Friday, December 9, 2016
Vol. 93, No.14
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
Americana fair PAGE 48 n Blood drive PAGE 20
FIRE TRUCK SANTA
Police brutality, racism alleged against GCPD, suit threatened BY RIKKI N. MASSAND In incident on Wednesday, November 30, at the Western Beef Supermarket in Mineola, Garden City Police were accused of using excessive force against a black suspect during a situation that was ultimately determined to be mistaken identity. The incident brought advocates for the “Black Lives Matter” campaign to protest in Garden City during a protest on December 4th. Ronald Lanier, a retired Nassau County Sheriff’s Department corrections officer and a U.S. Army veteran, alleged that Garden City Police officers beat him and threw him to the ground while he was shopping at the Mineola store. In a press conference on December 2nd, Lanier said he felt he had been “stripped of my service, stripped of my humanity, stripped of my dignity.” He added that he was cursed, abused and “treated like a slave.” Plans for lawsuits against both the Village of Garden City and the Garden City Police were announced last Friday. Lanier’s attorney in the case is a man he has known long, Frederick K. Brewington, who is also the attorney for the plaintiffs in the MHANY See page 28
Santa Claus made a surprise visit to the Garden City Chamber of Commerce’s annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on December 6th. The man in red rode in on a fire truck to say hello to the crowd of hundreds that gathered for the 62nd annual event.
With new laws proposed, Committee sees culmination of efforts BY RIKKI N. MASSAND At the Village Board of Trustees’ next meeting on Thursday, December 15, three public hearings will be held for proposed changes to the village’ building code. Following questions and contentions raised by Trustee Bolebruch and Deputy Mayor Brian C. Daughney when the public hearings’ schedule for the original three local laws were set on November 17, Mayor Nicholas Episcopia says not
now and not throughout the entire process have residents been taken aback by proposals. He believes there’s nearly a unanimous stance in favor of the laws in the village, and what’s up for a Board vote now has long been considered. Mayor Episcopia calls efforts to date “an attempt to try to bring more regulation to the village, in terms of preserving the character of neighborhoods.” He noted the work of reviewing 393 building permit applications filed in
Garden City since 2011, done by the Mayor’s Committee on Building Code Changes. Its members have well over 100 years combined experience in architectural reviews and service on the village’s Zoning Board of Appeals and ADRB. “Any questions the Board had were answered and Deputy Mayor Daughney had numerous conversations with Architectural Design Review Board (ADRB) Chairman Hugh S. Lacy and Committee See page 28
Ring Road hotel project set for Planning Commission By Rikki N. Massand
The municipal zoning code change approved in November has led to an immediate turnaround for the Marriott Residence Inn hotel project proposed for Ring Road in Garden City, following some oppositions early this fall and a rather swift Village Board of Trustees’ decision to amend permitted usage in the village’s C-R (commercial-residential) district near Roosevelt Field mall. The next stage to getting the Mariott hotel chain a new footprint in the area, one on the furthest east section of the village adjacent to Westbury, is a review scheduled before the Garden City Planning Commission at its meeting at Village Hall, set for Wednesday December 14 at 8pm. This marks the first Commission meeting in six months. For the planned development, the Village of Garden City went through due diligence, public meetings and Village Board hearings after the Zoning Change Review Committee or ZCRC, was formed just over a year ago and chaired by Deputy Mayor Richard Silver. As initially proposed the 163-room, 56-foot-high Residence Inn See page 41
Hundreds attend St. Joseph’s Parish Party PAGES 38-39 Varsity Field Hockey team wins NY State title PAGE 61