By Stephanie Petrellese

The Garden City Board of Trustees, in an effort to boost business at local restaurants hurt by the cancellation of the Belmont Festival, unanimously approved the closing of Seventh Street so that the public can enjoy the culmination of Restaurant Week on July 24th. The rain date will be July 25th.

Althea Robinson, executive director of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, had requested permission to close the street on that day from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. She explained at the June 18th Board of Trustees meeting that many local restaurants were excited about Restaurant Week, which will run from Monday, July 20 through Thursday, July 23 from 4 to 7 p.m. Many area establishments will offer three-course, price-fixed dinners. According to Robinson, it is a way for restaurants to recoup some of their losses from the Belmont Festival, which was cancelled on June 5th due to inclement weather.

On July 24th, the street will be closed so the public can walk along Seventh Street between Franklin and Hilton Avenues without disruption during the Chamber-sponsored Restaurant Festival. Many restaurants will serve food outside, as diners enjoy classic and contemporary rock music provided by the Fivestone Band.

Village Clerk Brian Ridgway announced that restaurants will receive credit for the fees paid to the Nassau County Dept. of Health to have outdoor dining for the Belmont Festival. He reminded all restaurants participating in the Restaurant Week event on July 24th to contact the Dept. of Health to ensure they have secured the proper permits needed to prepare and serve food outside.

Robinson said it was not necessary to close Seventh Street to celebrate the last night of Restaurant Week, but it would make the area more pedestrian-friendly. The trustees generally supported the idea of street closure. Trustee Dennis Donnelly said it would help "encourage Garden City to have a great big party to celebrate ourselves."

The event is expected to cost $9,000 in police department overtime and less than $2,000 for overtime in the Dept. of Public Works. Workers in that department usually work until 3:30 p.m., so they will work extended hours that day.

The Belmont Committee had offered to pay $5,000 to offset the cost to the Village of the Belmont Festival. Since that event was cancelled, Robinson said it may be possible that the committee would consider using some of that money to offset the cost of the July 24th event.

Trustee Nicholas Episcopia suggested that the restaurants help alleviate some of the financial burden. "Something like this is very nice, it brings people out, it's a party, but it's not something that has a direct benefit to anyone," he said. "It's a specific benefit to a specific group, which is the restaurants and the business community. I would like to think that there could be some donation to offset, even if it's 20 or 30 percent, something to offset the expense of having this, on the theory that this is for a specific purpose and the purpose is to benefit a specific business group."

Mayor Robert J. Rothschild and Deputy Mayor Donald Brudie were against asking the restaurants to help offset the cost to the Village. "Why do we have to have put our hands in people's pockets?" Brudie asked. "These people have already suffered the loss of Belmont, so I think this is giving them an opportunity to make up for that lost night. Plus, a lot of the residents are very happy and want to enjoy this evening, they are looking forward to something like this."

Mayor Rothschild agreed. "This is one of the nice things about Garden City, that we have the ability to do something like this, and over the last couple of years we have added a great number of very good restaurants in town. With the weather the way it has been, this gives us an opportunity to help get residents out and go to the restaurants and enjoy themselves. This is a major, positive thing for everybody in the Village, not just for the merchants. Obviously it's good for the merchants, but I think it is very good for the residents."

The Board briefly mulled the idea of also closing Franklin Avenue, but decided against it due to the cost and traffic problems that would ensue. Second Deputy Mayor John Watras emphasized that he wanted the restaurants along the busy thoroughfare to feel included. Robinson said many of them plan to participate in Restaurant Week, and are supportive of the July 24th culminating event. Police Commissioner Ernest Cipullo said officers would assist pedestrians crossing at Franklin Avenue and Seventh Street.