New Hyde Park 2018 03 30

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Serving New Hyde Park, North New Hyde Park, Herricks, Garden City Park, Manhasset Hills, North Hills, Floral Park

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Friday, March 30, 2018

Vol. 67, No. 13

N E W H Y D E PA R K

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HEALTH & WELLNESS

GCP LOT FIXES COMING SOON

LEGISLATURE OKs PLAN TO REASSESS ALL PROPERTIES

PAGES 33-38, 43-48

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Residents voice concerns over Belmont Hundreds attend meetings with prospective developers, cite traffic worries BY A M E L I A C A M U R AT I

PHOTO BY AMELIA CAMURATI

Floral Park resident Patricia Mangan and her 5-year-old grandson Conor Flood addressed the crowd during the Belmont Park scoping meetings.

Hundreds of residents packed the Elmont Memorial Library auditorium on Thursday for a pair of meetings with the Belmont Park developers to voice their concerns on the impact the project could have on the surrounding areas. The comments are part of the Environmental Impact Statement process for the project, and written comments will be accepted through April 12. The proposed development by New York Arena Partners, a joint venture between Sterling Development and Oak View Group, includes a 19,000-seat arena with 18,000 seats available for New York Islander games, a 250-room hotel, 435,000 square feet of retail space, 30,000 square feet of oďŹƒce space, 10,000 square feet for a community space, up to 8.5 acres of public open space and up to 3,700 parking spaces. Richard Brown, managing partner of Sterling Development, said the original proposal grouped all potential develop-

ment on a site that is immediately adjacent to Belmont Park, and grouped all parking across Hempstead Turnpike. But after recent planning meetings, Brown said, the developers are considering some retailers’ concerns that lumping all the retail development next to the arena would be chaos on a busy Saturday with both a hockey game and shoppers ooding the area. Carol O’Neill, a 52-year resident of Floral Park, said she was “getting a little leeryâ€? of the proposed development bordering her longtime home. “We just ďŹ nished the scoping with the Long Island Rail Road, and I live near it, and my estimation is it’s a big ďŹ asco,â€? O’Neill said. “I also feel that PlainďŹ eld Avenue is one of our prime streets, and the day they have the big race, you can’t get down that street if you tried. I appreciate being able to speak, but I really feel there’s a heck of a lot of questions we still have, and I hope we’re going to get honest answers because we certainly didn’t have honest answers when it came to the Continued on Page 66

FDNY firefighter from Floral Park dies BY A M E L I A C A M U R AT I A New York City Fire Department veteran from Floral Park died ďŹ ghting a ďŹ ve-alarm

ďŹ re in Harlem on March 22. A 15-year veteran with the department, Michael Davidson, 37, became the 1,150th member of the New York City Fire Department to die in the line of

duty. The ďŹ re broke out around 11 p.m. March 22, oďŹƒcials said, in a basement at 773 St. Nicholas Avenue near 148th Street in Harlem on the set of “Motherless Brooklyn,â€? an adaptation of a novel by Jonathan Lethem directed by Edward Norton and starring Alec Baldwin, Willem Dafoe, Leslie Mann, Bruce Willis and Norton.

“New York City ďŹ reďŹ ghters truly are the bravest in the world,â€? Norton said in a statement. “We watched ďŹ rsthand with astonishment as they charged into the smoke to make sure all were safely out and then fought to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading, putting their lives on the line as they do every day. The FDNY are real life superheroes and have our boundless admiration

and gratitude.â€? Davidson, who was on the ďŹ rst truck to arrive with Engine Company 69, got separated from the group in the rapidly deteriorating conditions when they were called out of the building. He was found unconscious and was later pronounced dead at Harlem Hospital on Friday. During the funeral on TuesContinued on Page 66

For the latest news visit us at www.theislandnow.com D on’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow


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