Letters To The Editor

An Introduction

To the Editor:

The Village of Garden City recently announced that the development team of The Committee to Save St. Paul's and Canus Corporation has been awarded "finalist" status in the RFP process to identify a developer for St. Paul's. We are very pleased to be recognized by the Village as a finalist in this process.

While Canus Corporation has established a substantial reputation for completing complex historic preservation projects in Philadelphia and senior housing projects in Eastern Long Island, we realize that our name may not be familiar to Garden City residents. We, therefore, thought it appropriate to introduce ourselves.

Let us start off by acknowledging the extraordinary effort being made by a small group of dedicated Village leaders to run the non-profit Committee to Save St. Paul's, and the thousands of members who give unselfishly of their time and money to support the effort. In many ways, one of the great recognitions our development firm received was being selected, and entrusted, by the Committee to be its development partner. The Committee interviewed a number of other developers and concluded that they were not worthy, interested or capable of holding the vision for a historically preserved and publicly accessible St. Paul's.

In Canus Corporation, the Committee found a firm that enthusiastically embraces the idea of both authentically preserving St. Paul's AND providing meaningful public space within the building. Canus envisions a vibrant hub of community activity that serves all age groups in Garden City. The community will benefit from having diverse programming in the arts, physical activity, culture, and community affairs in one central location. In addition, the new St. Paul's will become a place where intergenerational activities, which benefit both our youth and our seniors, can take place. In an age where people are more and more disconnected from each other, it is a visionary and laudatory endeavor to begin repairing the fabric of community life by providing such a compelling and comprehensive nexus for all interests, all ages, and all incomes.

We invite you to visit our website at: www.canusdev.com. Our projects in Philadelphia and Long Island will speak for our skills and capabilities. We have completed over 600,000 square feet of historic preservation work in our 26-year history. We have a 200-unit senior rental community in Coram, Long Island. And, we have won multiple awards as developers of historic properties like St. Paul's. Our track record and experience is a wonderful fit for the complexity of redeveloping St. Paul's.

Please also take a look at our personal biographies, specifically mine. For ten years I served as the Executive Director of The Nature Conservancy's Long Island Chapter. That experience allowed me to build a tremendous network of contacts not just on the Island but also in Albany. As we have stressed to the Village all along, it is paramount that the St. Paul's redevelopment plan is credible to the review of NY State agencies and legislators, for it is they who will have a very strong voice in the future of St. Paul's with regard to the alienation of parkland status and passage of home rule legislation to relieve the public trust designation. In this area, our community oriented plan, together with the contacts and credibility that I have built in Albany, makes our proposal a wining combination.

Paul Rabinovitch

Principal, Canus Corp.

Unseemly Dispute

To The Editor:

What began as an intramural argument concerning the cost of moving the Kanner house has spilled into the public square as an unseemly dispute between a trustee and village counsel. The Kanner house (#115 10th St.) relocation to the adjacent vacant lot (#113) and the incorporation of #115 into the adjacent parking field was on a 2002 board meeting agenda. The basic deal described in the trustee/counsel dueling letters appears to have involved the exchange of Kanner's house and lot at #115 valued at $925,000 for the village's vacant lot at #113 valued at $750,000 plus payment to move the Kanner house to #113 and other expenses. I recall a trustee asking the amount reserved for relocation expenses and I believe the response was $600,000.

There should be at least five categories of costs borne by the village to be considered: the vacant village lot #113 valued at $750,000 transferred to Kanner; $900,976 the village paid to date to move the Kanner house to vacant lot #113; the cost of clearing, grading and constructing the parking area on vacated lot #115; the discounted value of lost tax and water revenues from #115; and the general, administrative and legal expenses associated with this protracted deal. On the credit side, the village owns #115, now used for village parking. Whether the parking area has more than nominal market value is unclear because the letters do not indicate its appraised value, which would be an offset to village costs. Whether there are other offsets is unknown.

Since the accurate and precise costs of this project are not free from doubt and it appears they far exceed the reserve, an audit should be made and the results published on the village website for the benefit of residents and the warring parties.

J. J. DOLAN