Supervisor Clavin, Town Council Members & Fellow members of our West Hempstead and nearby communities...
The Capri - with its lengthy rap sheet of criminal activities - was using valuable police resources that can now be deployed elsewhere
In its place, let's build housing that average people can afford - not more luxury units like 130 West and the newest addition: Heritage by Heatherwood
Regarding the seizure of the Capri property under the legal principle of "eminent domain" - will the public have access to and be able to make input into your decisions about how this site will be used both short term and long term?
To those we've elected:
Thank you for the services you provide that enrich the quality of our life. Among my favorites are the musical events and the recreation programs at Echo Park - where I was first introduced to kundalini yoga.
Our family moved to West Hempstead 27 years ago. Our son attended all the schools. Retired for several years, my wife Eileen and I are planning to stay here...SO, we are actively involved in working to insure our neighborhood continues to remain the welcoming place that greeted us when we moved in.
I recall an early slogan that was used, perhaps by the previous version of today's West Hempstead Community Support Association:
As I do my daily walks around town, I am happy to notice that West Hempstead is a wonderfully diverse community....
"Car 504 where are you?"
NCPD patrols to help keep our streets safe. One of their local vehicles that patrols the sector in which the Capri is located is Car 504. When the Capri's infamous activities were going on, these neighborhood patrols were at times diverted to handling calls to the Capri.
GOOD NEWS
We live directly across the street from George Washington Elementary School. Several months ago, while keeping a watchful on on the school's property, an officer in 504 knocked on our front door at 3:00 AM (the bell was hidden behind decorations surrounding the door) to let us know that the rear hatch was up on our SUV - apparently due to a "pocket click" - as I was getting ready to go to bed. I went to the window, thanked him, got my remote and closed the offending door.
BAD NEWS
About 6 weeks later, nighttime thieves cut out and stole the catalytic converter from our son's RV that was parked in our driveway between our house and a neighbor's. He's going to have to teach a lot of piano lessons to his young students to pay the thousands of dollars needed to repair the theft.
Build AFFORDable not more LUXURY housing in W. Hempstead and LI
--Includes 53-minute video presentation with Gov. Kathy Hochul. There's also a link to the audio transcript. If you're in a hurry, please listen to her challenging and encouraging words (opening 30 minutes).
EXHIBIT A: Heatherwood (old National Wholesale Liquidator's site)
Today's search results - Notice the advertising of "Luxury"
EXHIBIT B: West 130 (formerly the crime-infested Courtesy Hotel)
Today's search results - Notice the price ranges
These prices aren't affordable for lower or middle income riders. These riders will not likely be riding the LIRR...But more likely opting for NICE's N6 bus to Jamaica Bus Terminal and transfers elsewhere.
Eminent Domain...Spirit of the Law...Letter of the Law...
Recently, this law concept has appeared in various online articles explaining the Town's justification for the closure of the Capri.
I'm including this next brief article about "eminent domain" because it presents in summary fashion how this principle can be both used and abused by governments.
This is why I asked earlier if will the public have access to and be able to make input into your decisions about how this site will be used both short term and long term?
While dated...the following still applies...
--from this article with my emphases
:
1954: Berman v. Parker
The Berman decision, however, profoundly expanded the definition of what constitutes a “public use” and created incentives for abuse by governments and private developers to circumvent the free market. In this case coming out of Washington, D.C., the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of “urban renewal”—efforts by the federal government and local officials to revitalize urban areas to supposedly remove slums and eliminate blight. In this one decision, the Court transformed the words “public use” to mean “public purpose” as defined by a legislature or administrative agency.
In Berman’s wake, governments began vastly expanding the definition of blight so they could condemn perfectly fine properties for private development under the pretense of urban renewal. In addition, many state supreme courts adopted the rationale of Berman, reading their public use clauses the same way. Continuing down this slippery slope, governments began to bypass the charade of declaring an area blighted and instead used eminent domain to take homes and businesses so that the land could be given to other private parties who the government believed would produce more tax revenue than the current owners.
This recent LI Herald article presents some of the confusion in the case of the Town's seizure of the Capri's property:
