Halloween came early this year in the Village of Great Neck. Plenty of tricks — few treats for tax-paying residents. The mayor’s consultants, VHB of Hauppauge, are forecasting a 17 percent population increase (approximately 1,700 people) over the next 10 years.
Contrast that number to the average growth pattern of 3 percent since 2010. In what alternative universe is 17 percent growth to our village perceived as a community benefit? This magnitude of growth will sure destroy our quality of life, as we know it.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bral has happily coined the phrase, community benefit, and he uses it — frequently. Be forewarned. According to the 107-page VHB document, required reading for all village residents, the phrase, community benefit gives the mayor carte blanche to approve all development as he sees fit. Heavens to Betsy! Are you worried yet? You should be.
Despite the planned development of 16 new buildings on Middle Neck Road and seven new buildings on East Shore Road, not to mention the planned construction taking place simultaneously by other Great Neck villages, VHB consultants are projecting the following:
- No impact to traffic on Middle Neck Road
- No impact to traffic on East Shore Road
- No impact to noise pollution
- No impact on air quality
- No impact to water resources
- No impact on available parking
- No problem absorbing 84 additional children in the Great Neck public schools (I believe this figure is grossly understated.)
When an elected official of an upscale Long Island community makes the monumental decision, on his own, with a silent board and scant resident input, to refashion the community into the next Brooklyn or Queens, how can any intuitive man or woman accept that as a community benefit?
Still, this mayor admonishes us, “People need to look at it (the proposed plan) with an open mind.”
Message received, Mayor Bral. The plans you envision for our village will ultimately destroy the community and the quality of life residents come to expect. Why do you suppose so many residents have relocated here from their place of origin — Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx?
On a related matter, it appears the mayor is regretting his earlier decision to allow subdivisions to reign our residential streets.
Anyone familiar with 35 Croydon Ave. subdivision knows all too well, that these monstrosities mock area residents every day with their absurdly close proximity — clearly out of proportion for the single parcel of land it occupies.
Mayor Bral is now proposing a six-month moratorium on residential sub-divisions because now, he says (according to the Great Neck News) they are an eyesore. Oops! Will there be a subsequent oops moment when the mayor recognizes that his plan to urbanize our village is yet another disastrous and costly mistake?
Singles and young married couples (who have saved a bit of money) have made Long Island their destination precisely for its contrast to dense, vertical housing, noise, air pollution and congestion.
A diverse population of young couples and older couples embrace the quality of life we enjoy here. That’s why the Town of North Hempstead’s Project Independence was created and is so successful.
Our elders are happily aging in their own homes or at least, in their own community, without the stress of moving away.
The Senior Center is now the Social Center. And Grace Avenue Park is a quiet oasis for the young at heart of all ages. Besides, no Long Island realtor I know advertises a listing by declaring the property is located in an urban jungle, on a noisy, crowded, dirty street.
Edna Mashaal, Andi Levine and, Mindy Greenberg, who represent but a few of Great Neck’s prestigious realtors must be scarfing down pints of Ben & Jerry’s at your plan to destroy the community they earn an enviable living from.
Perhaps, Mayor Bral, you are the one who needs to pack your bags and flee. Don’t spoil it for the rest of us who respect Great Neck. Young working couples, who scrimp and save and struggle, have been happily residing, for generations, in the many housing options Great Neck Plaza has to offer. Residency in Great Neck is now and will always be a privilege — it is never an entitlement. No petition required.
Join your fellow concerned residents at the public hearing (to discuss re-zoning) on Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m., at Village Hall (61 Baker Hill Road). If you can’t attend, written remarks will be accepted by the close of business day on the 19th.
Judy Shore Rosenthal
Great Neck
