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Legislators focus on county map By LAURA LANE llane@liherald.com
Courtesy Office of Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Kevan M. Abrahams
THE NASSAU COUNTY Legislature’s minority leader, Kevan Abrahams, center, was joined at his news conference focusing on the redistricting process by, from left, Legislators Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, Arnold W. Drucker, Josh Lafazan and Debra Mulé.
The Democrats in the Nassau County Legislature are asking for changes in how the county’s legislative map is drawn. They may be a little early, since redistricting will not be considered until 2023, but ensuring equal representation for every resident is on their minds, they say, and since they are in the minority, it probably is never too soon to at least start a discussion. “I can’t believe it’s almost 10 years since we did this,” Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, a Democrat from Glen Cove, said. “One map last time had me and Judy Jacobs in the same district. The one that ended up being used had me with Wayne Wink, but I got lucky. He ran for town clerk. I love my job, so I’m hoping for the best. I hope I can stay around.” The Democrats held a news conference on Aug. 12 at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive & Legislative Building to announce their ideas about fair redistricting. They said they would like to CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
Mixed reviews for Villa at Glen Cove during hearing By JENNIFER CORR jcorr@liherald.com
The Glen Cove Planning Board held one of two virtual hearings Sept. 1 to gather public comments on The Villa at Glen Cove, a $65 million, 176-unit rental housing complex proposed on Glen Cove Avenue. The second hearing will be held Sept. 15. To attend the second session, go to the City of Glen Cove website to obtain an invitation link. Daniel Livingston, president of Livingston Group New York, and his attor ney, Kathleen Deegan Dickson, attended the three-hour Sept. 1 hearing. The Livingston Group has proposed construction of The Villa. Deegan Dickson said the housing complex, if permitted to move forward, would “eliminate
the current eyesore,” a vacant construction site that is full of weeds and concrete slabs, and that nearby residents complained is infested with rats. Livingston Group, which had acquired most of the 4.98 acres for the project by 2007, had proposed a 176-unit condominium building for the site in 2016, but this past winter, it put forward a proposal for a 216-unit rental complex, only to reduce the size of the plan to 176 rental units this summer. Steve Gonzalez, of Glen Cove, said he did not want to see additional apartment complexes in the city, saying he believed it was already developed enough, particularly with the recent addition of assisted-living facilities and other housing complexes. “We are homeowners. Our real
W
e are homeowners. Our real estate values will be affected.
STEVE GONZALEZ Glen Cove
estate values will be affected,” he said of the planned Villa project. But Lisa Cohn, president of the Glen Cove Chamber of Commerce, disagreed, saying she believed the project was “what we need for businesses to improve, because businesses are suffering right now.” She noted that more rental units might bring more traffic, but also more people to patronize local busi-
nesses. Cohn, who lives down the block from the site, said the message that opposition to the project sends to businesses that might seek to open in Glen Cove “is just awful . . . It’s a deterrent.” L o r e t t a Wi l c o x , w h o expressed her opposition to the project, was among the residents who complained of rats. She said that former buildings at the site, which were demolished, were full of rats, and when the structures came down, the rats dispersed. “I never had a problem
until [the Livingston Group] took those buildings down,” she said. The buildings were razed in 2018. Livingston said the project is not the root of a rat infestation in the neighborhood. Keith Lanning, vice president of Livingston Group New York, shared a signed Rodent Free Before Demolition Certificate for the property from the Nassau County Department of Health’s Office of Community Sanitation. CONTINUED ON PAGE 16