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Friday, July 28, 2023
Vol. 72, No. 30
SUMMER DINING
LIRR SCHEDULE CHANGING
EX-DETECTIVE CHALLENGES SANTOS
PAGES 25-32
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Mineola okays 8-story building in downtown
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Pereira says residential structure shows alternative to Hochul’s push BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y The Mineola Board of Trustees approved an application Wednesday night for an eight-story, 119-unit building at 212 3rd St. and Mineola Boulevard. The project, called The Bridge, features 195 parking spots underground, an event space on the first floor and 17 residential units on the second through eighth floors. Each floor from the second through the eighth will have 12 one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units. The development is located in the village’s downtown overlay district, one of two the village board established in December to give Mineola more flexibility when considering future developments. The board unanimously approved the eight-story building, one of two options the board had for consideration Wednesday night. Applicant Mineola 212 LLC first submitted an application for a nine-story, 121-unit building in the same location prior to the June 14 hearing, which was continued to Wednesday. Village trustees had questions surrounding the height of the eight-story building, which is 88.5 feet high —— eight feet shorter than the original
nine-story application. In addition to the height, the event space was reduced from 24 feet to 14 feet between the two applications. Resident Kathy Novak said adding another development of this size would be a quality-of-life issue for Mineola, posing a challenge for the volunteer fire department and school system. “Progress is inevitable, but manage environmentally sound progress and not the almighty dollar of what will be judged by in the future,” Novak said. Mayor Paul Pereira clarified that the village’s population recorded during the 2020 U.S. census is lower than the 1970 numbers even after adding over 1,000 units in the past decade. The mayor pointed out that the Mineola school district, where Pereira graduated and now works, has graduating classes below 200 students, lower than when he got his diploma in the 1980s. Pereira also said the process the village board goes through with potential developers that involves a backand-forth on what developments and projects can come to the village provides more transparency than what the state previously considered ahead of adopting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget. Continued on Page 46
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE VILLAGE OF MINEOLA
The Village of Mineola held the Zac Brown Tribute Band for a concert in the park on Friday, July 21.
NHP moves street fair date, W.P. unchanged BY B R A N D ON D U FF Y New Hyde Park Mayor Christopher Devane passionately defended the village and its employees during the Thursday night Board of Trust-
ees meeting in light of the recent controversy regarding the original date of the village’s street fair. The 26th annual village street fair was slated for Saturday, Sept. 16, the first day of the Rosh Hasha-
nah Jewish holiday. Devane said the previous 25 fairs had always been on the third Saturday in September except for 2020 when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Continued on Page 46
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