A crowded room at Koenig's restaurant in Floral Park was the scene where the Floral Park Chamber of Commerce had its annual monthly meeting and heard from Assemblyman Tom Alfano on current issues impacting the community-at-large. Alfano thanked chamber members and community groups for leading the charge against the third rail and discussed property tax relief with the community leaders.

"The people here had led the way toward educating our communities about the third rail. With our village boards, CARE and community groups, you have made the difference, I for one want to thank all of you," Assemblyman Alfano said, adding "Through your work, I received over 1,000 emails from residents saying 'no' to the third rail."

During the luncheon, Alfano outlined his opposition to the MTA plan and called upon the community to redouble their efforts in fighting the plan. "We all know what this plan will mean to Bellerose Village, Floral Park and Bellerose Terrace. It means more noise pollution. It means homes will be taken. It means loss of our quality of life. It means more ground vibrations from trains," Alfano said. "We have to continue to stand together and we have to keep up the pressure on the MTA. People-power works and, so far, we've shown the planners that we will not sit idly by and watch our community be taken for granted."

Alfano further outlined the efforts of community volunteers who have taken a direct leadership role in the fight. "I've never seen an effort like this. Everybody is working together and I can assure you that I will continue to stand by your side in this fight," he added, highlighting the thousands of community residents who jammed a public hearing at Jericho Terrace and thanked Floral Park resident Tim Dalton for his "extraordinary" efforts in the fight.

Alfano noted his continuing work on promoting tax relief for homeowners by boosting the STAR program and providing direct relief by promoting regional cost indexes, more aggressive welfare fraud investigation and promoting economic growth in commercial business areas.

"The key to tax relief is jobs, growth and efficiency in government," Alfano said. To that end, he is sponsoring legislation called the "Save Our Homes Act," which is a property tax reduction package.