If you keep up with Great Neck current events at all, then you know that emergency workforce housing, and firefighter housing in particular, is a hot topic in Great Neck. Proposals and controversy seem to go hand-in-hand whenever a potential project sees the light of day. Sometimes the "prickly" issues surrounding such a project totally obscure the importance and the relevance of the goal --- to provide affordable housing for our emergency workers, our firefighters, who are so quick to risk their lives for ours, so that they may remain in their hometown and continue to be the invaluable volunteers we should be so happy to help.

Of course, not all such projects are viable; not every one is a great idea, or even a fairly good idea. However, if you read last week's issue of the Great Neck Record, page 3, you saw the story on a proposal described by Vigilant Chairman of the Board Andy DeMartin. This project calls for a multi-family dwelling for Vigilant firefighters and EMTs, at 1 Willow Place, behind the firehouse, on the border of the Village of Great Neck Plaza and the Village of Great Neck Estates. This 10-unit building would include one, two, and three-bedroom units, space for young families to grow.

The Plaza has multi-family zoning in place; the Estates does not. And therein lies the problem. Although the plan calls for the Estates' side to appear as a one-family dwelling, with the other nine facing the Plaza, not everyone is in favor.

At first blush, this seems like a wonderful opportunity to accommodate the Vigilant men and women we need to retain in our community and in our emergency workforce. Of course this is just the beginning, and much more will surely come to light if we allow this proposal the time and the space to be heard, to be discussed, to develop.

All we ask is that everyone in Great Neck please just take the time to learn about the issues, to look at the plans, to provide some input ... all the while remembering just who, and what, we are including or excluding. Do we really want to exclude our brave and dedicated emergency workers? Don't we want to at least give them a fighting chance to live here too? Or do we want to risk losing what is so vital to this community and send ourselves down another path?

Do become an informed resident and make your decisions based on real facts ... and maybe with a little heart too.

- Wendy Karpel Kreitzman