Consider Eskar Proposal

To the Editor:

For so many reasons, all of which have been discussed for so long in the pages of this paper, demolishing St. Paul’s seems just plain wrong. Yet, experience tells us that, even in a booming economy, it would be difficult or impossible to find the funds to turn the St. Paul’s building into useable public space.

I was delighted to read in last weeks’ edition of the GC News that, despite this miserable economy, Eskar Ltd. of London remains interested in developing St. Paul’s for luxury and middle-income apartments. Their plan has always been smaller and less heavy-handed than others. Many of the concerns that residents had with the ham-fisted Avalon Bay proposal are not an issue with Eskar. According to Bernard Marson, Eskar’s architect who wrote the letter in last week’s paper, among other things, Eskar would preserve and designate interior space for community use, there would be no parking lot in front, and there would be little impact on school enrollment. There would be a positive cash flow to the Village, and new residents to support the local businesses. As Mr. Marson stated, we could even move the senior center or administrative offices into space in St. Paul’s. Maybe the village could sell the land on which they now sit, thereby generating funds and cutting expenditures. We would get to preserve a jewel in the Village’s crown, obtain community space in it, and as Eskar would only have a lease, be able to turn the building over to the next generation.

In shutting off the heat and foregoing repairs to St. Paul’s, we have taken the patient off life support. However, Eskar Ltd of London gives us hope that, somehow, the patient might yet survive. I never read an explanation for why their proposal was summarily rejected in the first place. Let’s reconsider this one!

Colette M. Landers

Disturbing

To the Editor:

As a Village facing budget deficits and considerable future economic uncertainties, I find it disturbing that our Village Trustees can afford to ignore the credible proposal put forth by Bernard Marson. On one hand, we face anticipated demolition costs of $6,000,000 and that is a conservative number and on the other we have the potential of an income producing alternative that will address the needs so many senior citizens in our community. What do we have to lose?

Albert Salvatico

Great Volunteer Dept.

To the Editor:

I write you this letter today to remind everyone of a valuable public service that many of our fellow Garden City residents and for that matter thousands of Long Islanders offer their communities every single day.

On the evening of January 23rd I was taking a shower when my wife discovered that our twenty-month year old son Jack was experiencing a seizure. My wife burst into our room in a panic. That helpless feeling of not knowing what to do as a parent when your child is in duress is without a doubt the worst feeling I have ever experienced. Scrambling to figure out what I should do I made two phone calls. The first call I made was to 911 and the second to my neighbor Bill Graham, Chief of the Garden City Fire Department. Bill is a neighbor of mine in Garden City (and I will disclose a dear friend of mine since I have lived here). Bill is a retired member of the FDNY and has been a volunteer for many years.

Due to his proximity to my home Bill was in my bedroom within thirty seconds and grabbed control of the situation. He calmly proceeded to comfort my son and took actions that allowed him to regain his ability to breath. When the police arrived moments later Jack was stabilized. My wife and I were of course shaken. Bill handled the communications with the emergency personal. Thankfully Jack experienced what is called a febrile seizure that occurs due to sever spike in body temperature. There are no long term affects and everyone is doing well.

What Bill did on that crazy evening is what he and his fellow members of the Garden City Fire Department are trained to do. His actions were second nature to him. You could have replaced my son with a total stranger and he would have acted the same way. And you could replace Bill with any member our fire service and they too would have acted in the same manner.

I write this letter today not to heap praise on a friend for his help during a family emergency. He probably would rather I not. Instead this is to praise an organization. As a resident of this village I am greatly comforted by the fact that we have top notch emergency personnel at our disposal. In these challenging economic times the fact that we have people willing to volunteer their time to help protect us should inspire us all. Imagine the tax burden on all of Long Island if we didn’t have the luxury of volunteer fire departments.

In closing, the men and women that volunteer their time and in some case their lives to help protect the community that they live in should always be looked upon with great respect and admiration. It is our duty as responsible residents to support the Garden City Volunteer Fire Department to insure they are prepared to handle any situation that may arise.

Alexander M. Bonello

Broken Assessment System

To The Editor:

My name is Bob Orosz and I am a director of the EPOA. I have recently become a member of the committee appointed by County Executive Mangano to fix the broken assessment system here in Nassau County. My duties are to recommend changes and point out flaws in the assessment process as it relates to Residential property owners. Although I have gained some knowledge in this area it is limited to my own personal experiences and that is why I am appealing to my fellow residents for your comments so that I might included them in the final analysis. Your input is important to the outcome of this committee and the way the assessment process will be conducted in the future. I can be reached at BobOrosz@aol.com and thank you for your help.

Bob Orosz

Monitor

Wireless Use

To the Editor:

Why does any child who attends elementary school in Garden City need to have a cell phone or i-touch with them during the school day? Do their parents realize the access that these children have with these items? Aside from texting anyone they want, they can go anywhere on the internet! Some schools in other districts scramble the signal and are able to block wireless access from their school. Unfortunately, it would be impossible to do this at Stratford School due to the close proximity of the neighboring homes. It would most likely work at Stewart School, GC Middle School and GC High School. This would affect the students as well as the teachers which probably wouldn’t be a bad thing. We should also have a better handle on what the teachers in Garden City can access through their school computers. We don’t want a repeat of the teacher that was assigning independent classroom reading so he could peruse Facebook daily.

Name Signed But Withheld Upon Request

Where Is Our Voice?

To the Editor:

Around this time last year, many Garden City Residents made a show of concern regarding tax increases at the final Village budget session.

Residents were not allowed to ask questions, and the Citizens Budget Review Committee (CBRC) was treated unprofessionally when they asked questions.

Well, the Trustees recently said even the CBRC will not be allowed to ask questions at that meeting this year. Following numerous discussions with Garden City officials and residents over the last year, we concluded that the financial and political trajectory of our Village is similar to that of our country.

We would remind you that 85% of your property tax bill goes to the Village of Garden City and the Garden City Schools. Higher taxes, more debt, and an opaque political process are increasingly characteristics of Garden City.

If you have any doubt, just wait to hear about the February Village and School budget discussions. Also, ask yourself why the Mayor of New York City this week even acknowledged that NYC residents cannot handle any more property tax increases but our Trustees have not said the same. We believe that Garden City Residents are concerned about these adverse trends but need an efficient way to voice their views, which is the purpose of www.gardencityresidents.org.

www.gardencityresidents.org is a self-financed website by a few long-time Garden City Residents who think there is a genuine groundswell of concern for the finances and politics of our Village. The site is not associated with the Village of Garden City or the Garden City Schools. Instead, it is our idea of an open forum Garden City could replicate so as to allow residents to efficiently voice their views and concerns to our Trustees and School Board. The site is now live, but a few outspoken people can only do so much. It really is up to Garden City Residents to register on the site, take the poll, share your views, and/or spread the word. We are doing this because it will hopefully give Garden City Residents an adequate voice in our government, and also because we believe it is the right American lesson for our kids. Equally important, if we can’t fix our town then our country really is in trouble.

Ron Tadross and

Ray Rudolph

A Clarification

Printed By Request:

Dear Members of the Garden City Community Club,

Thank you for inviting me to speak at your January 13th meeting. I was so graciously received by such an attentive and interested audience.

I would like, however, to clarify my statement about opticians and optometrists. Doctors of Optometry are trained and licensed in examining patients, performing refractions and prescribing glasses and contacts for their patients. They hold both a four-year undergraduate degree as well as a four-year graduate degree. Opticians’ education is specialized in filling these prescriptions, surfacing lenses and fitting glasses and contact lenses. As a result of this more focused training, opticians tend to have greater proficiency in the technical execution and dispensing of eyewear to the patient. They have neither a higher degree nor as comprehensive a licensure as optometrists.

New York State has stricter licensing laws and higher standards for opticians who practice Ophthalmic Dispensing than most other states. You may recall that in my talk I briefly touched upon the lack of required formal training and even licensure of opticians outside of New York. I said “unfortunately in some states you could be flipping hamburgers one day and dispensing eyeglasses the next”. Even more alarming is the attempt of some to practice unlicensed and untrained in New York, preying upon the unaware patient. My original intention was to describe the role of opticians in filling a prescription written by an optometrist/ Doctor of Optometry. I am very passionate about competent training for everyone in the medical field and apologize for not answering the specific question at hand. I hope that other states will follow our example of high standards and more required education for opticians.

Additionally, the artist whose vision was aided with the use of yellow-green lenses was Claude Monet, not Renoir as stated in the article that appeared in the Garden City News.

I am submitting this clarification to the Garden City News because I would never want the public, my patients or other professionals in the optical field to have the impression that I do not respect optometrists’ extensive education or varied skill set. I should have been more direct in my response as I would not intentionally insult or diminish another profession, especially one I work closely with and hold in such high regard.

Laura Frezza-Chiarello, ABOC

‘Men Also Cry’

To the Editor:

On a very recent TV program about the Haiti disaster, I saw a 7 years old Haitian boy being rescued from a deep hole by a joint NYFD and NYPD group/ detachment. It was one of the most beautiful, powerful, emotional and deeply touching picture that I had ever seen. The boy’s impromptu gesture of victory with his arms widely opened and angelical smile as he was being pulled out of the deep hole, was too much to bear, incredibly emotional, impossible to control. His action was an interlude, intermezzo, to the horrific tragedy surrounding him. Grateful tears floated in my eyes and slid down my cheeks. I loudly cried Bravo, Bravo, Bravo toward the boy and the magnificent group of heroes. No shame, no apologies for such spontaneous, uncontrollable emotion. After all, besides being a man I am also and primarily, human. Good luck little brave boy. You are my hero!

Antonio Moreno

We Must Act

To The Editor:

It had been my intention to wait for matters to gell a bit before again writing to the Garden City News. A dozen times I have thought that this can’t be happening in my country.

We are sliding further and further to the bottom, America is almost in Hades, I can wait no longer. We must act this political year, we cannot remain disengaged from politics.

I love my country. It is not perfect but it is far from the evil monster portrayed by our many enemies. Yet, we can and must do better in so many ways. I do believe I smell the green eyed monster of international jealousy. This monster carries an AK47 and has made it plain he or she is here to kill us. That fact seems not to anger the US Government. Something is rotten in Denmark and in Washington, D.C.

Words, words, words. We should have elected Obama’s speech writer or his teleprompter engineer. Around and around with nothing accomplished. Well, I have made a mistake, a lot has been accomplished, all of it bad. We, as a nation, have been weakened militarily, economically, morally and in so many ways - weaker, weaker, weaker, all as intended. Do you believe that Acorn just happened? Get a copy of “Rules for Radicals” by Saul Alinsky.

We have a God-given remedy for political disaster coming to us from Boston, New Jersey and Nassau County. The ballot is the weapon of choice, the shining sword which will return us to the straight path. I feel the national anger as it burns red hot but we must not allow that flame to peak early, simmer and die.

It is not difficult to assess the Obama plan. We have been afraid to put it into public words as we understand it. Even I speak and write carefully because I have been concerned you would not support me and others like me. In time that will change and we will not whisper to each other when we meet on the street. We will then be a part of the mighty roar.

We must organize over a period of months, unite behind a common cause, outline our major issues and prepare to reclaim our country. For a start get rid of the local polls in the fall elections and then on to Obama.

Lombardi was right, “Winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing. Second place is first loser.” We dare not lose the coming elections and suffer the loss of our country.

Edward J. Heaney