Nassau Herald 01-20-2022

Page 1

__________________ Nassau _________________

HERALD All the news of the Five Towns

$1.00

JCC helps feed those in need

Weiss leads Hewlett hoops

HAlB creates winning artwork

Page 3

Page 10

Page 14

Vol. 99 No. 4

JANUARY 20 - 26, 2022

Woodmere Club snafu Town cancels meeting on new development proposal By JEFFREY BESSEN jbessen@liherald.com

Courtesy Jackie Kaminer

CommUNitY CHESt SoUtH Shore’s Youth Board at the annual 5K Family Run/Walk in Atlantic Beach last October.

Empowering young people with responsibility

Youth Board offers teens volunteer opportunities By liSA mARGARiA lmargaria@liherald.com

Community Chest South Shore, formerly known as Five Towns Community Chest, is a 90-year-old local organization that gives high school-age teens opportunities to volunteer, become involved in the local community and expand their social network through its Youth Board. Community Chest, staffed entirely by volunteers, raises funds through events to benefit mental health support pro-

grams, senior centers, food pantries and other organizations. Its Neighbors Helping Neighbors group helps community members in need with material assistance and financial aid. The Youth Board is under the guidance of Hewlett resident Jackie Kaminer, a Community Chest board member since 2006 and a former Lawrence School District teacher who got involved with the Youth Board when her children were in high school. She has overseen it since 2008. “I love it, because my kids

are now in their 20s and it keeps me connected with the teen community, and I’m also a former teacher, so it keeps me connected with schools,” Kaminer said, adding that her work with the Youth Board is rewarding because she has never had to “say goodbye to those eras” of teaching and having teens of her own. Community Chest’s largest annual events are its 5K Family Run/Walk along the Atlantic Beach boardwalk, and a fair at Andrew J. Parise Park in Cedarhurst, in conjunction Continued on page 13

Even before the sale of the Woodmere Club was consummated in early 2017, the battle over what it would become began in late 2016, with the formation of a grass-roots organization, the Five Towns Civic Association. It now appears that the fight over the nearly 114-year-old club’s 118 acres will continue, after the cancellation of a meeting, reportedly scheduled for Jan. 18, involving the developers Efrem Gerszberg and Robert Weiss, who bought the club nearly five years ago, Town of Hempstead officials and other local leaders. Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony D’Esposito said there was no meeting scheduled. He noted current litigation over the development of the property, and said that town officials would speak with the developers only with town attorneys present. Lawrence Mayor Alex Edelman said there was a meeting scheduled with Town Supervisor Don Clavin and the developers. Gerszberg also said that such a meeting had been scheduled. Greg Blower, the town’s communications director, did not return a call requesting comment. “We are very surprised that

the meeting that was scheduled with Lawrence officials and Donald Clavin was cancelled by [the Town of] Hempstead,” Weiss wrote in an email. “It would have been a good opportunity to try to settle this litigation as there has been a groundswell of support for the age 55+ condominium proposal. It is apparent that Hempstead has no intention of engaging in good faith discussions that could benefit the community. Instead, they have chosen to continue down the path of protracted litigation that could ultimately result in a $200 million award against Hempstead, Lawrence and Woodsburgh.” Multiple lawsuits have been filed over Gerzberg and Weiss’s proposals to build either condominiums or homes on the club’s land, which sprawls over the Town of Hempstead hamlet of Woodmere and the villages of Lawrence and Woodsburgh, and borders Cedarhurst village as well. Most recently, the developers have sued the town, Lawrence and Woodsburgh in federal court for $200 million over the restrictions of the municipalities’ Coastal Conservation District. Created in 2020, the district divided the club land into three Continued on page 12


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.