Letters To The Editor

Let's Move On

To the Editor:

Every four years Americans take to the polls to determine the fate of their country. There is a typical election cycle with those firm in their beliefs having their mind made up before anything begins. The undecided voters take a few months to listen to all sides, learn the facts as they see them and either choose to vote on election day, or not. We all then live with the results. We have to.

Yet, in 15 years this village can't decide the fate of St. Pauls? Please. Put a firm date on the calendar, with a binding resident vote, and let's get this over with. If we can do it with the fate of the free world in our hands, surely we can do it for a building in our village.

2 votes:

1) YES or NO to Avalon Bay.

2) YES or NO to Demolition.

We can then all move on with our lives. Or at least enter the next phase of it, anyway. Happy Election Day!

Doug Flynn

Giveaway Of The Century

To The Editor:

How can our Board of Trustees even be considering the AvalonBay proposal which will be so detrimental to our town and also be of great cost to our residents???

1. AvalonBay will be 62 rental apartments in the main building at St. Paul's and 46 in a new 78,000 4-story building behind St. Paul's. There will be 227 parking spaces, most of which will be above ground for use of tenants only.

2. AvalonBay will have a 99-year lease!

3. Pilot payments in lieu of full taxes of less than $25,000 a year for 9 years and little more for the next eleven. We will have to make up the difference for school, village and county taxes at great cost to residents!

4. Since AvalonBay will not state how many apartments will be one, two or three bedrooms, I estimated 30 2 bedroom at .75 child and 30 3 bedroom at 1.8 children, thus estimating perhaps as much as 76.5 children at a cost of $1,292,000 per year ($17,000 per child per year) for twenty years. Since AvalonBay will only pay small pilot payments instead of full taxes, the residents of Garden City will make up the difference!

5. The village has downgraded the value of the seven acres at St. Paul's from $20,000,000 in 2005 to ($14,000,000) in 2008. They justified this amount because AvalonBay will be taking a risk in developing their complex - doesn't everyone who builds or buys??? In fact, Nassau County for 2008-09 Tax Assessment has valued the same seven acres at $16,000,000. Can our trustees truthfully explain the difference??

6. No SEQR study to date has been done for water capacity, sewer, government services and traffic. This should have been done before any proposal was even considered.

Tell our village trustees to please think of us not AvalonBay and stop even considering this terrible deal with no benefit to us! The Hamlet of Oyster Bay/East Norwich gave Mr. Whalen and AvalonBay the red boot and denied their offer - I think we deserve the same from our trustees!! The AvalonBay proposal is the giveaway of the century!!

Rochelle Dowling

Stay On Guard

To The Editor:

I applaud the recent letter from David Sutton ("NOT A TRUSTEE" 10/24/08) when he very astutely pointed out that Matthew Whalen of AvalonBay appears to be an "unofficial" village trustee. Our village and its residents should not allow this development to take place. Together we can defeat this invasion of our land by being unified in our opposition. At a recent WPOA open meeting on September 10th 2008 Matthew Whalen of AvalonBay was invited to speak to the public. His on the record statements were absolutely incredulous when he commented that "the profit margins on this entire project are very tight and we're looking at a best case return on investment of about 6%." He then went on to complain that "this entire ordeal has been met with costly delays, hearings, reviews, meetings and animosity." His implied response was that it almost wasn't worth all this trouble and aggravation for just 6%.

It was at this point that a follow up question and comment was put to him directly: "Take your $50 million dollars and invest it a safe yielding long term CD that will return 6%." There was no comment from Matthew Whalen. The Village should stand on guard. There certainly is much more to this AvalonBay deal than just a 6% gain otherwise they would not be fighting this to the very end. His firm could go to any financial institution, especially now during these economic crisis, and negotiate a guaranteed minimum 6% return on his $50 million dollars. Maybe our Village Trustees can help persuade him of the more prudent ways to "invest" his millions.

Anthony Sena

Wake Up

To The Editor:

Wake up everyone! Four of our trustees expect to GIVE Saint Paul's School and seven acres of land to AvalonBay for FREE! We will receive nothing in return. Even if you would agree to the giveaway, how do you feel about the four story rental apartment house and parking garage that AvalonBay plans to build on the property?

Please write or E-Mail the village on its web site to let them know your opinion. They plan on tallying the responses at the November 6th meeting.

Joan Hobbs

Concerns Over AB

To the Editor:

I Googled AvalonBay together with "fraud," "kickbacks," "bribes," and "litigation" because I wanted to see what information may be available concerning Avalon Bay's business practices. I found several pertinent URLs out of many thousands returned. I only looked for the easy to find, low hanging fruit.

The first URL concerns an allegation by N.E. Carpenter's Union on AvalonBay's use of undocumented workers on construction sites who are paid in cash, which allegedly involves committing insurance and tax fraud.

The second URL is from the FBI, dated October 16, 2008, involving a very unsavory business relationship between AvalonBay and a contractor (San Jose Water Conservation Corporation). This situation involved collusion between the CEO of the contracting firm and an AvalonBay vice-president which involved millions of dollars.

The third URL concerns federal litigation concerning AvalonBay's failure to meet FHA standards at 100 non-compliant properties in eleven states and the Distruct of Columbia.

By way of background, in the 1960's - 1970's, my wife and I had worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. We were puzzled by the commissioners, who served supposedly selflessly without compensation or for one dollar per year. Over the years, however, some of these commissioners popped up in the news in connection with having been caught for being illegally compensated by contractors who were awarded contracts by the Port Authority. So their service had not been selfless after all.

Now there is a Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, an agency which was formed by New York State and New York City, that among other purposes serves to provide Fraud Prevention.

Fraud in the construction industry is alleged to be very widespread, involving billions of dollars.

Garden City's experience with AvalonBay in relationship to Saint Pauls has so far been a very sordid chapter in Garden City' history. You have done a tremendous public service in reporting events that the vast majority of Garden City's citizens would otherwise be unaware of.

Some of our trustees have behaved admirably, and deserve our gratitude for their selfless service, despite having been treated very badly by some of their peers.

For a deal that makes no good business sense for Garden City, it is perplexing that some of our trustees persist in promoting AvalonBay's self-serving proposal in the face of widespread opposition from members of the community.

I don't think that giving away Garden City's prime parkland for the specious rationale of saving the facade of an historic building passes the sniff test. The deal does not make good business sense for Garden City and is a giveaway to AvalonBay. There is a real risk of impropriety, especially since the deal is so one-sided.

We can only hope that the upcoming referendum, however flawed in its conception, finally puts the risk of the great giveaway to AvalonBay out of bounds.

We need to have the means of governance by our trustees reviewed too since this process has revealed very serious shortcomings. The leadership of men and women of unimpeachable character is required, and the trustees who have not measured up should reconsider their future service, questioning whether it is both in their best interests and in Garden City's best interests.

Josseph A. Hobel

Vote For Martins

To the Editor:

I love seeing Carolyn McCarthy's posters throughout the 4th CD proclaiming she is 'our' congresswoman.

Would 'our' congresswoman accept money from those over whom she has legislative oversight? Carolyn McCarthy did. While a member of the House Financial Services Committee, she has accepted $930,045 from Securities & Investment, Insurance and Real Estate PACs and Individuals. (Opensecrets.org)

Would 'our' congresswoman vote for a $700 billion pork filled bailout of the same industries she was supposed to regulate? Carolyn McCarthy did. Not once, but twice! Did any of her largesse land in the 4th CD?

Would 'our' congresswoman sit idly by while the sub-prime financial debacle developed? Carolyn McCarthy did. She ignored warnings from both the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. Carolyn McCarty voted to stop efforts to control the sub-prime subversion of our financial markets. Have you seen your 401k recently? Drop Carolyn a note of thanks for her steadfast regulatory oversight!

And to you Obama supporters, for once, I will agree with you. It is time for a CHANGE, in the 4th CD. Let's elect someone who will represent us, the constituents of the 4th CD rather than the special interests. Vote for Jack Martins this Tuesday, November 4th!

From a 4th CD Constituent,

Thomas P. Brosnan

McCarthy Favors Rail Plan

To the Editor:

On Monday, October 20th we attended the congressional candidates' forum at the Elmont Public Library sponsored by the League of Women Voters. The evening's first question came from a resident of Mineola who asked about $20M Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy approved to study a light rail proposal from the Mineola train station through the Village of Garden City to the proposed new Nassau Hub. (The Hub includes the EAB Plaza, Nassau Coliseum and parts of Eisenhower Park. It also encompasses Nassau Community College and Hofstra University.) McCarthy said a light rail system would provide transportation for residents from all over the county who wish to go to the Nassau Coliseum to attend sporting events, concerts or shop in the Hub. It would also address the mass transit needs of thousands of Long Islanders with jobs in the Hub office complexes. While she said the matter was still under investigation, McCarthy sounded firmly in the camp of those supporting a light rail system through Garden City. Her opponent, Jack Martins, said he supported the Nassau Hub but favored putting the light rail down the Meadowbrook Parkway. While Congresswoman McCarthy has many attractive qualities, we can't support a candidate who speaks positively of putting a light rail system through the heart of our community.

Leo and Kathleen Stimmler

Hard Workers

To the Editor:

As our calendars turn toward Thanksgiving, I offer my thanks to the Garden City Sanitation workers for their hard work. These men are out there every day, in any weather, doing a job that is far from glamorous. It is physically demanding, and often unpleasant, I would imagine, and yet, in my experience, these men are always polite and friendly. The men on my route have been on the job for many years. I admire their loyalty to their route and to our Village as a whole. So, thank you gentlemen, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Barbara McElroy

Amazing Group

To the Editor:

I just wanted to send you a brief note to let you know that there is an amazing group of students who are part of The Andy Foundation, located in Garden City, that recently reached out to The INN (which is a not-for-profit organization that addresses issues of hunger and homelessness on Long Island) to help provide items for students whose parents were unable to afford.

In September, the Andy Fund provided over 100 backpacks loaded with school supplies and lunch bags and brought them to the Mary Brennan INN Soup Kitchen, located in Hempstead, to give out to the many families who come to the soup kitchen for a hot meal and to obtain other basic items they are in need of.

Their donation helped to take away much of the anxiety many families feel during the beginning of the school year and into the Holiday Season.

On behalf of our guests and the staff of The INN we would like to publicly thank The Andy Foundation for their support and willingness to make a difference in the lives of their neighbors in need and for giving so freely from their hearts.

Cynthia Sucich

Director of Communications

The INN (Interfaith

Nutrition Network)

Key Election Issues

To The Editor:

Although the American people have learned much from the media during the 2008 political campaign regarding the economy, most recently about the devastating fiscal crisis, the ongoing war in Iraq, the environment, etc., precious little has been said on the important social issues. Following is a non-partisan guide to the positions of the presidential candidates published online at www..Political Responsibility.com.

Regarding marriage, Senator Barack Obama noted against the Federal Marriage Amendment which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Senator John McCain believes marriage must be protected as a sacred institution of a man and a woman. With respect to the Freedom of Choice Act, Barack Obama supports this act which would invalidate visually all state and federal limitations on abortion including partial birth abortion. John McCain supports the ban on partial birth abortion used from the fifth month on wherein a baby is pulled feet first out of the womb and the head is crushed. The great majority of partial birth abortions are performed on healthy babies of healthy mothers. Barack Obama, on the other hand, opposes the ban stating that "this measure will further erode a woman's right to choose" abortion up to and including the entire nine months of pregnancy which is protected by legislation at this particular time.

With reference to Taxpayer funding of abortion, John McCain, supports the Hyde Amendment which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion through the medicaid program and has voted consistently against federal funding of abortion. Barack Obama's campaign states that "he does not support the Hyde Amendment." In addition. Obama voted three times against legislation while in the Illinois State Senate that would have provided protection received by babies who are spontaneously born prematurely. John McCain voted to support legislation providing protection for babies who survive abortion.

Furthermore, regarding the Parental Notification Law, Barack Obama voted to block a bill that would have required an abortionist to notify at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state. John McCain voted to support a bill that would have required an abortionist to notify at least one parent before performing an abortion on a minor girl from another state.

Lastly, with regard to Human Cloning and Embryonic Stem Cell Research, Mc Cain "opposes the intentional creation of human embryos for research purposes," while Barack Obama co-sponsored a bill S.1520 that would allow the cloning of human embryos to be used in research. In addition, Obama also stated that "we should expand and accelerate research using these embryos."

Elizabeth McPartland