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Friday, December 23, 2016
Vol. 76, No. 50
HOLIDAY LIGHT SPECTACULAR
Syosset residents angered by sale of school property BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
Hundreds of local residents recently enjoyed an afternoon of merriment at the 18th Syosset Holiday Lighting Spectacular, hosted by the The Syosset Woodbury Chamber of Commerce. See page 8
Nominations for Sr. Citizen of the Year Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano is seeking nominations for Nassau County’s 2017 Senior Citizen of the Year. This annual award recognizes two individuals who have demonstrated outstanding concern and action for human services and community involvement relating to any age group. Nominations are being accepted through Tuesday, February 14. To be eligible for the award, a candidate: • Must be 60 years of age or older and presently living in Nassau County; • May not be an employee of any organization, unless in an unpaid, volunteer position; and • Must be submitted on an official application form. Those who have already received the award are ineligible, while those who were nominated but did not receive previous
awards may be re-nominated. All nominations will be reviewed by a panel of judges from the Advisory Council to the Office for the Aging. This award will honor two of the many dedicated individuals who have made outstanding personal contributions for the enrichment of the lives of others. Nominations for Senior Citizen of the Year may be made by individuals or groups. All nominations must be submitted on an application form and received by Tuesday, February 14, 2017. For more information, an application or submission, please call (516) 227-8919 or email Michele.Greenblatt@hhsnassaucountyny.us. Nominations can also be mailed to: Awards Committee, Nassau County Department of Human Services, Office for the Aging, 60 Charles Lindbergh Boulevard, Suite #260. Uniondale, NY 11553-3691
A large number of residents attended the Syosset Central School Distict’s School Board meeting on Monday, December 19th to protest the sale of its property next to Walt Whitman Elementary School to a commercial developer. The deal was formalized on September 19 and discussed for major amendments in the weeks since Thanksgiving. However, at the December 19 board meeting tempers flared, as concerned residents’ expressed anguish at the board’s decision to earn $5.3 million from selling the 2.44-acre parcel. Opponents criticized the idea that there might be yet another shopping complex on Jericho Turnpike, this one steps from the beloved elementary school, the Woodbury Cove senior housing and Woodbury Road. The Syosset district’s school board president, Dr. Michael Cohen, was very emotional but outspoken and diplomatic during the meeting as he tried to assuage the anger and mistrust conveyed by several members of the community on Monday night. Dr. Cohen and School Board Vice President April Neuendorf, in addition to Schools’ Trustee LaFazan, have decided (with a show of hands at the meeting) that they will support the mission of the majority of community members and stand with them when the formal agreement between developer Basser-Kaufman and the Syosset Central School District comes up for approval before the Oyster Bay Town Board in early 2017. Basser-Kaufman has developed the Jericho Commons shopping center in Jericho, home to a Whole Foods
and Starbucks, and it has 3.5 million acres of commercial real estate in its portfolio. At the start of the public comments portion of the meeting Cohen welcomed the community members as regardless “how serious a matter, contentious a matter or pleasant a matter, we (the school board) has dealt with it all,” he said. But over two hours later, an executive session called for by Ms. Neuendorf kept the board silent on the specific actions it would take as the contract of sale has already been executed but the Town of Oyster Bay hearing in 2017 was already becoming the focus of the anti-shopping center rally. Kim Fass-Marcus of Greenwood Lane in Woodbury has been a Syosset schools’ lifer, from elementary through high school before college and law school. She returned to raise her family here and admits to being a very consistent, proactive “Woodbury shopper” who supports all her go-to local businesses. But if the new shopping center from Basser-Kaufman comes to fruition, she promises the school board that most people in the community will absolutely boycott stores. She said the noise, aesthetics and environmental concerns are just the tip of the iceberg. “I have been a Woodbury resident my entire life and this is so upsetting to me. It saddens me, every bone in my body, I feel like I am breaking over this. I drive my kids to school each morning in a panic and a fury because our school bus comes so late each day, we are the last pickup. The traffic is already unbearable beyond words and I just cannot imagine one See page 12
Syosset students give thanks PAGE 16 Red Ribbon Prevention Week PAGE 3