Inspector Sean McCarthy, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department 3rd Precinct , was the guest speaker at the New Hyde Park Village Board meeting on Tuesday night and assured residents that the quality of police service in the village would be maintained in the wake of the recent merger of the 3rd Precinct and the 6th Precinct.
“There will be effectively no difference here,” McCarthy said. “If anything. The one thing the consolidation enabled us to do was to put three POP cops on the street.”
The 3rd Precinct had been down to one Problem-Oriented Police officer prior to the precinct merger, McCarthy said.
Former POP officer Nick Masssero will be on duty again in that capacity as one of the three officers. McCarthy said POP coverage won’t be what it was when the 3rd Precinct had three POP officers on duty addressing quality of life issues, “but it’ll be better than it was.”
“Crime in the village is low by historical standards,” McCarthy said, but he added that no level of crime is “acceptable.”
McCarthy told residents there were fewer burglaries in the precinct than there had been 18 months ago. He said the “most persistent crime” in the area is theft of valuable from cars.
“You would be surprised at the number of times things are stolen from cars that are unlocked,” he said
In all cases, McCarthy advised residents to call 911 to report anything.
“It saves you a lot of time to call 911,” McCarthy said, explaining that a precinct police officer receiving information will immediately notify 911 anyway.
He recalled his own early days in the police department, which included tours of duty in a patrol car and as an ambulance driver in the New Hyde Park area. He said he anticipated that residents are experiencing many of the same quality-of-life and traffic issues that were part of the beat when he was on it.
“Years ago things used to happen at the Dublin Pub, now it’s Empire Billiards,” he said.
McCarthy said that he supposed Empire Billiards, which is also a bar, was a less active location since its gaming license was pulled. He said the 3rd Precinct notifies the state Liquor Authority each time an incident is reported at Empire Billiards.
But residents complained that people are still playing pool on the Empire Billiards premises at 1215 Jericho Turnpike.
Thomas Gannon, superintendent of the village Department of Public Works, said he had issued summonses to Empire Billiards when he had observed violations in the absence of a gaming license.
Village of New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio said the owners of Empire Billiards were due to make an appearance in village court on Wednesday night.
One resident who lives near the billiard parlor said he still sees patrons from the place urinating on his front law. He said things are quieter since the gaming license was revolved, but said people leaving the bar are noisy and there is evidence of drug use in the immediate vicinity.
A woman who lives near the New Hyde Park Long Island Rail Road station expressed concern about young people recurrently fighting and cursing in the neighborhood when coming from the direction of the train station plaza late on Saturday nights.
A man who said he lives across the street from Memorial Park said there is a persistent problem with kids in Memorial Park late at night, particularly on weekend nights, making noisy and dumping garbage there. He said he didn’t think they were village residents.
“This thing with the kids in the summer happens everywhere,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy said the village has offered to give 3rd Precinct officers keys to the park to enable them to intercede quickly when problems arise. He said one solution might be to conduct a sweep of the park and detain people for trespassing.
“If I do the trespassing thing, it’ll sweep up everyone,” he warned. “Arresting people solves problems.”
One woman complained about noise from the Walk Street Tavern on Jericho Turnpike from outdoor music.
Village of New Hyde Park Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro suggested calling 911 and also alerting the DPW to recurrent noise problems at Walk Street.
One resident complained that NCPD officer David Husing told him he would not issue tickets to trucks violating sign prohibiting trucks from streets in the village because he would also have to issue tickets to delivery trucks. McCarthy said he would talk to Husing.
“We can work together. We can change signage. They can issue tickets,” said Lofaro, who said signs could be modified to exempt to exempt delivery trucks.
In other developments:
• Lofaro said a contract for $824,841.15 had been awarded to Road Work Ahead for roadwork in the village for its 2012 Road Improvement Project, part of the village’s ongoing road upgrade initiative. Sections of 12th Street and 6th Avenue have also been included in $482,147.58 worth of additional upgrade plans that could bring $1,306,988.73 in upgrades this year. Lofaro said the village board recently voted to float $1.5 million in bonds with a 15-year maturity and said it would also draw on $500,000 in reserves if needed for continuing upgrades.
Over the next several years, he said the board was looking to complete all road upgrades with two more projects likely to cost $1 million apiece.
“We will reconstruct all the roads in the village,” Lofaro said.
The village board had commissioned consulting engineering firm Dvirka & Bartilucci to design and prepare the bid document in March for $119,360.
• Lofaro also reported the state reimbursed the village $12,300 for damages incurred during last year’s tropical storm after balking at paying anything. At this point, he said the village has received more than $58,000 from its claim to the state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
• Petruccio reported that the village currently is operating with a surplus of approximately $200,00 and praise the village staff in holding costs down.
“I want to commend the staff for doing more with less,” Petruccio said.
• Trustee Donald Barbieri said the state Department of Transportation notified the village that it will start on its Jericho Turnpike upgrade project in mid-August by replacing traffic signals at the intersection of Jericho and Lakeville Road and HIllside Boulevard. He said he expected the Jericho repaving to occur in the summer of 2013. Meanwhile, he said the village is still awaiting final DOT approval for its upgrades – primarily aesthetic – in the village’s business district, which he expected to start next March.
• Barbieri also reported that “Spotlight New Hyde Park,” a singing competition simulating the format of current TV reality shows, didn’t received a strong response. But youngsters in the village who did register to partidcipate have been invited to a karaoke night at the William Gill Theatre in Village Hall on Friday night.
He said a performance of “Cinderella” will be given in Memorial Park on July 25 at 7 p.m. And a Billy Joel Tribute band featuring former village clerk Pat Farrell on piano and vocals will perform in the park on Aug. 1 at 7 p.m.
