For those of us who’ve gone in circles trying to find a place to park in beautiful downtown Great Neck Plaza, the experience is nothing short of frustrating.
Sometimes, we just give up and drive away rationalizing to ourselves “it’s just not worth it”.
While the folks in charge of this village, the venerable “Jean Team” (as they like to call themselves) are not responsible for traffic volume, they are responsible for providing that parking facilities are accessible and, to the extent that they are not, such facilities be placed back in service as quickly as possible.
Lo and behold the new Maple Drive lot which has been closed down for most of the summer and looks weeks away from completion.
Its closure has produced a deficit, I’m guessing, of about 75 spaces. And let me tell you that’s a lot of spaces and arguably a lot of resulting lost business to our merchants whom, by and large, are struggling in this once jewel of a village.
Should I be complaining about the Jean Team building a designer parking lot with fancy grey stone interlocking pavers combined with six inches of asphalt, brand new lampposts, beautiful beds of lush green border foliage, and no doubt a plethora of lovely hanging baskets that will come to finish off this world class entry into the “prettiest parking lot contest”?
Sure I should and here’s why.
This past weekend starting late Friday night June 22 through Sunday night June 24, I watched the closure of two large parking lots operated by the Great Neck Park District, one on North Station Plaza, the other on Welwyn Road close for maintenance and repair.
Within 36 hours both lots had their asphalt milled down, a fresh new layer of blacktop installed, and parking space lines of demarcation perfectly applied with bright yellow paint.
After seeing this refurbishment done so quickly with such a great outcome, it was impossible not to ask why the same treatment could not have been done at the Plaza’s Maple Drive lot, no doubt for less money, no doubt for at least six weeks less down time, no doubt without the loss of business to our merchants, and certainly no doubt without the frustration suffered by prospective customers of these merchants who just drove away.
It is amazing that this failing village and its incompetent Jean Team leadership who are still blaming the 2008 recession for its troubles — an excuse which even in 2008 was specious — have felt it necessary, if not compelled, to frivolously spend other people’s money, taxpayer money, on a designer parking lot.
Does this failing village with its plethora of “For Rent” signs really need a fancy parking lot that is taking months to build as opposed to doing what the wise and cost conscious Great Neck Park District has beautifully completed in 36 hours?
It’s unlikely but perhaps the feckless brain trust at Gussack Plaza will have something “believable” to say about their profligate use of the public treasury.
That is unlikely because the Jean Team has never seen a public dollar not worth spending on themselves.
The mayor’s $68,000 per year salary, the deputy mayor’s $18,000 year salary, the trustees $10,000 per year salaries, all of which come with the added benefits of premium medical and dental insurance, participation in a public employees pension plan, and of course, those “look what an important person I am” bronze car plaques attest to the foregoing unlikeliness.
When an electorate fails to come out and vote, it loses the ability to hold its public officials accountable.
Without accountability, those in charge do what they want, when they want, and how they want, all of which they camouflage by photo ops, newsletters, and public hearings designed to portray themselves as competent and responsible leaders.
Is the public trust responsibly served by the excessive compensation paid to four trustees who attend two meetings a month and who, in what appears to be a quid pro quo arrangement with the mayor, authorized her full time status from part time status, with a full time assistant, after she blew up her own business and apparently needed a more lucrative job where she’s accountable to no one except a lethargic electorate that seldom comes out to vote?
Alan A. Gray
Great Neck
