HALF HOLLOW HILLS Copyright © 2013 Long Islander Newspapers, LLC
Online at www.LongIslanderNews.com
N E W S P A P E R
VOLUME FIFTEEN, ISSUE 38
20 PAGES
THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 , 2013
MELVILLE HALF HOLLOW HILLS
Hills Scores Higher Than State Average By Jacqueline Birzon jbirzon@longislandernews.com
A black and white issue has many seeing red. New York State test results released last week showed 31.1 percent of students met or exceeded proficiency standards in English while 31 percent did so in math. In the Half Hollow Hills School District, the percentages were slightly higher than the state average, with the majority of students in grades 3-8 meeting skill standards in both English and math. However, the thin line between scores of “proficient” and “below proficient” in some grades is too close for comfort for school principals, teachers and parents across the state. One week before results were made public, State Education Commissioner Dr. John King warned school districts that results this year would be “significantly lower,” declining in proficiency from 30 to 40 percent from last year’s scores due to the statewide implementation of the Common Core, a federally designed initiative adopted by 45 states to provide students with better skill sets to increase college and career readiness by promoting critical thinking. Results from this year’s test released last week proved the commissioner was true to his word. Last year’s results show 63.3 percent of students statewide met or exceeded New York standards for math while 55.1 percent met or exceeded the English proficiency standard. Students are assigned a scaled score to determine proficiency and are assigned corresponding scores or are ranked in a “performance level,” 1 through 4, with level 4 corresponding with subject mastery while (Continued on page A18)
Empire Szechuan Site Primed To Build By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com
Should the owners of the former Empire Szechuan site wish to move on plans to build a new Asian restaurant, only one step remains. “They already have site plan approval for a restaurant,” town spokesman A.J. Carter said. “All the other approval they would have to do is building permits.” Much of the heavy lifting is already done for Melville Pacific LLC, the owners of 849 Walt Whitman Road in Melville. They have already filed plans at town hall to build a restaurant, called Fujiyama Mama, which would focus on Asian cuisine as well as American food. The former Empire Szechuan, located across the street from Melville Mall, was torn down last month. The property, which has been vacant since 2008, was first added to the blight registry in early 2012. Two agreements to restore the building followed later in the year. When the building was ultimately torn down in late July, the town was taking steps toward doing it themselves under the town blight law.
The owners of the Empire Szechuan property in Melville have plans on file at town hall for a new restaurant called Fujiyama Mama, shown in the rendering above.
MELVILLE
Settlement Could Bring More Housing End of lawsuit would clear way for Ruland Road development By Danny Schrafel dschrafel@longislandernews.com
A settlement designed to end a lawsuit between the Huntington branch of the NAACP and the Town of Huntington is expected to bring one-, two- and three-bedroom affordable units at proposed The Sanctuary housing development on Ruland Road in Melville. Attorney Chris Campbell, who is representing the Huntington NAACP
in the case, said Monday that the settlement, which he expected to be voted on after press time at the Aug. 13 Huntington Town Board meeting, calls for 77 one-bedroom, 34 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom affordable rental units, for a total of 117 units and 163 bedrooms. “We have reached an agreement in principle,” Campbell said. The new unit distribution for The Sanctuary, which is an affordable
housing offset tied to the 1,375-unit Greens at Half Hollow senior community, is drawn from a proposal from Lake Success-based D&F Development Group, who pitched the proposal to town hall independently of the Huntington NAACP, Campbell said. “This is not the ideal situation… but it’s a doable solution,” the attorney said. Town spokesman A.J. Carter confirmed a settlement was on the table (Continued on page A18)
IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION
1960s Prices At Dix Hills Park A3
GET YOUR COPIES OF THIS EDITION AT LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY (see list on page 2) Register for free digital subscription at
HalfHollowNews.com
Hicksville, NY 11801 Permit No. 66 CRRT SORT
US Postage PAID STANDARD RATE