Friday, August 30, 2024
Vol. 101, No. 36
Your Realtor Next Door
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Eagle project PAGE 12 n Birthday bash PAGE 39
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Board discusses Seventh Street youth disturbances
TOURNAMENT WINNERS
BY RIKKI MASSAND
Congratulations to the U11 Jaguars, who recently won the East Meadow tournament!
Board designates parkland sites BY RIKKI MASSAND At the August Board of Trustees meeting, Mayor Mary Carter Flanagan introduced the latest efforts to officially designate all municipal parks in Garden City as parkland. This initiative, launched in 2023 by current and former board members, aims to recognize and preserve the village’s parks. The mayor emphasized that the parkland designation ordinance, established
two years ago, is designed to protect these neighborhood parks for future generations. This ordinance has paved the way for the current effort to officially designate municipal parks as parkland. Mayor Carter Flanagan explained that the resolutions for each park, listed on the village counsel’s agenda, are a continuation of this ongoing initiative. The designation of neighborhood parks was a key promise of the
“For a Better Garden City” (FABGC) platform during its rise in 2022. According to Mayor Carter Flanagan and Village Attorney Gary Fishberg, 13 parcels of land are under review to become designated park properties in Garden City. Fishberg stated that these resolutions will ensure these parcels remain protected and used exclusively as parks. See page 38
The Garden City Board of Trustees, along with Police Commissioner Kenneth Jackson, revisited concerns about large gatherings of teenagers, many from outside the community, congregating in the Seventh Street/Franklin Avenue business district. These gatherings, particularly on Friday nights, have sometimes resulted in disturbances. At the Board’s August 15 meeting, a resident raised concerns during the public comment period, reporting that his teenage son was harassed by a group of boys on a recent Friday evening. He questioned what measures the village is taking to ensure public safety downtown, as similar incidents had occurred earlier in the summer. Later in the meeting, Trustee Vinny Muldoon inquired about the protocols the Garden City Police Department (GCPD) has implemented to prevent incidents downtown on Fridays. Muldoon noted that the resident’s concerns reflect those of many Garden City residents regarding the influx of teens on summer Friday nights. Despite these concerns, Trustee Muldoon praised the GCPD for its efforts, acknowledging the challenges posed by the large groups of teens who choose Garden City as their Friday night hangout spot. “The teenagers have somehow decided that Garden City is the place they want to hang out on Fridays – they come off LIRR trains from all over Long Island and create some havoc in our town. It’s quite a challenge when you have that many young people that might be obnoxious and disrespectful. I know the GCPD have done an amazing job of trying to deal with that every Friday – it’s a public street served by a public train and there’s no easy fix here,” Muldoon said before asking Commissioner Jackson for an update on the increased police presence. Commissioner Jackson explained that the police have been proactive, adjusting their approach as the situation evolves. He compared the need for flexibility in police coverage to how sports teams adjust their strategies during games. “We have a crew of GCPD officers assigned on Fridays and we’ve brought in our detectives for undercover work to try to weed out some things that were going on. We also have our traffic agents in place to have lights on their vehicles and provide safety when we need it. It’s a challenging matter but the police are working and doing a great job,” Jackson told the board. He noted that some of the early August incidents were exacerbated by rainy weather, which did not deter the teens. The close quarters led to a few altercations, but the GCPD was on hand to ensure public safety. Jackson also expressed concern about balancing the need for increased police monitoring with the potential for overstepping individuals’ rights. See page 23
Library blood drive collects 36 units PAGE 33 GC Public Schools Summer Enrichment PAGE 22