the "send" button.

Of course, don't expect much in the way of resolution -- or movement -- best intentions of the Helpline employees notwithstanding, if you're calling to complain, for instance, about the Nassau Coliseum and environs, special district taxes, or the blight along "Main Street." Some grievances, as we have come to learn, take a little longer to redress.

For the moment, though, and in acknowledgment of the fantastic -- and most likely, thankless -- job they do, day in and day out, our hats come off and kudos go out to the ladies and gents on the front lines at the Town of Hempstead Helpline.

Take a bow!

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.

P.S. When you call, tell 'em The Community Alliance sent you. . .
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Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter @CommunityAlli.

The Community Alliance

New Ideas for America's First Suburb

Heard On The Tweet

2010-12-01T09:07:00.001-05:00

Things That Can No Longer Be Sustained On Long Island

With all the talk of "sustainability" these days, particularly as concerns our environment, our lifestyles, our "downtowns" and our suburban way of life (as we know it or as we'd like it to become), and with the holidays at hand, The Community Alliance thought it appropriate to make a list -- checking it twice -- of "Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island."

We posted some of our favorite unsustainable things on Twitter (www.twitter.com/CommunityAlli) over the course of two days, and now republish Tweets (to date) below.

We encourage readers of this blog to add to the list, by Tweeting @CommunityAlli, commenting on this blogpost, or e-mailing us at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com.

Rather than to simply put coal in the proverbial community stocking, adding more "Bah. Humbug!" to the communal scene, it is our hope and desire, for the holidays and beyond, to create positives from the negative, taking that which is unsustainable on our Long Island, and recasting these pessimistic attributes into optimistic affirmations. A sustainable community, with a thriving quality of life for all, right here on our Long Island!
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Here, now, the list as Tweeted @CommunityAlli:

We're making a list and checking it twice. Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. We'll start you off. 124 school disticts.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Blighted downtowns. Add to the list. Tweet or e-mail TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Nepotism/cronyism in local government. Your turn. . .
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Special Taxing Districts. For Everything. Tweet us to add to our list.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Blighted Main Streets.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. The flight of Generation Next.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. A 25 cent return on every tax dollar sent to Albany.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Silence and complacency. Is anyone out there?
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Artists' renderings. Endless visioning. Broken promises. Anything? Anybody?
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Talk of reform, renewal or revolt without corresponding action.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. The apathy of the electorate and the indifference of the elected.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Spending what we do not have and borrowing what we cannot repay.
Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island.The pillaging of the middle class. Chime in any time, folks!

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. The paucity of affordable housing. The scarcity of open space. The audacity of dopes.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Horizontal design sets. 1950s mindsets. Anything else?

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Erosion of the aquifers. Destruction of greenscapes. Proliferation of brownfields.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Smart Growth dumbed down.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Dysfunction in Albany.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. 124 School Superintendents @$250,000+ a pop.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. The Islanders (with or without a new Coliseum).

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Still further delay in redeveloping the Nassau Hub (with or without Kate Murray).

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Major media outlets all monopolized by the Dolans.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Crumbling infrastructure. Buckling roadways. Twenty miles of ugly along theTurnpike.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. LIPAsuction.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Mass transit that is too expensive and less expansive.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. The list continues. [Feel free to add to it @CommunityAlli.]

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. MTA fare hikes and cutbacks.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. NIMBYism.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Cablevision rate hikes and LIPA/National Grid surcharges.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. New taxes disguised as fees.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. The privatization of public parks. Thoughts? Anybody? Helllllllloooooooooooooo...

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Endless studies, surveys, polls and reports. Same findings. Little result.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Commissions. Blue-Ribbon Panels. Zoning Boards. Planning Councils.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. 5 Special Sanitary Districts, 14 Village Sanitary Districts. 1 Sanitation Department.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. ALL in a single Town!

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. 55 Fire Districts. 18 Water Districts. 2 Sewer Districts. ALL in a single Town!

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. 707 local government entities. ALL on a single Island!

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Property taxes. Income taxes. Sales taxes.

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Did we mention 124 separate and distinct school districts?

Things that can no longer be sustained on Long Island. Sadly, the dearth of Tweets on the issue of "things that can no longer be sustained."

And the Tweet goes on (or does it?). . . Folks, a sustainable Long Island is up to all of us!

Don't just follow us @CommunityAlli. Join with us, as we work to take back our towns, revitalize our downtowns, reinvent "Main Street," reinvigorate community, and improve the quality of life of every Long Islander.

The Community Alliance

New Ideas for America's First Suburb

Third Time A Charmer For Dean Of NYS Senate

2010-11-30T10:07:00.001-05:00

Or Was That 2 1/2 Times?

New York State Senator Dean Skelos was reported to be all smiles as he emerged from the Republican conference in Albany last night. And why not? He had just been elected by the caucus as the presumptive (pending the ongoing recounts in three races) Majority Leader of the new (old?) New York State Senate for, as he put it, the "third time in two years." [That would, of course, include the Espada/Monserrate/Skelos coup of 2009, also known, as homage to the late Leslie Nielson, as Naked Ambition 2 1/2.]

We, at The Community Alliance, wish Dean Skelos, who also happens to represent the 9th SD here on Long Island, all the luck in the world as he assumes one of the top three most powerful posts in the State. [The other two are Sanitary District Commissioners.] Actually, we wish New Yorkers, and, in particular, our fellow Long Islanders all the luck in the world, in the hope that Senator Skelos can dislodge the partisan stalemate, both in his chamber and in Shelly Silver's Assembly, and begin to turn decades of dysfunction into a renaissance for the people of New York.

While few would argue (none with a straight face) that Dean Skelos is not partisan -- a loyal GOPer to the core (and there's nothing wrong with party loyalty, provided that it neither blinds nor binds when it comes to representing the will of the constituency) -- at 62 (though still relatively young in political circles), and having served in Albany going on 31 years, one has to believe that the Senator's latest ascension to the pinnacle of power is more about creating a lasting legacy rather than merely amassing personal political garnishment.

True, for most of those thirty years (closer to forty, in fact), the Republicans ruled the roost in the State Senate, demonstrating almost as little ability to lead, to reform, to move forward with an aggressive and progressive agenda as have the hapless, listless, gutless Democrats over that past two years.

Still, those were different times, socially, fiscally, politically. [We won't dare mention that those times, when the pot was deemed bottomless, and the party, on both sides of the aisle, often spilled out onto State Street and rolled down to Jack's Oyster House, created, in many respects, the less solvent, more divisive times we have today.]

In Albany, for a seasoned veteran seized with knowledge, integrity, true grit and an iron will -- not to mention a knack for playing the game like no other -- opportunity abounds over the course of the next two years (barring another coup attempt) to truly rebuild New York, from the mouth of the Hudson on down. [We leave Western NY to Carl Paladino and his baseball bat. ;-)].

Imagine a legacy that includes (dare we think it, let alone say it?) property tax relief beyond a 2% cap and out of one pocket into the other STAR rebates. A legacy that, at long last, ushers in real education reform, the likes of which forever changes not only the inequitable State Aid formulae and an asphyxiating pension system, but also a landscape that squanders dollars by the hundreds of millions, carving out more school districts than there are villages and towns. Imagine a legacy that, harsh realities of economics notwithstanding, gives moment to the words of Senator Skelos, to wit, "cutting spending, no new taxes and fees and creating jobs... are going to be our priorities going forward."

Dean Skelos has shown us that he has what it takes, and what Albany needs, to pull New York out of the abyss. And while he has blocked progressive measures such as same-sex marriage, and voted "No" on the special district consolidation bill and the school pesticide ban, he was instrumental in gaining passage of some of NY's landmark legislation, including The Sex Offender Registration Act (Megan's Law), the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage Program (EPIC), and the Health Research Science Law, which established a Pesticide Registry within New York State.

He has also brought home the bacon, by the pound, for Long Island, particularly in the areas of aid to education and community development. Frown upon earmarks and member items as we do, we cannot help but break a smile when grants from the Senator's office improve the lot of community locally.

Newsday once reported that Dean Skelos could be the guy to save the local GOP. By our reckoning, Senator Skelos, should he choose to do so, could very well turn out to be the guy who saves New York -- if only from itself.

The Great Town of Hempstead Smoke-Out

2010-11-24T10:57:00.001-05:00

Town Coughs Up Legislation To Ban Smoking In The Park (Smoldering Is Still Permitted ;-)

First it was the ban on cell towers. Now it is a ban on smoking in Town parks. Could it be that Town officials are truly concerned about our health and well-being? [When they ban taxation by special districts and zoning that creates a mish-mosh in our "downtowns," we may concede the point. Until then, we have to believe that "building healthier communities" is more smokescreen than kickiing butt along Main Street.]

Anyway, it reads well on paper, and makes good fodder for the press around the holidays. It may serve as material for the next Murraygram to hit your mailbox rather than the genuine act of actually caring about constituents, but, for most, yet another smoke-free environment (next step, a ban on smoking anywhere on planet Earth) is a move in the right direction.

So, take that turkey-trot around your local Town park, but if you've got 'em, don't you dare smoke 'em!

Happy Thanksgiving from The Community Alliance.

Remember to follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CommunityAlli.
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From the Town of Hempstead:

Building Healthier Communities: Town Board Adopts Smoke-Free Parks Legislation

Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray and the Town Board adopted legislation designating the township's 100 parks "smoke free," a step that will protect thousands of children and adults who recreate at the town's facilities from the ill effects of second-hand smoke.

"From swimming and ice skating to basketball, walking and playground activities, Hempstead Town parks are part and parcel of a healthy lifestyle," stated Murray. "Restricting smoking at these facilities makes good common sense and protects children and other neighbors from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke."

The new local law passed at the November 23rd Town Board meeting prohibits all smoking at the town's 100 parks, except in designated areas. Officials have indicated that those areas will be away from playing fields and courts, playgrounds, pools and pool decks, concession areas, bleachers, waterfront beach areas and other locations that would subject park patrons to second-hand smoke.

"This new legislation is an important step in protecting the health of our residents," said Councilwoman Angie Cullin. "Smoking is known to cause cancer and has no place in areas where families and children are exercising and enjoying other healthy pursuits."

Murray indicated that the Tobacco Action Coalition of Long Island had approached officials in America's largest township, and the two entities commenced a productive dialogue on how to make parks and beaches healthier. Carol Meschkow of the Coalition spoke at Town Board meetings on the dangers of second-hand smoke and subsequent conversations resulted in the smoke free parks legislation.

"The town's exceptional network of parks, playgrounds, beaches and other recreational venues should be places where families can go to enjoy the outdoors and fresh air and not have to worry about exposure to second-hand smoke, which is a Class A carcinogen, particularly our precious children with their maturing lungs," said Meschkow.

"Reducing tobacco use is an effective investment in our next generation, and Supervisor Murray and the Town of Hempstead have clearly placed their children's future as the number one priority, and we couldn't be more pleased."

Hempstead officials and the Tobacco Action Coalition released some sobering statistics and other information in support of the new proposal. Approximately 25,000 adults in New York die from cigarette smoking annually, and nearly 21,000 children under the age of 18 become daily smokers in the state each year. Second-hand smoke contains over 40 cancer-causing substances, and the Surgeon General has declared that there is no safe level of second-hand smoke. In fact, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified second-hand smoke in the same category as radon, benzene and asbestos as far as its carcinogenic designation.

One of the primary beneficiaries of the legislation will be young children, according to the Supervisor. Murray noted that the benefits of smoke free parks coupled with the educational efforts of teachers will send a powerful message to young people. In fact, several students in Ms. Ilene Robinson's third grade class at Levy Lakeside Elementary School attended a press conference earlier this month to express their thoughts on smoking.

"If you smoke it is bad for your health and we need clean air," said Camryn, a student at Levy Lakeside. "Smoke-free parks are a good idea because smoking isn't good for the environment and it could make kids sick when they breathe it in," added Lauren, another student in Ms. Robinson's class.

"With our new smoke-free parks legislation, we're going to protect residents from the dangerous effects of second-hand smoke," concluded Murray.

Long Island 2035?

2010-11-19T11:30:00.003-05:00

We Can Hardly Wait!

Actually, we can't wait. Not another generation. Not another decade. Not even another year.

Long Island's economy, infrastructure, mindset of suburbia, all need to come of age now, not some 25 years hence, best laid blueprints of planning councils and "visionaries" (as in the adherents of the "visioning" process, rather than those possessed of any real foresight) notwithstanding.

Long Island 2035 is, in its own words:

The Long Island 2035 Regional Visioning Initiative was funded by the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC) to help achieve a regional public consensus for where the next generation of Long Islanders could live and work, the transportation systems needed to support these settlements, and the institutional actions required to ensure a prosperous, equitable and environmentally sustainable Long Island. The project's findings are being used to help the Long Island Regional Planning Council produce a Long Island 2035 Comprehensive Regional Sustainability Plan.

So, there you have it, in a nutshell. A study to reach a consesus leading to findings to be used in developing a plan. Hummmph! Imagine that. A consensus? On Long Island? Who's kidding whom?

Not just any plan, mind you, but a Comprehensive Regional Sustainability Plan (CRSP), to be promulgated by the Long Island Regional Planning Council. [Lousy acronym. Try, Comprehensive Regional Action Plan. CRAP. There. That's more like it!]

And this would be Plan Number, what, 100, since Long Island's various planning boards have been generating such initiatives -- and shelving them, accordingly -- from back in the day when Levitt first set eyes upon the fertile Hempstead Plain?

Don't misunderstand. We, at The Community Alliance, are all for planning. Just once in a while -- or in a lifetime -- it would be nice to see one of these "comprehensive" (that which, at one time, was called, "Master") plans evolve from "initiative" (as in "initiate," meaning "to begin") to fruition (as in, "implementation").

Visioning Workshops (which, from the photos, appear to be groups of people trying to piece together a giant jigsaw puzzle that somewhat resembles Long Island). A Visioning Workshop Final Report. [How could it be "final" if this is only an "initiative?"] A Visioning Initiative: Principles and Evaluation Benchmarks. [Benchmarks? Like in Iraq?]

Great stuff. On paper.

Years ago, we used to throw money (when we had money) at projects, with the hope that the more we spend, the better the mousetrap -- or Main Street -- we can build. That didn't work out very well.

Nowadays, we throw money to study projects, to talk about (excuse us, "roundtable") the future, to engage in "visioning" (as myopic as it may be), and to generate "findings" via footnoted reports, stylized charts (the more data, the merrier), and high tech PowerPoint presentations.

How's that working out for Long Island?

Yes, we have read the Visioning Initiative Final Report. [Isn't that an oxymoron?] We encourage you to do likewise. [At least take a look at the highlights. (Where's Warner Wolf when you need him?).

Lots of hard work and copious thought going into those 60 pages. Not all that much, however, that is either new or visionary.

By way of history, for instance, the Report opines:

As early as the 1960s, however, the problems associated with growth in these communities, such as increased congestion and fewer unspoiled open spaces, threatened the very qualities that attracted people here in the first place. A succession of village, town, county and regional initiatives emerged to address these challenges, including the creation of the Long Island Regional Planning Board in 1965, one of the first institutions of its kind...

Frankly, not all that much has happened on our Long Island -- save the sprawl, the Levittownization, the brownfielding, and the demise of downtown -- since.

History, indeed, repeats itself, particularly for those who refuse to learn from it!

Much of the hoopla surrounds a central, textbook philosophy -- the stuff new urbanists (suburbanists?) might well embrace (and Jane Jacobs, were she still with us today, might deplore).

Yes, we're all for social and economic equity, a healthy environment, and sustainable communities. [Throw in a farmers' market, or three, and we've got a deal!] Somewhere along that long, green line, however, we need to shift from visioning and talking to actuating and doing. [Our old take on The Home Depot motto, Less Talking. More Doing.]

Bright people among the folks facilitating and participating in the Long Island 2035 initiative. [None, we note with more than passing dismay, from the Town of Hempstead, or so it would appear from the listing in the Final Report, where representation by TOH is conspicuous by its absence.] Surely, there must be a few among these visionaires who realize that, going down this road to 2035 (a road now more traveled and less maintained), we have been this way before, and, those Victorian-style streetlamps along Main Street aside, there hasn't been all that much progress.

Beyond the artists' renderings (almost all of which, in one incarnation or another, we've seen before), or allusions to what has been accomplished in suburbs far from Long Island's shores (not to mention the delusions of getting anything of virtually any scale -- short of a storefront facade -- to appear on our neglected and over-burdened landscape), there must be, one would think, a day of reckoning.

After all, one can't be expected to wait for the revitalization of Elmont, the resurgence of Wyandanch, or the reinvention of the Lighthouse at the Nassau Hub (which will happen, by the way, right after the reinvention of the wheel, for the 100th time) forever, right?

True, that day may come when those of us who have long advocated for change, for redevelopment, for the resuburbanization of Long Island beyond the white picket fences, have passed on to our final reward, whatever that may be. Or, perhaps, when the last of Generation Next has abandoned the land of strip malls, big box stores, unaffordable housing, skyrocketing taxes, and special district fiefdoms that consume every last breath -- and every last dollar -- out of a populace perennially promised the moon and too often delivered manure.

We can, as has become custom in these parts, simply keep putting off Long Island's future to, well, the future.

Or, someone -- anyone, really -- in the back of this Long Island 2035 bus, having sustained about all he/she can of "getting there is half the fun," can pull off the seatbelt, stand up, high tail it to the front, move forward of the yellow line, and shout at those behind the wheel, "ARE WE THERE YET?"
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What are your thoughts about Long Island 2035? Better yet, what about Long Island 2011? What are the initiatives you would like to see taken to improve the quality of life of Long Islanders, rekindle our sagging economy, revive our downtrodden Main Streets, and create a truly sustainable community for the next 25 years and beyond?

Write to The Community Alliance with your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and comprehensive plans. Guest blogposts for publication would be most welcome. TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com.
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Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CommunityAlli. Better yet, take the lead in your community!
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On Day One, Absolutely Nothing Changes

2010-11-16T12:39:00.000-05:00

Looking Ahead To Day Two In The Empire State

Governor-Elect Andrew Cuomo has already told us that little will change when he is sworn into office on January 1, a taunt to Eliot Spitzer's, "Day One, Everything Changes."

"Been there. Done that." That's what the next Governor Cuomo had to say, noting that the longstanding dysfunction in Albany, and that government seemingly in the face of the people, thumbing up its nose and picking our wallets clean to fund the next member item, won't be changing its ways anytime soon.

When, we ask, and in what manner, does change come in the new administration? 100 days? 365 days? Somewhere in a third term? The way we finance public education? The manner in which we fund everything from garbage collection to fire protection? The spend and tax ways of the New York State Legislature, itself as incapable of change as the electorate is at changing the cast of characters who run the asylum?

Certainly, looking at Andrew Cuomo's transition team, filled with the old-timers who have "been there, done that," it's hard to envision much in the way of change. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. State Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson. Investment Banker Felix Rohatyn. Long Island Congressman Peter King. Former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani. To name but a few of the veritable Who's Who of New York, past and present. The list is both expansive and inclusive, with only Jimmy McMillan, perhaps, of the Rent Is Too Damn High party, being left off.]

Question is, will the great and the powerful remember the meek and the crest-fallen who helped catapult young Mr. Cuomo to the seat once kept warm by his dad, Mario? We can only hope!

Truth be told, where do We, The People, the John Q. Publics, fit in? Where and how do we stick in our two cents (or was that a 2% cap)? How will we make sure that while nothing changes on day one, the prospect for change, and the mechanics to make change happen (and not just the loose change we're used to getting back from the tax dollars we send to Albany) are in place for day two, day three, and beyond?

And just what kind of change do we really want to bring about, and what are we willing to give up in order to effectuate that change?

Real (as in actual, dollars and cents) property tax relief? [NOTE: A cap is not a reduction!]
Equitable school finance reform? [Could we ever part with 124 school districts on Long Island?]
Consolidation of the literally thousands of special taxing districts that bleed New Yorkers dry? [How's your local lighting district, by the way?]

Where do we begin to rebuild New York? Its infrastructure of crumbling roads and failing bridges. Its system of public education, from the local elementary school to its great state university. Its costly and mismanaged Public Authorities. From Main Street to Wall Steet. Its integrity. Its financial wherewithal. Its pride. How do we once again become that Empire State?

And who, other than the power brokers who have run the show for that past umpteen years -- make that, decades -- will usher in those changes? Changes that will ensure a sustainable, livable, fluorishing New York for generations to come?

Maybe, just maybe, it will be the little guy -- that man and woman on the street. The folks who, when all is said, if still very far from done, foot those bills that help keep New York afloat.

Day one, nothing changes. What happens after that is up to all of us!

Water, Water Everywhere. . .

2010-11-16T11:36:00.000-05:00

But Is It Safe To Drink, Fish, Swim In?

Our good friends at Citizens Campaign for the Environment urge you to join them to protect our waterways.

Help Protect Our Great Waters

Call Congress Today!

Take Action Now

The health of the nation’s Great Waters must be a national priority. Our Great Waters, including Long Island Sound and the Great Lakes, are essential to our economy, recreational opportunities, and quality of life. Unfortunately, our Great Waters are threatened by pollution, invasive species, and habitat destruction. Action must be taken before the problems get worse and the solutions more costly. Congress needs to protect, preserve, and restore our Great Waters now!

Long Island Sound: An Estuary of National Significance, the Long Island Sound is an immensely valuable estuary, contributing more than $8 billion annually to the regional economy. Twenty million people live within 50 miles of the Sound’s beaches. Residents of New York and Connecticut depend on the Sound for recreational opportunities, including fishing, sailing, and swimming. The Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act will expire this year unless Congress reauthorizes the legislation. Congress needs to move quickly to reauthorize the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act (H.R. 5876/S. 3119) to continue progress on restoring the Long Island Sound. This critical investment will restore shellfish, upgrade sewage treatment plants, protect sensitive lands, replant sea grass beds, control polluted storm water runoff, and conduct needed research.

Great Lakes: The Great Lakes are a natural wonder of the world that holds one-fifth of the world’s fresh water supply. The Great Lakes supply millions of New Yorkers with their drinking water, provide habitat for wildlife, and support billion dollar industries such as tourism and fishing. The Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 4755/S. 3073) will provide the long-term structure needed for Great Lakes protection and restoration. The bill authorizes $650 million annually to address the most critical issues impacting the lakes, including cleaning up toxic hot spots, restoring habitat, fighting invasive species, and preventing pollution.

How you can help:

Call your two U.S. senators and your representative in the House and urge them to protect our Great Waters, including Long Island Sound and the Great Lakes. Your calls are critical, and they only take a moment!

Tips for Calling:
Make three quick calls to the Capital Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to the offices of your U.S. senators and U.S. representative. Once connected:

•Tell the person who answers the phone your name and your address.
•Share why protecting Long Island Sound and the Great Lakes is important to you.
•Urge Congress to pass the Long Island Sound Restoration and Stewardship Act (H.R. 5876/S. 3119).
•Urge them to support passage of the Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 4755/S. 3073).
•Thank them for their consideration.

Whom to call:

In New York:
House: Find your federal representative
Senate: Senator Schumer & Senator Gillibrand

In Connecticut:
House: Find your federal representative
Senate: Senator Lieberman & Senator Dodd

Thank you for taking action. Together we make a difference!

If Only We Could Get Someone To Buy "Main Street"

2010-11-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

Resurgence Of "Downtown" Requires Private Enterprise And Community Ingenuity

Bringing downtown back!

Seems that's what Town and County officials have been advocating, if not actually doing, for years -- make that decades -- here on Long Island.

From Nassau County's now defunct Operation Downtown, to the Town of Hempstead's typically feeble Facade Improvement Program (all right, so it's all a facade), the movement to revitalize "Main Street" (best efforts of the likes of Vision Long Island and Sustainable Long Island notwithstanding) has been almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Yes, a reinvigorated block here, and a cleverly parsed rehab there, but on the whole (and this is particularly so in the unincorporated areas of our towns, the last outposts of lawlessness, where the only things missing from the landscape are the tumbleweeds), our "downtowns" (if you can call them that) and our "Main Streets" (blink, and you'll miss them -- if you're lucky) are, for the most part, bastions of neglect, decline, and decay.

The illuminating glow of Smart Growth -- more myth than mainstay on the streets of Long Island -- has yet to light the way for progressive, essential, community-friendly redevelopment on any meaningful scale.

Zoning Boards, Planning Boards, and Zoning Boards acting as Planning Boards, have done little more over the years than to, unwittingly perhaps, best intentions aside, stay the course. Master Plans becoming servant to political expediency. NIMBYism being the rallying cry around which our communities find comfort in the status quo. A Levittownian mindset, miring our towns in the aura of the 1950s.

Amidst the complacency, the apathy, the indifference of a populace, beaten down, perhaps, by decades of governmental malaise, are heard the occasional voices of that new suburbia some of us have heard talk of. Build A Better Burb. Charming on paper. Nowhere near coming to a community near you.

No one said building a better burb would be easy, or inexpensive. The cost, in terms of dollars and cents and the sustainability of life on our Long Island as we'd like to know it, is all that much greater.

The infusion of federal money (when the feds had money). Portended Town and County "partnerships" (the stuff that photo ops and press releases are made of). Conferences, forums, diatribes and visioning sessions. All offering glimmers of hope. All vanishing, like grains of sand in the ebb and flow of the tide.

Followers of this blog have had hopes raised (recall Tom Suozzi's Magical Mystery Bus Tours), only to have them dashed (if not ground into pixie dust), time and time again, by inaction, by delay, by ineptitude, by we, the people, letting dreamscapes fall by the wayside.

Grand Avenue in Baldwin is still not so grand. The old Argo in Elmont is nowhere near being a supermarket. And is that the Courtesy Hotel we still see standing over there in West Hempstead?

So, what, we ask, is the answer? [What was the question again? Oh, yeah. The rebirth of "Downtown."] If government won't get it done, visionaries can't get it done, and the communal spirit doesn't care one way or the other whether it gets done, how do we take back "Main Street?"

Umm. One building, one block, one vacant storefront at a time, through private developers willing to take the risk on the second coming of downtown.

Check out this article in The New York Times, Ressurecting a Village by Buying Up Main Street. [We'd reprint the story, but for fear of threatened prosecution for copyright infringement!]

Maybe bringing downtown back does take a village. Or, at the very least, one person willing to buy it.

Has Town Animal Shelter Gone To The Dogs?

2010-11-11T10:34:00.002-05:00

Nassau DA Probes Alleged Abuses At Town Of Hempstead Pound

It looks as though that "Summer of Love" may be drawing to a cold close at the Town of Hempstead's Animal Shelter.

For all those warm and fuzzy photo ops of Town Supervisor Kate "Cheshire Cat" Murray cuddling with her furry friends, word on the street -- and in the press -- has it that animals at the Town shelter are being beaten, abused, and left to die in their cages, this under the not too watchful eyes of Town employees drawing six-figure salaries.

So, it's not only the poor, helpless animals that are allegedly being abused, but the poor, helpless taxpayers as well.

Only allegations, of course, yet to be proven. Allegations.

One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Community Alliance, "Charles Milone (acting Shelter Director) is making over $100,000... Another political appointee making over $100,000, Bruce Hallbert, replaced Milone (at the Shelter) but he, too, was replaced by yet another making over $100,000, Pat Horan. The budget of the shelter is over $7.1 million yet I hear there are many inhumane practices going on and that all volunteers have now been banned from the premises - thus no oversight."

The Town of Hempstead itself is "investigating" the alleged abuses (kinda like the fox investigating pillage at the hen house), with testimony from former shelter volunteers being heard (but not necessarily listened to) at a recent Town Board meeting.

Meanwhile, back in the kennel club that is Hempstead Town Hall (where inbreeding at the patronage mill has set evolution on its head), Supervisor Murray calls the issue "administrative," telling a reporter at News12 that the investigation does not involve the abuse, mishandling or mistreatment of cats or dogs at the Town shelter. [Hmmm. So what exactly is the Nassau County DA's office looking into at the Town Animal Shelter? Could it be the abuse, mishandling and mistreatment of the taxpayers and their hard-earned money?]

In a town where nepotism and patronage reign supreme; where fiscal prudence is holding up a bond rating with one hand and writing a six-figure check to a political cronie with the other; where denial is a river in Egypt over which the powers-that-be disavow any control; there is a foul odor emanating from an animal shelter cuddled, coddled and held so dear by a Town Supervisor, if not complicit in purported misdeeds, then, most certainly, more than willing to turn the other cheek.

Abuses at the Town's Special Districts (of which the Town wipes its dirty little hands) is one thing. Abuse at the Town's animal shelter is quite another. Or maybe not. Abuse, of any nature, particularly in the public realm, should not, must not be tolerated, let alone ignored.

Stepping up, taking responsibility, the buck stopping with Town officials, should be the norm in this new age of accountability and transparency. In Hempstead Town, as we've come to learn, Norm is merely the Town Supervisor's father (who spent many years on the Town payroll), and passing the buck (as it is pulled screaming from the taxpayers' wallets), is as close as one comes to a public reckoning.

Town of Hempstead residents seem to be blase about the evils of special district taxation, patronage and cronyism, a complete lack of oversight (in and out of town hall), and the general decline (if not untimely demise) of the unincorporated areas of America's most blighted township. Too bad.

Perhaps, just perhaps, exposing the abuses at the Town's Animal Shelter, "administrative" (as in, "where the heck did they spend more than 7 million dollars?"), if not otherwise, will awaken the sensibilities deadened by the excess enjoyment which has accompanied years of paying more and getting less.

The quality of life for each of us is diminished by acts of neglect, be they benign or overt. Surely, we expected more for our fine, furry friends who unwittingly find themselves under what appears to be the heavy hand of the Town of Hempstead.

Our take is that, in Hempstead Town, at least, "Home for the Holidays" will have a whole new meaning this year!
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From Long Island Newsday:

Rescue groups air concerns over Hempstead animal shelter

by WILL VAN SANT / will.vansant@newsday.com

As the Nassau district attorney's office continues its probe of Hempstead Town's animal shelter, local rescuers with long-standing concerns about a bloated budget and abuse of dogs and cats at the agency are saying, "Told you so."

At a town meeting this week, rescuers said animals had been subjected to severe neglect and horrific abuse.

While they won't give specifics, officials insist problems at the shelter don't involve animal abuse.

The town banned several rescuers from the shelter in late October after its own, ongoing, internal investigation and it remains unclear what role, if any, they play in the scandal. For years, the rescuers had sought to find homes for animals at the shelter, which practices euthanasia.

Town officials, who contacted the district attorney last month, would not say why the rescuers had been barred. Supervisor Kate Murray said she was surprised by the abuse allegations, and none of the rescuers had gone to the district attorney with such charges.

Murray wouldn't offer details on the town or the district attorney's investigations, but said administrative matters, not animal abuse, are the focus.

Acting shelter director Charles Milone, a Hempstead employee for eight years, and adoption coordinator Regina Thorne, an employee for 24 years, have been transferred from their jobs pending the outcome of the probes. Milone and Thorne continue to collect annual salaries of $122,559 and $83,612 respectively.

The shelter has a budget of $7.1 million this year.

Frances Lucivero, a Levittown rescuer who was banned from the shelter, said neither she nor any of the other barred rescuers had spoken with the district attorney's office. Lucivero said she didn't know what the office, which declined to discuss the investigation, was looking into, but doesn't think it has to do with rescue work at the shelter. Lucivero said too little of the shelter's money is used to help the animals and she would like to see a full-time staff veterinarian and an animal behaviorist.

"They have a $7 million budget," Lucivero said, "and that outrages me as a taxpayer."
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"Thank You So Much For Yor Patronage"

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Folow-Up from the Town of Hempstead: http://toh.li/content/home/news/ashelteragenda.html
[If only they would care for the humans in their care...]
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What You Can Do To Help: http://www.hopeforhempsteadshelter.com/getinvolved.html

NYS Legislature: Under Old Management

2010-11-03T09:40:00.000-04:00

Dysfunction As The Norm In The Land Of Status Quo

While voters were busy painting the map red across much of the nation on Election Day (often forgetting that the party now returned to office is the very same that brought us to the economic brink while turning a huge surplus into a record deficit), New Yorkers, with rare exception, were busy maintaining the status quo.

Apparently, we like -- no, we enjoy -- the stagnation and dysfunction of Albany, having dimmed (though not extinguished, the final tallies still to come) the hopes of the GOP to wrestle the State Senate from the weak, clammy hands of the listless Democrats. [Not that putting the Republicans, who reigned in the State Senate for some forty years prior to the Dems taking a slim margin two years ago, would portend much in the way of change, history being our guide].

While both the Dems and the GOPers are claiming to have taken the Senate (several districts still too close to call the morning after the election), a margin of a seat or two -- or even the possibility of a 31-31 tie -- does not for forward progress make.

For Long Island, where being in the red means minority status in blue New York, it would, no doubt, have been a true coup had State Senator Dean Skelos (perhaps the smartest guy in Albany, politically, if not otherwise) were to be elevated from Minority Leader to Majority Leader. This can still happen, of course, in the event that the closest of the races go the Republican's way.

Then again, even assuming, for argument sake, that the GOP retakes the State Senate, what chance do we have of making strides on such significant issues as property tax relief and school finance reform (let alone Gay marriage), with the Senate in the hands of the folks who, for nearly half a century, failed to advance a progressive agenda, and, perhaps even more foretelling, with Sheldon Silver, the Speaker of the Assembly with an agenda all his own, continuing to ride roughshod over that body, an immoveable object in a town where movement itself is imperceptable?

And while New Yorkers were savvy enough to have rejected the notion that afternoon tea parties trump the morning coffee klatsch, sending Carl Paladino and his baseball bat back to Buffalo [Carl said we haven't heard the last of him. No doubt. He'll be back in Albany, sans bat, looking to take more of the taxpayers' money to bolster his personal real estate empire], we are, apparently, still clueless here on the Island, electing, for instance, a neophyte, born and bred in the nepotistic incubator that is Hempstead Town Hall, without a shred of community activism on record, to the Assembly seat vacated by a seasoned veteran who lived and breathed compromise and community. We still don't get it, do we?

No, there's not all that much to cheer about here in New York, the Governor-elect's call for all New Yorkers to unite in rebuilding the Empire State aside.

Whichever way the wind blows in the State Senate, and whatever fresh air Mr. Silver may allow to flow into the Assembly chamber, if any, doubtful that our next Governor, as astute a political strategist as he may be, can upend the stagnation, the partisanship, the inane bickering over minutia, that has become institutionalized in Albany.

"What's old is new again" seems to have been the theme in this year's elections, nationally. Here in New York, one can barely distinguish old from new, or, for that matter, yesterday from tomorrow. It's as though time itself stood still, with yet another dark, cold winter about to descend upon State Street, and an even longer two years towing the line that has been and continues to be the status quo.

Of Trees And Taxpayer Dollars

2010-10-28T12:40:00.003-04:00

I Think That I Shall Never See, A Murraygram That Hasn't Killed A Tree

Not exactly Joyce Kilmer here, but a Letter to the Editor that appeared in this week's Herald newspapers caught our attention.

The suggestion of an "opt out" for all of those Town of Hempstead mailings. Imagine that -- cost effective and environmentally sound e-mails in lieu of those mailbox stuffers, tree-killers, and tax-dollar wasters.

Could it happen? In a heartbeat. Will it? Not as long as Kate Murray, Supervisor, needs to get her smile, and her name, in our collective faces.
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Is Supervisor Kate Murray really an environmentalist?

To the Editor:

If you live in the Town of Hempstead, you are familiar with the steady flow of mailings from Town Hall. So far this year, I have received 24 mailings from Town Hall (approximately one mailing every 11 days).

On Aug. 3, I spoke to Supervisor Kate Murray at a Town Hall meeting, and suggested to her that the town give residents the option to receive Town Hall news by email. At that meeting she indicated to me that that was a wonderful idea.

Despite the fact that I had given Murray a wonderful idea, nothing got done. I went back to Town Hall on Sept. 7 and 21, Oct. 5 and 19 to press the issue. Each time it came up, Murray ducked the question and refused to give residents the option of receiving Town Hall news by email.

I have estimated that the Town of Hempstead has used more than 5 million sheets of paper (about 600 trees were needed to produce this paper) and spent over $1.1 million this year to pay for the mailings to approximately 246,828 households in the Town of Hempstead.

Murray claims to be an environmentalist and a member of the Sierra Club. You would think she would be more conscientious about the unnecessary use of natural resources.

Contact Town Hall at (516) 489-6000 or on the web at www.toh.li to tell Supervisor Murray you want an option to receive Town Hall news by email.

Felix Procacci
Franklin Square
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We're sure that the folks at Kate Murray's HELPLINE would be happy to pass along the word. Can the Murraygrams. Send us an e-mail!
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"I'm The Lord, And I Approve This Message"

2010-10-27T11:35:00.000-04:00

When Candidates Converse With The Almighty

"God is the reason I'm running." So said Christine "I'm not a witch" O'Donnell, GOP candidate for Senate in the State of Delaware.

Not only that, but, according to O'Donnell, in an interview with Christian Broadcasting Network, "God has called me to win." [She also admitted to not watching the news, an homage, perhaps, to Sarah Palin fumbling and failing to think of a single newspaper or magazine she had read.]

So, its not only the ballplayer, eyes toward the heavens, who looks to God for that crucial hit. [We suppose the Yankees simply didn't offer enough in prayer. Damn it!]

And we recall another politico of the not so distant past who, like O'Donnell, said that God had tapped him to run for office. Now who was that again? Oh yeah. George W. Bush. [What was God thinking?]

Since when did the Almighty become so political, let alone so partisan? And how is it that, on the whole, he only speaks to, calls upon, and offers the endorsement of far-right wing Republicans, who poo poo evolution, oppose masturbation, and can't find a separation between church and state in the Constitution -- not necessarily in that order.

Whatever happened to the days when God called upon folks like Noah, to build arks, and Moses, to deliver the Ten Commandments? No, today, the Almighty talks to nitwit politicians and psychopathic serial killers.

Add in the Sean Hannitys and the Glenn Becks, to whom God apparently speaks regularly, having decreed, "Go forth and masquerade as journalists," and you've given new meaning to the expression, "God works in mysterious ways."

One wonders why God has chosen to speak with and call upon the likes of a Christine O'Donnell, channeling His wisdom and energies through so empty a vessel. What with Nobel Prize winners and MENSA members, one would think a more appropriate medium -- and, surely, a more worthy cause -- would be in the offing.

Perhaps, given the Lord's involvement in recent campaigns, and the invocation of His name (as such may enure to the benefit of the candidate, religion clearly being the opiate of a certain segment of the electoral masses), we need to create yet another political party. Call it the, "My Rent Is Too God-Damn High" party.

Says O'Donnell (that's the new Chirstine, Senate hopeful, not the old Christine, Wiccan), "Please pray for the campaign; please pray for our staff; please pray specifically that the eyes of the voters be opened."

"Pray...that the eyes of the voters be opened." Amen to that!

Watch The Closing Doors

2010-10-22T10:00:00.003-04:00

Can Mass Transit Save New York? [And What Will Save NY's Mass Transit?]

As we watch our roadways and bridges crumble before our eyes, and see fares and tolls soar (you want how much to cross the Verrazano Bridge?), thoughts on how New York can revive (more like resuscitate) mass transit, and how mass trasnsit could actually breathe new life into the Empire State's sagging economy.

If we're going to talk about sustainability (and these days, who doesn't?), we have to talk about that which cannot, in the long run, be sustained, at least not in an economic environment where the incubator is primed for growth.

High taxes, skyrocketing fares, outlandish tolls, and an infrastructure that makes getting from here to there next to impossible, will not sustain us. Nor will mismanagement and dysfunction, whether by the bungling chieftans at public authorities such as the MTA or in the seat of government in Albany, sustain anything more than the status quo -- a deep, dark hole into which is tossed a shovel, John Q. Public emphatically told, "keep digging!"

New directions, and a new way of thinking -- from inside the box and without (box sold separately) -- are imperatives, both in restructuring and rebuilding New York's system of mass transit, and in turning this once mighty engine of commerce into the powerhouse that catpults our State -- and its tax-strapped residents -- out of that hole and into a new era of prosperity.

A report (actually, several) from our friends at the Drum Major Institute:

How the Next Governor of New York Can Save Public Transit

With New York’s gubernatorial election less than two weeks away, a report jointly released earlier today by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy and Transportation Alternatives urges the candidates for governor to commit to ending the MTA’s costly borrowing and to reinvesting in public transit in order to drive economic growth, create good jobs, boost the state's economic competitiveness, and save state taxpayers significant money.

The report reveals that the disinvestment and debt crippling the MTA are the result of failed decisions by state legislators and recent governors. Evidence and data are presented to show that the next governor must pursue several actions to safeguard public transit and put the MTA back on sound fiscal footing.

To read the report, go here. To read earlier reports on solving the MTA’s debt crisis and ensuring more sustainable sources of transit revenue, go here and here.
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Is Albany A Mess?

2010-10-21T13:51:00.000-04:00

Did The Little Piggy Cry Wee, Wee, Wee All The Way Home?

From the camp of Patrick Nicolosi, Candidate for NYS Assembly:

There's no disputing that Albany is a mess. The question is who do we trust to fix it? The residents of the 21st Assembly District which includes West Hempstead,Franklin Square, Elmont, Floral Park, South Floral Park, Stewart Manor, North Valley Stream and parts Valley Stream, New Hyde Park, Malverne and Garden City have a choice between 2 candidates who have two completely different backgrounds.

The Republican machine has nominated someone to run for Assembly from their Town of Hempstead nepotism and patronage mill. This machine chose a candidate who does not own property in this district, nor has he paid a dime in property taxes, either. How can the 28 year old son of an influential Town of Hempstead political insider, who hasn't paid property taxes in his life, possibly identify with the voters of this district? How can he possibly understand or sympathize with the everyday struggles residents in this district go through year after year just to pay our bills and keep a roof over our family's heads? Strike 1.

Next, we discover he recently got a job in the Town attorney's office. How was he able to find a job in this economy anyway? While our children are out of work and struggling to find any job they can find, all he had to do was call his influential father, and magically a cushy job in the Town attorney's office was created for him. And we expect this candidate to bring home the bacon to this district? He's never had to bring anything home up until now except himself. What makes anyone think this job will be any different for him? Win, lose or draw in this election, the Republican candidate will have a secure job to go to the day after the election no matter what happens November 2nd. Strike 2.

Even worse, during the debates, he could not articulate one coherent or concrete thought of how he would address the real problems affecting this district, specifically property taxes and jobs. His responses were awkward, jumbled and full of political cliches we've heard a million times before. It's clear Republicans actually do view this Assembly seat as an entry level position, and this candidate would be going to Albany just to fill-out time. So in a couple of years if we make the mistake of sending him there, his influential father will find him someplace else better to work (we suspect somewhere in the friendly confines of the Town of Hempstead). Strike 3 and he's out.

Contrast this with Pat Nicolosi, whose paid his dues in life and has earned his community stripes over decades of participation and service to this diverse Assembly district. Pat has a unique universal appeal where he identifies with everyone from a blue collar worker who brings a lunch bucket to work, to a white collar executive who only eats on fine table cloth. Pat's stood with the residents of West Hempstead as they fought the Town of Hempstead at the Courtesy Hotel fiasco, stood by the residents of Elmont as they continue to fight for economic development in their community, and has stood by all residents of this district as he continues to demand efficiency in all levels of government, including our local special taxing districts.

Pat has also gained the reputation of being a strong fiscal watchdog over government spending and has consistently advocated for the creation of private-sector jobs and sustainable economic development in our district. In his first year as a Board Member of the Elmont Library, he was able to achieve a 0% tax increase, with a 0% spending increase, all while keeping existing programs and services at this great facility untouched.

Pat's record of independence is second to none. He has brought together Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives and Independents to work together on a host of issues facing this community no matter what their party affiliation or political background was. With so much at stake in this election, how can we trust this Assembly seat to anyone but Pat Nicolosi.
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The Community Alliance welcomes comment, rebuttal, or at least two-cents, from Pat Nicolosi's opponent in this election, Ed Ra.

Let's hear from all the candidates for public office. Write us at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com. All submissions will be published for the consideration of the electorate.

Remember, folks. If we don't hear from them BEFORE the election, can we really expect results from them AFTER the election?
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Nassau County's Royal Flush?

2010-10-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

Exec Looks To Imose Fee For Water On Exempt, High Volume Users

Imagine that. Taxing the local Fire District (turnabout is fair play, we suppose), for using water. Okay, they call it a fee, which, by any other name, is a tax.

Hmmm. Taxing the heretofore exempt, and imposing user fees on those who use run water down the drain as if it fell from the sky. What next? Taxing heretofore tax exempt entities -- like the church* -- for all the property they own in the county?

Wait a minute. Maybe that's not such a bad idea after all. . .

*The new fee, by the way, would not apply to religious organizations who own property in the county. Thank God. The holy water is safe!
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From the Long Island Herald:

Legislator: ‘Toilet tax’ could cost taxpayers

By Deirdre Krasula

When firefighters wash down their trucks after making on a run, they may have to pay a fee on that water. Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, a Republican from Bethpage, has proposed a water use fee in the county’s 2011 budget. At a news conference in front of the North Merrick firehouse on Friday, Nassau County Legislator Dave Denenberg said the fee is really a tax.

Standing with members of tax-exempt organizations, Denenberg, a Democrat from Merrick, explained how fire departments, school districts and libraries would be affected by what he called the “toilet tax.” The county ordinance states, “The county is hereby authorized to impose service charges upon exempt users and high water users for the use of services of sewage facilities maintained by the district.” The fee is intended to help pay for the county’s sewer facilities, but the county doesn’t use sewer meters, but rather water meters, Denenberg noted.

Based on water use, that could mean big bills for previously exempt organizations. Each facility would have to pay one cent for every gallon of water used. That would mean that the North Merrick Fire Department, which uses 700,000 gallons of water a year, would pay a $7,000 fee.

Denenberg said he was angered that the county executive would be willing to draw revenue from tax-exempt organizations like school districts and libraries. “The county’s idea for revenue is to force tax-exempt organizations … to pay a sewer fee,” he said. “Passing along taxes to other districts is not freezing taxes.”

Dr. James Tolle, executive director of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents, noted that schools across the county use water primarily for field irrigation. Mary Jo O’Hagan, vice president of the Nassau Suffolk School Board Association, and a member of the Baldwin School Board, noted that such a fee would cost Baldwin School District $132,000 a year — the equivalent of two staff positions. Tolle added that Nassau County school districts could not afford the fee. If put in place, the fee would be “passed on to the taxpayer, or we would have to cut programs,” he said.

The fee, if passed, would take effect July 1, 2011. In the first six months it was in place, it could bring in $19 million in revenue and $38 million in the following full year.

At press time, Mangano’s office could not be reached for comment.

Comments about this story? DKrasula@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.

Time To "Energize" Our State Legislators

2010-10-18T11:44:00.000-04:00

Urge your State Assemblyman to Support Higher Residential Energy Codes

From our good friends and neighbors at Long Island Neighborhood Network:

This year a bill was introduced to amend the State Energy Conservation Construction Code (S6912- Foley/A10288 Englebright) by setting a higher energy efficiency standard for new homes built in New York State, and requiring performance verification of all new homes by an independent Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rater. The amendment would have resulted in new homes that are more comfortable, save energy, save money, and reduce our carbon footprint.

The bill was modeled on ENERGY STAR Homes® codes that the Neighborhood Network proposed and successfully advocated for in ten of thirteen Long Island towns. These local building codes have resulted in significant energy savings, kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in the local economy, and created new green jobs.

The bill passed the Senate this year, but was not acted on in the Assembly. The Neighborhood Network is asking all our members and friends to contact their State Assembly Members and call on them to pledge their support for this bill in the next legislative session.

To find out more about the bill and how to contact your State Legislators visit the Neighborhood Network website at: http://neighborhood-network.org/energy/eshomes.htm.
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Find your Assembly member at http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/.

Clams On The Half-Baked Shell

2010-10-14T14:00:00.000-04:00

Where's The Special Shellfish District When We Need One?

Last year, we reported on the Town of Hempstead's "pet" project to nurture Long Island's clam population using solar, wind, and, yes, the strength of the town's borrowing power. [READ, Inherit The Wind (And The Sun, Too).]

Well, the Town tells us that the environmentally-nurtured baby clams (they live better lives than most of us) are a-hatchin, and in record numbers.

And here you thought that Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray was only interested in clambakes and clamdestine, behind the scenes, political wheeling and dealing.

Wrong again, Crustacean breath!

Under the sea, and right here on the shores of the Great South Bay, the Town of Hempstead is growing clams in their state of the art "green" nursery (no, not the seaweed), with officials no doubt waiting by the clams' bedside, hoping to catch them at first shuck, registering each and every little hard-shelled denizen of the deep as a Republican.

Glad to see that the clams are doing well -- thriving, in fact -- in Hempstead Town. Too bad the same can't be said for the town's homeowners and taxpayers, many of whom are seeing too little green, and just barely keeping their heads above water.

Aw, clam up, Town of Hempsteaders! Don't be so darn shellfish. The world may not be your oyster, but at least our baby mollusks are on the job, ready to keep Long Island's waters clean, and to adorn Kate's plate at next year's Festival By The Sea. [If only they could find a way to tax 'em. . .]
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From The Town of Hempstead:

Sun, Wind & Sea:

First Batch of Baby Clams Raised in Hempstead's Solar/Wind Powered Nursery Released Into Bay

Hempstead Town has been busy raising babies? baby clams, that is! At a press conference in Point Lookout, Supervisor Kate Murray and Councilwoman Angie Cullin unveiled the first full batch of "test tube" babies, millions of hard shell clams that were nurtured in a scientifically controlled environment powered by solar and wind energy. Staffers at the town's shellfish nursery prepared and released millions of the young mollusks into Hempstead Bay, an activity that is beneficial to the ecosystem and the local shellfish industry. Joining Murray and Cullin at the seaside ceremony were Town Clerk Mark Bonilla; Receiver of Taxes Don Clavin; Ed Thomas, Hempstead Shellfishermen's Association; and Mike Deering, LIPA's Vice President of Environmental Affairs.

Raising and cultivating "baby" clams is important to support the local shellfish industry, provide area recreation and, most importantly, keep waterways healthy with natural marine life that filters our bays. As filter feeders, hard shell clams are a critical species that maintain and potentially improve water quality.

"The Town of Hempstead has been really innovative in the development of this state-of-the-art shellfish nursery," announced Murray. "The clams that we release today will help keep our waterways cleaner as they filter our bay water. What's more, we're treading lightly on the planet, producing no carbon footprint to generate the power required to raise these clams."

The solar and wind powered shellfish nursery allows scientists to raise "seed" clams to deposit in local beds. Maintaining the hard shell clam population in our bays is closely linked to the ecological health of our local bodies of water. Utilizing a $180,000 contract from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and $60,000 in funding from LIPA, the new FLUPSY system is an entirely self-sustaining design. FLUPSY (Floating Upweller System) supports a shellfish grow-out process that provides a controlled environment that force-feeds nutrient rich water to infant shellfish, allowing them to grow more quickly with a higher survival rate. The clean energy technology and the innovative design of the shellfish nursery have eliminated energy costs at the facility, while increasing its ability to raise shellfish by 900%. The town's new FLUPSY is producing nine million hard clams in its first year of operations. Hempstead's old facility raised one million clams annually.

"LIPA is pleased to have worked with Supervisor Kate Murray and the Town of Hempstead to bring this important energy efficient and environmentally conscious project, which will help to replenish our shellfish population to fruition," said LIPA Vice President of Environmental Affairs Michael J. Deering. "The only way we can ever truly be successful in maximizing energy efficiency and advancing clean renewable technology is through partnerships like this one with committed community and government leaders."

NYSERDA's Senior Project Manager, Miriam Pye, said, "NYSERDA commends the Town of Hempstead for its initiative to find an innovative approach to enhancing economic development while improving the environment and reducing energy use. We are proud to provide support to such a worthy and successful project."

At the core of meeting the energy needs of the shellfish nursery are two sets of photovoltaic panels that produce 10 kilowatts of power. The solar energy system is complemented by a wind turbine that adds 2.4 kilowatts of power to meet the facility's energy needs. In total, the green energy systems are producing over 23 megawatts of power per year, preventing almost 28,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere (annually). From a financial perspective, the green energy technology is saving an estimated $5,800 in energy costs per year while the wind and solar systems are actually turning surplus green power back to LIPA's energy grid.

"Our town's shellfish nursery is energy efficient and environmentally responsible," noted Cullin. "Equally important, this facility demonstrates to the local scientific community and area residents that renewable energy has practical applications. Indeed, the range of clean energy opportunities is continuing to expand greatly."

"As local baymen we are very pleased to work with the Town of Hempstead to put seed clams in the bay," said Ed Thomas, Vice President of the Hempstead Shellfisherman's Association. "We have a great symbiotic relationship with the town. We work hand in hand with the same goals."

The efficacy of the town's shellfish nursery has been enhanced as a result of the dramatically increased level of output. The facility's production has escalated through collaboration with Nassau County, the Town of Islip and the Hempstead Shellfishermen's Association. All of these partners have contributed "seed" clams to the facility. In the case of Islip Town, Hempstead's shellfish operation receives seed clams from the Suffolk town in exchange for a return share of the mature clams to be deposited in south shore waters.

Hempstead Town is at the forefront of environmental responsibility and has spearheaded several initiatives including utilizing solar energy at three government buildings, employing wind energy at Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve, utilizing electric cars among various town departments and unveiling Long Island's first fleet of natural gas taxis. Additionally, the Conservation and Waterways Department hosts a self-relying "green" energy solar house, and has recently completed a fueling station that will provide pure hydrogen, blended hydrogen compressed natural gas, as well as pure natural gas for a variety of vehicles.

"Raising babies has never been so good for the environment," concluded Murray. "As we nurture baby clams to deposit in area bays, we are helping support an important maritime industry, keeping our waterways clean and demonstrating important practical applications for green energy. I want to thank NYSERDA, LIPA, the Hempstead Shellfishermen's Association and all of our partners for helping to build a cleaner planet for generations to come."

A Good (Affordable Housing) Start

2010-10-13T13:27:00.000-04:00

Six New Homes To Be Built By Town In Roosevelt

The Town of Hempstead has built approximately 200 single family homes under its Affordable Homes Program. 17 have been constructed, and sold by lottery, in the unincorporated area of Roosevelt, NY. 6 additional homes are slated to be built under the next phase of the program.

All good.

Better than good -- particularly in a region where the need for affordable housing is so great, and availability is virtually nil -- would be affordable apartment-style housing units (both rental and sale), to complement the resurgence of "Downtown."

The vital mix of commercial, residential and recreational space along -- and above -- "Main Street" would go a long way in relieving Long Island's housing crunch, as well as stemming the rip tide created by the perfect storm of high cost of living, few job opportunities, and little in the way of truly affordable housing, that is pulling our college grads and young workforce out of the area.

Kudos to the Town of Hempstead, for revitalizing Roosevelt's infrastructure and for thinking affordable on the housing front.

Now, the time has come for Hempstead Town officials to begin to think vertical, accepting the notion that density, particularly in "downtown" areas, is a necessary, and perhaps even beneficial means to a thriving, sustainable suburbia.
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From The Town of Hempstead:

Hempstead Town Begins Latest Phase of Affordable Homes

Continuing their quest to provide affordable housing opportunities to area residents, Supervisor Kate Murray and Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby recently commenced the latest phase of the Town's Affordable Homes program in Roosevelt. At a Town Board meeting on October 5th, six parcels of vacant land in Roosevelt were conveyed to Anray Custom Builders, Inc. for the construction of affordable, single-family homes.

"These homes are an integral part of our efforts to make the future of the Roosevelt community even brighter," Murray said. "From first-time homeowners grappling with the cost of purchasing a house to mature residents challenged by the cost of living, Hempstead Town's Affordable Homes Program is helping people to stay in our community."

The six recently conveyed sites comprise Phase 12 of the Town's Affordable Homes program. Hempstead Town has built over 200 affordable homes, including many in the Roosevelt community. Since 2008, 17 affordable homes in Roosevelt have been sold. Construction is scheduled to begin on the Phase 12 homes in early November, with a lottery to follow shortly thereafter to determine the recipients of each of the six homes.

"With the rising cost of living on Long Island, it is imperative that we help to make the dream of homeownership a reality for our community's residents," Councilwoman Goosby said.

Although the homes are affordably priced at $160,000, they are built to a very high standard and feature abundant amenities. The homes will include 1,500 square feet of living space with kitchens, dining rooms, 1 ? baths, three bedrooms and a garage.

"These are beautiful homes of a very high quality," Murray stated. "With a great new home that's also affordable, more families will be able to grow up in Roosevelt and enrich our community," Goosby added.

Owners in the Affordable Homes Program only realize a portion of the profits that they would normally reap if they resell their house within the first ten years. This mechanism is designed to combat profiteering and promote community pride.

The affordable homes are one of many town-led efforts to revitalize the Roosevelt community. Earlier this year, the Town conveyed a property in Roosevelt to Habitat for Humanity for one dollar to create an additional affordable home in the community. The town also arranged for the Nassau Health Care Corporation to bring much-needed medical services and jobs to Roosevelt at 380 Nassau Road after Murray and Goosby turned the vacant site into a beautiful office building that will greatly contribute to Roosevelt's commercial growth.

Additionally, Hempstead Town provided funding for a day care center at the Roosevelt American Legion Post and added a village green with a clock tower, trees, shrubbery and decorative benches to the corner of the Western Beef shopping center. With assistance from the town, a new financial institution, Bethpage Federal Credit Union, now serves Roosevelt residents.

"Aligned with our vision for an even better Roosevelt community, the affordable homes are a welcome addition to the town," Murray concluded. "Not only do they help families to realize the American dream, but they also foster a sense of pride that enriches the local community."

Is NYSHIP Sinking?

2010-10-08T10:11:00.000-04:00

Assembly Candidate John Brooks Blasts The New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) 14.5% Proposed Rate Increase

Seaford, NY - John Brooks, Assembly Candidate and former member of NYSHIP's Participating Agency Advisory Council, blasted NYSHIP for its projected 14.5% rate increase for the 2011 policy year. Over the last two years, the former Director of Risk Management for Nassau County chaired a work group that successfully challenged the planned rate increases of the NYSHIP, and was able to get reductions in the planned rate increases, which saved taxpayers more than $350 Million dollars for the combined policy years of 2009 and 2010.

"Over the past few years we pointed out to NYSHIP they had a long history of requesting rate increases that were in excess of what was needed and most of the increase was declared a dividend at the end of the policy year, This year the plan is currently projecting a loss of $34 Million on a premium plan base of $5.9 Billion Dollars. As part of the discussion over the last two years NYSHIP has established a special retro reserve that has significantly more in the reserve than the projected $34 Million short fall. This loss is not only fully funded in the retro reserve but a significant amount of the reserve will be returned to the dividend pool at the end of the policy year.” Brooks said.

“The projected rate increase of 14.5% would translate into a premium increase of more than $850 Million. How can anyone say NYSHIP lost $34 Million this year so next year they need an additional $850 Million in premium. Seems like now that those of us who worked on monitoring this program in the past are not in the picture its back to the old ways of doing things," Brooks said.

“The NYSHIP program provides health insurance for state employees as well as many town, village and county employees as well as most of the school district employees in the state. New York State government as well as many local governments and school districts are facing very difficult economic times. The tax burden that has been placed on the residents and businesses of this state is already far too heavy. One of the key problems in government today is the fact that some of those in a position of leadership don't seem to understand that the people of this state cannot take anymore. The taxpayers principally pay for the cost of the NYSHIP health insurance program. In this years state budget we have already seen a cut of $81.3 Million in state aid for education to the school districts of Long Island. I would estimate that this NYSHIP rate increase would add at a minimum between $60 - 80 Million Dollars in addition expense that would be paid by the taxpayers. It's time for everyone in Albany to WAKE UP! If the folks in NYSHIP thought I was a fighter over the last three years they have no idea what is coming when I get elected to the Assembly," Brooks concluded.

John Brooks is the Democratic Candidate for the 19th Assembly District. The District includes Seaford, Wantagh, Bellmore, Merrick, and parts of Freeport, Baldwin, Levittown, East Meadow, North Merrick and North Bellmore. John Brooks a past Chief and active member of the Seaford Fire Department, the Seaford Historical Society, a former member of the Seaford Board of Education, a veteran of the U.S Army, and was the First Director of Risk Management for Nassau County. He resides in Seaford and has one son.

To learn more about John Brooks, email the campaign at elect.brooks@gmail.com.
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The publication of this material is for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as either a verification of content or an endorsement of the candidate.

Folks, this is the opportunity for ALL candidates to post their positions and get what amounts to free press. The election is but weeks away. You snooze. We all lose!

Send press releases and position papers for publication to The Community Alliance at TheCommunityAlliance@yahoo.com.

Follow The Community Alliance on Twitter @CommunityAlli

Town Offers Flu Shots To Seniors

2010-10-08T09:51:00.000-04:00

Town Announces Registration For Senior Seasonal Flu Immunization Program

From The Town of Hempstead:

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray has announced that registration for the annual Senior Citizen Seasonal Flu Immunization Program is now under way. The town, in cooperation with Nassau University Medical Center and South Nassau Communities Hospital, will be offering seasonal flu vaccinations for senior residents age 60 or older at several town locations.

"I encourage senior residents to take advantage of this important program, as according to the Centers for Disease Control, senior citizens are at greater risk of experiencing serious complications from influenza, " stated Supervisor Kate Murray. "The flu vaccination could decrease the risk of catching the seasonal flu or may lessen its severity."

The registration process has begun and interested seniors are requested to register in person at their local senior center at least ten days in advance. Flu vaccines are provided with no out-of-pocket cost to the seniors. The administrating hospital will bill insurance companies; however, there will be no co-payments for those receiving flu shots.

Immunizations will be conducted from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. as follows:

Wednesday, November 3- Merrick Senior Center, 2550 Clubhouse Road, Merrick, 868-4777

Monday, November 8-Wantagh Senior Center, 1150 Seamans Neck Road, Wantagh, 785-8505

Tuesday, November 9-, Green Acres Senior Center, 400 Flower Road, Valley Stream, 872-8810

Wednesday, November 10-, Franklin Square Senior Center, 1182 Martha Place, Franklin Square, 328-3010

Friday, November 12- Uniondale-Merrick Senior Center, 750 Jerusalem Avenue, Uniondale, 538-5050

Monday, November 15- Levittown Senior Center, 555 N. Newbridge Rd., Levittown, 433-5454

Wednesday, December 1- Bellmore Senior Center, 2000 Bellmore Ave, Bellmore, 221-9696

"Hempstead Town is able to bring this valuable immunization program to area seniors through our partnerships with Nassau University Medical Center and South Nassau Communities Hospital," concluded Murray. "As the health and well-being of our seniors is a top concern to us here in the Town of Hempstead, I encourage senior residents to make this vaccine part of their healthy lifestyle."

For further information please call the Department of Senior Enrichment at (516) 485-8100.

Dude, Where's My Affordable Housing?

2010-10-07T09:33:00.002-04:00

Tell Me, Where Do The Children Stay?

From the untimely demise of Avalon Bay in Huntington, to the inordinate delay in building so-called transit-oriented rentals in places like West Hempstead, the dearth of housing opportunities for Generation Next (let alone, Generation Text) is, how can we say this nicely, forcing college grads and our young workforce off Long Island. At best, the lack of affordable (a relative term, given that $1900 a month for a one-bedroom apartment in western Nassau, adjacent to an LIRR station sans weekend service, is not our idea of "affordable") housing, for purchase or rental, is forcing our children to move back with mom and dad, or to seek uneasy (and potentially unsafe) refuge in illegal basement apartments.

Recent developments (or should we say, the lack thereof) highlight the dilemma. [READ Below.]

Blame it on generation after generation of NIMBYism, the detractors of density and development, the shortsighted myopia of Zoning Boards and Town Boards, the mismanagement of the MTA, or the general inertia that seems to run through the lifeblood of Long Islanders when it comes to getting just about anything accomplished, the future of Long Island -- our children -- is moving out and moving on.

Affordable housing is not a cure-all for the plethora of conditions that ail and debilitate our Long Island. It would, however, be a great shot in the arm!
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From The Long Island Press:

Huntington Town Board Sinks AvalonBay Proposal
By Spencer Rumsey

The Huntington Town Board rejected a rezoning proposal Tuesday night in a 3-2 vote that would have created a “transit-oriented district” to allow a developer, AvalonBay Communities, to build 490 apartment units on 26 acres in Huntington Station.

Avalon Glen Cove North in Glen Cove. The Avalon Bay company wanted to build a similar development in Hungtington Station rejected the zoning needed to move the project forward Tuesday, Sept. 20.

The decision came after months of increasingly heated wrangling as opposition grew to the proposed apartment complex, and the issue became caught up in local town politics. The developer had promised to set aside at least 20 percent of the rentals for affordable housing and provide the Huntington school district with up to $1.5 million in mitigation costs to make up for an anticipated influx of new students. The item on the agenda drew hundreds of people.

Outside Town Hall protesters chanted that AvalonBay, a nationwide builder of high-end developments, was unfair to local builders by using contractors and workers from Connecticut and elsewhere. Inside Town Hall, the corridors were jammed, and voices were loud.

Opponents seemed to outnumber supporters, judging from the proliferation of their printed red-and-white signs proclaiming “Stop AvalonBay and Downsizing Huntington,” their white-washed Burger King crowns stamped with the phrase “Say no to AvalonBay,” and the many blue and red Conservative Society of America T-shirts.

The Town Board room itself was filled to capacity. The local fire marshall wouldn’t even allow AvalonBay’s attorney from the law firm Farrell Fritz to view the proceeding.

Noting the intense atmosphere, Supervisor Frank Petrone said, “Your passion speaks loud and clear.” He added, “This town could be better for all the energy this has produced.”

Councilwoman Glenda Jackson, a Democrat, noted that she’d been “appalled” at some of the “vicious comments” from opponents to the project, which she said were “over the top.”

She said that as a single parent who’d grown up in the town and had lived in Huntington Station, the project would go far in addressing the housing and economic needs of her community. But many of the opponents didn’t agree.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Petrone said before the vote was cast, “you’ve shown leadership; don’t show dividedness.”

Under the terms of the rezoning proposal, the law needed a super majority to pass.

When Democratic Councilman Mark Cuthbertson followed Republican Councilman Mark Mayoka in opposing the measure, the crowd knew the law was toast.

Democratic Councilwoman Susan Berland, who’s made no secret of her political ambitions (such as for the supervisor job, some say), had previously announced her opposition to the zoning’s high density allowance (18 units per acre).

Cuthbertson cited the school board’s rejection of the Avalon project (after voting in favor of it last year), and said that “without their good faith” he couldn’t go forward.

In the end, two Democrats and one Republican defeated the measure, and only Supervisor Petrone and Councilwoman Jackson, both Democrats, were in favor.

After the vote, Berland told the Press that she still held out hope that AvalonBay would come back to the town with a proposal for much lower density, such as 14.5 units per acre. The site now allows for 109 single-family homes.

AvalonBay had said that without the higher density zoning it wouldn’t develop in Huntington.

Supporters of the project were disappointed, to say the least, but they were not surprised because the town board had been backpedaling for months.

“Their job is to lead,” said Lisa Tyson, executive director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition. “They reacted.”
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From The New York Times:

Transit Cuts Bring Uncertainty
By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER

It was partly the Port Washington line of the Long Island Rail Road, with its direct, quick and frequent runs into Manhattan, that persuaded Scott McCabe, 28, a financial analyst working in Midtown Manhattan, to move to Port Washington from Hoboken, N.J.

Last June, he spent more than $500,000 on a four-bedroom split-level from which he could walk the mile to the station. “It’s a fantastic commute for me in terms of what our options were in the suburbs,” Mr. McCabe said.

But when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority cut off-peak service in half on the line last month, enacting schedule changes as part of budget-related cuts in Long Island Rail Road service approved in March, Mr. McCabe was concerned. Though he commutes during rush hour and was not affected, the reduction in nonpeak service to once an hour after 9 a.m. might have “put a little bit of a damper” on his decision to move, had he known it was being planned.

After all, homes in North Shore towns like Great Neck, Manhasset and Plandome along the Port Washington line carry a 15 to 30 percent premium over homes farther east and south, served by train lines that typically require a change in Jamaica, Queens.

Karen Morrison, an associate broker and manager of Accents on Real Estate in Port Washington, who is also president of the Port Washington/Manhasset Real Estate Board, described the rail line as “one of the key components to our town.”

“It’s a perfect setting if you like a small-town feeling with a 35-minute commute into Manhattan,” Ms. Morrison added. Traditionally, buyers “will pay more for less to be in these communities.”

That may change because of the transit cutbacks — which decrease midday service by 14 trains on weekdays and cut 32 trains over the weekend. Along with service cuts made elsewhere on the Island in May, the schedule alterations are part of the transportation authority’s effort to close a $900 million budget gap.

Ms. Morrison said she could well imagine a prospective buyer’s thinking, “If I am not getting that same service I was expecting, maybe I could find something less expensive in another area.”

But Susan Higgins, director of sales and an associate broker at Prudential Douglas Elliman in Manhasset, disagreed. Since the cuts are on off-peak trains, she asserted, “it’s an inconvenience for some people and they may have to alter their schedules around it.” But she said, “The draw to these communities will remain the same.”

While studies have not been done on the Island, Christopher Jones, the vice president for research of the Manhattan-based Regional Plan Association, said a study released in July looked at the effects of transit service improvements on property values in New Jersey. By inference, “it gives you an indication of how important transit service is to property values.” Over time, reduced service on both the railroad and Long Island Bus “will make communities a less desirable place to live, and that will translate into lower property values,” Mr. Jones said. Though peak-hour reductions would have a bigger impact, he added, “it doesn’t mean there is no impact when it is weekend and evening time. It is one of the amenities.”

Jan Wells, the associate director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the M.T.A., a public watchdog group, said there was “always a direct connection between transportation services and real estate values.”

She said she was hoping the service cuts would be temporary, but “in the meantime anybody looking for property where transportation is important, they will look at service.”

Budget cuts have also affected service to the railroad’s Long Beach, Montauk, Ronkonkoma, Greenport and West Hempstead branches, as well as trains to the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. The cuts are estimated to save about $950,000 this year and $3.8 million annually starting in 2011, according to a statement from the authority.

Since some trains to Huntington and Ronkonkoma now have extra stops to accommodate those who rode trains that have been eliminated, commutes have become longer and trains are more crowded. And as Maureen Michaels, the chairwoman of the Long Island Rail Road Commuters Council, noted, “Commuters make choices about where they are going to live based on the frequency and scheduling of trains,” and the most recent cuts “are not sitting well with commuters.”

In West Hempstead, Maria Rigopoulos, vice president of Mill Creek Residential Trust, expects construction to start this fall on the Alexan@West Hempstead, a 150-unit transit-oriented development that Mill Creek is to put up next to the West Hempstead rail station. But the Alexan will not have quite as much transit as some potential residents might like. Weekend service to the West Hempstead stop also suffered a blow.

“It’s not ideal,” Ms. Rigopoulos said, “but the weekday commuters are more important to our development.” And since the apartments are not yet built, she said, tenants won’t be missing something they once had.

Besides, demand for rentals is strong. Rosalie Norton, the president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association, which fought vigorously to get the apartment complex approved on the site of the derelict Courtesy Hotel, said that market-rate rentals were scarce in the area and that the Alexan “fills a desperate need.”

Rates at the Alexan will range from $1,900 a month, for a one-bedroom, to $2,700 for a three-bedroom. In her view the lack of weekend train service will simply mean getting to “Valley Stream or Rockville Centre or Garden City to use one of those lines.”
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