Issuu

Friday, April 24, 2026

Vol. 103, No. 17

Thinking of Selling?

FOUNDED 1923 n LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED

Take Advanta g of the Spring e Market.

Erin Fleischm

n Licensed Real Estate Salespe rson O 516.307.940 6 | M 516.864.1 977 erin.fleischm ann@elliman .com Garden City Offi ce | 130 7th St reet 516.307.9406 | elliman.com

Drug Takeback Day PAGE 8 n Grand openings PAGE 6

Village budget finalized without St. Paul’s line

BANNER WINNERS

BY RIKKI MASSAND

Opening Day at GCAA Little League felt bigger than just the start of a season this year—it felt like a full community celebration. Above, The Mets were excited to be the annual winner of the Little League parade banner day. See pages 50-51 for full coverage.

GC voices rally behind Library vision BY RIKKI MASSAND In recent weeks Village budget deliberations have unfolded alongside a backdrop voices urging the Garden City Board of Trustees to fully fund the planned capital project to renovate the lower level of the Garden City Public Library. Supporters say the project would help realize a more cre-

ative, innovative vision for the Library’s space. On Thursday, April 16, the Board of Trustees heard from resident Steve Tobias, whose father served as village mayor 60 years ago. Tobias attended the budget work session on behalf of the Friends of the Garden City Public Library. “The library needs to have an update, partly because it’s

evolving, like all libraries are, into a ‘center’ for kids to meet, as I’ve noticed the vast increase in the children/families population coming to the library for various programs. That’s a strong selling point for the real estate market, for people to have a nice local library to go to, but I am sorry to say our library, compared to others in the area, See page 40

As the Village of Garden City’s Board of Trustees held its third and final budget review work session on Thursday evening, April 16, at Village Hall, officials examined and refined several budget changes developed over recent weeks by the Board and Village Treasurer Irene Woo. The public hearing on the 2026–27 municipal budget was scheduled for the Board’s meeting on Thursday, April 23—after The Garden City News’ April 24 deadline. Coverage of the hearing and full Board meeting will appear in the May 1 edition. The Village’s proposed 2026–27 General Fund operating budget totals $73.7 million, reflecting a $50,000 increase from the tentative budget. However, the tax levy rate of 3.91% and the planned use of $883,000 in surplus remain unchanged from the March 31 and April 2 work sessions. The $50,000 increase stems from a revised estimate for the Village’s CHIPS reimbursement (Consolidated Local Street and Highway Improvement Program), funded through New York State. As a result, the “Estimated Other Revenues” line rises from $12.344 million to $12.394 million in the updated proposal. On the expense side, appropriations increase from $73.659 million to $73.709 million. To offset this, the transfer to capital projects is reduced by $172,000 due to revisions in the Village’s capital plan. The tentative budget had included $2,592,040 for capital transfers; this figure was reduced to $2,420,000 in the April 16 revision, reflecting a scaled-back slate of projects for the coming fiscal year. At the same time, the Contingent account increases by $222,040, incorporating the net $50,000 revenue increase. “We are taking the reduction of the amount needed to fund capital projects (transfer being $172,000) and the increase of $50,000 from CHIPs, and we are placing it in Contingency. We had cut down the Contingency lines quite significantly in prior years in order to meet our tax cap levy; Contingency is typically $1 million but in the tentative budget (three weeks ago) it was set for $800,000 – this allows us to get back to our normal Contingency budget,” Treasurer Woo said. See page 39

Boys Lax tested in three game week PAGE 52 Hackathon team earns second place PAGE 21