In 1991, I fell in love with New Hyde Park. After driving around this beautiful town, I remember wishing someday of owning a home here. At the time it seemed like an unreachable dream. What attracted me to New Hyde Park was not only the houses (which reminded me of cottages) but the green plush lawns, shrubs and flower beds and the different colors of the trees in the fall. The best that Mother Nature could provide. To me New Hyde Park represented fulfilling the American dream of owning a home and raising a family in a beautiful and safe environment. Three years ago my husband and I fulfilled that dream and purchased a home here in New Hyde Park.

But now I would like to tell the reason why I am writing this letter. I do a lot of walking in the evening and I have noticed a few changes in New Hyde Park that are a little disturbing to me. It seems that the beautiful lawns are being replaced by red bricks with barely noticeable flower beds. The houses are being changed to a more updated look with stucco facing, which is not too bad, but they are getting a little large (tall) in size resulting in losing the traditional look that New Hyde Park houses were known for. For sale signs are all over the place. I can't believe that people buy these wonderful houses and in my opinion ruin them by eliminating the grass lawns and replacing them with brick. When I first moved to New Hyde Park I was told that in order to do any kind of change to my house I would first have to check with the Village Town Hall officials. Is the Town Hall responsible for giving the OK for these changes? Who is giving permission for more cement and less of Mother Nature? If I wanted cement I could have bought my house in another borough and slap a bunch of potted flowers on the cement lawn and backyard. How attractive is that? Is New Hyde Park going in that direction? If that's the case then maybe we should think about rezoning New Hyde Park and bring it over to the Queens side, because we are slowly losing the Long Island atmosphere that New Hyde Park is known for.

Wanda Piazza, New Hyde Park