Frustrated and angry, a large number of Mineola residents attended the Feb. 4th meeting of the Garden City Board of Trustees to solicit assistance from trustees in their ongoing battle against the noise generated from an expansion project at a local Verizon-owned building. The group was seeking Garden City’s help because the building, although located on the east side of Herricks Road, technically lies within the Village boundary line.

“We just want some answers. Why is Verizon getting away with this?” said Mineola resident Thomas Coyne. “They have no respect for us to shove it down our throats like this....It just felt like they stuck it to us. The noise at night is unbelievable. It’s like a space shuttle going off between two o’clock and four o’clock in the morning.”

Mineola Village Trustee Paul Cusato spoke in support of 13th Avenue residents, who live closest to the facility. “It’s been an issue for a long, long time,” he said. “I don’t want the residents of Garden City to think it’s a two- or three-day thing. It’s not. It’s been going on for months and months,” he said. “I am kind of disappointed you let this happen. You never had the decency to tell the mayor of Mineola or the board or the residents in the area what was going on. It just appeared. And that’s not fair to the residents.”

Garden City Mayor Robert J. Rothschild responded that the Board had only been notified of the situation within the last 24 hours prior to the meeting. “I’m not making excuses for us, or for Mineola, or for anyone else,” he said. “I just want to tell you that we will attempt to do what we can to fix the situation.”

With a news camera from WCBS-TV stationed a few feet away, Michael Filippon, Garden City’s superintendent of buildings, calmly explained what transpired, but began by acknowledging that the situation was less than desirable. “I wouldn’t want anyone to get the impression that anyone in this Village is unsympathetic to the conditions, particularly the conditions that have been taking place in recent weeks,” he said.

Verizon’s application for expansion was reviewed by personnel from the Village’s Building dept. and all proposed work conformed to zoning regulations. No variances or site plan approval, which would require a public hearing, were needed. “Since the work that was proposed was termed ‘as of right,’ public hearings were not necessary.”

The Village’s Architectural Design Review Board also considered the application over several meetings. They made some changes, including adding additional screening material at the upper levels, and then approved the project. The Building Dept. then issued a permit.

Construction was monitored by the Village at certain phases. When new air handlers were being placed in the roof, Verizon needed to install temporary package units to provide air circulation to protect the “very sensitive equipment” in the building. These temporary units were the source of the noise sporadically disturbing residents over several weeks.

After some of the new equipment was installed and operational, Verizon began decommissioning some of the temporary units. Filippon said the noise stopped for a while. He said Garden City building inspectors visited the site during both the day and evening and found no unusual noise. The site was also visited several times by the Garden City Police Dept., who also found no disturbance.

However, according to Filippon, very recently Verizon brought in an emergency generator, which needs to be “exercised” on a periodic basis, creating a lot of noise. Night testing of the generator has been ceased and the disruption will instead occur at 11 a.m.

Filippon said the machinery cannot be totally shut down because the building is a critical telecommunications site. “Homeland Security people have even been involved with this. They are trying not to overly publicize how vital this particular site is, the point being it cannot be shut down.”

The project is only several weeks away from completion. “Once the new equipment is in place, we do not believe that there will be any ongoing significant noise problems associated with this site,” he said.

Deputy Mayor Donald Brudie reminded the public that the entire project will be evaluated before a Certificate of Occupancy is issued.

Mineola resident Dennis Walsh lives a short distance away and called the noise “outrageous.” “I don’t believe the people in Garden City would allow this in their community, and I don’t believe that they even know that it’s going on and these people are forced to deal with this. So I hope that you do more than just talk about it.”