Valley Stream
HERALD
V.S. man arrested for robbery
A sign surprise for North seniors
Memorial Day plans in V.S.
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Vol. 31 No. 21
MAY 21 - 27, 2020
Storage wars, continued Town IDA mulls tax breaks for warehouse project in District 30 By Peter Belfiore pbelfiore@liherald.com
The Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency is considering tax incentives for a 140,000-square-foot, $25 million storage facility planned for West Merrick Road, on the site of what is now a Honda dealership vehicle storage lot and maintenance building. Storage Deluxe, a s e l f - s t o r a g e re a l estate investment fir m operating under the shell company 750 Merrick Road LLC, is seeking a 10-year, paymentin-lieu-of-taxes deal, as well as sales and DeNiSe mortgage recording Resident tax exemptions for the facility, which will employ four full-time workers. It is the same project that drew criticism at a village Board of Zoning Appeals hearing in November 2018, when fears were raised that the developer would apply for tax breaks. During a live-streamed, remote call meeting on May 13, residents, a lawmaker, school
i
Courtesy Daniel Toy
VAlleY StreAMer DANiel Toy, 20, during his promotion ceremony in September last year. His first deployment with the Marine Corps has been extended due to the coronavirus.
Serving amid a pandemic
Marine describes deployment during outbreak By Nicole AlciNDor nalcindor@liherald.com
When Valley Streamer Daniel Toy began U.S. Marine Corps basic training in July 2018, shortly after his graduation from Central High School, he never anticipated his first deployment would go as it has. Toy, now 20 and a lance corporal combat engineer, has spent the past three months on lockdown at the Morón Air Force Base in Spain as the
coronavirus has wreaked havoc around the world. He had expected to be in Spain only six months while training, but has been there nine months so far. He was supposed to return to his family right around the time the pandemic struck. “It’s hard being away from family in general,” he said, “but the pandemic has made it harder, because it’s taking even more time to get home.” On a typical day at Morón, Toy is up at 6:30 a.m., and
although his training regimen varies, it usually follows the same format, with morning classroom lessons and afternoon exercises to reinforce the lessons. After 4 p.m., he said, is downtime. In his role as an engineer, Toy’s basic duties include fostering the movement of friendly troops and inhibiting the movement of enemy troops. He specializes in building bunkers and firing Continued on page 8
official, members of the IDA and representatives of Storage Deluxe weighed in on the deal, which has raised the possibility of increased taxes following the controversial 2016 PILOT agreement given to Green Acres Mall and its Commons annex. Resident Denise Riggio said her mother’s school taxes in Elementary School District 30, where the property is located, went up roughly $1,000 because of the Green Acres tax b re a k s, a n d s h e sought assurances that that wouldn’t happen again. She also questioned the need for another riggio storage facility in an area where two have recently been erected on a half-mile stretch of Merrick Road. “I’m trying to understand what real benefit Valley Stream will gain from this except four minimum-wage jobs,” she said. “Providing tax break incentives as a means to attract storage facilities to Long Island was
’m trying to understand what real benefit Valley Stream will gain from this except four minimumwage jobs.
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