Richard Guardino

Richard Guardino Transcription:

Yes Um think it would be a big plus for, I think its actually the village of Hempstead Tax Base. And they had an ambitious program. I spoke to the mayor recently. Unfortunately he did not have the votes to get it through the village board but he feels that hes going to back at it come forward with another proposal, and perhaps spend a little bit more time in advance building a proposal for the community but Hempstead village is uniquely positioned in that it has fantastic transportation hub. The railroad line from there to New York City is approximately 40 minutes. It is a relatively short commute. It also has a bus terminal so that if you’re thinking in terms of transit oriented development its one of the few places on long island where there’s significant transit infrastructure.

I can’t say I know all the details of the plan. I think it was an ambitious plan in that the density and the numbers of buildings were numbers that the community has seen before in a suburban setting and I think people were concerned about that. I think that if you build a plan that is somewhat different from something that’s been going on. One of the recommendations or suggestions I would make is to try to build it in phases so you’re building up support and it doesn’t become overwhelming. What we’ve seen on the Island is that small projects on the island involving increased density has been successful. When they get to a certain magnitude there’s a certain amount of the fear of the unknown that involved so my suggestion for people that are going forward with these kinds of projects is to try to build it in phases and try and build up support for it in that fashion.

Your correct in that it is a huge plan for this area, Especially Nassau County. There are some significant developments going on or some proposals for developments going on out in Suffolk County. Ironically there’s also a significant proposal right down the road for the light house project. Which is also a 2 billion dollar project. To answer your question I would go back to what I was saying earlier. I think sometimes it easier to bring these proposals forward when you do them in phases. If you come in with a tremendous amount of density which includes very tall buildings that people in suburbia are not used to seeing you’ll get a lot of nymbiism.in their backyard. There very concerned about what the impacts will be. On the other hand I think it can be done. There are office towers just down the road here that were built just about 30 years ago. We actually have towers right here at Hofstra University. We have 14 story towers for our dormitory. So I think they can be done. I think you just have to build up support in the community. Not overwhelm people with a lot at once

It will never be the retail; hub that it once was. Going back to that time period both Jamaica and the village of Hempstead were retail centers but retailing’s completely changed since then we went through a phase where suburban malls were being built all over the place. Now retailing is changing again with the advent of the internet, and internet shopping…ya know they talk about bricks and mortar versuss retailing and internet retailing. Retailing has changed significantly from the time when Hempstead Village was the Hub. It will not be….It will not go back to what it once was. Its not to say its can’t be a very successful suburban center. I would be different I would include a component for housing, I would include retailing, It would include office space. It would include a mixed development, and I think those kinds of developments can be built successfully in suburbia and particularly when you have a transit hub that Hempstead village has.

That was a very controversial aspect of the project. And um that aspect of the project was something g in particular that the mayor was concerned about because not only do we have a lot of low income housing in this area but we also have a tremendous amount of property that is off the tax roll. There are lots of not for profits or churches in the village of Hempstead that are not generating real property taxes so his concern was I have to get rateables so called rateables on my property tax roll. I have to get properties that will get tax revenue for my village budget. And he feels and I think he makes a good point that the village of Hempstead has done more than its fair share. So that when groups come in and say that 50 percent of the housing your putting up should be affordable housing well say wait a minute we already have a high percentage, yes there can be affordable housing component. But I need housing and I need rateables that will be able to generate revenue. Lets look to surrounding communities that have little or no affordable housing and let them do there share as well and I think he makes a good point

Mayor Wayne Hall Interview

Mayor Wayne Hall Interview

First Question

Its blighted, one of the biggest problems we have here in the village is that one third of the property is off the taxroll, meaning that were losing all of this money because of non-profits that we have in the community so the idea is to increase the tax base, by building more, bringing in businesses, bringing in condos and so forth, to help alleviate some of the tax burden on the residents of Hempstead. It would make their place look much better. It would….It will bring in much more tax revenue to the village.

Well when we were doing th e Urban America project the projected amounty of tax revenue was approximately 30 million that would be coming in. but at this point right now since we are back to square 1 were doing the revisioning process, I don’t really know how much the taxes will be, I don’t have any idea.

Well were in the process right now. We started back in December of doing revisioning. Wev’e asked developers to come in and listen to what the residents have to say, what they want to see up there on main street, and so for the last several months since December, we’ve been holding meetings and talking about the project. In june were gonna give an RSP, request for proposal. To um. To send it out for the developers. To um, to you know submit their proposals, and we’ll take the best one

RFP: Request for proposal, That’s um when u have. Um hold on a second. U wanted to know what an RFP was, and an RFP is request for proposal where we send ou to the developers and ask them send us what they think they wanna build or what…what they wanna build up on main street. We told them what we want. We told we ant mixed use housing. So they gotta come in with their concept, and so that request for proposal goes out to them, and they fill has all the the criteria that they that they need, what were looking for and so forth. They gotta fill in the blanks.

Well actually we don’t pay for the project. The Developers are the ones that pay for the project. Ya know we we got the land over there. We have like 26 acres over there. We have 26 acres of land and ten of it belongs to the village. And what they would have to do is try negotiate buying the other property, and if not then the village might have to go do eminent domain, and force the people to sell it.

I think 50 percent. The problem with low income housing as I said to you at the beginning was that were looking to add property ro the taxroll when you start getting low income housing what happens is that they has to get subsidies so that means ya know ya gonna have to find um ways to pay for that low income, for instance we have a three hundred thousand dollar apartment over there, and your gonna have low income you figure your that that apartment would have to cost 100,000 dollars or whatever. We have tro find um a subsidy that would probably take part of that property off the taxroll. I’m not looking to take more property off the taxroll. I’m looking to add to the taxroll so that why I hand an issue with the low income portion of it because Hempstead has like 5400 low income apartments. So ya know that I think that all the surrounding villages should join in in having low icome housing in their communities which but I don’t mind having affordable housing but that is a little different.

Well I think what I have tod do is what were doing now. We are having the community getting involved, and um telling us what they want, and then sending out a request for proposal after this whole process is done, We have to do a envioremental request, and make sure all this can be done but I think were on the right road right now, but to be honest I don’t think I’ll ever satisfy everybody. So theres gonna be descent and community activists that don’t wanna see anything happen. They like the status quo. And so no matter what I do I’m gonna have people against me.

We’ll send out the RFP, and we’ll get a response in six weeks, and by mid august we should have an idea of what were doing.

Joseph Gill Interview

Joseph Gill

“We’re not against redevelopment. We’re for redevelopment. But the community has to be for it to.”

“He planning that um they have. Hes thinking that affordable housing is section 8 government assistance is affordable housing and that’s not affordable housing assigned to moderate income that’s just ah government assistance”

Ah nothing really, What we’ve been doing is working with the organizations. NAACP. We’re working with a bunch of other different organizations as well.

“We need a community benefits agreement. With the developer whoever they choose will have a development that will benefit the community. Affordable housing, more infrastructure, We would also want the right to hosuing to anybody displaced because of redevelopment.

Well they wanted to build approximately 2500 condos which is out of the question, luxury condos which people can’t afford. At least nobody in this neighborhood, where they gonna get people who’s gonna move into these condos. The thing is Urban America didn’t want to talk to us.

What will impact the schools with more people coming in could be signifigant.

I don’t know the amount of the people that will be displaced, because we have not gotten the new plans from the new developer.

We’ll take a look at what the plan is before we decide what kind of an impact it will have on the community.

Well we want 50 percent low income or housing that the lower income tier can afford, and that what we want.

The last plan failed because of the housing market. If you look at the housing it is not very good right now, people are selling their homes, lots of people are having foreclosures. I guess a lot of people didn’t want to see them come in here and buy 2500 luxury units.

“I do not know.

We haven’t seen any proposals yet, so we have put out what we said we wanted, and we’ll see from there.

“The community”

Script For Story

OC: Kenneth McCarron Standup Bite TRT:20 Bite TRT:12 Take Super…Wayne Hall Hempstead Village Mayor TAKE VO Shot of Apartments Downtown Hempstead Time to Bite:07 TRT:16 Take Super…Joseph Gill Co-Chair ACORN Take VO Time to Bite:05 Downtown Hempstead TRT:12 Time to Bite:10 Hempstead Apartment Buildings Downtown Garden City TRT:17 Take Super… Richard Guardino OC: Kenneth McCarron TRT:18

TAKE SOT THE VILLAGE OF HEMPSTEAD WAS ONCE ONE OF THE LARGEST SHOPPING CENTERS ON LONG ISLAND. BUT THESE DAYS THE VILLAGE IS BETTER KNOWN FOR ITS CRIME RATE THAN ITS RETAIL OUTLET. NOW MAYOR WAYNE HALL WANTS TO PUT FORWARD A NEW REDEVELOPMENT PLAN TO HELP REBUILD THE VILLAGES TAXBASE. TAKE SOT TAKE SUPER WAYNE HALL/HEMPSTEAD VILLAGE MAYOR: ITS BLIGHTED ONE OF THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS WE HAVE HERE IN THE VILLAGE IS THAT ONE THIRD OF THE PROPERTY IS OFF THE TAX ROLL. MEANING THAT WE’RE LOSING ALL OF THIS MONEY BECAUSE OF NON-PROFITS IN THE COMMUNITY. TAKE VO BUT SOME PEOPLE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT PUTTING IN NEW CONDOS IS THE RIGHT WAY TO FIX THE VILLAGES TAX ISSUES TAKE SOT TAKE SUPER JOSEPH GILL/CO-CHAIR OF ACORN: WELL THEY WANTED TO PUT APPROXIMATELY 2500 WHICH IS AH OUT OF THE QUESTION…LUXURY CONDOS WHICH PEOPLE CAN’T AFFORD. AT LEAST NOBODY IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD SO WHERE THEY GONNA GETS PEOPLE THAT MOVES IN THESE CONDOS. TAKE VO BUT MAYOR WAYNE HALL SAYS ADDING MORE LOW INCOME HOUSING WOULD HURT THE TAX BASE. TAKE SOT WAYNE HALL/ HEMPSTEAD VILLAGE MAYOR: WHAT HAPPPENS IS…IS THAT IT HAS TO GET SUBSIDY SO THAT MEANS YOUR GONNA HAVE TO FIND WAYS TO PAY FOR THE LOW INCOME TAKE VO AND LONG ISLAND REAL ESTATE EXPERT RICHARD GUARDINO SAYS THAT MAYOR WAYNE SAYS THINKS OTHER COMMUNITIES NEED TO SHARE THE BURDEN OF LOW INCOME HOUSING. TAKE SOT TAKE SUPER RICHARD GUARDINO:HE FEELS AND I THINK HE MAKES A VERY GOOD POINT THAT IN TERMS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING THE VILLAGE OF HEMPSTEAD HAS DONE MORE THAN ITS FAIR SHARE SO THAT WHEN UM GROUPS COME IN AND SAY THAT 50 PERCENT OF THE HOUSING THAT YOUR PUTTING IN SHOULD BE AFFORDABLE HOUSING HE SAYS WELL WAIT A MINUTE WE ALREADY HAVE A HIGH PERCENTAGE. TAKE SOT LAST FALL THE MAYOR PULLED A PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT PLAN BUT HE INSISTS IT REMAINS A PRIORITY FOR THIS YEAR, AND THAT A NEW PLAN WILL BE IN PLACE BY NEXT AUGUST. BUT UNTIL THEN MOST PEOPLE INTEND TO SIT BACK AND WAIT. WITH NASSAUNEWS.ORG, I’M KEN MCCARRON

Links for Hempstead Redevelopment Project

http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-business_bizdown,0,1349376.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation
This article is about the history of Hempstead. It talks about how Hempstead was founded and who some of its key figures are in its history. It also talks abouts its history as a shopping center. This aspect of the article was particularly important to my story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/30villageli.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=hempstead+village&st=nyt&oref=login
This article talks about how the mayor had revise the redevelopment plan. Hall revised to make some concessions with business owners. It also included quotes from ACORN and other business owners.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/nyregion/01hemp.html?scp=6&sq=hempstead+village&st=nyt
This New York Times article talks about how the village is divided on the redevelopment plan. Affordable housing was at the center of the debate. The problem with the project was that most of the community opposed it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/realestate/25lizo.html?scp=9&sq=hempstead+village&st=nyt
This article gives some background on the Village of Hempstead, and how much the new condos would cost. It provides details on how the residents of Hempstead would be affected by this redevelopment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/07villageli.html?scp=8&sq=hempstead+village&st=nyt
This Times article tells why the Hempstead redevelopment plan was left behind. Mayor Hall did not have enough support for the plan, and the housing crisis also may have hurt the amount of taxes the village would have realized from the project.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/opinion/nyregionopinions/LI-Hempstead.html?scp=7&sq=hempstead+village&st=nyt
This article gives some details on what challenege Mayor Hall has before him, and the issues he will face in trying to get the plan to go through. It gave me some good ideas.
http://www.ferrandinoandassociates.com/projects/recentprojects072007.pdf
This gives people some background on some of the details of the project, and includes plans, and visuals of the Urban America Project
http://spacedoutli.wordpress.com/2008/01/02/hempstead-redo-redux/
this article provided me with an update on where the redevelopment plan is and where it was going. I also have found the name for a potential interview in claude gooding head of the planning commission.
http://nassaunews.org/news/2008/01/affordable_housing_on_long_isl_1.html
This article gave me some visuals of what was going to happen, and showed me some models of the types of homes that Mayor Hall wanted to put in. It also provided me with the idea of Baghdad Journalism. But it helped keep me informed on what had been going on
http://nassaunews.org/news/2008/01/hempsteads_redevelopment_plans.html
This article was specifically about the downtown Hempstead redevelopment plan, and what was going on with it. One of the problems with the plan was that there was a lot of controversy.
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=837
This article gave me some specific facts on the History of Hempstead, and since history is partly the driving force behind redevelopment I though that this website was important. It gives me many facts.
http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/say-goodbye-to-urbanamerica-so-whos-next/
This is a blog that alks about what is going to happen next for the downtown redevelopment area. It talks about the problems and the challenges going forward.
http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workforceindustrydata/lon/lmbr/lmbr200704.asp
This link provided me with a study on how Hempstead Village would be affected by the redevelopment plan. One of the problems it said the plan had was that a lot of people might be displaced.
http://longislandgenealogy.com/hempstead.html
This further provided me some more facts about the history of Hempstead and how it was settled. For my story it is very important for one to understand where Hempstead was, where it is, and what the future may be.
http://www.saccschiff.com/pdf/Housing/Hempstead%20Vill%20Master%20Plan%20etc..pdf
Hempstead like many other Long Island cities has a master plan that it wants to implement. This will let the reader know where the master plan fits in with what Hempstead is trying to do with their downtown rebuilding project.
http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-business_bizdown,0,1349376.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation
This article talks about the History of downtown Hempstead and how many people around Long Island are trying to rebuild their downtown areas. Right now it is very popular for many towns across the Island to rebuild their towns.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/enb2004/20040428/not1.html
This small article provided me with information on where exactly the rebuilding is going to take place. This article provided with a guide on where I needed to shoot footage for my story. If one wants to know where the rebuilding is going to take place they should look at this article.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CEFDE1330F93AA35754C0A9609C8B63&scp=1&sq=100+black+men+and+100+main&st=nyt
This articles talks about a land owner who is fighting the Hempstead redevelopment project because his business would be displaced by the plan. There are not many stories that are available about business owners who are fighting the redevelopment plan. This article helped me get some more insight into who is fighting the plan.
http://www.villageofhempstead.org/government/downtown%20revitalization%20scoping%20document.pdf
This provides with the results of the envioremental review that was done on the downtown Hempstead redevelopment project. It provides some guidelines for how far the plan should go and how large the buildings should be.
http://www.libn.com/article.htm?articleID=37901
This article talks about some of the hurdles that Mayor Hall will face in rebuilding the Village. There are many lawsuits for this project to get off the ground, and the mayor plans on having to face a lawsuit from a previous construction project.
http://www.hempsteadcda.org/
This provides a health report from the village of Hempstead, and it incorporates how the new project will affect the lifestyles, and overall health of its citizens.