Williston Park Residents Hold Rally for Cross Street

“What we’re trying to do here is make an idea into a proposal,” Williston Park resident Joan Carlucci said last Wednesday night at the American Legion Hall on Willis Avenue.

The idea is a bid by a newly formed group known as the Cross Street Alliance to turn the into a community center for the residents of Williston Park as an alternative to to , a private school based in Glen Cove.

“Some people are under the false impression that this is a lost cause, that the lease has already been signed,” group co-founder Terrence Kennedy said.

The group was formed following speculation that the school and also have an impact on parking as students drive to classes. The amount of objections was such that a by the Mineola Board of Education to ascertain the impact the private school would have on Williston Park roads.

The traffic study would not be completed until at the of the Mineola Board of Education at the earliest and only be voted upon after the traffic study is presented to the Williston Park Village Board. The engineer charged with conducting the study said it would be completed by the end of April and Solomon Schechter has indicated their lease would be contingent upon a positive determination from the study.

“This community center is our ‘Plan B’,” Kennedy said.

Many residents believe the community center will have a much lower impact on the local roads and also allow Williston Park residents more use of the fields than would exist under the Schechter lease.

“If there’s a senior program going on during the day, you’re talking about 25 to 30 seniors going there during the day then you have another program starting later – you’re never going to have that concentrated intensity of usage that you would have with a school,” resident Umberto Mignardi said. “That’s just the nature of a community center.”

Cross Street Alliance co-founder Crista Mills compared the situation to the creation of the Williston Park pool, recalling where a girl had petitioned Mayor Roger Fey and construction was started within six months.

“Can you imagine life without that pool?” Mills said. “I was there from 11 o’clock in the morning until 9 o’clock at night. I do think there is nothing for our children and we’re going to lose fields and this is a centrally located area that could benefit the entire community.”

Mills suggested using the building for scout meetings, adult classes and movie nights on the fields and summer recreation program.

“I think it can be another jewel in the crown,” she said. “We just want to start the conversation.”

According to Mills, the village “lost out” on obtaining the Park Street School on the Herricks side of the village – which included both the buildings and fields – for $330,000.

“Cross Street now is the last open space in Williston Park, the last open space for our kids to be able to go and play on,” she said, believing property values would increase with community center.

According to Mike Ciccone, President of the Williston Park Little League, the organization does $10,000 worth of winter programs “that I can just move from where I am now right into that building.” Ciccone envisions the community center to run tax free based on programs alone.

The group is aiming for the proposed community center to be self-sufficient, similar to the village pool, but members admit they may need help in the form of a small tax levy increase in order to get started.

About 150 surveys were collected by the group, into which Kennedy organized the first 100 received into a spreadsheet presentation. According to his numbers, 98 were in favor of community center at Cross Street, and 43 were interested in volunteering. When questioned if they were willing to have their taxes go up to support such a center, 44 said they were willing to pay for a $25-$50 increase, while 41 said they were willing to add $50-$75 to their yearly tax bill. Fifteen residents said they were not willing to have their taxes go up at all.

“It was an overwhelming response,” Kennedy said. “About 85 percent really don’t mind to see a little bit of their tax money go to something that is going to be meaningful to the community.”

There were pledges to donate a total of $4,100 from 26 people, with the average pledge being between  $45 - $50 per household which Kennedy projected to be about $99,000 when extended across the entirety of the village. There are about 2,500 homes in Williston Park. A tax of $100 a house would result in $250,000 a year for a community center.

Kennedy said the actual amount would probably be less than $25 “if it’s needed at all” when the businesses and concessions are factored into the equation. The concession stand at the Williston Park pool took in  $52,000 during the 10 weeks it was open according to Mills.

As it currently stands, the lease with Solomon Schechter will bring in $1.1 million over the 5 year period. Solomon Schechter is paying for all utility costs, yielding about $200,000 in net revenue to the school district each year.

Mills said that she had met with Mineola Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler and “he didn’t say no to us,” but no figure was discussed as to for what amount a Williston Park entity could potentially lease the building. Kennedy said he believed the lease could be done for much less than the Schechter amount.

In order to rent the building, it was said that the group would either need to form some sort of a non-profit entity such as a 503(c) similar to the little league, or rent it through the village in the form of a tax levy.

A number of residents expressed frustration with the Williston Park Village Board for not taking the lead on the issue. Williston Park Trustee WIlliam Darmstadt was present at the March 24 meeting of the Mineola Board of Education when the traffic study was ordered.

Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar will reportedly hold a public hearing once the traffic study is returned to hear the response from his residents. Mills said that she invited both the school and village boards, but “they all had... other commitments” and could not attend the meeting.

“It would be a lot easier if the village was behind us with this legal entity and at the moment, they don’t seem like they are behind us,” one resident said.

Another resident advocated to “never give up” and invoke taking the building by eminent domain, a plan put forth by former Williston Park Justice Alan Reardon when he was running for mayor against Ehrbar.

“That would be a very aggressive position and you have to understand there are people who live in the Mineola School District that don’t want to see them lose the space,” Mills said, suggesting other spaces might be available with the closure of . “Right now the most important thing we need to communicate that we are for a community center and we think this is a viable option.”

Aware that the school population could rise again, necessitating the need to reopen the school, Kennedy cautioned against taking the building by force.

“If we have a thriving community center for the next 10 years, it’s not going to go away,” he said.