Letters To The Editor

Just Say No

To the Editor:

The Committee to Save St. Paul's urges concerned residents to oppose the extreme solutions of massive commercial overdevelopment or demolition of our irreplaceable historic building. We suggest, "Just say no" - NO to AvalonBay and NO to demolition. A better solution exists: Preserve St. Paul's for future public use. The Committee to Save St. Paul's asks you to consider the following:

Why is AvalonBay a bad deal?

The Village gets almost nothing in return: no dedicated public space, no lease payments, ridiculously low PILOTs (Payments In Lieu of Taxes), and overdevelopment and new construction. Residents will lose acres of open space, public parking for the fields, and the chance to make St. Paul's into the centerpiece of our community.

Why is demolition a bad idea?

Demolition would destroy a monument to the Village's founder, Alexander T. Stewart. The main building is listed on the National Register for Historic Places and was named one of the Preservation League of New York State's 2003 "Seven to Save." Once the wrecking ball comes in, it can't be undone. Taxpayers will have to pay through the nose for the wreckage, about $7,000,000. Then, we will pay for the conversion of the site into a new use.

Why haven't alternatives been presented?

Feasible alternatives have been presented on many occasions, but they have been thwarted by pie-in-the-sky development schemes that would have only benefited commercial interests and ignored the needs of our residents. We could have had a new Village Hall by now, or a state-of-the-art library, or a community center for seniors and teens, with supporting mixed uses that included senior apartments to help pay for the renovation. All were shot down without good cause.

Where do we go from here?

Tell your trustees that you vote 'no' on the AvalonBay giveaway and 'no' on demolition. Next, tell your POA representatives and your trustees to work together with preservation groups, interested community members, the Committee to Save St. Paul's and Families for St. Paul's to come up with an affordable, practical solution to save our Village Treasure. And finally, tell your state representatives in Albany that you favor preservation and oppose extreme solutions.

Members of the

Executive Committee

of The Committee to

Save St. Paul's

(Peter Negri, Ed Keating, Michael Ciaffa and

Frank McDonough)

Don't Give Up Land

To the Editor:

Every week I continue to read the letters regarding St. Paul's and Avalon Bay and every week I think -- "ARE WE OUT OF OUR MINDS!" I simply can't understand why would we want to give up one inch of our valuable land and allow any kind of development on the St. Paul's property? This past summer, I spent many evenings sitting on a bench at the St. Paul's playground watching my daughter and her friends run and play while my son practiced football on the fields. The fields, playground and parking lot were packed with people and cars. Now that soccer has started the problem has only escalated. The children are on the fields playing soccer while their parents are trying to find parking spots! What is this area going to look like once it is developed? Are we going to sit back and pretend that this problem is not going to get worse if development happens? Do we realize how fortunate we are to have this beautiful piece of land for everyone in the village to enjoy? I frequently remind my children how lucky we are. I believe my eight year old "gets it" but I often wonder if the individuals we've entrusted with these decisions really "get it".

Effie Campbell

Remove Trustees

To the Editor:

There seems to be concern over how many questions to put before the voters about St. Paul's. Currently, we have three potential questions; 1) Avalon Bay; 2) Demolition; 3) Moth-balling. I propose a fourth question: Removal.

That is, removal of the Trustees who favored hiring a consultant for the express purpose of exploring an illegal use for St. Paul's. Over two years ago when this boneheaded scheme to give St. Paul's away to a private developer was kicked off at the infamous Middle School auditorium meeting, I asked whether the Board had ever explored the sale of Village owned property such as Village Hall, the Library, the Senior Citizen Center, etc., and consolidating those functions at St. Paul's. The money from the sale of those properties and the millions of dollars in tax revenues could have been used to renovate St. Paul's. The Board said they had not explored such authorized use. Instead, they went headlong into what has now been aptly described as the "Avalon Bay give-away."

Under these circumstances - Removal should be another option on the ballot.

David Sutton

The appraisal was done by a firm connected to Mr. Mauk's firm and AVB - How stupid do they think we are? They are banking on our apathy. If the parkland alienation is lifted how much do you think it will be worth? My guess is 50-70 million - do we reap the benefit? Absolutely not - but AVB

Awaiting Ethics Code

To The Editor:

In June 2008, our Village Clerk advised me that our attorney was working on a revision of our current Code of Ethics, which in my opinion is wholly inadequate. He further stated that our attorney was using the Nassau Code of Ethics, which was signed by the county executive on April 16, 2007 as a model for the revision. A phone call in early September to the Village Clerk indicated that the job was not as yet complete.

The Nassau Code of Ethics covers (12) areas to wit: definitions, conflicts of interest, gifts and favors, refusal and disclosure of interests, disclosure of confidential information, misuse of resources, hiring and supervision of relatives, post employment restrictions, pecuniary interests of officers, employees or agents in execution of contracts, board of ethics, penalties and exemptions.

We anxiously await the revised Code of Ethics and trust that it will be published.

Joseph A. Calamari

P.S. According to the Daily News of September 14, 2008, the New York State Code of Ethics did little to stop eight (8) of the former governor's cohorts from falling into corruption. However, the Nassau County Code of Ethics seems to have done some good. "Hope Springs Eternal."

Get Informed GC!

To the Editor:

This is a response to an email circulating regarding the AVB affordable housing is incredibly misleading and I feel the need to respond.

•Affordable housing: An issue that is not as significant as you may think in the AvalonBay merry-go-round. The affordable (workforce) housing bill introduced by Kemp Hannon, Dean Skelos and others was passed in Albany last Spring and goes into effect January 1, 2009. Mr. Mauk and Mr. Rothschild assured us it was never going to happen, it happened and it will be very real on 1/1/09. While AVB can pay into a fund for affordable housing they have not publicly stated they will do so. The BOT has also been asked if AVB will pay into a fund but they refuse to answer. The links below about show how AVB has been using the legislation to their benefit. ***

•Here is an excerpt from a recent article about affordable housing, the article in its entirety is in the link below: *

"But AvalonBay, one of the nation's largest apartment real estate investment trusts (REITs), is also one of the largest affordable housing developers in the Northeast."

•History shows that AVB has EXPLOITED the affordable housing legislation in other states to increase density (thus increasing profits). No village approval is needed to expand the project by 10%, possibly 20% since Rockaway and Stewart are county roads.

• As a result of attending many BOT meetings, AVB meetings at the GC Hotel and at St Paul's, IDA meetings/hearings as well as planning commission meetings I have spent countless hours/days/months researching facts and double-checking facts BEFORE stating them publicly. I am able to substantiate everything I have written - although it is hard to keep up with AVB's game of changing facts and figures by the hour! You may refute my facts but the BOT and AVB has never refuted them.

•Section 8 housing (see link below **) rents apartments costing $3,000+ for tenants in the assistance program b/c it is actually more cost effective than renting rooms at transient hotels.

•This development is considered high density housing by the state & county. Currently 108 units are planned but ask Matt Whalen if that # is the cap and he will say no! He will also agree that the affordable housing law for 1/1/09 will enable AVB increase to increase the number of units. Whalen stated this to eight residents, including myself, who were at the Village Planning Commission meeting last Spring 2008.

•According to the most recent Grubb & Ellis Appraisal on the Village Website, the property could be zoned for 252 units. The BOT and AVB all agree parking is currently insufficient for the number of units planned. Imagine parking for 252 units! (At 1.5 spaces per unit - ha,ha)

•How many units can AVB squeeze into 7 acres? 252 according to the Grubb & Ellis appraisal! I'm sure you also know that AVB also has a long history of selling the properties before the tax credits expire.

•Let me ask you, who is supposed to pay for AVB over the next 20 years? AVB has promised a long-term payout, but I for one cannot afford to wait for this false promise - history shows they will be long gone!

•AvalonBay at Danvers. AVB tore down 40 buildings plus 2/3 of the historic Kirkbride building. A suspicious fire nearly destroyed the remaining portion of the Kirkbride building - google it! This "historic preservation" project grew into a massive apartment structure. (Google Kirkbride and Danvers, you will be appalled, tenant comments and photos are included in the sites as well - I trust you will agree that this is NOT historic preservation.) Assuming that St. Paul's facade is "structurally sound" will it make it through construction & restoration - in other words - saving the facade is a gamble and remember what happens when we assume!

•Are we being told the whole story? At a BOT meeting last Spring Peter Negri read aloud the following email correspondence from 2005 between John Mauk and Karen Backus.

Mauk to Backus:

"We don't even want to mention the C option as part of the presentation. As for the infill, in the public presentation, we don't even want to breathe this as the direction for the future. We need you to plant the idea for now that some minimal new construction may be required."

Backus to Mauk:

"It's not going to be fun, as we have to walk a fine line between saying the development within the envelope is feasible, but setting people up for us to come back with a redevelopment plan that may involve controversial and unwanted things like new construction or in-fill"

Issues critical to the project:

•Location, location, location - across from the Middle School and on the grounds of a park - 'nuf said.

•Transparency, there has been none from AVB and the BOT. The BOT has not kept their fiduciary responsibility to the village. Nobody is telling the truth and it's abominable! Did you hear Matt Whalen at the last BOT meeting when asked what the breakdown of 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments was? He said he didn't know - didn't know - it is his job to know! Funny, he can recite the numbers whenever he feels like it at other times - to feign ignorance at a BOT meeting is disgraceful.

•Mr. Mauk is a bully! Whenever someone asks Mr. Mauk a tough question, whether it be at a BOT or Estates POA meeting he does one of two things - sometimes both - ignores the question or verbally attacks the person asking. This is a person "representing" us???? I can understand that he is a volunteer and I appreciate his service but he ran for this office to "represent" the residents and doesn't seem to be keeping his end of the bargain - too many documented conflicts of interest!

•Cost - The cost to currently run the bldg is not $200,000 annually, rather it costs $132,000 per year - we have also not had transparency on this issue. (These #'s reflect the Village Operating Costs for the last 15 years.) In addition to the AVB tax credits -which we will subsidize, the costs to our quality of life are immeasurable! There has been no documented profit sharing or rental payment whatsoever. This is a high cost to pay for a façade.

•Environmental impact. There have been no studies as far as the water table, traffic impact, environmental, etc because they are expensive and AVB even walked away from a similar project in NJ because they knew what the outcome would be! Mayor Bee says the village won't pay for the studies but at the same time, the BOT hasn't insisted that AVB get independent studies done either. Who is protecting our interests?

•Appraisal - This is the biggest joke of all - NEGATIVE 14 Million? The appraisal was done by a firm connected to Mr. Mauk's firm and AVB - How stupid do they think we are? They are banking on our apathy. If the parkland alienation is lifted how much do you think it will be worth? My guess is 50-70 million - do we reap the benefit? Absolutely not - but AVB does!

•This isn't a fight against AVB per say, it is a fight against the troubles our town will incur once it's built. Think of GC 20 or 30 years from now. What will become of our property values? Think of it - more kids in our over-crowded schools, more cars, ugh! What about the environment? Have you really thought about the impact of this enormous project?

•The school board is opposed to overcrowding our schools. The schools are at or near capacity, in fact school board representatives have mentioned this several times at BOT and Estates POA meetings. Overcrowding in our schools was also highlighted in one of the IDA hearings. AVB has changed the #'s of kids that could be added to the schools several times - from 1 to 3 to 31 to "perhaps more" in just 24 hours! How can we trust them? We all know they are not in this for preservation, they are in it for their bottom line - this is quite clear.

I have lived in GC my entire life, I went to school here, taught here, met my husband here, had my child here, my mom died here and 41 members of our extended family live here in GC so I have no other motive than to protect GC for future generations. My goal is to get the info to the residents and let them decide for themselves! I think there should be a binding vote by the residents it shouldn't be up to the trustees - a few of which - have personal agendas as evidenced above. I have conflicting views on preserving the St. Paul's building. I can see the merits of preserving it for community use or replacing it with green space. I am not part of the CSSP but I do applaud their efforts and I am not on a mission to attack anyone. I object to paying taxes for a REIT from Virginia who is using us to make tons of $$$...and we're going to pay dearly! Every year GC has more traffic and more congestion, we don't want to add "overdevelopment" to the list. Let's keep the "Garden" in Garden City!

This may be a lot of information to digest but it was so upsetting to read your email because we have done our homework, I have about 3,000 pages of documents - I urge you to do the same research. I have spent more time on this that I ever imagined or wanted to but I truly love Garden City and I will not be railroaded into a plan that I think will hurt our village for generations to come. I'm sure you love GC too so it's incumbent upon you to do your homework before making statements for all to see. Do you remember the movie, It's A Wonderful Life? Do you remember Pottersville??????

Perhaps fighting for preserving our quality of life in Garden City is something worth fighting for!

Betsy Andromidas

PS: Do your homework: read, listen, and think about the future of Garden City This should be about every resident having a well-informed vote! At the end of the day, don't we all want to save Garden City? I don't think in a few years you want to drive by a huge apartment complex surrounded by 100's of cars and say to yourself, "Oh my gosh, what have we done?!"

Awaiting Ethics Code

To The Editor:

In June 2008, our Village Clerk advised me that our attorney was working on a revision of our current Code of Ethics, which in my opinion is wholly inadequate. He further stated that our attorney was using the Nassau Code of Ethics, which was signed by the county executive on April 16, 2007 as a model for the revision. A phone call in early September to the Village Clerk indicated that the job was not as yet complete.

The Nassau Code of Ethics covers (12) areas to wit: definitions, conflicts of interest, gifts and favors, refusal and disclosure of interests, disclosure of confidential information, misuse of resources, hiring and supervision of relatives, post employment restrictions, pecuniary interests of officers, employees or agents in execution of contracts, board of ethics, penalties and exemptions.

We anxiously await the revised Code of Ethics and trust that it will be published.

Joseph A. Calamari

P.S. According to the Daily News of September 14, 2008, the New York State Code of

Thanks For Help

Dear Garden City Residents,

Thank you for your cards, kind words, visits and generous donations to the Garden City Trojan Fund on my behalf. Julie and I have had an excellent response to both the letters we have sent and are very grateful. We wanted to thank you earlier however my condition has worsened and we are finding we have little time to send out individual letters.

I also wanted to thank our 40+ volunteers who provide necessary and invaluable services such as transferring me, legal services, household tasks, lawn care and sprinkler services, plumbing and driving just to name a few.

I would not be here if it were not for the extraordinary efforts of my fiancée, Julie Carmichael. She has sacrificed three years of her life in order to make my life as comfortable and peaceful as possible. It has not been easy. My care requires 24/7 intensive care which she has provided alone while hiring, training and supervising aides, and keeping my house and my affairs in order. We have made it this far because we have tremendous love and respect for each other and work extremely well as a team. I am lucky to have met her and am eternally grateful for her efforts.

Thank you again for showing true community spirit.

Thomas Moringiello

Good Samaritans

To the Editor:

On Monday of this week, I was riding my bike on 7th Street. I got to one of the many crosswalks on my route. It was the one near Dunkin' Doughnuts and Baskin Robins. Right next to the crosswalk there was a bus. The bus was positioned so that I couldn't see the road or the cars on the road. I tried my best to see and figuring no one was coming I began to cross the road on my bike. I did not see or hear the car but there it was mere inches from the front wheel of my bike. I pulled on the brakes and he slammed his. As you can probably guess I was very frightened and scared not really registering what had just happened. Then it came over me like a wave, had the driver not been paying attention, I could very well not have been here.

This letter is not one meant to point fingers and say that this should be changed or that shouldn't have happened. This is a letter thanking the two women who came to my aid. By the time I had registered in my mind what had happened, I was on the other side of the street. I began to cry, as is well understood for a girl of merely 13 years. There was an older woman on the other side of the street, where I had been heading. She had never met me before and I hadn't met her but she reached out to me and held me like I was her own daughter. She calmed me and made sure I was okay. Then another woman came and offered to walk me to my original destination. I accepted and we walked most of the way there together and once she was sure I was okay, we split and went our separate ways. I never got a chance to thank these two wonderful women, so I decided that the best way was to put a letter into the newspaper. So, to these two extraordinary women, you were truly sent by God. You helped me when I needed it and for that I will forever be grateful.

Kiera Liantonio