F. Hill, county spar over Elderfields

Village seeking to landmark preserve

BY CAMERYN OAKES

The Village of Flower Hill is seeking landmark designation for the Elderfelds Preserve, but the village is receiving pushback from Nassau County, which owns the property.

The Elderfelds Preserve, located in Flower Hill, is a four-acre parkland with a main house that includes the original 17th-century home on the property, one of the oldest structures on Long Island, according to the county parks department.

The county acquired the property in 1996 from Henry de V. Williams. The Art Guild of Port Washington currently occupies a space in the building for art studios, classes and shows.

Flower Hill Mayor Randall Rosenbaum said the village is seeking to designate it as a landmark because the village wants to preserve the historical sites throughout the village.

Rosenbaum said he was inspired to restore the village’s Landmark Commission, which has been idle for about 20 years, by the re- cent demolition of the Richardson House in Plandome Manor.

The Richardson House, which was located in Massachusetts and relocated to Plandome Manor in the 1920s, was sold for development and demolished in 2022 after years of contested discussion on what to do with the home.

Rosenbaum said he did not want something similar to happen in Flower Hill.

“It is important to consider protecting our heritage before it is too late to do so,” Rosenbaum said in an email to Blank Slate.

Rosenbaum said that landmark designation status prevents the structure from being altered, repaired, moved or demolished. If a building permit is fled for the property, the village would then assess the proposal to ensure no harm would be done to the property.

“The intent of landmark preservation is the preservation, protection, enhancement, perpetuation and use of places, districts, sites, buildings and structures having a special character or special historical, cultural or aesthetic interest or

Continued on Page 52 their distinctions as some of the best schools in our nation,” DeSena said. “But even some of the best schools would face a signifcant challenge handling the sudden infux of students that high-density zoning would surely bring.

If the proposed legislation were to pass, the state would have control of zoning for 29 miles of area in Nassau County within a half mile of its 58 train stations, ofcials said. Recent villages and local municipalities have approved transit-oriented developments without direct state interference and it should remain that way, according to ofcials.

Herricks Board of Education

President Jim Gounaris said leaving the housing plans to local municipalities rather than the state would be in the best interest of the school districts so that their capacity can be efectively monitored and not put un-

DISPLAY ADVERTISING: Steven Blank 516-307-1045 x201 sblank@theisland360.com der heightened stress.

“There is no one standing here that does not support afordable housing,” Gouranis said. “A government mandate like this would only compromise school districts from being able to provide the excellent services, classrooms and programs they provide, especially for us here in Herricks.”

Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy, president of the Roslyn Board of Education, said the work she has undertaken to aid the public school system for more than 20 years was not so that the state would mandate housing in those areas.

“We need partners in Albany to understand the way of life of our communities,” she said. “School boards and the general community have been given precious little of information about the housing com-

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