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Vol. 99, No.22
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New Board’s first action: remove Franklin Ct. fence BY RIKKI MASSAND
Newly elected members of the Garden City Board of Trustees took their oaths of office during a brief ceremony at the Board’s meeting on Monday, April 4th. Village Justice Allen S. Mathers (right) administered the oath of office to (l. to r.) Lawrence N. Marciano, Jr., Bruce A. Torino, sitting Trustee Mary Carter Flanagan, who has already served a one-year term and was elected to a two-year term, and Charles P. Kelly. The newly sworn in Trustees join Mayor Veneziale and sitting Trustees Bruce J. Chester, Terence P. Digan and Thomas J. O’Brien. Photo by Carisa Giardino
After eight and a half years, a controversial action of a previous Board of Trustees has been fully reversed by a new slate of trustees. At the re-organizational meeting of the Board on Monday, April 4th, the board voted unanimously to remove a fence erected at the former Franklin Court open space/field in a residential area of the village’s Eastern section. In late 2013 the Board of Trustees had voted to sell a piece of open space property at Franklin Court to a small group of residents in that vicinity without discussing the matter publicly prior to the sale. The Village also allowed the new owners to erect a fence at the property line without receiving any kind of variance. After an outcry from nearby residents, the village reversed the sale, but ended up paying for the fence and legal expenses. The fence remained installed, but was opened and closed daily by village employees. In August 2020 the fence was damaged during a storm. John Watras was the village’s mayor at the time of the 2013 sale, and See page 57
Board revisits use of new parking field Joseph Sileo wins EPOA BY RIKKI MASSAND
After the annual reorganization meeting of the Board of Trustees on Monday night, the Board discussed what to do with a new parking lot behind the ballfields at Stewart Field and accessed only through Raymond Court. The lot was built atop the Garden City stretch of the historic Long Island Motor Parkway, also known as the William K. Vanderbilt Motor
Parkway. Mayor Cosmo Veneziale announced, “I have only heard adverse comments about this parking lot and I haven’t heard anything in favor of keeping it in operation. The residents living on Raymond Court are pretty upset. They expressed (to village trustees) that it’s a dangerous situation with the cars going past their homes trying to get into the parking area. Their driveways
and street have been blocked at times, or people are turning around there. These residents have come forth with their concerns about this.” On Monday the trustees decided that a “test period” for closure of access to the parking lot from Raymond Court would be in place during the start of this spring’s Little League season. An exact time frame, or a plan for reopenSee page 52
School Board primary
The Eastern Property Owners Association has announced that Joseph Sileo has won its primary for the open seat on the Garden City Board of Education. Sileo received 327 votes and Niten Jaiswal received 259 votes in the primary.Mr. Sileo will be the nominee from the East to fill the remaining two-years of the vacated term. The EPOA offered its congratulations to Mr. Sileo and thanked Mr. Niten Jaiswal for volunteering to serve the community. The EPOA also thanked all of the volunteers and poll watchers who helped make the primary vote a success. Mr. Sileo will be on the ballot for the General Election for the Board of Education which will be held on Tuesday, May 17th.
Chic hat to crown Golf Classic players PAGE XX Holy Week church service schedules PAGES 32-33