At the outset of the recent village board meeting, a resident of Terrace Boulevard, New Hyde Park, complained about the lack of parking in the village. Mayor Daniel Petruccio explained that there is permit parking in the parking lots throughout the village for $50 and it is determined on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Further, the same resident wanted to know why the police have two designated spaces at the railroad station. Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro explained that in order to have a police post in the village, which is important, two spots are required at the railroad and two at Lakeville Road.

Deputy Mayor Lofaro continued, "You are certainly not the first person to complain about parking. It is probably the biggest complaint that we receive in the village. There are too many cars and not enough parking; whether it is voucher parking or meter parking on Jericho, there is not enough parking anywhere. There is no inexpensive way to increase parking, even if we were to build a controversial parking garage down by the railroad, we still wouldn't have enough spots."

Lofaro went on, "The parking at the railroad is on railroad property and the agreement is that we operate that parking as a public parking lot. We can't use the Class R since it is prohibited by the LIRR contract. We share the revenue, we maintain the lots."

Mayor Petruccio said, "We have gotten as many spaces for residents as we could within the confines of the contract. "A" spots, in the lots, are given to businesses for the year at an amount of about $300 for the year, then you know there is a spot for you, as a businessperson to park your car.

Lofaro explained that in order to obtain more parking for residents, the lots that have "A" designation only have that designation until 6 p.m. and then it turns into "R" so that residents can get their cars off the streets at night."

Trustee Richard Coppola, who was not present, sent the following New Hyde Park Fire Department tips on fire prevention to Mayor Daniel Petruccio. They are:

• Clean house; don't let old newspapers and magazines pile up in various parts of the house, they could ignite and the flames spread rapidly.

• Throw rubbish and unused items out regularly.

• Have family exit drills, plan in advance escape routes and designate a meeting place outside the home. Have an alternate plan in case flames prevent original exit area.

• Be sure to instruct babysitters on what to do in case of a fire.

• Install smoke detectors on each occupied floor, in the basement and within 15 feet of each sleeping room, which is a law in some states.

• Check the batteries in each detector once a month and change the batteries at least twice a year.

• Don't hide extension cords. They should be in good condition and not hidden under rugs or over hooks. Pay particular attention to using the right extension cord for the amount of electricity being powered.

Deputy Mayor Lofaro said all he really wanted to discuss was the LIRR Main Line Corridor Project. He said, "As I have mentioned before Trustee Lawrence Montreuil responded to the Metropolitan Transit Authority's (MTA) Long Island Committee on behalf of the village board. He provided a response to the inaccurate comments made at the November meeting of the MTA.

"In response to his appearance, we received a letter from the head of the LIRR, Helena Williams. Basically, she acknowledged that he was there at the meeting. She then said that her office would contact the village officials to schedule a meeting, once the construction review is completed, which she anticipates will be at the end of February."

Lofaro said, "We are still vague on the schedule. Some folks now believe that it will be pushed out well beyond February, March and April and that the original hearings that were supposed to be in June will probably not happen until after the election."

Further, Lofaro pointed out that the petition drive with petitions to be presented to Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy is ongoing.

Trustee Montereuil reported that 27 permits were issued from the building department for the month of January which is a decrease of 41 percent from last January and on the year basis a decrease of 18 percent over the same period as last year.

Montreuil went on to announce that 33 Certificates of Occupancy have been issued in January, which is an increase of 43 percent over last year. On a year-to-date there are 299 certificates issued representing a 3 percent increase over a prior year.

Montreuil also announced that the building departments have several investigations underway for suspected illegal apartments. Residents are urged to contact the building department if you have a suspicion of an illegal apartment.

He also announced, from the building department, that there are no communications from the temple on Lakeville Road at this point and they are still awaiting plans to be resubmitted.

He also said that rental registration is being worked on by the building department and they are preparing to send out letters to be sent out in April to start that process once again.

Montreuil went on to report on the zoning board. They heard two cases. One was on 1800 Jericho Turnpike, the site of the old Anzolone Service Station that is being turned over to a Suzuki repair station. It was a reserved decision pending further information.

At the next zoning meeting the 1800 Jericho Turnpike case will be presented again. The issue for surrounding neighbors is that the Suzuki people would like to operate on Sunday, which hadn't been brought up previously.

Also a variance was granted to 13 Hoffman Road to construct an open porch.

He also said that the Architectural Review Board was going over approval sign codes to make sure they all conform.

Mayor Petruccio said he was going to the next meeting of CARE (Citizens Against Rail Expansion). At that time Petruccio said all the petitions will be gathered together and hopefully a meeting will be set up to meet with Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy on the LIRR Third Track Project.

Further the mayor announced that the budget process is underway. The next meeting will be held on February 26 and on March 4. Then on March 21 the budget will be ready for review and on April 6 the budget will be presented for public review.

The mayor then read a statement, that may be read in this issue of The Illustrated in the From the Desk of New Hyde Park Village Mayor Daniel Petruccio column.

Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro then commented on the mayor's statement. He said that it was not uncommon for a congressman to get involved in MTA issues. He said that Congressman Tim Bishop, from Suffolk, worked against the LIRR MTA proposed a tower that was proposed for South Hampton. He also worked against the MTA in an EIS process when they were building a rail yard in Port Jefferson and he mentioned Congressman Gary Ackerman who supported his constituents for an at-grade crossing in Little Neck.

Lofaro said, "So it is not uncommon for a congressman to get involved in MTA issues. So, I support the mayor, the board and CARE in soliciting the congresswoman's support, because as the mayor said, we do need everyone to come together shoulder-to-shoulder because this is not going to be an easy battle to win. If anyone is not on board with us in our effort it would jeopardize our ability to change the project radically."

When the meeting was open to the public, one of the students present asked just what was going on with the railroad.

The mayor complimented her on her question and then gave a brief history of the railroad and what they wanted to do.

Deputy Mayor Lofaro said that anyone could go on the website at vhp.org and read all the information about the proposed LIRR Third Track Project.

New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School Board requested, and received, the use of New Hyde Park Village Court on March 14 to host the sixth-grade Odyssey Program. The program is one in which the students choose teams and then debate. The program lasts for most of the day.

The New Hyde Park Knights of Columbus Council No. 2852 requested, and received, the use of New Hyde Park Memorial Park on March 15 for their Annual Easter Egg Hunt, with a raindate of March 16 from 9 a.m. to noon.

The Doll Study Group requested the second Saturday of every month to hold their meetings and the board approved the request.

Plus there were a number of license renewals of carters, landscapers, restaurants, tow car owners and used car operator, plus Cablevision received license listed under peddler/solicitor.