I attended the June 7 Black Lives Matter rally at Firefighters Park along with friends to show our support for all of our Great Neck neighbors.
The rally was peaceful and almost all people wore masks for virus protection. From what I saw, our local officials and especially the 6th Precinct Police did a great job of protecting the protesters and the public at large, and they should be congratulated.
One of the purposes of the protest was to urge the Great Neck community to do more listening to the needs of our neighbors. An issue I have been concerned about for a long time is affordable housing for those who work in our community.
We have apartment buildings here right now that could be used for this workforce housing, especially Academy Gardens at the corner of Steamboat Road and Middle Neck Road. When I moved here in 1966, that building in my neighborhood housed many civic-minded people who worked in our town and were active volunteers in our community service organizations like the Great Neck United Community Fund.
Some of these people were from families that had lived here for generations. Slowly many of them have been pressured to leave so that their homes could be replaced by expensive luxury housing and the building has now been allowed by the owner to deteriorate.
But some long-time residents have stood firm and refused to move because this is their home town.
Let’s find a way to keep this whole apartment building safe and affordable for our local workers. Years ago a group of civic-minded people formed an organization called Autumn Housing to create an affordable place for our local seniors to live on the site of the old Arrandale school.
That apartment building has been a success and has helped many local seniors to remain in their own neighborhoods. Now we need to do the same for our other neighbors who have lived and worked here for many years.
Village trustees, planners and zoning boards can get creative when they need to. What we need is the will to make it happen. The time is now.
Christine Knauer
Great Neck
