An incident last summer at Grove Street Park incited ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) members to come before the Garden City village board Feb. 3 and demand a sign at the facility, which reads "For Garden City Residents Only," be taken down. "It's not a 'residents only' sign, it's a 'Jim Crow' sign and it says 'whites only,'" A. Supreme Mathematics, chairperson of the Freeport-Roosevelt NAACP Housing Committee and an ACORN member, said. "The policies of Garden City are too much like the Jim Crow laws of the south."

Accusations made by ACORN members pointed to a "test" they performed at the site. Members allege that when an African-American woman and three African-American teens from Hempstead and Roosevelt attempted to enter Grove Street Park, a park employee informed them that they could not because the park was to be used by Garden City residents only. When asked how he knew they weren't village residents, members claim the attendant responded, "I know everyone in Garden City." ACORN members emphasized, however, that the park employee never asked the group for proof of residency.

Days later, members claim a Caucasian woman from Carle Place and three Caucasian teens from out of state entered the park with no questions asked. Members said the park employee never asked for proof of residency and even said, "Thanks for coming," when they left.

"There's no difference between saying, 'whites only' and 'blacks are out,'" Mathematics said. "We brought African Americans to your park and whites who didn't live in New York that weren't even spoken to. They stayed in the park for a half-hour to an hour. No one ever once asked them of their residency. They didn't even live in New York. The African Americans, before they got three steps into your park, were put out."

Members urged the board to "stop discriminating against parks visitors and open Garden City parks to everyone, regardless of skin color or residence." A Hempstead resident asked trustees to remove the sign, especially for the sake of the children. "Imagine the diversity these children can experience in their cognitive years," he said.

The New York State Attorney General's Office, authorized to enforce the state's anti-discrimination laws and handle cases that affect large numbers or "classes" of citizens, did contact village officials with regard to a complaint ACORN filed. "We have been reviewing this matter with the attorney general's office," Village Counsel Gary Fishberg noted. "We've had a meeting with them and some additional discussions and we believe a resolution is going to be achieved very soon whereby the village will perhaps put in some additional policies that will continue the 'residents' only' policy."

Fishberg added that village officials currently contemplate leaving the "residents only" sign up and, by putting additional policies in place, believe the attorney general's office will support that determination.

Recreation Director Kevin Ocker noted years ago, the policy involved a sign-in procedure where village residents received cards and signed in when entering the park. "Gradually, they got away from that procedure and haven't used it for the last 20 years or so," he said.

Currently, park attendants, of which the majority are high school-aged residents, with the exception of one or two others, "see a lot of the same residents" and have become "accustomed to who's coming and going."

"If there's somebody they may not recognize, and it has nothing to do with race, they have, in the past, asked whether or not they live in the village. Is it foolproof? Absolutely not," Ocker admitted. "That's why we're working to develop a full non-discriminatory enforcement of residency."

Village Administrator Robert Schoelle Jr. said it's premature to discuss any details of the new procedure because village officials are still working closely with the attorney general's office. "We are developing a program that will be practical to administer and acceptable to the New York State Attorney General's office," he said.

Clearly dissatisfied, ACORN members began chanting, "Jim Crow!" "Stop Discrimination." Police Commissioner Ernest Cipullo told chanters that they'd be able to speak but suggested they conduct themselves properly. He also suggested they call him if any other incidents should occur.