_______ Malverne/West HeMpstead ______
HERALD Also serving Lakeview
EXPO
APRIL 18, 2023
2:30PM THURSDAY, APRIL 25 • 10AM-1
FREE
ADMISSION
Families, Caregivers, All Ages Welcome!
FREE
TO-GO LUNCH**
(MORE DETAILS PAGE 2)
LOCATION:
CENTER ROCKVILLE CENTRE RECREATIONNY 11570 111 N Oceanside Rd., Rockville Centre, Call (516) 569-4000 x253 or visit to register! APRILEXPO.EVENTBRITE.COM SILVER SPONSORS
Equestrian center is turning 100
A PEEK AT WHAT'S IN STORE:
Page 4
FREE PANEL DISCUSSION PLUS Q&A SESSION FREE REFRESHMENTS FREE GOODY BAG (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST)
Vol. 31 No. 17 GIFTBAG SPONSORS
For 30+ Years!
ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO
WIN TONS OF PRIZES*! *MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN **FOR THE FIRST 150 GUESTS
RICHNER
APRIl 18 - 24, 2024
$1.00
A goodbye to G’s The Avenue Owner Gregg Cajuste is taking a step back so he can focus on his health Lucky Bar 13, in Franklin Square; a construction business; and a limousine and car G’s The Avenue, a West service. To Cajuste, the most Hempstead restaurant, music important part of his work is venue and hub for community- leaving something better than centric organizations, is clos- he found it, while filling some ing after five years in business. kind of community need. G’s served as a Owner Gregg meeting place for Cajuste has decided community organit o fo c u s o n h i s z at i o n s l i ke t h e health after sufferBreakfast Club, the ing four heart Re publican Club attacks and three and the Knights of strokes and underColumbus. It was going spinal suralso where Cajuste gery as well. co-hosted a BreakB e fo re i t w a s fast Club podcast G’s, the property, w i t h Va l e n t i n a on Hempstead AveJanek, a published nue, was the Blue author, also of West Tequila Bar and GREGG CAjuStE Hempstead. The Grill. The building West Hempstead club and podcast had been closed for resident focuses on helping many years, people who are Cajuste said, but something compelled him to looking for new careers in middle age. turn it into something new. Cajuste has also used the “I tend to do that,” Cajuste, 57, said with a laugh. “Turn restaurant and music venue to bad places into good places. Try raise funds for philanthropies to help the community. If I take like the Battered Women’s Shelon something, I try to convert it ter, in the Bronx, Northwell Health’s pediatric trauma ceninto something better.” A f t e r s e r v i n g i n t h e ter, in Cohen Children’s MediMarines, Cajuste became an cal Center, and the Kiwanis entrepreneur. He created and Pediatric Lyme Disease Founsold restaurants including Continued on page 8
By NIColE FoRMISANo
nformisano@liherald.com
I
Nicole Formisano/Herald
West Hempstead Street Fair was fun for all Nemesis Castillo and Jacob Bonet enjoyed the food at the West Hempstead Street Fair. Unfortunately for Coco the dog, there was not a canine-centric food truck available. Story, additional photos, Page 3.
Will Capri become a rec center? Legal battle between town and motel owners continues By NIColE FoRMISANo nformisano@liherald.com
Hempstead town officials are continuing their legal battle against L&S Realty, the owners of Capri Motor Inn, as they try to make the West Hempstead business government property. If their pursuit of eminent domain succeeds, officials say they would turn the troubled motel into an indoor recreation facility. Officials didn’t present a specific plan on what they would do with the 434 Hempstead Turnpike property during a meeting last January, and they didn’t need to, according to town special counsel Allan Hyman. The government
taking over a problematic business like Capri is inherently public use, he said, citing a legal precedent that defines public use as “any use which contributes to the health, safety, general welfare, convenience or prosperity of the community.” A public use is integral to the validity of an eminent domain claim, according to state and federal law. But there is just as much legal precedent for the exact opposite, argued Christian Browne, representing the owners of Capri Motor Inn. In a different eminent domain case in New York, the court ruled there must be a specified plan for the property, or else any “public use” is purely specContinued on page 11
just love the world, and I’ve got to give the world the benefit of the doubt.