Friday, October 28, 2016
Vol. 93, No.8
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
‘All Hallows Eve’ PAGE 27 n Parish Party PAGE 8
Citing quality of life issues, residents contest hotel plan
FIRE PREVENTION DAY
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Last Sunday, the Volunteer Firefighters of the Garden City Fire Department hosted its annual Fire Prevention Day. Demonstrations were given regarding various fire emergencies. Residents watched as fires were put out, and volunteers provided lessons and suggestions. Children were treated to exploring the smoke house, activity books, balloons and were able to use the fire hose. Pictured Volunteers: Engine Company Captain Michael Moran, Truck Company Lieutenant James Taunton and Fire Fighter Gregory Barton.
Village considers “streetscape” measures BY RIKKI N. MASSAND Residents and storeowners in the Village of Garden City are about one month away from Small Business Saturday, set for Thanksgiving weekend, this year on Saturday, November 26. But year-round improvements to Garden City’s business districts have been in the planning stages in 2016, and an update on that progress long after the formation of ‘Project Streetscape’ was delivered at the Board of Trustees’ Thursday, October
20 meeting. Village Administrator Ralph Suozzi said that his team of supervisors from the village would be visiting the main commerce section of Seventh Street west of Franklin Avenue and the shops and restaurant areas north on Franklin Avenue on Monday, October 24, to take inventory and check out some aspects the village can work on improving. The village’s executive team assigned to the Streetscape includes Suozzi, Director of Public Works Robert Mangan,
Deputy Superintendent of Public Works Domenick Stanco and Garden City’s new Deputy Village Administrator and Secretary to the Board of Trustees Joseph DiFrancisco. At the last Trustees’ meeting Suozzi said village operations completed in-person surveying of “short Seventh Street” and the New Hyde Park Road business district during the past week. He says WPOA President Maureen Traxler has been informed of the progress in planning made in that part of Garden See page 50
An October 20 hearing on amending Garden City’s zoning laws to accommodate the building of a Marriott Residence Inn on a Ring Road parcel, adjacent to the new Maggiano’s Little Italy restaurant and in the commercial residential (CR) zone, stirred up concerns over the local property values being negatively impacted with the project and its possible influences on quality of life in the village, ranging from health and environmental issues to traffic, atmosphere, and the nature of 24/7 operations. Hotel management executives were on hand to provide the Village Board of Trustees some specific plans for a 163-room, 56-foot-high Residence Inn that would operate round-the-clock, and how that hotel would fit into a growing portfolio for OTO Development in suburban New York. However Garden City residents and a few others in central Nassau County had the last word at the October 20 Board of Trustees’ meeting, and the hearing has been continued without any conclusions on zoning regulations. Leslie Dimmling of Kingsbury Road, a 30-year resident of the Mott section of Garden City and mother of adult children, spoke up in opposition to seeing the new Residence Inn come to the area. Her house abuts the grass median separating Garden City from Roosevelt Field mall’s property. She says there are “half-a-dozen hotels within half a mile” See page 50
With 4-3 vote, Trustees make documents available to public BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
At the Village Board’s October 20 meeting, Mayor Nicholas Episcopia and three other trustees ensured that Freedom of Information reigns and access is more than granted for the big topic in town. Any person who wants to review the hotel proposal (including potential zoning changes) for the CR- district of Garden City with the Marriott Residence Inn application for Ring Road will be able to do so at the Garden City Public Library (GCPL) and at Village Hall in the Building Department, located upstairs. In an unusual circumstance the Village Board of Trustees did not arrive at this decision for the public eye’s consumption of the project details in unison. At their Thursday, October 20 meeting, Mayor Episcopia made the suggestion for two central places in the village having copies of the Marriott application available. However Trustee See page 49
GCHS Varsity Field Hockey headed to the playoffs PAGE 58 Traffic Commission takes action on dangerous corner PAGE 3