Friday, March 6, 2020
Vol. 80, No. 10
W H A T ’S H O M E W OY O U R $1 R T H? CO NTAC
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Environmental concerns aired over Syosset Park site
PAJAMA DAY
BY RIKKI MASSAND
Nassau County Legislator Arnold W. Drucker (D - Plainview) joined the Pajama Day festivities at M.A.T.S.S. Kids Gym in Syosset on Friday, Feb. 7 - a fun occasion for participants that doubles as a successful annual book and pajama drive. The event was held in partnership with the Long Island Pajama Program, which provides books and pajamas to children in need. Attendees were invited to wear their favorite pajamas to the event and asked to bring an extra pair to donate. Legislator Drucker contributed pajamas to the Long Island Pajama Program, which to date has provided nearly 4.2 million pairs of pajamas and more than 2.74 million books to children.
Freezin’ for a Reason Polar Plunge Town of Oyster Bay residents will once again have the opportunity to be “Freezin’ for a Reason” and support Special Olympics New York by participating in the 7th Annual Special Olympics New York-Town of Oyster Bay Polar Plunge on Saturday, March 14. The event will take place at TOBAY Beach with registration start-
ing at 9:30 a.m. and the plunge to begin at 11:30 a.m. Each year, Special Olympics New York Polar Plunges are held throughout the state to attract thousands of chilled souls to engage in a commendable and thrilling fundraising event. All funds support Special Olympics New York’s programs and promote awareness
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of people living with intellectual disabilities in New York. To register, visit www.polarplungeNY.org/tobay to form a team, invite your family and friends to join your team, create your own Personal Plunge Page and send it out to your contacts – all with a few clicks of the mouse!
At the February meeting of the Syosset Board of Edcation, resident Kevin McKenna, a grassroots activist, questioned the Superintendent of Schools and Board of Education about the environmental status of the now-defunct Syosset Park Development, which would have been adjacent to Robbins Lane Elementary School. McKenna, who runs the the Facebook page “Save Our Syosset, Jericho, Hicksville, Plainview,” addressed Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Rogers and the Syosset Board of Education at its last meeting held February 10, 2020. McKenna and several of the current Board of Education members were in attendance for the lone Town Hall-style Town of Oyster Bay public hearing on the Environmental Impact Statement and Town permits for a proposed (and now defunct) Syosset Park Development which would have been built atop 150 Miller Place, adjacent to the Long Island Expressway and Robbins Lane Elementary School. The property currently houses the Town Department of Public Works facilities. In May 2019, developers officially filed as Syosset Park Devel-
opment LLC -- led by a group from Indianapolis-based Simon Properties and Manhasset-based Castagna Realty -- backed out of the deal in which they contracted to buy 54 acres of land owned by the Town of Oyster Bay, with 150 Miller Place its former town landfill, once declared a Superfund site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the 39-acre former Cerro Wire property off Robbins Lane. The original proposal, dating to 2018 as the subject of the Town Board’s hearing, was to include 625 residences, 464,000 square feet of retail use, entertainment and/or restaurant space, 200,000 square feet of office space plus two hotels with about 350 rooms in all, and a 30-acre community park area. In a February 21 email to Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker, McKenna stated that he’s heard from an assistant to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Carrie Meek Gallagher, based in Stony Brook, that Gallagher verbally replied to a request Legislator Drucker made in writing about results of environmental testing at 150 Miller Place, on County Legislature letterhead and dated January 17, 2020. McKenna recently made a See page 14
Harvard Club honors Syosset teachers PAGE 8 Syosset Library hosts Chamber mtg. PAGES 16-17