How To Fight Block-Busters
Block-busting is the practice of some unscrupu-lous
real estate dealers who attempt to create
a fast turn-over of homes in a neighborhood.
They foster a false impression that the neighbor-hood
will decline because some minority-group
families may be moving into the neighborhood.
There is actually no cause for alaro if the com-munity
remains stable and residents refuse to be
panicked into selling their homes. A stable
community is one in which the turn-over is lin-ited
to normal reasons for moving, such as a
change in jobs to a new location, change in fam-ily
status, retirement, and such reasons.
The most effective way to combat block-busting
is for every home owner to sign a cease-and-de-sist
letter addressed to the Secretary of State
of New York State. The home owners' names and
addresses are placed on a list and given to real
estate dealers, prohibiting them from soliciting
those homes by mail, phone, or in person. This
prevents dealers from making any blanket solici-tations
of an entire neighborhood.
In the event that you find later that it is nec-essary
for you to sell your home through a deal-er,
you only have to give that dealer a written
statement to that effect, if you wish to invite
solicitation.
Please fill in the cease and desist letter be-low,
and return it to the Code Enforcement Of-fice
at Village Hall. Do not mail it directly
to the Secretary of State, because Village per-sonnel
are compiling lists for follow-up to in-sure
proper handling. The most convenient way
to return the letter is to enclose it with your
Electric Bill payment.
If you are solicited after you file your letter,
please save the postcard, business card, or any
other material received, or if solicited by tel-ephone,
please make a note of the time, date,
and name of the individual and the company so-liciting
you for the sale of your home. Furnish
this information to the Code Enforcement Office
in Village Hall.
Please take a minute now to fill in your cease
and desist letter, to continue the program for
stabilizing Freeport neighborhoods and to help
put Freeport out-of-bounds for the block-busters.
Hon. John P. Lomenzo Dated
Secretary of State
New York Department of State
270 Broadway
New York, New York 10007
Dear Secretary Lomenzo:
I (We), the undersigned registered owner(s) of property located at
, in the Village of Freeport, Nassau County, New York, do not wish to sell such •
property. Accordingly, I (we) hereby revoke my (our) implied invitation to solicit in any Banner
whatsoever.
I (We) hereby request you, by virtue of the power vested in you as Secretary of State, pur-suant
to Article 12A of the Real Property Law, to order all licensed brokers and salesmen to
cease and desist from soliciting the undersigned until such time as I (we) may notify you in
writing to the contrary.
(Signed)
Print name
Village News
A PUBLIC INFORMATION BULLETIN OF THE VILLAGE OF FREEPORT
46 NORTH OCEAN AVENUE TELEPHONE FReeport 8-4000 WILLIAM H. WHITE, MAYOR
JUNE 1973
Break Ground For Urban Renewal Housing
Village Officials wield the symbolic shovel in
groundbreaking ceremonies for the 100 unit Free—
port Urban Renewal development known as Liberty
Park Apartments. Left to right are, Village
Trustee Thomas Lovelidge, Trustee Ralph Franco,
Mayor William White, and former Mayor Robert
Sweeney.
In the background is the construction site, on
which work has already begun for the garden apart-ment
units, which will be housed in six two-story
buildings on the 6.5 acre site. The Urban Renewal
project includes a community building, several
children's play areas, a large number of trees
and shrubs.
Construction is expected to be completed by the
end of the year. Another phase of the Freeport
Urban Renewal program is also progressing, the
demolition of substandard housing in the Benning-ton
Park section to be replaced with new, modern
housing.
The groundbreaking ceremony culminates three
years of planning and negotiating with HUD and
FHA officials"for the approval of this Section
236, nonprofit sponsored garden apartment devel-opment.
Trustees: George H. Fairberg, Ralph P. Franco, Thomas J. Lovelidge, H. Berkeley Swezey
Village Clerk: Thomas DeVincenzo - Treasurer: Leonard D.B. Smith - Counsel: Oakley Gentry Jr.
Municipal Service Request
Do you have a specific problem that needs the
attention of a Village department?
If so, please use this Service Request form to
bring it to the attention of your Village ad-ministration.
It will be acknowledged and giv-en
to the appropriate department head for ac-tion.
We recommend that you include your name and ad-dress.
It will not be disclosed to any third
party, but it will enable us to let you know
what was done or why it couldn't be done.
You may conveniently send your Service Request
to Village Hall by including it in the same re-ply
envelope with your Electric Bill payment.
SERVICE REQUEST
TO: Mayor William H. White, Municipal Building, Freeport, N.Y. 11520
Action Requested or Nature of Problem . . .
Address or Location
For Referral to: Sanitation Highway Building Department Code Enforcement_
Electric Water Sewer Narcotics Guidance Parking Meters
Parking Fields Vacant Lot Clearance Police Fire Recreation and Parks
Stadium Sign Shop Other
Your Name
Address Phone
Before You Go On Vacation
It would be in your best interest to notify
two Village departments before you leave for
any extended period of time on vacation. No-tify
the Police Department (FR 8-0700), so
that they will be aware of the fact that the
house is unoccupied. You should also notify
the Electric Department (FR 8-4000 Ext.265),
to avoid any discontinuance of electric serv-ice
due to delay in payment of your bills
while you are away.
License Needed For All Rental Housing
The Freeport Village Board has adopted a new Vil- Jail for each violation.
lage law that requires a permit for all rental
housing, whether it is one room, a one-family
house, two-family house, or large apartment
house.
Mayor William H. White said the purpose of the
new law is to assure compliance with all Village
building and zoning codes, particularly those
covering the number of persons or families per-mitted
in a particular house or dwelling. It
is also designed to protect tenants against sub-standard
living conditions by having the BuiloV
ing Department verify that all rental premises
are clean, safe, in sanitary condition, in prop-er
repair, and free from rodents or vermin.
Under the new housing ordinance, no permit will
be issued for any rental unit unless it has first
been inspected by the Building Department. Writ-ten
into the ordinance are specific minimum pen-alties.
For failure to obtain a rental permit
or failure to notify the Superintendent of Build-ings
of any change in tenancy the fine will be
not less than 3100 and up to $250 or 15 days in
"Our Code Enforcement and Building Department
programs have helped considerably in elimina-ting
over-occupancy situations and other ille-gal
residential uses," Mayor White said, "and
now this new licensing ordinance will give our
enforcement personnel another effective tool."
Applications for permits for all rental units
in the Village must be made to the Building De-partment
by September 1, 1973. To obtain your
application form write to Superintendent of
Buildings, Freeport Municipal Building, kb North
Ocean Avenue, Freeport, N.Y. 11520.
The landlord's license fee.to,be paid to the.- -
Building Department for a two year period will
be $20.00 for renting a one-family dwelling.
For buildings with more than one family, the
fee will be $20.00 for the first dwelling unit
and $ 't.OO for each additional dwelling unit,
and S'f.OO whenever a turn-over occurs in tenants.
In the case of a two-family house in which the
owner lives, the fee will be one-half the regu-lar
fee.
Freeport Water Rates Increased
On the recommendation of the Freeport Board of
Water and Light Commissioners, an increase in
water rates has been put into effect, to cover
a deficit in operating expenses for the Water
Department. The new rates are effective with
the water meter readings taken June 1, 1973
and thereafter. This is the first water rate
increase since 1967.
The rates have been raised as follows: For the
first 7,000 gallons of water consumed per quar-ter
for each subscriber the rate is increased
from $MO to $6.50. The next 93,000 gallons
consumed by each subscriber are increased from
'tOtf to ^60 per 1,000 gallons. Any gallonage
used in excess of 100,000 gallons per quarter
is increased from 33(£ per 1,000 to 'tOtf per
1,000.
The average increase in rates will be approxi-mately
15$, Superintendent of Water Distribu-tion
Edward Voelker said in his report to the
Village Board. He noted that this rate in-crease
was necessary because the Water Depart-ment
would wind up with a deficit of $10^,501
for the fiscal year if the present rates were
continued without increase.
Mayor William H. White said that he regretted
the necessity for the rate increase but took
some consolation, "In the fact that Freeport
has the purest, best tasting water of any com-munity
in the metropolitan area, and has al-ways
provided a plentiful supply to residents
without restrictions on sprinkling, pools, or
other uses."
Public Meeting Dates
The schedule of public meetings of the Village
Board changes during the summer months. In-stead
of two meetings a month, the Public Meet-ings
will be held on the first Monday of each
month only, during June, July, August and Sep-tember,
beginning at 9 PM, at the Village Hall,
*t6 No. Ocean Avenue. In the event any meeting
night falls on a legal holiday or the eve of a
holiday, no meeting will be held.
IT'S TIME TO
Clean-Up Paint-Up Fix-Up
