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Friday, April 19, 2024
Vol. 73, No. 16
NORTH SHORE LIVING
COLUMNIST MALEKOFF DIES
PETITIONS SUBMITTED OPPOSING BLAKEMAN DEPUTIES
PAGES 27-38
PAGE 4
PAGE 6
ON • APRIL 19, 2024
NHP squatters evicted after nearly 1 year
N H P L I T T L E L E A G U E PA R A D E
Neighbors claim victory in campaign against Porsche-driving couple After nearly a year of occupying a home at 39 Brussel Drive in New Hyde Park, police evicted a group of Porschedriving squatters Friday morning. Sheriffs and police officers arrived at the property around 8 a.m. and the eviction process began around 9 a.m., lasting a few hours, neighbors said. Movers carried chairs, cardboard boxes, an air mattress and what looked like a bird cage into a large moving van parked in front of the property. One of the squatters, Denton Gayle, carried full garbage bags from the house into his Porsche Cayenne before taking out his phone and recording police officers, movers, town councilmembers and journalists at the scene. The eviction comes after persistent efforts from neighbors to work with the town on evicting the squatters, Gayle, 29, and Margaret Grover, 19. “The fact of the matter is, we kind of showed what can be done if you stay vigilant and on top of it,” a neighbor Al, who wished to keep his full name anonymous, said. But, Al said, neighbors should not have to be so involved in eviction processes and that squatter’s laws need to change.
An employee of the preservation company handling the house, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed. He waited across the street from the property and said he was there to lock up the house at the end of the eviction process. He said he wants squatter laws in New York to change. The employee claimed he has lost multiple properties to squatters over the past few years and called squatters laws “biased.” North Hempstead Councilwoman Christine Liu was at the scene, standing at the house next door to 39 Brussel Drive as movers carried belongings to the van. One neighbor said that this appearance was just a photo opportunity and claimed Liu had nothing to do with expediting the eviction process — that it was a result of the neighbors’ hard work. “I am grateful to the residents in the community for their responsiveness, tenacity, and legal pursuits following the illegal occupancy of 39 Brussel Drive,” Liu told Blank Slate Media in a statement. “Given the brazen behavior of the occupants at 39 Brussel Drive, the Town supported the parties involved in the pursuit of legal Continued on Page 59
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHEN TAKACS
The New Hyde Park Little League celebrated opening day with a parade in the village. See more photos on page 13.
Floral Park proposes tentative $33M budget B Y T A Y L O R H E R Z L I C H day night an $844,271 increase $32,642,019.
Floral Park’s increase is less over this year or 2.59% The proposed calls for a tax levy than other nearby villages. The Village of Floral Park board In Mineola, for example, the vilpresented a tentative $33,486,490 increase of 2.43%, slightly less than lage is proposing a 4.76% budgetbudget for 2024-2025 — a budget the state-mandated cap of 2.45%. The 2023-2024 budget is during a budget hearing WednesContinued on Page 60
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