Ken Mccarro JRNL 80B Blog

Post Production Memo

2008-05-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

This has been a very interesting project. Many people in the town of Hempstead could be affected by this redevelopment plan. Some think that it will never go through but others think that it would be good for the town. The problem is that much of the community is poor and to build the tax base Mayor Hall has to bring in people who are more wealthy. He is in a tough position.
Journalistically this is a very rich story. There are a lot of angles that I could have taken on this story. One is obviously the housing crisis. But another one I could have talked about is the history of Hempstead. In addition this story could have been primarily about the businesses of Hempstead, and how they were going to be affected by this redevelopment plan. In fact there is a group that may try to block any redevelopment project to help save local business.

For my story I am thinking that maybe I could have taken the angle of how this was going to affect the business community of Hempstead.. This is a story that does have a lot of angles. I could have talked about displaced businesses. Plus maybe I should ask Mayor Hall more about the obstacles that he could face in a proposed redevelopment.

For me Movie Maker is mixed bag. The program is much simpler than Avid, and therefore one can turn around a package much quicker. That is very good. Sometimes Avid can be so slow. But on the other hand Moive Maker lacks technical quality. One can only raise volume levels clip by clip on Movie Maker. Movie Maker also crashes sometimes and this can slow down work.

It is not a good idea to have a standup close as a requirement. Rather, I think it should be more of a strong reccomendation. Video is about creativity, and even in broadcast there are no absolute rules, just strong guidelines. There should be a second standup but I think using the second standup as a bridge between bites would help make the video better. I think opening with a standup is a good idea. All in all seeing a lot of these videos gives me good ideas that help get away from the sometimnes strict guidelines in broadcasts, and I think that it will help me to be more creative going forward.

Richard Guardino

2008-04-19T23:03:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-19T22:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-15T15:45:00.001-07:00

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

2008-04-15T15:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

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.

Hempstead Redevelopment Links

2008-03-27T17:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-business_bizdown,0,1349376.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation

DOWNTOWNS are often taken for granted, but over time they have managed to survive. Historically, they have thrived, withered and revived. But in recent decades, the encroachment of malls and megastores has changed the dynamic and pulled commerce away.Pessimists say the end is near -- but that's not necessarily so."It's been up and down, up and down, up and down," says Lee Koppelman, executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board and director of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at the State University at Stony Brook. "However, they still serve a useful function. For those that make the effort, they not only can hold their own but in some cases can even increase their strength."For Ron Stein, a financial planner who is president of the not-for-profit Vision Huntington advisory group, downtowns have lost their historic reason for being -- proximity to goods and services -- because of the automobile. "It's a one-word reason," Stein says. "The automobile has made it possible for people to live elsewhere than in central communities served by mass transportation."
"We have basically sucked the lifeblood out of many of our downtowns and that's the bad news," Stein says. "The good news is that people are becoming increasingly aware that what represents our sense of place in our communities are the downtown areas. These are the ideal forms of community when we think of places where we want to be."Among the Long Island downtowns officials are trying to nurture, according to Koppelman and Stein, are Rockville Centre, Northport, Glen Cove, Great Neck, Patchogue, Bay Shore, Port Jefferson, Huntington and Hempstead. Others are in varying stages of making the attempt.Here's a look at the business districts of Hempstead and Huntington, two of Long Island's oldest centers of commerce.Downtown HempsteadHempstead means business. It also has gotten the business, figuratively speaking, being forced out of its early eminence as Long Island's shopping center to become one of the downtowns that planners worry about."It's a bad rap," says James York, historian of the oldest incorporated village in New York State, a place with three and a half centuries of history and its share of pain. Known as The Hub for its central location and its dominance of commerce, the village of Hempstead has evolved, trying, as many downtowns are, to redefine itself as a viable satellite to the megamalls and Big Box stores that have redirected the flow of business.For York, the business history of Hempstead village is, with some exceptions, typical of the ebb and flow of most of Long Island's hubs."It is certainly a shadow of its former self," says York, project coordinator for the village's Community Development Agency, "but it still has the potential to come back and be a reasonably heavy hitter."This area of the vast Hempstead Plain, bounded by two freshwater streams, was settled in 1643 and quickly became the place for farmers to gather and sell their goods to buyers from an ever-wider radius. A revolution, George Washington, and 200 years later, the village was home to 1,355 people. After the Civil War, Henry Agnew sold paper goods not far from R. G. Powell Undertaker and Powell's Hotel. Printer Lott Vandewater started the Hempstead Sentinel in 1899. In the early part of this century, Louis Cohen opened his dry goods store and A. L. Frank sold men's clothing down the street from Miss Zwerin's Secretarial Studio. One branch of the Long Island Rail Road terminated in the village, also the home of the county's central bus terminal. The major roads, later supplemented by trains and buses, made it the crossroads and brought workers and shoppers from all directions.By 1940, with a population of 22,000, the village was home to Arnold Constable, a department store in the Manhattan mold. Mayor George Estabrook was envisioning a City of Nassau with the village as its hub. The Chamber of Commerce newsletter talked of Hempstead's "unassailable situation among villages in the state of New York." "Grapes of Wrath" played at the Rivoli Theater.Like Long Island, the village changed dramatically as manufacturers ramped up for World War II and then more so as veterans and their families moved to the suburbs. Soon to greet them were Sears, F. W. Woolworth, W. T. Grant and Times Square Stores. Abraham & Straus opened a 5-story monster store in 1955 that would go on to become the top-grossing department store in the country for a time.That was barely a year before the opening of Roosevelt Field in Garden City, Green Acres in Valley Stream, Mid-Island Plaza and Americana in Manhasset. Fifty-thousand shoppers, the population of Hempstead today, attended Roosevelt Field's debut.The Hub was hurt."There were a number of factors," says York, the historian. "It was not just the advent of Roosevelt Field. It was also the demise of Mitchel Air Force Base, which pumped a fair amount of money into the Village of Hempstead as well. And the continuing growth of other communities in Nassau County that were developing their own downtowns."In time, the village of Hempstead was reeling. The major stores were all but gone. The bankrupt TSS chain closed the 250,000-square-foot Hempstead store in 1989. It remained a derelict until it was leveled in 1997. The parent of A&S, itself in bankruptcy, closed the 540,000-square-foot Hempstead store in 1993. Lots of grand redevelopment talk notwithstanding, it stands forlorn on 17 acres at the hub of The Hub.With Long Island's economy in better spirits and the village aggressively attempting to recover, the number of vacant stores has dropped significantly. A new $9 million bus terminal opened in 1993 and now has 26 routes and 13,000 riders passing through the village every day. The rundown Rivoli Theater gave way to 112 units of rental housing with retail stores on the first floor. The LIRR is preparing to embark on a new $15.6 million terminal for The Hub.
"The potential for retail here in the Village of Hempstead still exists," York says, "and that's something that's obviously not lost on some of the developers proposing retail development here."One of the most significant changes in the last 25 years has been the growth of a large multicultural community and related businesses in and around downtown. "The demographics have changed considerably," says David Mosley, president of the Hempstead Chamber of Commerce. "We have had a very very large influx of Latinos.""The diversity is strengthening the community because it is a great place to live and grow up. It is an international situation in terms of living."Glen Boehmer, third-generation printer and owner of Sentinel Printing on Chasner Street in Hempstead Village, says, "There seems to have been a death to conventional retail and a rebirth of multicultural retail."
Related links
Downtown Hempstead Photo
Ann Steinger has owned a uniform store called Top Hat Inc. on Franklin Street in Hempstead Village for 411/2 years. She says, "It is a very mixed village . . . and we are very happy here."Downtown HuntingtonHuntington's downtown is in its second incarnation, which distinguishes it from most of Long Island's central business districts. It also is enjoying a revival, even though major malls and category-killer stores have skewed the situation for many downtowns.From its settlement 345 years ago a half-mile east of its current center, downtown Huntington has been the heart of commerce in the northwest corner of what is now Suffolk County."It's retained its identity," says Mitzi Caputo, curator of the Huntington Historical Society, "probably because it was larger and more complex to begin with."That doesn't mean it hasn't been challenged, particularly after openings in 1962 of Walt Whitman Mall and Big H Shopping Center to the south. The Whitman Mall continues to draw shoppers away from the Huntington village -- a misnomer since it was never incorporated -- but Big H has hit hard times. Whitman is undergoing a major expansion and there is talk of redeveloping Big H, so there are no guarantees that downtown Huntington will continue to thrive.In the town's favor is that it is a comfortable setting that attracts families to move within walking distance. "We have so many historic buildings," Caputo says. "We don't have the monotony of that all-the-same facade or the artificially created Nantucket look or anything that's redundant and Walt Disneyish."Between 1790, when George Washington passed through, and 1820, the population of Huntington Town more than doubled, from 2,000 to 4,935. By the Civil War, the commercial center had shifted west on Main Street from Park Avenue to cluster around New York Avenue.The arrival of the Long Island Rail Road in 1867 sparked a small rival business district just to the south in Huntington Station that lasted until the early 1970s, when it was bulldozed in an urban renewal program, which left Huntington village as the only downtown for miles around. Urban renewal also threatened downtown Huntington, but only a small number of stores and houses were demolished to make way for a post office and parking lots. The difficulty of traveling, especially before the LIRR, created a brisk hotel trade and a lively variety of supporrting services, including taverns, blacksmiths and livery stables.A snapshot of the early 1900s would include the smithy of J. T. Cantrell & Brother, who began fitting car frames with wooden wagon bodies to create the forerunner of the station wagon. On Main were McBrien's meat market, Henry Borchers grocery, Goldstein Dry Goods, Wm. Staudenmeier & Sons barbers, Iverson's saloon and the First National Bank.Five-and-dimes came and went, as did Sears and A&P. The 3-story building at the corner of Main and New York Avenue is representative of downtown Huntington's evolution. In 1880 it was the dry goods emporium of O. S. Sammis, a prominent surname in Huntington history. It became Swezey's furniture store, Hartmanns' department store, Snappy's shoes and now is home to The Gap. What was W. T. Grant Co. is now Marsh's Men's & Boy's Shop.Downtown suffered in the Depression and periodically afterward, but as with many business districts, each down cycle has been followed by the reverse. The village is now a business improvement district, taxing itself to pay for refurbishments.
Hempstead Village Divided on $2 Billion Comeback Plan
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By BRUCE LAMBERT
Published: August 1, 2007
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., July 31 — For centuries this village was the center of activity on Long Island, until modern suburbia exploded around it and decay set in.
Now the beleaguered community is agonizing over a $2 billion comeback plan — one of the largest that Long Island has ever seen — that would rip up a swath of downtown and replace it with 2,500 condominiums, 600,000 square feet of stores and a performing arts hall.
The debate over the plan has been intense, drawing overflow crowds to hearings lasting long into the night and sharply dividing the Village Board. Just this week, a vote to select a developer was scheduled for Monday, rescheduled for Wednesday and delayed again without a decision on a new date. In an earlier phase, the fractious board voted 3-2 against the project, then reversed itself and voted 3-2 in favor.
Proponents like Mayor Wayne J. Hall Sr. call the proposed project an antidote to sprawl, a model center where people could live, work, shop and dine in the same neighborhood.
“It could be transformative — it could make a ‘there’ there,” said David M. Kooris, a suburban specialist for the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit policy group that he said was “definitely enthusiastic.”
As Steve Rao, who hopes his Main Street Wireless cellphone store will be in the new center, put it, “For us it will be a great thing.”
But not everyone here is so enthusiastic, especially those who fear the flip side of urban renewal, displacement and gentrification. “They want to knock all this stuff down, but what happens to the people who have been here for years?” said Sherry Smalls, a bus driver, who was standing in her front yard. “They want to build new homes, but who knows if we could afford them?”
Mayor Hall wants the board to designate Urban America, a Manhattan-based, minority-controlled company with projects in several states, as the developer. Some critics have called for new proposals from other bidders.
Across Long Island, many villages are trying to revive their sagging downtowns, but the breadth of Hempstead’s plan stands alone. “This is a megaproject,” said Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision Long Island, a nonprofit planning group. “We found nothing else to compare and contrast it to.”
Everyone here agrees that something needs to be done; the issue is just how much. Some residents are totally for or against the plan, while many others are pushing just for revisions.
“The area needs to be revitalized, and I would support it if they make certain changes,” said Joseph Gill, a co-chairman of the local chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
Mr. Gill demands that half of the condominiums be reserved for lower-income housing, instead of the 5 percent planned, although the mayor insists the 5,400 apartments already in the village are sufficient.
The Village of Hempstead, incorporated in 1853 and part of the much larger Town of Hempstead, is New York’s oldest and most populous village, with nearly 57,000 residents. It dates to a time when stagecoach lines converged here and the likes of George Washington visited. It later was home to some of the Vanderbilts and the inventor Peter Cooper.
Known as the Hub, Hempstead flourished into the 1960s. Abraham & Straus was a top-grossing department store, and the 2,436-seat Calderone Theater was a showplace for movies and concerts. “For Long Island, it was the focal point, the big city,” said Desmond Ryan, director of the Association for a Better Long Island, a developers’ group.
A “destination” was how Patrick Duggan, Nassau County’s deputy executive for development, recalled it. “A big outing for us was to come to A&S,” Mr. Duggan said. “I got my suits at Robert Hall, and on a really special occasion, we’d have dinner at Cooky’s Steak Pub.”
All those businesses are long gone. “But that could happen again,” he said.
Hempstead fell on hard times as suburbs like Levittown and shopping malls like Roosevelt Field sprang up, sucking the vitality out of downtown. “The whole mentality of shopping changed,” said Richard V. Guardino, executive dean of Hofstra University’s Center for Suburban Studies.
As the white residents fled to the newer suburbs, blacks and then Hispanics moved in. Poverty grew and taxes rose. There was also an increase in crime and a decline in school performance.
The renewal plan would bulldoze 26 acres along Main Street, an area peppered with empty lots and boarded-up buildings. Among the properties that remain are a few homes, a car repair shop, a nail parlor, a bodega, storefront churches and a store selling pornographic videos — what Mr. Duggan calls a mishmosh.
“You hear the schools are bad, you hear people are getting shot, and we do have those problems,” Mayor Hall said. “But we can work on those problems while giving a jump-start to the economy and bring life back to our downtown. That’s why I’m so gung-ho.”
The project would create 5,200 construction jobs and 1,200 permanent jobs and yield $35 million a year in badly needed taxes, the mayor says.
Some critics question whether services like the sewer and water systems could accommodate the project, issues that the mayor has said will be studied and addressed. Others oppose the heights proposed for some of the buildings, which could be as tall as 16 floors — an anomaly for a region where growth has been horizontal, not vertical. But Edward Scott, a vice president of Urban America, said that height and density could also be modified.
But Don Ryan, the sole Republican and only white member of the Village Board, said he was still not satisfied. “If I wanted to live in Queens, I’d move there,” he said. “I’d like Urban America more if they were suburban America.”
Troubled Hempstead Debates Its Renewal
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By PHILLIP LUTZ
Published: January 22, 1989
LEAD: WITH its central location, rich commercial history and seemingly unsurpassed access to major transportation, downtown Hempstead offers perhaps the greatest potential for redevelopment of any business district on Long Island.
WITH its central location, rich commercial history and seemingly unsurpassed access to major transportation, downtown Hempstead offers perhaps the greatest potential for redevelopment of any business district on Long Island.
Indeed, much redevelopment has already occurred, notably the opening of the new Nassau County District Courthouse and the rehabilitation of lower Main Street.
However, plans for a major change in scale, one that would transform the village's downtown area into a high-density commerical center comparable to those in White Plains and Stamford, Conn., have become the focus of a bitter dispute that has already delayed, and could ultimately derail, continued development.
The dispute, which has become overtly political as the March 21 municipal elections approach, centers on the disposition of perhaps the two most desirable blocks in the heart of downtown Hempstead: nearly 16 acres bounded by North Franklin Street on the west, Bedell Street on the north, Main Street on the east and Jackson Street on the south.
On that site, Mayor George Milhim, a Republican, has proposed the construction of a million square feet of office space in three buildings, one of which, at 20 stories, would be the tallest such structure on Long Island.
He also has proposed the construction of a 300-room hotel, a 4,000-car parking lot and about 200,000 square feet of retail space.
At least one potential developer sees this as the first stage of what ultimately would be a $250 million ''super block'': 10 buildings, totaling 2.4 million square feet, that would cover 10 square blocks north of Fulton Avenue.
Both Mayor Milhim and the developer favor condemnation as the way to gain access to the prized two blocks, which are situated only one block from a Long Island Rail Road station. However, residents who would be displaced, including the owners of about 40 businesses, have moved quickly, and with some success, to delay such proceedings.
In recent weeks, they have held meetings with an independent counsel, and are threatening to sue, possibly before the elections.
They have the support of the three Democratic members of the village's Board of Trustees, Lance Clarke, Robert Carruth and James Garner, who is running for Mayor. The three, who represent a voting majority on the board, have failed to give Mr. Milhim a resolution supporting the condemnation.
That failure, and the intervention of Assesmblywoman Erlene Hill, Democrat of Hempstead, have helped the residents win a temporary victory by persuading the state's Urban Development Corporation to withhold money for a vital study of the two-block site, even though the funds had been earmarked in the 1988-89 legislative budget.
''We have suspended work on the project until the local issues have been resolved,'' said Karen Phillips, the corporation's project manager for Hempstead.
Division on the issue of how the downtown area should be developed dates to 1980, when Alan Schuman first became Hempstead's director of community development and changed the village's direction.
''When Hempstead was in its heyday, it was primarily retail,'' he said. ''When we took over and were mandated to rejuvenate the downtown, we switched it over to office because the market for retail was very low at the time.
''We actually proposed a certain amount of development for the area, marketed the planning for a number of years and finaly drummed up some interest.''
One interested developer, the only one to have expressed that interest publicly, is the Hempstead-based Johansen Organization, which had become one of the village's largest landowners by purchasing 17 properties totaling 1.4 million square feet.
Harry Johansen and his brother Ron have been ''actively pursuing'' the downtown project for at least four years.
''On an urban renewal,'' Harry Johansen said, ''you need a few things to happen. First off, you need a location, which we have. And you really need a master plan, which we put together.
''The village subsequently came up with a master plan and, combining bits and pieces of both, there really is an ideal situation to be had here. The next logical step has to come from condemnation and declaring an urban-renewal zone in the area.''
That is what the village supported in the summer of 1987 in a request to the Urban Development Corporation for money to study redevelopment of the 16-acre downtown site, Ms. Phillips said.
In the fall of that year, she said, Mayor Milhim and Mr. Schuman met with the corporation to outline their interests.
To justify the village's request, Mr. Schuman issued a report in December 1987 explaining why the area should be considered blighted.
''The area,'' he wrote, ''has not seen the influx of investment that has rejuvenated other sections of downtown Hempstead, despite the fact that several redevelopment projects have been proposed there in the last several years.
''As a result, real-estate values in the area have remained depressed when compared with the estimated 400 percent increase experienced in lower Main Street.'' (In the early 1980's, the village acquired about 30 properties on the block south of Fulton Avenue, between Franklin and Main Streets, and facing on Front Street. A small shopping center and a large Waldbaum's supermarket were built).
Mr. Schuman's report also noted that there were no more than 25 families in the 16-acre area. The report said there were 42 buildings, 12 of which were at least partly vacant and 16 in need of rehabilitation, but ''probably infeasible for rehab because the cost exceeds the value of the buildings.''
Mr. Milhim and Mr. Schuman obtained for Hempstead a $200,000 grant for study of the 16 acres by the Urban Development Corporation. Before the money could be spent, however, occupants in the area began mounting a major campaign opposing the condemnation plan.
''We're trying to defeat this spurious effort to consider this a blighted area,'' said Donald F. Kane, a lawyer whose office on West Columbia Street is within the 16 acres.
''Instead of making a comprehensive plan for the entire village,'' Mr. Kane said, ''they simply zeroed in on this specific area.'' Leonard Myers is the owner of the 12,000-square-foot, fully occupied office building at 126 North Franklin Street, which is situated within the proposed development site.
The business people there, he said, ''don't want a condemnation process to come in as one big broom and just destroy and dislocate all the businesses, enterprises and services that are being rendered to the community.
''To target 16 acres is not the way to redo the community that's going to serve all the interests.''
Mr. Myers questioned why the blighted 22,000-square-foot building at 156 North Franklin Street was ''not allowed'' to be sold for development.
Said Howard Kalinsky, owner of Kalinskys Furniture at 127 Main Street, which has been operating within the 16-acre site for 37 years:
''It's pure, unadulterated rape. You get offered probably 50 percent of the actual value. Then you get tied up in litigation for the next 6 or 10 years. The interested parties wind up being the losers and the Johansens come in and 'steal' the property.''
Mr. Schuman named specifically four developers, in addition to the Johansen Organization, with whom the village has been negotiating. Because Harry Johansen has been public about his role, Mr. Schuman said he was at liberty to reveal that name.
But to maintain the other potential developers' confidentiality, he declined to disclose their names.
''It's a political atmosphere right now,'' Mr. Schuman said. ''People are accusing that it's a scam, a setup for Johansen. And Johansen may, in fact, get the project. But they're going to have to go through a formal proposal procedure just like everyone else.''
In an attempt to prevent development, merchants have formed a group, People United to Save Hempstead (PUSH). Some have solidified their political support of Mr. Garner, Mr. Carruth and Mr. Clarke.
Mr. Clarke, whose law office on West Columbia Street places him at the center of the proposed 16-acre site, said:
''It's not only what you do with your head, it's what you do with your heart. Some of the merchants are the tried and true. They stayed here when Hempstead was on the outs. They don't see how they can be uprooted and replace their investment.''
Mr. Clarke suggested that the proposed development study be broadened to include the entire village. He said that the current 23-acre Abraham & Straus site off Fulton Avenue, adjacent to the 16-acre site, might be more suitable for development, since it was largely vacant.
Mayor Milhim said: ''They want us to do a whole master plan for the village. I say that is just a waste of public funds.
''We wanted to get different organizations who would give us backup support. We went to the Chamber of Commerce, we spoke to Regional Planning Associates of New York, we went to our community development agency.
''I went to the Assemblywoman at the time, Barbara Patton, and Assemblyman Lewis Yevoli, and they gave us letters of support.
''Then I went to the village's Board of Trustees, and they failed to give us a resolution supporting the program.
''When Erlene Hill was elected,'' he said, the opponents of the redevelopment plan ''got to her, and she's the one who basically put the freeze on the monies'' for the feasibility study.
Taxpayers, residents and merchants approached Mrs. Hill last year, she said.
''They said they heard there was going to be a major change in the downtown,'' she said. ''I was advised that a state grant had been approved to follow through with that redevelopment.
''I was not privy to the original proposal. But after having reviewed it, and after having spoken with the office of Senator John Dunne, Republican of Garden City, and with former Assemblywoman Patton and Assemblyman Yevoli, they also told me that they thought the proposal would include the entire village for study.
''However, the proposal that was submitted only included a small section of the downtown area. So there was either a misconception, a misunderstanding or a breakdown in communications somewhere.''
Last Aug. 2, Assemblywoman Hill held her first meeting with the PUSH group, and on Sept. 12 she met with four members of PUSH and the Mayor. On Oct. 13, Mrs. Hill and the PUSH members met with Mr. Schuman, but not Mr. Milhim, in the office of Vincent Tese, the state's Director of Economic Development.
To avoid the appearance of collusion, Mr. Clarke did not attend any of these meetings, Mrs. Hill said.
On Dec. 14, Mrs. Hill sent a letter to Mr. Tese, asking that he ''delay disbursing monies until all concerned parties have an opportunity to discuss it.''
According to Alan Hamerman, director of public affairs for the Urban Development Corporation, that agency is now ''investigating the merits of the arguments.'' The resulting delays in the project have elicited predictably contrasting reactions.
To Mr. Schuman, delays increase the possibility that Hempstead will have to sweeten incentives to lure developers.
''I'm not even sure that the project will go ahead,'' he said. ''But if it happens in the throes of a recession, you put a request for proposals in the paper, and you get 2 or 3.
''If it happens in good times, you may get 10 proposals, and you may not have to give away the kitchen sink to get a project.
''That's my concern. Tying up this $200,000 could potentially really hurt the project.'' But to Mr. Clarke, the delays are necessary, if undesirable. Another issue raised by the Democratic opposition is the potential loss of tax revenue. Said Mr. Clarke:
''I am also concerned that, if you take out the businesses that are here right now paying taxes and rendering service to the community, what happens if the businesses you replace them with are not successful? What happens if we have to give them some sort of tax abatement that eliminates rather than brings in revenue?''
Mr. Johansen responded that he would know whether his project was viable before building.
''I'm not going to build this thing on spec,'' he said, referring to the first building in the proposed redevelopment area.
''I'm going to need a tenant,'' he said. ''And after many years, I've gotten a tenant who's going to take 80,000 square feet.''
The tenant, Mr. Johansen said, was a back office for a bank, but he declined to say which one. He also declined to say when he would announce the tenant.
''It's the kind of plan that may take 10 or 15 years to complete,'' Mr. Johansen said. In the meantime, the affected merchants have been meeting with their lawyer, whose name they declined to reveal and with whom they said they have met three times.
Mr. Schuman said that ''it's been a political decision to broaden the study, and I support that decision today.''
He also said that several businesses were no longer under consideration for redevelopment, thus reducing the size of the original site of 16 acres to 12 to 15 acres.
''What I hope will happen,'' Mr. Schuman said, ''is that, after the election, the new mayor will authorize me to go ahead with the planning and spending of the $200,000 to further detail the 12 to 15 acres, to continue negotiations with the developers and eventually make up a proposal package.''
It is unclear how the village would pay for the $16 million cost of acquisition, demolition and relocation. Although Federal and state money will cover the $8 million cost of a new transportation center, such money will be otherwise scarce.
''Right now, it looks like there's no Urban Development Action grants,'' Mr. Schuman said. ''We were counting on that for a $10 million grant from H.U.D.''
http://thecommunityalliance.blogspot.com/2006/04/renewal-plan-for-downtown-hempstead.html
Ambitious Revitalization Plan Takes Shape, But Is it "Smart Growth?"Are plans to remake Main Street in the incorporated Village of Hempstead in tune with creating a sustainable community, or is the Mayor's proposal simply "pie-in-the-skyscraper" without long-term vision?Newsday reports that Hempstead Village is poised to redevelop it's downtown area -- including Village Hall, the old bus depot, and various locations along a stretch of Main Street -- with a mix of condominiums, office space, and commercial and retail businesses. [Click HERE to read New Look For Hempstead.]While a search of the village's Community Development Agency's website failed to yield formal revitalization plans (the link to "Urban Renewal Plan" brings up a site that is "under construction"), and calls to the office of CDA Commissioner Claude Gooding have not, to date, been returned, the February edition of Hempstead Visions, the village's monthly newsletter, does reference -- in terms as broad as they are vague -- the "near completion" of Hempstead's 12-year old Master Plan. [We did find an old draft of a Hempstead Village Master Plan, from back in the days when Glen Spiritis was Commissioner of Hempstead's CDA. It didn't give us much to bite on!]As it appears the mountain must go to Mohammed to view actual plans, this blogger plans a field trip to Hempstead Village Hall later this week to take a gander at exactly what Mayor Wayne Hall and his colleagues have in mind for New York's most populous village.Certainly, a comprehensive downtown revitalization plan -- one that would give impetus to a return of downtown Hempstead to something akin to it's heyday as the economic and social hub of Long Island -- would be most welcome. Simply throwing $180 million dollars at a project that would, concededly, rebuild the infrastructure, without due consideration of the impact on the surrounding environs (and in particular, existing residences and small businesses), could, conceivably, do more harm than good. For that matter, to do little more than to give a tip of the hat to principles of sustainability and sense of place would be throwing good money after bad.It takes more -- much more -- than building a skyscraper smack-dab in the middle of town to re-energize and revitalize a community. Calling for the creation of a "cultural center" for Nassau County, without further forethought, does not a sustainable community make. In fact, what should be a centerpiece of the rebirth of a community too long in decline may well have all the earmarks of suburban nightmare in the making. To paraphrase those nice folks at Smart Growth America, we can almost hear that "giant sucking sound" vacuuming up Main Street, while much of the rest of downtown, and the residential and retail community around it, is left to gather dust.In Jamaica, Queens, an attempt was made, nearly a generation ago, to bring life back to a community decades in decline by constructing office towers and impressive facades. The project, which continues, even today, did little to encourage the rebirth of the community beyond the area of redevelopment. In fact, insofar as creating a sustainable community, the Jamaica redevelopment project, despite marginal gains and best efforts to paint a rosy picture of a still bleak and downcast downtown, was, by any real measure of livability, a dismal failure.There is a difference between "thinking big" (as in grand visions), and "bigger is better." Hempstead's planners -- and the residents they serve, who must themselves be intimately involved in both the planning and implementation of this bold renewal project -- should revisit the drawing board (what's another year tacked on to an already more than decade old Master Plan?) before expending significant monies and reaching toward the sky.If it doesn't "look like suburbia," maybe it doesn't belong in suburbia! "Build it -- whatever 'it' may be -- and they will come," is not only myopic in vision, it is, in terms of establishing the very model of the sustainable suburban village, a plan fraught with danger.- - -There once existed a Joint Center For Sustainable Communities, an extension of The United States Conference of Mayors. [Wasn't James Garner, the former Mayor of the Village of Hempstead, once the President of this illustrious group?] As it's website tells us, "The Joint Center for Sustainable Communities is no longer in existence." What, then, does this portend for those of us who remain committed to creating sustainable communities?
posted by The Community Alliance at 7:49 AM
http://www.ferrandinoandassociates.com/projects/recentprojects072007.pdf
F&A UPDATING VILLAGE OF HEMPSTEAD COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
F&A, with sub-consultants FxFowle Architects, PC and Urbitran Associates, Inc., was retained by the Community Development Agency to prepare an update to the Village’s Comprehensive Plan, including a focus on the Village’s downtown. This action-oriented, stakeholder-driven plan includes extensive community visioning, land use, zoning and urban design components, such as streetscape and adaptive reuse of vacant and under-utilized buildings, and issues associated with vehicular and pedestrian circulation and parking for the largest village (population 56,588) in Nassau County. Long-term components of the Downtown Plan include a capital improvements program and a market study that will assist the Village in conducting business recruitment efforts. Together with representatives of the Village of Hempstead, County of Nassau and State of New York, the F&A team is conducting a series of public visioning forums to ensure that the general concerns and needs of the Village’s taxpayers are met. The Plan is scheduled to be adopted later this year following the completion of a Generic Environmental Impact Statement.
In addition, the firm has been hired to prepare two urban renewal plans for the Village, including the preparation of blight determination studies and environmental documentation for the plans. F&A is also representing the Village in reviewing development applications coming before the Trustees and Planning Board and is serving as the Village’s SEQR consultant. Ferrandino & Associates Inc. 3
http://spacedoutli.wordpress.com/2008/01/02/hempstead-redo-redux/
Hempstead redo redux
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In the wake of the UrbanAmerica debacle, the Village of Hempstead is asking for other developers to step up to the plate and take a swing at revitalizing 26 acres of its downtown.
Already in the midst of a community visioning process that kicked-off with a workshop on December 11, the village’s Community Development Agency is advertising–see page 8B, LIBN 12/28/07–for “expressions of interest” on a mixed-use project that would include “residential, retail, office, open space, parking and entertainment”.
UrbanAmerica had proposed a $2 billion plan for Hempstead that included over 2,000 condos, 600,000 square feet of retail and office space and a performing arts center. But after months of trying, UA supporter Mayor Wayne Hall couldn’t sway enough village trustees to vote his way and the plan was pulled from consideration in August.
Developers with project or site questions should contact Claude Gooding, commissioner of the Hempstead CDA at cgooding@hempsteadvillagecda.org
http://www.dec.ny.gov/enb2004/20040428/not1.html
Notice Of Acceptance Of Draft EIS And Public Hearing
Nassau County - The Village of Hempstead Community Development Agency, as lead agency has accepted a Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed North Main Street Redevelopment. A public hearing on the Draft EIS will be held on May 5, 2004 at 6:00 p.m. at the Village of Hempstead, Village Hall. The public comment period ends 10 days after the close of the public hearing. The action involves adoption of the proposed Urban Renewal Plan for the Project Area, each of the individual projects outlined within the Plan (each of which are also subject to site plan review) and the associated rezoning, and the Comprehensive Plan Update. Within the Inc. Village of Hempstead, the project location encompasses part or all of approximately nine blocks along or proximate to North Main Street. The Area includes one building located two parcels north of the triangular intersection of North Franklin Street and Old Franklin Street at its northernmost boundary. The boundary then runs south along Old Franklin Street to just north of Union Place. The boundary incorporates Union Place and extends south to West Columbia Street, between North Franklin Street and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), excluding: 1) the parcels along the eastern side of North Franklin Street from Union Place to a location approximately one-third of a block north of West Columbia Street, but including the right-of-way of Kellum Place; 2) the corner building at the southwest intersection of Union Place and North Main Street; and 3) the block from Union Place to Kendig Place between North Main Street and Hewlett Street. The southernmost block within the boundary runs from West Columbia Street to Jackson Street between North Franklin Street and North Main Street.
http://nassaunews.org/news/2008/01/affordable_housing_on_long_isl_1.html
Affordable Housing on Long Island: Development Plan or Moving Target?
By Lindsey CalabreseNassau News Staff WriterA lack of affordable housing directly affects Long Island’s economic growth. Explore the various solutions proposed to alleviate this problem and learn about the organizations formed to attack the issue.

Additional Links
Click here to read the PDF of the presentation of Matthew T. Crosson, President, Long Island Association Inc., given before the New York State Division of Budget Public Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2008-2009 on Nov. 30, 2007. Crosson asks for an increase in the budget for funds to help the affordable housing-development issue on Long Island.
Read the PDF of the Affordable Housing and Inclusionary Zoning Study for the C-2 District Village of Great Neck Plaza, New York proposal. Developed by Saccardi & Schiff, Inc. Planning and Development Consultants in July 2005. This is an example of how some towns are proposing to solve the affordable housing issue.
Long Island Housing Partnership
The Long Island Lighthouse Project
Nassau County Industrial Development Agency
http://nassaunews.org/news/2008/01/hempsteads_redevelopment_plans.html
Hempstead's Redevelopment Plans
By Kristina TrnkaNassau News Staff WriterThe Village of Hempstead, seeking to reinvigorate its core, considered UrbanAmerica for an ambitious $2 billion redevelopment plan, which would have ripped up much of downtown and replace it with 2,500 condominiums, 600,000 square feet of stores and a performing arts hall.
The discussion over the plan was intense, drawing crowds to hearings lasting long into the night and sharply dividing the Village Board. But not everyone was enthusiastic, especially those who feared the flipside of urban renewal -- displacement and gentrification.
Mayor Wayne Hall, the proponent of the plan, couldn't get the village leaders to accept the plan and he withdrew the proposal in late 2007.
Now the community is still evaluating proposals from many development groups and has still yet to decide on a new direction.
Kristina Trnka produced this video report, speaking with Hempstead residents, by using the video camera in her cellphone and the Photobucket.com online service.
http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=837
Former and merged names include:· Heemsteede· Heemsteede
The village was established by settlers from Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Hempstead was a Tory stronghold during the Revolution.
Well-known residents have included:· E.H. Harriman, railroad magnate· John Mackey, football player· Julius Erving, basketball player
Local festivals include:
· Dutch Festival - May 6, 2007
Dates often change. Check Hempstead web sites and events links in the sections below.
Send us festival info for Hempstead
Nearby parks & recreation: Jones Beach, Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary
More parks info
Hempstead attractions: Hempstead Lake State Park
Historic sites and museums: African American Museum, Hofstra Museum, Rock Hall Museum
Colleges and universities: Hofstra University
More colleges info
Support for libraries: Local government funding for the local library system, in fiscal years 2001-2002, was on par with the national average. (See library links below.)
Gays & lesbiansNational index: 100Local index: 130
More info
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/30villageli.html
Hempstead Village Revises Redevelopment Plan
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By ANNIE CORREAL
Published: September 30, 2007
HEMPSTEAD
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ABOUT 75 people marched into a meeting room below the public library on Tuesday, ready to voice their demands for the future of downtown, loud and clear. They left an hour later, deflated.
Mayor Wayne J. Hall Sr. has been pushing for a $2 billion project that would bring 2,500 condominiums, 600,000 square feet of retail space, a performing arts hall and 1,200 permanent jobs to the area around Hempstead’s train and bus stations.
The project drew heated debate over the summer. Mr. Hall recently designated Urban America, a Manhattan developer, for the project, and the Village Board was expected to vote on its bid on Tuesday. Instead, the mayor tabled the resolution indefinitely after last-minute changes in negotiations. He said he wanted the board to have time to review the changes.
Don Ryan, a board member who is opposed to the project, said he believed that Mr. Hall tabled the measure because “the mayor wasn’t confident he would get a majority of the vote.”
In the new agreement, the number of moderately priced housing units would increase from 5 to 10 percent, the village’s liability for studies needed by the developer would be capped at $3 million and businesses would be bought out at fair market value, Mr. Hall said in an interview. The changes, which Mr. Hall called concessions to residents’ demands, were not announced at the board meeting.
Members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now say they want the developer to reserve 50 percent of the new units for lower-income housing. They also requested that the developer submit a plan for relocating businesses and guarantee a living wage for those working at the site.
“Everyone wants the area renewed,” said Joseph A. Gill, a co-chairman of the local chapter of the association. “But the village can’t absorb the costs.”
Many business owners in the 26-acre area say they do not want the project, no matter how the proposal is trimmed and tweaked. “We do not support it,” Osvaldo Rivas said in Spanish after the meeting. He and his wife, who came to the United States from Chile in 1970, have owned the Rugo auto-repair shop on North Main Street for nine years.
The developer would pay the Rivases market value for their business, but they fear it would not be enough to support them and their two disabled children.
The businesses on the site are mostly run out of crumbling storefronts rented by immigrants. They include restaurants, beauty salons, a party-supply shop, storefront churches, a billiards club, delis and stores, like Inka Express, that transfer money and sell plane tickets.
“We don’t want to move,” said Sherry Ghong, 36, sitting behind the counter of Golden House, a Chinese takeout restaurant that her family runs. “We have a good business for 12 years. Everybody likes us here. If we move, the whole family loses the job.”
The makeover is not aimed at driving out poor immigrants, Mr. Hall said, but creating a tax base to support the densely populated village. Hempstead has a population of nearly 57,000, “but it’s 70,000, if you count the illegal aliens,” the mayor said.
Hempstead Village Revises Redevelopment Plan
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By ANNIE CORREAL
Published: September 30, 2007
HEMPSTEAD
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Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey
Go to Complete Coverage »
ABOUT 75 people marched into a meeting room below the public library on Tuesday, ready to voice their demands for the future of downtown, loud and clear. They left an hour later, deflated.
Mayor Wayne J. Hall Sr. has been pushing for a $2 billion project that would bring 2,500 condominiums, 600,000 square feet of retail space, a performing arts hall and 1,200 permanent jobs to the area around Hempstead’s train and bus stations.
The project drew heated debate over the summer. Mr. Hall recently designated Urban America, a Manhattan developer, for the project, and the Village Board was expected to vote on its bid on Tuesday. Instead, the mayor tabled the resolution indefinitely after last-minute changes in negotiations. He said he wanted the board to have time to review the changes.
Don Ryan, a board member who is opposed to the project, said he believed that Mr. Hall tabled the measure because “the mayor wasn’t confident he would get a majority of the vote.”
In the new agreement, the number of moderately priced housing units would increase from 5 to 10 percent, the village’s liability for studies needed by the developer would be capped at $3 million and businesses would be bought out at fair market value, Mr. Hall said in an interview. The changes, which Mr. Hall called concessions to residents’ demands, were not announced at the board meeting.
Members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now say they want the developer to reserve 50 percent of the new units for lower-income housing. They also requested that the developer submit a plan for relocating businesses and guarantee a living wage for those working at the site.
“Everyone wants the area renewed,” said Joseph A. Gill, a co-chairman of the local chapter of the association. “But the village can’t absorb the costs.”
Many business owners in the 26-acre area say they do not want the project, no matter how the proposal is trimmed and tweaked. “We do not support it,” Osvaldo Rivas said in Spanish after the meeting. He and his wife, who came to the United States from Chile in 1970, have owned the Rugo auto-repair shop on North Main Street for nine years.
The developer would pay the Rivases market value for their business, but they fear it would not be enough to support them and their two disabled children.
The businesses on the site are mostly run out of crumbling storefronts rented by immigrants. They include restaurants, beauty salons, a party-supply shop, storefront churches, a billiards club, delis and stores, like Inka Express, that transfer money and sell plane tickets.
“We don’t want to move,” said Sherry Ghong, 36, sitting behind the counter of Golden House, a Chinese takeout restaurant that her family runs. “We have a good business for 12 years. Everybody likes us here. If we move, the whole family loses the job.”
The makeover is not aimed at driving out poor immigrants, Mr. Hall said, but creating a tax base to support the densely populated village. Hempstead has a population of nearly 57,000, “but it’s 70,000, if you count the illegal aliens,” the mayor said.
http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2007/10/03/say-goodbye-to-urbanamerica-so-whos-next/
With Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall pulling UrbanAmerica’s plan for the village off of the table, there’s one question … what’s next for the blighted area?
The development centered around market-rate condominiums and retail space, but opponents wanted more affordable housing out of the deal.
The Long Island chapter of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now seems pleased the plan was nixed, and they issued the following statement today.
Read it and ask yourself this, how will Hempstead secure the amount of affordable housing it wants? Who will build it, and how will the village pay for it?
The statement:
Members of Long Island ACORN applauded Hempstead Village Mayor Wayne Hall and the Hempstead Village Board of Trustees today for their decision not to move forward with UrbanAmerica LP’ proposal to redevelop Main Street. Today ACORN leaders proposed principles that should guide future development on the site and encouraged Mayor Hall and Trustees to begin an inclusive process to forge a new development plan for the area.
“We have never said don’t build in Hempstead. There’s nothing wrong with housing and good retail, but we need to do it right. We need to make sure that any large scale redevelopment plan for Hempstead has housing for working families and jobs that pay a living wage,” said Joseph Gill, co-chair of East Hempstead ACORN and Hempstead Village resident.
Throughout the summer hundreds of ACORN members from Hempstead village turned out at hearings to call on Hempstead Village and the principals of UrbanAmerica LP to modify their plan to include 50% affordable housing, living wage building service and retail jobs and a relocation assistance plan for impacted small businesses, residents and workers.
UrbanAmerica LP had proposed a $2 billion development on 26 acres in the center of Hempstead Village to build 2,500 market rate condominiums and develop 600,000 square feet of retail shops and a performing arts center.
“Hempstead Village doesn’t need 2500 luxury condos. We need diverse neighborhoods open to low and moderate income people. And Hempstead doesn’t need dead end service jobs, we need retail tenants and building service jobs that provide a living wage and quality healthcare that working families can afford,” aid Diane Goins, ACORN member and Hempstead Village resident.
Today Hempstead ACORN members called on Mayor Wayne Hall and the Board of Trustees to go back to the drawing board and come back with a redevelopment plan that sets aside at least 50% of new housing for low, moderate and middle income Hempstead residents. ACORN also called on Hempstead to insist that any developer negotiate a legally binding Community Benefits Agreement with ACORN and residents covering jobs and wages at any proposed retail, commercial or performance space.
“We did not set out to oppose development in Hempstead Village. We are not against growth. We are for development that works for working families in Hempstead and look forward to working with the Mayor and Trustees to make that a reality,” said Goins.
http://www.labor.state.ny.us/workforceindustrydata/lon/lmbr/lmbr200704.asp
UPDATE: Details have emerged regarding the proposed $2 billion redevelopment plan for the Village of Hempstead (Nassau County). UrbanAmerica LP, which is managing the ambitious project, hopes to renew 26 blighted acres in the village with thousands of residences, shops and possibly a performing arts center. The boost to municipal coffers could reach $40 million in annual tax revenue. The plan is not without opponents, however. Education advocates contend that the proposed 2,500 market-rate condominiums will strain already over-burdened local schools. (Long Island Business News – April 12, 2007) Hempstead (Nassau) Village hopes redevelopment at the former Greyhound bus terminal will help revitalize its downtown. It is unclear who will develop the site or what it will eventually contain. The 100 Black Men of Long Island Development Group bought the building from Nassau County in 2001 and has since proposed a $28 million plan to install commercial tenants and social service agencies on the first two floors and to sell the rights to build 80 condominiums on two floors above. The village would also build a performing arts center, a multistory garage and an expanded library. Ten to fifteen percent of the condos would sell for below-market rates. (New York Times – July 9, 2006)
http://www.libn.com/article.htm?articleID=39349
100 Black Men and 100 Main
By David Winzelberg
Friday, July 13, 2007
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As the Village of Hempstead mulls the future of its downtown, at least one landlord is fighting off the wrecking ball.
The group called 100 Black Men owns and leases the building at 100 Main St. and has been struggling to keep it financially afloat. The former site of a Nassau County bus depot, 100 Main was purchased in 2001 by the not-for-profit group with $10 million from a HUD community block grant. Today, it’s only about 56 percent rented, and officials from 100 Black Men claim the village – and Hempstead Mayor Wayne Hall specifically – have discouraged prospective tenants from leasing.
The group has filed a $15 million lawsuit against the county, the village and Hall.
According to Hempstead Village Justice Lance Clark, a member of 100 Black Men, the group spent about $1.2 million renovating 24,000 square feet of their building for Nassau BOCES, which had been planning to open offices there. But the deal fell apart because of a state requirement for an integrated central fire alarm system.
The space was next considered by the Nassau University Medical Center, which already leases 12,000 square feet in the building. But during a November 2006 meeting between medical center officials and representatives of the county and the village, the mayor personally nixed the idea, according to Clark.
“He actually said ‘I told (NUMC chief) Art Gianelli I don’t want him to lease any space and I don’t want him in the building,’” Clark recalled.
Hall couldn’t be reached for comment, but when asked if anyone had told him not to lease at 100 Main, Gianelli replied with a written statement: “The Nassau Health Care Corp. enjoys a very good relationship with Mayor Hall. We are working with him now to identify a location in the village upon which to construct a new, expanded Community Health Center.
“In the meantime, we are very grateful to 100 Black Men for allowing us to continue to lease space in 100 Main Street for our current health center operations,” Gianelli wrote.
Three weeks after the meeting with NUMC, the village – as guarantor – sued 100 Black Men for defaulting on a loan issued through the village’s Community Development Agency.
According to Clark, who served as a Hempstead trustee for 16 years, the mayor and other village officials are trying to grease the wheels for the $2 billion UrbanAmerica plan across the street – and they don’t care who gets run over in the process.
When 100 Black Men met with HUD and Nassau officials last summer for a $10.8 million refinancing of its debt, Clark said both the county and HUD gave the OK – but the village did not.
In an expansive downtown redevelopment plan, UrbanAmerica has proposed over 2,000 condo units and 600,000 square feet of retail space over 26 acres.
The head of the Hempstead Community Development Agency, Claude Gooding, denied any effort to keep tenants away from 100 Main. “No one ever prevented anyone from moving in there,” Gooding said, adding the chronic problems faced by the building’s owners can be attributed to area economics.
“You can’t milk a stone,” he said. “The best rents wouldn’t be enough to pay the debt and keep it in good financial standing. The way the building was chopped up, it is not a lucrative proposition.”
Tenants at 100 Main include the U.S. Postal Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Nassau County. Annual taxes for the property amount to about $500,000, according to Leonard Myers, another member of 100 Black Men.
The group has paid the interest portion of its debt (about $250,000), but has not been able to pay the $650,000 portion of principal, according to Clark.
In 2004, the village was sued for $10 million by RB Hempstead, which had an agreement with the village to develop 26 acres north of Main Street. When the village tried to sell an acre-sized parking lot in the middle of the property it had committed to the RB Hempstead plan, the developer sued.
According to Gooding, that’s where UrbanAmerica came in. “They had approached us like many other developers after they heard of the lawsuit in the newspapers,” he said. “We had gotten quite a few visits from developers who had come to meet with us and said they would settle the lawsuit.”
Gooding added that UrbanAmerica Vice President Ed Scott, among others, had approached 100 Black Men to discuss possible solutions to 100 Black Men’s financial difficulties, but said the group is not being realistic.
“I can name four or five investment companies that sat down and offered them money above the debt that they had and they refused to commit,” Gooding said.
Scott acknowledged that UrbanAmerica had spoken to 100 Black Men representatives in 2004, but nothing came of it. “They weren’t the least bit interested in selling,” Scott said. “That was it. We wish them all the luck in the world.”
Clark said the group is willing to talk to interested developers. “But don’t try to steal it,” he added. “We just want fairness.”

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402EEDE1231F934A35753C1A9619C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
Hempstead Redevelopment Plan Scuttled
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By ANNIE CORREAL
Published: October 7, 2007
IN a surprise turnaround, the Hempstead Village mayor has withdrawn plans for a $2 billion redevelopment project that would have razed 26 acres downtown and replaced shabby storefronts and vacant lots with 2,500 condominiums and a new commercial district.
Residents were braced for a long debate on Tuesday, when members of the village board of trustees met to vote on the plan after several previous delays, including one a week earlier. Instead, the meeting ended abruptly, with no vote cast.
As the meeting began, Mayor Wayne J. Hall Sr., addressing a crowd of more than 100, read a statement saying he was pulling the proposal from consideration. A downturn in the real estate market made the plan, proposed by UrbanAmerica, a Manhattan developer, ''not viable,'' he said.
Mr. Hall said he would not resurrect the plan and had no immediate alternatives.
''Since the first time UrbanAmerica met with the village, there has been a change in the housing market, which could render a plan relying on condominiums problematic at this time,'' Mr. Hall said.
He said in an interview on Wednesday that the village had been ''relying on senior citizens to sell their homes, young people being able to obtain a mortgage, and that doesn't seem possible because of the mortgage crisis.''
In the interview, the mayor said he withdrew the plan primarily because he knew he did not have the support of the five-member board, which had been split on the project for months but was expected to reject it.
''First of all, I didn't have the votes,'' Mr. Hall said. ''I put that in one hand, and then I looked at the real estate market.''
In a statement issued the day after the meeting, UrbanAmerica said it was ''very proud of the support our project received.''
''Ultimately, however, we are disappointed to see it withdrawn due to local politics,'' the company said.
Perry M. Pettus, the senior member of the board, said Wednesday that he would have voted against the proposal.
''He knew he didn't have my support,'' Mr. Pettus said of the mayor. ''It was 2-2, and I was the main vote.''
Mr. Pettus had not previously revealed his stand on the proposal. He said he backed the commercial part of the plan but had misgivings about the residential component. ''It doesn't have to be 2,500 condos, because to be honest, I don't know how they're going to fill all that up,'' he said.
Don Ryan, the only Republican on the board and a staunch opponent of the plan from the beginning, said the mayor was reacting appropriately to the condominium market, which he called sour.
''This is not the right time to go into the market,'' Mr. Ryan said. ''I believe he did the right thing -- the decision to withdraw the plan was appropriate.''
Whatever their opinions about why he did it, the board members said they were surprised by Mr. Hall's sudden change of heart. For months he had pushed the plan as a way to create a tax base and revitalize Hempstead.
''I don't know one person who is not shocked,'' Mr. Pettus said.
While there is no alternate proposal on the table, Mr. Hall said he planned to take several ideas from investors and then ''see what we think is best for residents of the village.''
''Housing is definitely an integral part of this whole process,'' he said. ''The big-box store is not going to happen.''
In 2004, a proposal to build a big-box store on North Main Street, like a Costco or a Lowe's, was scrapped amid litigation.
Residents and members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, applauded the mayor's decision to withdraw the proposal. The organization, known as Acorn, had pushed for more housing in the plan at below-market rates -- 50 percent rather than the 10 percent in the most recent proposal.
''I did not think he would cancel the whole thing, but I am happy he listened to the community,'' said Diane Goins, a leader in the Hempstead branch of Acorn. ''I hope the community is part of the planning in the new project, so we can benefit by getting more affordable housing and retail jobs that pay a living wage.''
Mr. Hall said his move had cost him some supporters. ''My credibility suffered because of this project,'' he said.

http://longislandgenealogy.com/hempstead.html
History of Hempstead Village
Hempstead was settled in 1643 by a band of Puritans who sailed across the Long Island Sound from Stamford, Connecticut in search of a place where they could more freely express their particular brand of Protestantism. They were led by the Rev. Robert Fordham and John Carman, both disciples of the Rev. Richard Denton, the leader of their sect. They landed on Long Island at what is now called Roslyn village and trekked southward across a great prairie where they stopped between two fresh water streams and several small ponds. They bargained for the land with the leaders of the local native tribes and made an agreement that allowed them to establish a "town spot" at what is now the Village of Hempstead as well as establishing property rights to what are now known as the Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead. The natives were representatives of three of the areas major tribes, the Marsapeague(Massapequa), Mericock(Merrick) and Rekowake(Rockaway). Tackapousha who was the sachem(chief) of the Marsapeague was the spokesman for the other tribes. Subsequent trips across the Sound brought more settlers who prepared a fort for their mutual protection.These were the beginnings of the oldest English settlement in what is now Nassau County. They established a Presbyterian church here. Today that Church is the oldest continually active Presbyterian congregation in the nation.The name Hempstead is thought to have derived from a town in Hertfortshire, England known as Hemel-Hempstead, perhaps the birthplace of the Rev. Richard Denton. A number of the original settlers came from that area. Hempstead's proximity to New York City (25 miles from Herald Square) an area controlled by the Dutch in 1643 raises the prospect of considerable Dutch influence over the early development of the Hempstead settlement. Several of the original fifty patentees had Dutch surnames and it is also possible, although not likely because of the Englishmen's intense dislike for the Dutch traders and their governor, that the town of Heemsteede in Zeeland, Holland had an influence on the naming of the community.In any case, Hempstead has developed over the past three hundred and fifty years into the largest Incorporated Village in the State of New York, with a population in excess of fifty thousand people. It is also the oldest Incorporated Village in New York State, having incorporated in 1853, as well as the seat of government for the Town of Hempstead, the largest township in the nation with over seven hundred thousand people.Hempstead has been the home to many famous people over the years, and has been visited by some of the most famous, including President George Washington, Father of our Country, who paused at the 1683 inn of Nehemiah Sammis during his presidential tour of Long Island in 1790. Charles A. Lindbergh, the world's most famous aviator, spent quite a bit of time in Hempstead both before and after his epoch solo flight from nearby Roosevelt Field to Le Bourget Field in Paris, France on May 20,1927. Some famous residents of yesterday are Peter Cooper, inventor and politician, who married a local girl and settled here during the mid eighteen hundreds. Cooper invented the steam locomotive and ran for President on the "Greenback" ticket. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spent her summers here during her teen years. Her family had a summer estate in Hempstead.Hempstead has historically been the center of commercial activity for the easternmost counties of Long Island. In Nassau, all major county roads emanate from this village. It is indeed the "Hub" of Nassau County. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries all stage coaches en route to eastern Long Island from Brooklyn passed through Hempstead. Today, twenty six busroutes and three interstate buses leave from the village every day. In addition, the Hempstead Branch of the Long Island Railroad has its' terminal here. At one time, there were three railroad companies with terminals within the village. Early Long Islanders made their living in agriculture or from the sea. Hempstead, with its' central location, became the marketplace for the outlying rural farming communities. It was a natural progression, as the surrounding areas developed from small farms into today's suburbia, that Hempstead Village would remain as the marketplace. Chain department stores such as Arnold Constable and Abraham & Straus called Hempstead home for many years. A&S, Hempstead, was the largest grossing suburban department store in the country during the late 1960's. Hempstead was Nassau's retail center during the 40's through the 60's. The advent of regional shopping malls such as the one at nearby Roosevelt Field and the demise of nearby Mitchel Air Force Base in 1961 put the retail trade in the village on a downward spiral that it was unable to recover from during the recessions of the 70's and 80's. Recent years have seen the redevelopment of the village as a government as well as business center. There are more government employees from all levels of government in the village than are in the county seat in Mineola. The population rises during the day to almost 200,000 from a normal census of 50,000. Retailers are once again showing interest in the village, and two large tracts of potential retail property are currently undergoing redevelopment. A considerable infusion of state and federal funding as well as private investment have enabled the replacement of blighted storefronts, complete commercial building rehabilitations and the development of affordable housing for the local population. The former 8.8 acre Times Squares Stores property on Peninsula Blvd. and Franklin St. is being redeveloped as Hempstead Village Commons, a 100,000 square foot retail center including Pep Boy's, Staples, Hollywood Video and Rite-Aid Drugs. Construction is underway. The replacement of the 1913 HempsteadLIRR terminal with a modern facility is scheduled to commence in early 1999, and a four story 112 unit building for senior housing, with retail on the ground level was completed at Main and West Columbia Streets in January 1998. Thirty two units of affordable townhouses known as Patterson Mews at Henry St. and Baldwin Rd. was completed and fully occupied last summer. The former Abraham & Straus department store on 17 acres is currently undergoing demolition, to be replaced by a large retail development.Hempstead is proud to have elected the first African-American village mayor in the state. It is proud of its' cultural diversity and the resourcefulness and accomplishments of its' residents, both past and present. We are happy to be called home by Hofstra University, one of Long Islands finest educational institutions and enjoy having the New York Jets football team conduct their practice sessions at Hofstra.The Village of Hempstead is truly undergoing a renaissance that it is hoped will restore it to its' former prominence and prepare it for its' passage into the twenty first century.
May 30, 1997rev. July 7,1998
http://www.villageofhempstead.org/history.htm
A Brief History of the Village of Hempstead
In the fall of 1643, two enterprising gentlemen, The Reverend Robert Fordham and John Carman, crossed Long Island Sound by rowboat to negotiate with the local Indians for a tract of land upon which to establish a new community. Representatives of the Massapequak Mericoke, Matinecock, and Rockaway tribes met with the gentlemen at a site slightly west of the current Denton Green. The Indians sold approximately 64,000 acres, the present day Towns of Hempstead and North Hempstead, for items worth less than $100 in today's market.
It has been suggested that the new settlement was called Hempstead as a reminder of the English town of Hemel-Hempstead where most of the original settlers were born. In 1664, the new settlement adopted the Duke's Laws, an austere set of laws that became the basis upon which the laws of many colonies were to be founded. For a time, Hempstead became known as "Old Blue" as a result of the "Blue Laws". As the years passed, the population of Hempstead increased, as did its importance and prestige. In 1703, St. George's Church received a silver communion service from England's Queen Anne. George Washington and other prominent leaders of the Revolution often stayed in Hempstead. In the 1800's Hempstead became increasingly important as a trading center for all of Long Island. In 1853 it became the first self-governing incorporated village. Many prominent families such as the Vanderbilts and the Belmonts built large homes here. Hempstead became a large center of Long Island society.
During the Spanish-American War, Camp Black was established in Hempstead as a training facility and a point of embarkation for troops.
After World War I, the population greatly increased as city dwellers were attracted to the benefits of suburban living. Hempstead became a desirable place to live as it was a well-established community with convenient shopping, already existing public services, and it is within commuting distance from Manhattan. Today the Incorporated Village of Hempstead is a full service community with a population in excess of 49,000 people encompassing an area of 3.7 square miles.

http://www.picturesofengland.com/England/Essex/Hempstead
The village of Hempstead lies a short distance from the delightful town of Saffron Walden. It is the place where the highwayman, Dick Turpin is said to have been born the son of parents who kept the Bell Inn. The legend of his daring lives on in the memory of locals here. A popular conception of him as the romantic champion of the oppressed is expressed in the pages of the novel Rookwood, by W.H. Ainsworth. However, a truer version of him and a more likely one, is that he plundered lonely farmsteads and was a cattle-thief. He did go to York but is thought to have carried on with the same activities. Turpin died as brutally as he had lived, he was hanged at York in 1739 for horse-stealing. His grave can be seen in St. Georges churchyard.In Hempstead, opposite the place of his birth, there is a circle of nine trees known as Turpin's Ring. Many legends abound in these parts about Turpin; he is supposed to have hidden in a great oak tree at a nearby farm and used several lonely inns as hide-outs.William Harvey, physician and discoverer of the circulation of the blood(1628) was born and buried here. He was chief physician at the court of Charles I.Hempstead is surrounded by several typical Essex villages, each a pleasure to amble along and explore. In spring and summer the fields of near-by Saffron Walden are awash with vivid yellow crocus and daffodils. A museum there tells much of the regions history and events. A short distance away is the ancient village of Littlebury which was mentioned in the Doomsday Book, the village church, The Holy Trinity has many treasures and is well worth a visit.Please see below for other recommended towns and attractions to visit near Hempstead.
http://www.saccschiff.com/pdf/Housing/Hempstead%20Vill%20Master%20Plan%20etc..pdf
VILLAGE MASTER PLAN,
DOWNTOWN AND NEIGHBORHOOD
PLANS AND PROJECT
IMPLEMENTATION SERVICES
Village of Hempstead, New York
Saccardi & Schiff, Inc. was the lead consultant
on a team of planners, architects, engineers
and economists for the preparation of a
master plan for this Long Island village with a
population of over 60,000 persons. The study
focused on redevelopment of affordable housing
projects, the provision of necessary public
services, the stabilization of residential neighborhoods
and the revitalizaiton of the CBD.
The economic feasibility of development proposals
was considered in light of market conditions.
The ability of local utility and traffi c
systems to handle projected development was
also evaluated. Saccardi & Schiff, Inc. services
also included preparation and processing
of a Generic Environmental Impact Statement
for the entire plan through the draft, fi nal and
fi ndings stages.
The fi rm also provides on-call services to the
Village relative to the implementation of various
redevelopment projects, including preparation
of urban renewal plans, environmental
assessments, and processing local approvals.
Contact: Glen Spiritis, Former Commissioner
Hempstead Community
Development Agency
(516) 431-1000
RUNDLE COURT
RYAN COURT
STREET
TERRACE
NORTH FRANKLIN STREET
BEDELL STREET
AVENUE
SEALEY AVE.
AVENUE
MARGARET COURT
JACKSON
Reconfigured
Park
Senior Apartments
Townhouses
Apartments

Posts For Final Project

2008-03-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

http://nassaunews.org/news/2007/05/looking_inside_hempstead_and_g_1.html

Hempstead, NY, a town with a population of 56,554 that is 74 percent of its residents being non-white, according to citytowninfo.com, has a reputation as a home to crime, and to fugitives. From sex offenders to gangs, this town doesn’t sound all to welcoming. But is this reputation true, and if it is, what is the biggest threat to the community?

The major type of crime that is reported in Hempstead is larceny according to Inspector Vincent Neefus of the Hempstead Police Department. “Larceny is our biggest concern,” said Neefus. “But this year it was down 24 percent for the first quarter, most of our crime is down a lot recently.”

But despite that the decline in larceny in Hempstead doesn’t mean that the statistics look good compared to other villages. “Twenty-four percent here is good in Hempstead, but not in Garden City,” Neefus told Nassau News.

Neefus also said that some of the larceny and motor-vehicle theft reported in Hempstead is due to insurance fraud or false reports.

“If people lose their cell phone in the mall or some other place they’ll come to Hempstead to report that they lost it here. The insurance company is more likely to believe that they lost it here,” said Neefus. “Also, with motor vehicle theft, people will come from New York City and will come into Hempstead and say they parked on a main street and now their car is gone. It’s really insurance fraud because they’ve already sold the car and now they’re filing a claim with the insurance company.”

While gang crime is present in Hempstead, it is hard to measure how prevalent it actually is.

“Gang activity is hard to measure because people don’t walk around with a gang symbol on their backs when they are committing crimes,” said Neefus. “Gang related crimes are hard to put you finger on.”

When asked about the 26 registered sex offenders that are currently living in the area according to citydata.com, (a ratio of 1 offender for 2175 Hempstead residents), Neefus replied that Hempstead gets a lot of criminals who committed their crimes in other towns.

“Hempstead is a dumping ground. These people need a place to live and go to social services. It is easier for them [social services] to find affordable rentals here,” said Neefus. “There is an overflow of people, some who, for example, might have committed their crimes in Suffolk County, but social services is unable to house people securely there.”

Though Neefus did say that problems like this depend on a case by case basis, “if you commit a crime in Garden City, and are wealthy, you can most likely go back and be a sex offender in Garden City. If you are an alien and already living on the edge of society, then you are most likely going to be housed in a place that you can afford to live.”

As far as sexual assaults go in Hempstead the village is doing pretty well. “Sexual assaults are few and far between. They are down 83 percent from this year to the last,” said Neefus.

So it appears that Hempstead’s reputation, while being founded in some truth, isn’t as bad as it seems.

Now compare Hempstead to one of the other towns that sandwiches Hofstra, Garden City, a village that has a population of about 21,672, with 94.2 percent of its residents being classified as white, according to citytowninfo.com.

The major crimes and highest arrest rates in Garden City are that of larceny, burglary, D.W.I., and Aggravated Unlicensed driving offenses. The town currently has no registered sex offenders according to citydata.com.

And, according to the 2006 Garden City Police Department Annual Report, there were only five assaults and no forcible rapes or murder-manslaughters reported to the FBI in 2006. In total, 324 crimes were reported, with 270 of those being larceny.

Anyone can see the huge gap between the two towns. But why? And why are certain types of crime in Garden City so prevalent? According to Inspector Jackson of the Garden City police, this town has a low crime rate because they practice “proactive policing.”

“I don’t like to compare two departments. Hempstead is a good department and they do their job well. The low rate in serious crime here is due to a highly visible patrol force, we are very proactive and we like it that way,” Jackson told Nassau News. “We have a highly efficient traffic enforcement program and a highly proactive patrol program. So we feel that if anyone comes into town thinking about doing something wrong, seeing us will make them think twice.”

http://www.city-data.com/city/Hempstead-New-York.html

Races in Hempstead:

Black (52.5%)
Hispanic (31.8%)
Other race (15.2%)
White Non-Hispanic (13.2%)
Two or more races (4.7%)
American Indian (1.4%)
Asian Indian (0.5%)

(Total can be greater than 100% because Hispanics could be counted in other races

Spitzer s fall lifts Paterson to governor s post -- Newsday com

Paterson, who is legally blind and grew up in Hempstead, will become only the nation's third black governor since Reconstruction. Only one other New York governor, in 1913, has left amid scandal, and Spitzer's

(newsday.com)

Nassau legislature votes to stockpile emergency supplies -- Newsday com

The Town of Hempstead would have been a more central location, Legis. David Denenberg of Merrick and Legis. Jeffery Toback of Oceanside said in voting against the proposal.

(newsday.com)

NYC Correction Officer Charged In L I Rapes Robberies - News Story - WNBC New York

grand jury indictment charging him with various crimes in Hempstead between April 2005 and September 2007. They include six counts of kidnapping, five counts of robbery, four counts of sex abuse and two counts of rape.

(wnbc.com)

For population 25 years and over in Hempstead

High school or higher: 66.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 16.0%
Graduate or professional degree: 6.5%
Unemployed: 7.0%
Mean travel time to work: 32.4 minutes

For population 15 years and over in Hempstead village

Never married: 45.6%
Now married: 37.3%
Separated: 5.1%
Widowed: 5.8%
Divorced: 6.2%

According to our research there were 26 registered sex offenders living in Hempstead, New York in early 2007.
The ratio of number of residents in Hempstead to the number of sex offenders is 2028 to 1.
The number of registered sex offenders compared to the number of residents in this village is near the state average.

Latitude: 40.70 N, Longitude: 73.62 W

Daytime population change due to commuting: -4,631 (-8.2%)
Workers who live and work in this village: 4,085 (17.2%)

People in group quarters in Hempstead

3427 people in college dormitories (includes college quarters off campus)
1001 people in nursing homes
149 people in other noninstitutional group quarters
94 people in homes or halfway houses for drug/alcohol abuse
28 people in religious group quarters
16 people in other group homes
15 people in homes for the mentally retarded
8 people in homes for the mentally ill
3 people in other nonhousehold living situations

http://www.topix.com/forum/source/newsday/TTVJMAR1NQF2LU7VT

Pedestrian finds man's stabbed body in in Hempstead

Nassau County police say a pedestrian passing by the lot early Sunday morning saw the man lying on the ground and called for help.

yan

Class Felony	Determinate Sentence Term	Post-Release Supervision	Probation Permitted
A-I First Offense	8 – 20	5	No
A-I Prior Non-Violent	12 – 24	5	No
A-I Prior Violent	15 – 30	5	No
A-II First Offense	3 – 10	5	Yes/Life1
A-II Prior Non-Violent	6 – 14	5	Yes/Life1
A-II Prior Violent	8 – 17	5	No
B First Offense	1 – 9	1 – 2	Yes/251
B Sale Near School	2 – 9	1 – 2	Yes/251
B Prior Non-Violent	3½– 12	1½ – 3	Yes/Life1
B Prior Violent	6 – 15	1½ – 3	No
C First Offense	1 – 5½	1 – 2	Yes/5
C Prior Non-Violent	2 – 8	1½ – 3	No
C Prior Violent	3½ – 9	1½ – 3	No
D First Offense	1 – 2½	1	Yes/5
D Prior Non-Violent	1½ – 4	1 – 2	No
D Prior Violent	2½ – 4½	1 – 2	No
E First Offense	1 – 1½	1	Yes/5
E Prior Non-Violent	1½ – 2	1 – 2	No
E Prior Violent	2 – 2½	1 – 2	No

This village:	33.2%
New York:	20.4%

Hempstead:	3.2% ($5,260)
New York:	1.9% ($2,847)

Ken Mccarro JRNL 80B Blog

Post Production Memo

Richard Guardino

Mayor Wayne Hall Interview

Joseph Gill Interview

Script For Story

Links for Hempstead Redevelopment Project

Hempstead Redevelopment Links

Posts For Final Project

http://www.topix.com/forum/source/newsday/TTVJMAR1NQF2LU7VT

Pedestrian finds man's stabbed body in in Hempstead

Hempstead SperlingFile

Hempstead SperlingViews

http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/da/newsreleases/archive/2005/09-29-05.html

September 29, 2005

DILLON TEAMS UP WITH HEMPSTEAD POLICE DEPARTMENT TO COMBAT CRIME

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