The-Leader_2009-09-24

              FREEPORT MEMORIAL LIBRARY
Come on the annual House Tour
/(€'
^^-
S
%^
VC£>
m^ 2 4
^i^.'}-'
FreeportBaldwmLeader.com
poirt
Mwim
74th Year, No. 39 Freeport, N.Y. 11520
The Community Newspaper
Thursday, September 24, 2009 75^
Rebuilding Freeport, efforts underway
SARAH LANSDALE, executive director of Sustairi.gfaleLprigisland;7eGords;ti1e response of one
. of the groups during the breakavyay session at the .September 15 m^ - - "•. •'-'- •, f.-. ~ •
.~J. ^ C. j-.v • • Leader photo by Jim Gilding
by Jim Golding
For years, residents of the village's north side have pleaded for improvements to the deteriorating conditions to one of the major corridors into Freeport - the North Main Street corridor. .
Their pleas are being answered beginning with the first meet­ing on September 15 with residents, community leaders and regional planning officials to begin the "re-imaging" of the cor­ridor.
Representatives of the steering committee for the project, the Regional Plan Association, the Sustainable Long Island organi­zation and the California-based national urban planning firm that will work -with local organizations to develop the plan, Moule & Polyzoides, made presentations on how the process will work. . ,
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi made a brief appearance to praise the efforts being made in Freeport and its relationship to a larger master plan to in\prove conditions in the
county.
'I" "."I think Freeport has some of the best potential of any com-
mUnit>(.iQj^|ssau,'\he said. "It's^ne biggest opportunities "to &'*a!n6\wrs)jbu|bia?a^
~; He:;said^^ti|?||ufii^i|Tci5n^ million for down-
:toymimprpvenienb'''aspart;of:m
"vpie.counfy executive'nOte'd that efforts are needed to draw ' yoiihg people to moye to Nassau, which they are avoiding
because of the high cost of living; including the inaffordability
of single-family homes. .^.-» He said'that expan(li.ng:.the;tax„,base and cleaning up blighted
areas are among the problems thait heed to be addressed in,order , to attract :y«ung people to the area, and that developing "cool
dowiitowns," with affordable rental apartments, restaurants,
shops and office buildings, are ways to accomplish this.
(continued on page 10)
New kids in town to design husiness district
by Laura Schofer
Brains and vision - that's what the 60 architecture students from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) will bring to a project that will help to recreate the central business district in Freeport.
Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick, referring to the village as "Mrs. Freeport," welcomed the students to Village Hall on Tuesday, September 16. "We need your fresh young eyes to help us see Freeport for what she can be. You have' a lot of work to do here but you are not wasting your time.-We.welcome you with open arms."
Deputy Mayor Robert Kennedy added, "You can do it.'Architecture-ijiimportant;
to this village."
John DiBenico, speaking on behalf of the architecture and city planning faculty at NYIT, reminded the students they were "leaving the traditional setting tiehind. You will beat the pavement to see how a town is made," he said. " This can really happen. We will study the entire village; take it apart and then put it together."
The project will focus on the central part of Freeport, specifically the Long Island Rail Road station and the area around it.
Village employees, representing the electric, building, public works and police departments,' were on hand to answer questions about the village's infrastructure. Also on hand-were individ-: uals .who^cQuld speak to the character and
history of Freeport including Cynthia Krieg, village historian; Rob Weltner, executive director of SPLASH (Stop Polluting, Littering and Save Harbors); Dr. Kishore Kuncham, superintendent of Freeport Schools; Loren Agastino of the Freeport Memorial Library, Hector Garcia from the Long Island Rail Road and lifelong Freeporter John Remsen.
John Maguire, chief of staff of the Village of Freeport, fielded questions from students for the next two hours, explaining that the "central business dis­trict, along with some vacant land needs your attention."
Transportation
Is the village interested in transit ori­ented
development? What about the cre­ation of bike paths throughout the vil­lage? Does the village want ideas on how to move people from the Long Island Rail Road station and the central business dis­trict down to the Nautical Mile? Should Freeport be a "destination?"
Mr. Maguire said the village "wants to see more foot and bike traffic in town. We want the village to be more commuter-friendly." He added that the over-abun-daiice of cars caused traffic jams down the Nautical Mile and made parking with­in the village difficult.
"We want to reduce the use of cars. The Freeport train station happens to be a hub for the buses and there are additional
tracks [on the LIRR]. (continued on page 3)
I
Dollars for scholars
event Saturday
page 2
Veteran
information sought
page 4
OHR Food pantry
still needs help
page 4
^aldwiri's BroQkside IS;
Blue Ribbon School
pages