This past week’s front page article in The Great Neck News — dealing with Shop Delight’s proposed expansion plans — showed just how lame the village’s excuses were for not wanting Shop Delight to fill one of the many empty stores in the village.
Shop Delight’s plans for a storage facility, administrative offices and a place to prepare take-out foods is the best possible use for the space at 4 Welwyn Road for the following reasons:
• It would definitely not increase traffic, as the space would not be a functioning retail space.
• It would not increase the number of store deliveries, but might actually decrease deliveries because there would be storage space for larger and less frequent deliveries.
• The landlord cited that the store is trying to make the current situation better by use of this additional space.
• It would not have a negative impact on residents in the surrounding area.
At the last village meeting, [Mayor Jean] Celender stated that she was very concerned about some delivery trucks making three-point turns in the parking lot.
Really?
Then why isn’t she concerned about the broad impact of the three-point turns made by over 100 buses a day in front of the post office?
Celender should treat herself to the sight of 12-plus buses each hour using Welwyn Road as their circuitous route to the station — constantly making three-point turns in front of the post office — causing numerous accidents, endangering pedestrians, moving vehicles, and parked cars on Shoreward Drive. (Remember the bus/car collision in front of the post office a few weeks ago that backed up traffic all the way to Middle Neck Road?)
A perfect example of hypocrisy at its best. Not on Celender’s agenda.
Perhaps the mayor would prefer a tenant like the former Tulip In the empty store that Shop Delight would like to occupy.
For over five years, with multiple violations of his conditional use permit, the owner of Tulip ran an illegal nightclub every Saturday night until 4 am.
Tulip’s rowdy and drunk nightclub patrons had loud fist fights outside, blasted car radios, vomited all over the area, and even engaged in “horizontal refreshment” on the lawn of the neighboring coop.
No matter how many times residents asked, pleaded and begged for help from the village, the mayor closed her eyes to the multitude of violations and the deleterious effect of the illegal nightclub on the neighborhood.
Residential neighbors were deprived of their night’s sleep every Saturday — week after week, month after month, year after year.
But Celender closed her eyes to all of Tulip’s violations as well as to the disgusting behavior taking place on the street outside the nightclub.
I wonder why?
Residents of the area already have substantial issues with no place to park, dangerous buses, double parked cars, and constant honking because our village government just continues to look away.
Shop Delight isn’t going away.
It offers a sound plan for use of the space in the vacant store that would be helpful in eliminating some of the store’s present problems and which would not have a negative impact on local residents.
But sadly, if Shop Delight is allowed to proceed, it probably won’t create a photo op for our illustrious full-time mayor.
Muriel Pfeifer
Village of Neck Plaza
Readers Write: Plaza’s ‘lame’ opposition to Shop Delight
