Syosset Advance (5/11/18)

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Friday, May 11, 2018

Vol. 78, No. 19

Community speaks at hearing for Syosset Park mixed use development

PULLING FOR SUCCESS

BY RIKKI N. MASSAND

Park proposal, detailing his career and expertise in risk analysis as well as volunteer work as a first responder in town. He spoke about environmental hazards and other considerations for the Town as the project concerns him. DiFilippo was a driving voice to begin the schools’ Finance Advisory Committee with the goal of increasing transparency and welcome the community’s participation. To the Town Board at the Syosset

In a November 1997 article, The New York Times stated that Frank Castagna, principal of Manhasset-based Castagna Realty, Inc. “has spent a lifetime influencing the way Long Islanders live and shop.” With the proposed 92.8-acre, mixed-use Syosset Park development and its DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) presented to the Oyster Bay Town government in March, including a concept of 625 new homes with retail, recreational and office components, last week the community had its turn at influencing the developer -- national brand Simon Properties and local partner Castagna Realty -- and the decision ahead for the Town to impact several generations of residents. Syosset families turned out at a Town Board hearing on the proposal on May 1 largely to contest current plans and seek more information and data related to environmental safety and quality of life in the community. Glenn Vogelman of Woodbury is an investment analyst for a Manhattan hedge fund, and previously he worked at Goldman Sachs as an associate equity analyst. At the Town’s hearing, Vogelman explained calculated risks involved with Syosset Park as proposed, from a drastic impact on student enrollment in Syosset Public Schools to district cost factors and residential tax implications. “Is the risk associated with this project as it relates to our community worth the reward? In my job I have to ask myself each day, is this risk associated with the investment worth the amount of reward that I’d provide to investors -- in this case we are talking about the lives of people in our own community. With the Syosset school district as an interested party, and the potential influx of children into the schools from the 625 housing units they plan to build, I believe the developer’s (243 students) and the school district’s (355 students) estimates on enrollment are too conservative. This has way more upside risk than reward. We currently have 6600 students in the school district. Given the estimated price of housing units as stated in the DEIS, $325,000 to $700,000 per home, theirs would be some of the more affordable homes within the Syosset district. This would likely drive up the number of students per housing unit relative to the numbers explained in the DEIS -- there are roughly 11,300 residential addressed within the Syosset school district. There are 6600 students, roughly 1.7 students per address in the district now. If you multiply that by less than is proposed for Syosset Park, with about 572 housing units added to town, a number excluding all the one-bedroom units from the 625 that are proposed, you’ll get 1,000 additional students. Using a more aggressive analysis, if we assume all 53 one-bedroom units

See page 8

See page 10

On Sunday, April 22nd, the fifth grades at each of the three elementary schools in Jericho got together for Sports Night. Students had a chance to get to know each other and participate in relay races, dodgeball, football, and soccer. See page 24.

Candidates vie for School Board spots BY RIKKI N. MASSAND

With the Syosset school district’s 2018 election on Tuesday, May 15, a handful of members of the community decided to make the dash for a seat on the board of education, which has three, three-year terms up for contest. Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan resigned as a school board trustee, effective in January as he was set take county office following success in the November 2017 race. That left one Syosset school board

seat vacant for the past four months. Two of the current school board trustees, Andrew Feldman and Christopher DiFilippo, are running for re-election this month.

Christopher DiFilippo

Vying for a third term as a school board trustee is Christopher DiFilippo, who was first elected to be on the board in 2012. DiFilippo spoke at the Town of Oyster Bay’s May 1 hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DESI) for the Syosset

Learning empathy through history PAGE 6 Perfect score in Girls’ Math Olympiad PAGE 3


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