First-Ever Restaurant Week in Garden City July 20-23

Festival Will Add to Seventh Street Festivities

Because inclement weather forced the cancellation of this year’s popular Belmont Festival on Seventh Street, the Garden City Chamber of Commerce wants to make it up to disappointed residents.

Garden City Water Bill Getting New Look

The Village of Garden City is modifying the printed form of residents’ water bills, permanently printing the schedule on the form.

28-Year-Old Time Capsule Uncovered at Construction Site

In 1981, a time capsule was buried by Girl Scout Brownie Troop 1356 at Garden City Village Hall. It was supposed to be dug up five years later but no one ever did it! Twenty-eight years into the future … the time capsule has been found!

Preservationists: Think Outside The Box

A Forum to Preserve Historic St. Paul’s School

Preservationists offered insight into how the Garden City community can ensure the historic St. Paul’s School lives up to its name on the Preservation League of New York State’s “Seven to Save” list during a forum June 17.

Mixed-Use Development Proposed For Former Avis Property

Old Country Road Site to Include Hotel, Restaurants, Offices

Simon Properties is looking to build a hotel, with office space, restaurants and several retail uses at 900 Old Country Road, more commonly known as the former Avis property. The 21.86-acre parcel of land is located on the south side of Old Country Road, between Zeckendorf and Gate boulevards.

Vacant Property to Temporarily House Car Dealership Overflow

Property Owner: Lagging Economy Preventing Construction

550 Stewart Avenue, LLC, owners of the property north and south of Stewart Avenue near the Roosevelt Field Mall’s entrance, have entered into a month-to-month lease agreement with a Hempstead Nissan dealership to temporarily store cars on their south side property.

GC Residents Criticize St. Paul’s DEIS Draft Scoping Document

Board of Trustees Holds June Scoping Hearing

Some residents criticized the draft scope for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed demolition of Ellis Hall and the Main Building at St. Paul’s at a June 4 scoping hearing.

Robert Grover, director of the consulting firm Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. out of Babylon, noted that the village board and members of the engineering and construction services firm’s consulting team have identified some issues in a preliminary list. “We’re all here to see if anything needs to be added,” Grover said at the scoping meeting.

Dissolving Villages, Towns and Special Districts

Bill Passes Assembly, Senate, Awaiting Gov’s Signature

A frantic email made its way around Garden City Memorial Day weekend, urging residents to act and act fast. The email spoke of legislation that would streamline the process to dissolve villages, towns and special districts and pleaded with residents to contact their local assemblymen and senators to vote no on the proposed bills.
But on June 1, the Assembly approved the bill (#A8501) by a vote of 117 to 26. Days later, on June 3, the bill passed the Senate (#S5661) by a vote of 46 to 16. As of press time the legislation was waiting for Governor David Paterson’s signature.

Historical Society to Host Forum to Preserve St. Paul’s June 17

Submitted by the Garden City Historical Society

The Garden City Historical Society will host a free forum on the preservation of the former Cathedral School of St. Paul (known by its familiar name, St. Paul’s School), which is currently the subject of exploration for demolition by the Village of Garden City. The Society’s Forum, “Garden City to Become Anytown, USA?” will be held at Cluett Hall at the St. Paul’s Recreation Complex, on Wednesday, June 17, at 7:30 p.m.

The Society has reached out to preservationists who can speak to the opportunities and satisfactions that preservation of historic structures afford to local communities and the need to preserve these structures that represent and epitomize the struggles and histories of the past. St. Paul’s School is currently listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, and it was named by the Preservation League of New York State as one of its 2003 “Seven to Save.” Without these connections to the past, host communities risk becoming typical, non-descript, cookie-cutter communities, losing the unique identity that irreplaceable historic structures contribute.

Nine-Story Condo Complex Proposed for 250 Old Country Road

Some Cherry Valley Apartment Dwellers Fear for Quality of Life

A developer hopes to knock down the former KeySpan building at 250 Old Country Road to make way for a nine-story, 257-unit condominium complex in Mineola that some nearby Garden City residents, particularly those living in the Cherry Valley apartments, fear will infringe upon their quality of life.

The existing office building, owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), stands five stories tall. The MTA purchased it as part of the Intermodal Center project but agreed to put the building back on the market. A developer, 250 Old Country Road LLC, has agreed to purchase it.