1970-06-25

              Paruingdsle, N. Y. 11735 10c on newsstands,
or $ 5 yearly
by mail locally
POWELL HOUSE 1700 FARHINBDALE OBSERVER
WHERE THE HISTORY OF YOUR COMMUNITY IS RECORDED WEEKLY
An Officiaf Newspaper of The Incorporated Village of Farmingdale — Serving Greater Farmingdale, Bethpage and Melville
Vol. 7 No. 44 Second Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735- Thursday, June 25, 1970
HOUSING RUMOR SPARKS
PARK PETITIONS
Nearly 1,000 Farmingdale residents attended a quickly- called
meeting with Town of Oyster Bay officials at the Farmingdale Senior
High School on Monday evening regarding a rumor that the 16 acre
Town- owned Heisser Lane parcel of land, which was purchased for
development as a Town park would be turned into a low income
housing. project.
The site was acquired in 1967 at a cost of $ 850,000 and the develop­ment
calls for an additional $ 1,800,000.
The rumor which has been circulating for the past . several weeks,
was brought to the attention of Farmingdale Youth Council President
Frank Gelish at last Wednesday's Youth Council monthly meeting at
Village Hall. Gelish sent a telegram to Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor
John W. Burke on Thursday to ascertain whether the rumor was true.
The rumor mushroomed because a large Town sign on the site was
taken down. A Town spokesman said the sign was taken down because
it was installed during a previous administration and contained
names of officials who were no longer on the board or who had passed
away.
The rumor gained momentum after someone said that some person
or persons were canvassing the area to find out whether a low income
housing unit would be objectionable. No one was able to determine
who the person or persons were.
A Town official called Gelish on
Saturday and informed him that
Supervisor Burke and members
of the Town Board would be glad
to come to Farmingdale on
Monday evening to a meeting
regarding the future plans of the
site.
The unexpected large crowd
greeted Supervisor Burke,
Deputy Supervisor Edward
Glaser and Councilmen Edmund
Oker, Warren Doolittle, Philip B.
Healey and Lewis Yevoli as well
as former Councilman Frank
Hynes.
Youth Council resident Frank
Gelish served as moderator and
Town officials assured those
present that the development of
the 16 acre Town site would begin
within the next four months.
When asked whether the Urban
Development Corporation of the
Slate of New York could condemn
the site for low income housing, it
was pointed out that the State
agency is concerned only with
' blighted'areas and that up until
this time they agency has not
intruded into local governement
affairs until they were invited.
Burke assured those present that
the park development would
proceed now that the consulting
architect had completed the
drawings. He stated he took of­fice
as of January 1st of this year
and gave assurance that the
preparation of specifications of
site development, the legal ad­vertising
of bids and other legal
matters would take about four
months before actual work could
begin.
Plans call for the creation of
two baseball fields, one football
field, tennis courts, a year round
swimming pool facility, and a
building to house youth and
senior citizens activity.
" We have no intention of
deviating from the original
purpose for which the site was
purchased", Burke concluded.
An editorial in last week's
OBSERVER as well as one
several weeks ago, confirmed
what the Town officials told the
crowd present at Monday's
meeting.
On Tuesday of this week, two
sets of petitions, circulated by the
Farmingdale Republican
Committee and the Farmingdale
Baseball League Incorporated
were taken to Town Hall
demanding full and immediate
development of the park site.
Farmingdale GOP Leader,
Frank Hynes said that ' there
were over 7,000 signatures on the
joint petitions and more were
coming in every day. Hynes also
stated that he had asked the
Board to name the park after the
late Ellsworth ' Doc' Allen.
The petition reads : " We the
citizens and taxpayers of Far­mingdale
demand the Town
Board proceed with the con­struction
of the Heisser Lane
Park with a year- round swim­ming
pool facility as presented to
us on a number of occasions in a
mock up and pictorially. We are
not interested in any reduction of
the facility in any shape manner
or form. The fact that delays in
getting this project off the ground
and structural changes have
caused this project to cost an
additional $ 400,000doesnot in any
way change our determination to
insist that the work begin im­mediately.
Our youth have
survived too long on empty
promises and all the names
signed here are holding the Town
Board members collectively and
individually responsible should
there be any further delays or
material changes in the Heisser
Lane development in the
" Ellsworth Allen Park".
Youth Council Offers Varied
Menu Of Activities
Registration for young people
who wish to participate in Farm­ingdale
Youth Council activities
will take place this Friday, June
26 from 9 a. m. to 12 noon. A
Medical Insurance fee of $ 1 will
be charged each registrant.
If the school district budget is
passed on Saturday, the program
will begin on Monday, June 29
and end on August 7. The
youth council budget passage
does not mean school facilities
are available. School budget ap
proval is necessary for use of
school facilities. Youngsters,
enrolled in grades as of Sep­tember,
1970 one through four,
will attend from 9 a. m. to noon
and in grades five through eight
( Continued on Page 12)
DRUG ABUSE FORUM: Four of the panelists at a recent Farmingdale Drug
Abuse Forum discuss the narcotics problem at the conclusion of the question-and-
answer session. They are, from left to right, Oyster Bay Town Councilman
Warren M. Doolittle, Mrs. Adeline Petito, wife of the late Town Supervisor
Michael N. Petito and now a Nassau County Consultant on Narcotics; State
Senator Ralph Mar ho and Frank Gelish President of Farmingdale Youth
Council.