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Friday, July 15, 2022
Vol. 71, No. 28
N E W H Y D E PA R K
SCHOOLS & EDUCATION
NHP FIREFIGHTERS HONORED
MANGANO SENTENCING DELAYED
PAGES 23-26
PAGE 2
PAGE 9
F.P. board of zoning appeals grants variance 24 rental apartments to be built on former site of Centennial Hall BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y The Floral Park Zoning Board of Appeals granted a variance request by Centennial Holdings LLC, owner of the former Centennial Hall on 1 Carnation Ave., to construct 24 rental apartment units. The decision eliminates three studio apartments of 503 square feet each from Centennial Holdings’ original variance request of 27 units and marks an increase from 18 one- and twobedroom apartment units originally agreed upon in 2018 when the village sold Centennial Hall to The Friedman Group for $1.2 million. Along with eliminating three units, six parking spaces have been removed from the original request of 54, now making it 48, two for each unit. The variance request was the center of a tense Board of Trustees meeting in May where residents were critical of the legal notice process, hearing process and how dangerous the surrounding roads of Centennial Hall are. Jaclyn O’Donohue, a trustee for the Floral Park-Bellerose Union Free School District, said the district is already struggling to expand to accommodate the children they have right now and a total of 27 units of potential families would exacerbate the problem. “To add more units would actually
be a very large burden on our district,” O’Donohue said. “It seems we have a lot of space because we recently added new extensions, but just for next year alone we have to add even more to our buildings. I understand these apartments are not meant for families, but it’s inevitable families with children will use them and 27 units is a very big deal.” The zoning board said “there will be no undesirable change to the character of this area of the village” and “the variances will not be detrimental to nearby property owners.” Now approved, the variances will go before the architectural review board for a hearing, where a site plan review will be conducted, including determining the entrance and exit for the property and other considerations. At a May 1 hearing, Centennial Holdings proposed a new apartment building with 27 units requiring 54 total parking spaces and raising the height of the building to 47-feet-one inch. The Friedman Group purchased Centennial Hall, the 20,921-squarefoot area that sits on the southeastern intersection of Tulip and Carnation Avenues, from the village in July 2018 for $1.2 million. The purchase was part of a contract that would preserve the faContinued on Page 38
PHOTO COURTESY OF NORTHWELL HEALTH/GETTY IMAGES
Sandra Lindsay receiving her Medal of Honor from President Joe Biden. Lindsay was the first American to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
LIJ’s Lindsay awarded Medal of Freedom BY ST E V E N K E E H N E R
Lindsay was the first American to receive the FDA-approved COSandra Lindsay, a Northwell VID-19 vaccine on Dec. 14, 2020, Health nurse and Port Washington at the Long Island Jewish Medical resident, was awarded the Presiden- Center. At the White House ceremony, tial Medal of Freedom on Thursday.
President Joe Biden praised her efforts throughout the pandemic. “Sandra, as I told you before, if there are any angels in heaven, they are all nurses,” he said. “Sandra’s Continued on Page 39
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