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Thursday, March 11, 2010
GREAT NECK NEWS Editorial
Editorial, Friday, March 5, 2010
PLAZA RESIDENTS SHOULD RE-ELECT CELENDER, ROSEN, MARKSHEID
World-class bicycle racing in a tiny village; United Nations Ambassadors coming for a village proclamations at a major Holocaust exhibition; summertime block party and "plein air" dining; concerts at the gazebo on the village green; "I Don't Have a Garage, Garage sale,"; Restaurant week; antique cars and carnival rides; safety seminars in coops and condos; Veterans Day proclamations to seniors at the assisted living residence, and Valentines Day celebrations.
None of this are an essential requirement of village government, but all of them contribute to a uniquely festive, "happening" place that is Great Neck Plaza.
Great Neck Road had not been repaved since it was first built in the 1920s! Its surface was so slick, it was like driving on an ice rink. Senior citizens trying to cross from the assisted living resident, feared for their life when they tried to cross. The road does not even belong to the village yet this mayor devised a plan to make it safer and more beautiful, a true gateway into Great Neck, the Greater, and have the state foot the lion's share of the bill.
And it did not come easily. I remember the meeting organized by the Town of North Hempstead which was like an angry mob. But Mayor Jean Celender withstood it all, held her ground, revised the plan, used studies and data and traffic experts and finally "sold" the plan.
Just one-third square mile in which nearly 7,000 people and 1,000 properties are crammed, if Great Neck Plaza is not the densest, it is surely one of the densest villages in New York State, if not the country. Not only that, but the Plaza is a commercial hub which fills up with workers during the day, and the traffic hub for an entire Peninsula of 43,000 people.
So it is all the more remarkable that The Plaza has urban elements but not urban problems.
Instead, it has preserved the charm of a village, a true community - the red brick sidewalks, the Victorian-style street lamps, the signage, the bump-outs and passive parks, the benches and flowers.
None of this is "inevitable" and none of it should be taken for granted.
With cities, towns and villages around the country literally going bankrupt (Colorado Springs is unscrewing lights in street lamps and removing garbage receptacles from parks to cut costs), the Plaza has remained vibrant.
It is the result of the hardest working, most dedicated and intelligent team of individuals who have ever devoted themselves for the betterment of the community.
For decades, Plaza residents have had the benefit of the professional expertise of Jean Celender, an environmental consultant and urban planner. She actually gets paid by other municipalities for the expertise she shares with the village. She easily could earn an enormous salary as a paid City Supervisor, but she has chosen to devote herself to Great Neck Plaza.
Great Neck Peninsula - or "Great Neck the Greater" as Jean Celender and her predecessor Robert Rosegarten, call it - is unusual, also. There are nine villages just along here. In all my years, I
have seen many different village governments, mayors and trustees, their different styles and different issues. But I have never seen anyone work as hard and as devotedly, with such professionalism and (dare I say) intelligence as Mayor Jean Celender.
She sets a high bar but the trustees of Great Neck Plaza have also been the most talented and hard working anywhere: Ted Rosen, who has also served in village government for two decades and as Deputy Mayor since 2000, brings a calm rationality to discourse that renews your faith in government.
Finishing her first term on the Board of Trustees, Pam Marksheid has proved herself a powerhouse, articulating the issues and standing up for constituents. To see her in action to save Station Branch Library, which was about to be moved away from that location to Great Neck Estates, was marvelous to behold.
For years I have commented - and not just during election campaigns - on what a marvel of municipal government Great Neck Plaza is. The truly remarkable thing is how this has been maintained over the years.
Anyone who attends village meetings has to be amazed at the process, especially the candidates for trustee Michael Glickman and Scott Schwartz since they have never actually attended a village hall meeting. But that does not stop them from making charges about the lack of responsiveness and respect of the incumbents they challenge for office.
Great Neck Plaza has to deal with some of the most complex and difficult issues - a major overhaul and beautification of Long Island Station is now in the works. But even matters that come before the board that you expect to be handled with a swift "aye-aye-aye" wind up taking an enormous amount of time until the trustees are satisfied that the interests of neighbors and residents are protected.
I have seen them suggest to an applicant that they ask for more extended hours - "You may not think you want it now, but you may in the future, and this will prevent you from having to come back before the board" - and also insure that garbage is properly refrigerated before pick-up, that the hours for delivery are carefully specified.
Whenever there is an issue that has interest to a particular group or constituency, this village board actually makes sure that interested constituents are notified and does not just depend on the legal notices, or postings at village hall.
Village Hall is often crammed with people all demanding to be heard. And they are.
In these cynical times of partisan bickering that has left federal and state government virtually paralyzed, the interactions among the board members give you hope that American Democracy might actually be a good idea There is usually lively give and take among the trustees and compromises that inevitably improve whatever legislation they are working on.
What is missing in all of this is personal ego. They draw on their personal experience and skills for what they genuinely believe is in the best interests of the village.
They make local government look easy but I can tell you, it is not, and especially not in Great Neck Plaza.
But only in the bizzaro world of politics is 26 years of service to the community a negative, and never having been to a village hall meeting somehow a qualification for office and the basis for making charges against the incumbents.
This is an example of taking advantage of the pain, frustration and anger that has become so widespread and hoping to tap into that. The political rhetoric that the Citizens for Plaza Reform party uses is the same Tea Party rhetoric that could be applied anywhere - but it is simply empty rhetoric.
Specifically, Stu Hochron, candidate for Mayor, and trustee candidates Michael Glickman and Scott Schwartz seem to be focusing on bringing in more business to the village as the path to its revitalization, and somehow, the current vacancy rate is evidence of some inadequacy on the part of the incumbents.
Michael Glickman, candidate for trustee, makes the argument that there are empties because the Village Board is simply too hard on new businesses, and cites the example of Orvis facing so many obstacles to opening a store in the Plaza, they simply gave up.
But Orvis, which retails guns among its other sporting supplies, never applied (I checked with the Village Clerk). But if they had, would residents of Great Neck Plaza or Great Neck the Greater be comfortable with guns being sold on Middle Neck Road? Wouldn't you want a village board to stand up for residents and allow Orvis to open only on the condition they not sell guns in Great Neck?
And why is it in the village residents' interests to simply cram as many business activities into their one-third square mile without any restriction or regard to laying down rules for how they conduct business? Mr. Glickman says it is because the village gets a portion of the sales tax.
In this Mr. Glickman betrays his ignorance of village government. Sales taxes that are collected from Nassau County go to the state and by a formula come back to the county and by another formula, a portion comes back to villages - regardless of whether the purchase was made on Middle Neck Road or Roosevelt Field. The amount of revenue the Plaza has received from the county for the fiscal year ended February, was $17,889 - a tiny fraction of its operating budget.
The board of trustees is constantly in a fight between promoting business and for that matter real estate development, and preserving the quality of life for residents. This team that has been in place - Mayor Jean Celender and trustees Ted Rosen, Pam Marksheid - have had the wisdom, compassion, and energy to preserve that balance.
Mr. Glickman also betrays his ignorance of village government when, criticizing this administration for the vacancies (actually among the lowest of any village on Long Island), says that the government should use tax incentives and that will fill the shops. The fact is that the amount that would actually be passed along by the property owner to the renter, if anything, would be so little as to hardly be a lure to new business. On the other hand, residents would have to make up the difference in their taxes.
Mr. Glickman betrays his ignorance when he says that the "traffic calming" measures - the roundabout at South Station Plaza and the redesign of Great Neck Road - are in "obscure" parts of the village, as if they were installed in a desert.
He betrays his lack of experience when he charges this mayor and the trustees with being secretive about village spending. Secretive? Let me get this straight: he doesn't attend the public meeting where the Board presents the budget, line by line, where he would have been able to pick up his own copy and question any expenditure, or could have gone to Village Hall or the Library to review it, and regards it as a major coup (and inconvenience) that he had to foiled it (which means he signed a letter requesting a copy).
Probably the most despicable charge the Citizens for Plaza Reform candidates levy, though, is that this mayor and these trustees are "disrespectful" to village residents. That is not even a matter of opinion, that is a lie.
But a bigger lie broaching on slander is the accusation that the salary that Mayor Celender takes, $40,000 (when she could accept $60,000 as a "full-time mayor") is the equivalent of $200,000 a year for one day a week.
There is hardly a week when I don't see Mayor Celender three or more times at other meetings - as mayor, she is a director of the Great Neck North Water Authority (Mr. Hochron confesses to not really know anything about that), responsible for maintaining our drinking supply; she sits on the town's Sewer Advisory Committee that provided oversight to planning for the new $60 million sewer treatment plant; is intimately involved with the Senior Center and Project Independence (which she has replicated in the Plaza); attends ribbon-cuttings to support new businesses; the Library Board and branch committee meetings, the Great Neck Village Officials Association meetings, and on and on and on. Oh yes, she also is the village liaison to the Vigilant Fire Department and negotiates the annual contract.
Over the years, I have also seen Stu Hochron who is challenging Ms. Celender for mayor. I have seen him at Town Hall meetings opposing a bond to rebuild Parkwood and make infrastructure improvements to the parks, at Library Board meetings opposing spending on the renovation and improvement of Main; and Plaza village meetings where he walked out rather than listen to a response to a question he posed.
His classic argument in all these venues is: At the park meeting: "You can't spend money because the Library is spending money". At the Library meeting: "You can't spend money because the Park District is spending money."
In all of these, Mr. Hochron demonstrates he has the mindset of "What's in it for me," as opposed to how does something benefit the community.
In this respect, the assertion "vote for me for greater transparency" is a fraud: in Mr. Hochron's most significant role in Great Neck Plaza, or on the Peninsula, for that matter, he heads a shadowy group called the Coop & Condo Council. The members are the various boards of the buildings who pay dues, and yet, the financial records are kept secret, there is hardly open discourse at meetings, and Mr. Hochron has made donations from the Council's funds without any accountability.
That does not stop the challengers from accusing the Village of not providing enough information. Have you gone to the village website, www.greatneckplaza.net? There is everything you want to know about ongoing projects and issues, like the Retail Potentials & Strategy study, the final report for the Visioning Program (where you get residents' input into the future direction for development), property tax exemption impact report, affordable housing study, helpful information on the Nassau Rx Prescription Discount Program, even how to use the Barstow Road roundabout, and updates on important projects like traffic calming on Middle Neck Road and at the Long Island Railroad station.
If there is a theme to the Citizens Party platform, it is that businesses and developers take precedence over people - not the residents at all. The discussion of historic preservation was key difference. I recall when Mayor Celender did the research to find out what would be involved in obtaining landmark status for 8 Bond Street - that stunning building - how hard she worked to get grants. She learned that by the village becoming a Certified Local Government under New York State's Historic Preservation law, the village could access grant money and training, and also facilitate grants to the property owners, themselves. The village has produced a walking tour of its historic landmarks, and basically has put Great Neck Plaza on the map.
But let's contemplate the alternative that Mr. Hochron proposes when he says that the village should never landmark a property without the owner's consent: when architectural features deteriorate, building owners could paste any cheap facade they wanted, or knock down the building altogether. How does the loss of its heritage benefit the residents?
On the other hand, the historic walking tour helps promote visitors who spend money at the restaurants and shops - something that the opponents claim they want.
Great Neck Plaza has been the model of good local government, an innovator and leader - the first to figure out how to implement affordable housing legislation, make significant improvements to its infrastructure, and all with four years without a tax increase.
Glickman pooh-poohs that achievement, as well. In his campaign piece, Mr. Glickman refers to the current administration as "passive."
Passive?
The only thing "passive" about this Village board is its "parks" - the green spaces that add life and beautify the village and help make Great Neck Plaza such a wonderful place to live, work and yes, shop.
Six villages hold elections on Tuesday, March 16, noon to 9 p.m. Good government is not to be taken for granted.
Vote.
- Karen Rubin, Editor
PLAZA RESIDENTS SHOULD RE-ELECT CELENDER, ROSEN, MARKSHEID
World-class bicycle racing in a tiny village; United Nations Ambassadors coming for a village proclamations at a major Holocaust exhibition; summertime block party and "plein air" dining; concerts at the gazebo on the village green; "I Don't Have a Garage, Garage sale,"; Restaurant week; antique cars and carnival rides; safety seminars in coops and condos; Veterans Day proclamations to seniors at the assisted living residence, and Valentines Day celebrations.
None of this are an essential requirement of village government, but all of them contribute to a uniquely festive, "happening" place that is Great Neck Plaza.
Great Neck Road had not been repaved since it was first built in the 1920s! Its surface was so slick, it was like driving on an ice rink. Senior citizens trying to cross from the assisted living resident, feared for their life when they tried to cross. The road does not even belong to the village yet this mayor devised a plan to make it safer and more beautiful, a true gateway into Great Neck, the Greater, and have the state foot the lion's share of the bill.
And it did not come easily. I remember the meeting organized by the Town of North Hempstead which was like an angry mob. But Mayor Jean Celender withstood it all, held her ground, revised the plan, used studies and data and traffic experts and finally "sold" the plan.
Just one-third square mile in which nearly 7,000 people and 1,000 properties are crammed, if Great Neck Plaza is not the densest, it is surely one of the densest villages in New York State, if not the country. Not only that, but the Plaza is a commercial hub which fills up with workers during the day, and the traffic hub for an entire Peninsula of 43,000 people.
So it is all the more remarkable that The Plaza has urban elements but not urban problems.
Instead, it has preserved the charm of a village, a true community - the red brick sidewalks, the Victorian-style street lamps, the signage, the bump-outs and passive parks, the benches and flowers.
None of this is "inevitable" and none of it should be taken for granted.
With cities, towns and villages around the country literally going bankrupt (Colorado Springs is unscrewing lights in street lamps and removing garbage receptacles from parks to cut costs), the Plaza has remained vibrant.
It is the result of the hardest working, most dedicated and intelligent team of individuals who have ever devoted themselves for the betterment of the community.
For decades, Plaza residents have had the benefit of the professional expertise of Jean Celender, an environmental consultant and urban planner. She actually gets paid by other municipalities for the expertise she shares with the village. She easily could earn an enormous salary as a paid City Supervisor, but she has chosen to devote herself to Great Neck Plaza.
Great Neck Peninsula - or "Great Neck the Greater" as Jean Celender and her predecessor Robert Rosegarten, call it - is unusual, also. There are nine villages just along here. In all my years, I
have seen many different village governments, mayors and trustees, their different styles and different issues. But I have never seen anyone work as hard and as devotedly, with such professionalism and (dare I say) intelligence as Mayor Jean Celender.
She sets a high bar but the trustees of Great Neck Plaza have also been the most talented and hard working anywhere: Ted Rosen, who has also served in village government for two decades and as Deputy Mayor since 2000, brings a calm rationality to discourse that renews your faith in government.
Finishing her first term on the Board of Trustees, Pam Marksheid has proved herself a powerhouse, articulating the issues and standing up for constituents. To see her in action to save Station Branch Library, which was about to be moved away from that location to Great Neck Estates, was marvelous to behold.
For years I have commented - and not just during election campaigns - on what a marvel of municipal government Great Neck Plaza is. The truly remarkable thing is how this has been maintained over the years.
Anyone who attends village meetings has to be amazed at the process, especially the candidates for trustee Michael Glickman and Scott Schwartz since they have never actually attended a village hall meeting. But that does not stop them from making charges about the lack of responsiveness and respect of the incumbents they challenge for office.
Great Neck Plaza has to deal with some of the most complex and difficult issues - a major overhaul and beautification of Long Island Station is now in the works. But even matters that come before the board that you expect to be handled with a swift "aye-aye-aye" wind up taking an enormous amount of time until the trustees are satisfied that the interests of neighbors and residents are protected.
I have seen them suggest to an applicant that they ask for more extended hours - "You may not think you want it now, but you may in the future, and this will prevent you from having to come back before the board" - and also insure that garbage is properly refrigerated before pick-up, that the hours for delivery are carefully specified.
Whenever there is an issue that has interest to a particular group or constituency, this village board actually makes sure that interested constituents are notified and does not just depend on the legal notices, or postings at village hall.
Village Hall is often crammed with people all demanding to be heard. And they are.
In these cynical times of partisan bickering that has left federal and state government virtually paralyzed, the interactions among the board members give you hope that American Democracy might actually be a good idea There is usually lively give and take among the trustees and compromises that inevitably improve whatever legislation they are working on.
What is missing in all of this is personal ego. They draw on their personal experience and skills for what they genuinely believe is in the best interests of the village.
They make local government look easy but I can tell you, it is not, and especially not in Great Neck Plaza.
But only in the bizzaro world of politics is 26 years of service to the community a negative, and never having been to a village hall meeting somehow a qualification for office and the basis for making charges against the incumbents.
This is an example of taking advantage of the pain, frustration and anger that has become so widespread and hoping to tap into that. The political rhetoric that the Citizens for Plaza Reform party uses is the same Tea Party rhetoric that could be applied anywhere - but it is simply empty rhetoric.
Specifically, Stu Hochron, candidate for Mayor, and trustee candidates Michael Glickman and Scott Schwartz seem to be focusing on bringing in more business to the village as the path to its revitalization, and somehow, the current vacancy rate is evidence of some inadequacy on the part of the incumbents.
Michael Glickman, candidate for trustee, makes the argument that there are empties because the Village Board is simply too hard on new businesses, and cites the example of Orvis facing so many obstacles to opening a store in the Plaza, they simply gave up.
But Orvis, which retails guns among its other sporting supplies, never applied (I checked with the Village Clerk). But if they had, would residents of Great Neck Plaza or Great Neck the Greater be comfortable with guns being sold on Middle Neck Road? Wouldn't you want a village board to stand up for residents and allow Orvis to open only on the condition they not sell guns in Great Neck?
And why is it in the village residents' interests to simply cram as many business activities into their one-third square mile without any restriction or regard to laying down rules for how they conduct business? Mr. Glickman says it is because the village gets a portion of the sales tax.
In this Mr. Glickman betrays his ignorance of village government. Sales taxes that are collected from Nassau County go to the state and by a formula come back to the county and by another formula, a portion comes back to villages - regardless of whether the purchase was made on Middle Neck Road or Roosevelt Field. The amount of revenue the Plaza has received from the county for the fiscal year ended February, was $17,889 - a tiny fraction of its operating budget.
The board of trustees is constantly in a fight between promoting business and for that matter real estate development, and preserving the quality of life for residents. This team that has been in place - Mayor Jean Celender and trustees Ted Rosen, Pam Marksheid - have had the wisdom, compassion, and energy to preserve that balance.
Mr. Glickman also betrays his ignorance of village government when, criticizing this administration for the vacancies (actually among the lowest of any village on Long Island), says that the government should use tax incentives and that will fill the shops. The fact is that the amount that would actually be passed along by the property owner to the renter, if anything, would be so little as to hardly be a lure to new business. On the other hand, residents would have to make up the difference in their taxes.
Mr. Glickman betrays his ignorance when he says that the "traffic calming" measures - the roundabout at South Station Plaza and the redesign of Great Neck Road - are in "obscure" parts of the village, as if they were installed in a desert.
He betrays his lack of experience when he charges this mayor and the trustees with being secretive about village spending. Secretive? Let me get this straight: he doesn't attend the public meeting where the Board presents the budget, line by line, where he would have been able to pick up his own copy and question any expenditure, or could have gone to Village Hall or the Library to review it, and regards it as a major coup (and inconvenience) that he had to foiled it (which means he signed a letter requesting a copy).
Probably the most despicable charge the Citizens for Plaza Reform candidates levy, though, is that this mayor and these trustees are "disrespectful" to village residents. That is not even a matter of opinion, that is a lie.
But a bigger lie broaching on slander is the accusation that the salary that Mayor Celender takes, $40,000 (when she could accept $60,000 as a "full-time mayor") is the equivalent of $200,000 a year for one day a week.
There is hardly a week when I don't see Mayor Celender three or more times at other meetings - as mayor, she is a director of the Great Neck North Water Authority (Mr. Hochron confesses to not really know anything about that), responsible for maintaining our drinking supply; she sits on the town's Sewer Advisory Committee that provided oversight to planning for the new $60 million sewer treatment plant; is intimately involved with the Senior Center and Project Independence (which she has replicated in the Plaza); attends ribbon-cuttings to support new businesses; the Library Board and branch committee meetings, the Great Neck Village Officials Association meetings, and on and on and on. Oh yes, she also is the village liaison to the Vigilant Fire Department and negotiates the annual contract.
Over the years, I have also seen Stu Hochron who is challenging Ms. Celender for mayor. I have seen him at Town Hall meetings opposing a bond to rebuild Parkwood and make infrastructure improvements to the parks, at Library Board meetings opposing spending on the renovation and improvement of Main; and Plaza village meetings where he walked out rather than listen to a response to a question he posed.
His classic argument in all these venues is: At the park meeting: "You can't spend money because the Library is spending money". At the Library meeting: "You can't spend money because the Park District is spending money."
In all of these, Mr. Hochron demonstrates he has the mindset of "What's in it for me," as opposed to how does something benefit the community.
In this respect, the assertion "vote for me for greater transparency" is a fraud: in Mr. Hochron's most significant role in Great Neck Plaza, or on the Peninsula, for that matter, he heads a shadowy group called the Coop & Condo Council. The members are the various boards of the buildings who pay dues, and yet, the financial records are kept secret, there is hardly open discourse at meetings, and Mr. Hochron has made donations from the Council's funds without any accountability.
That does not stop the challengers from accusing the Village of not providing enough information. Have you gone to the village website, www.greatneckplaza.net? There is everything you want to know about ongoing projects and issues, like the Retail Potentials & Strategy study, the final report for the Visioning Program (where you get residents' input into the future direction for development), property tax exemption impact report, affordable housing study, helpful information on the Nassau Rx Prescription Discount Program, even how to use the Barstow Road roundabout, and updates on important projects like traffic calming on Middle Neck Road and at the Long Island Railroad station.
If there is a theme to the Citizens Party platform, it is that businesses and developers take precedence over people - not the residents at all. The discussion of historic preservation was key difference. I recall when Mayor Celender did the research to find out what would be involved in obtaining landmark status for 8 Bond Street - that stunning building - how hard she worked to get grants. She learned that by the village becoming a Certified Local Government under New York State's Historic Preservation law, the village could access grant money and training, and also facilitate grants to the property owners, themselves. The village has produced a walking tour of its historic landmarks, and basically has put Great Neck Plaza on the map.
But let's contemplate the alternative that Mr. Hochron proposes when he says that the village should never landmark a property without the owner's consent: when architectural features deteriorate, building owners could paste any cheap facade they wanted, or knock down the building altogether. How does the loss of its heritage benefit the residents?
On the other hand, the historic walking tour helps promote visitors who spend money at the restaurants and shops - something that the opponents claim they want.
Great Neck Plaza has been the model of good local government, an innovator and leader - the first to figure out how to implement affordable housing legislation, make significant improvements to its infrastructure, and all with four years without a tax increase.
Glickman pooh-poohs that achievement, as well. In his campaign piece, Mr. Glickman refers to the current administration as "passive."
Passive?
The only thing "passive" about this Village board is its "parks" - the green spaces that add life and beautify the village and help make Great Neck Plaza such a wonderful place to live, work and yes, shop.
Six villages hold elections on Tuesday, March 16, noon to 9 p.m. Good government is not to be taken for granted.
Vote.
- Karen Rubin, Editor
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