Calling it a "great day for East Hills," Mayor Michael R. Koblenz, along with U.S. Representative Gary Ackerman (D.-Queens-L.I.), announced that the U.S. House and Senate have approved the transfer of the Roslyn Air National Guard Station from the U.S. Air Force to the Village of East Hills. All that is left to do is some paperwork before the 50-acre site is in the village's hands. Rep. Ackerman said that such work should be completed by the end of September.

The village plans to renovate the site and its 28 buildings into a recreational center with a park, baseball fields, basketball courts and a swimming pool. The village also intends to build a new village hall on the Harbor Hill Road site, relocating its present facility from Town Path Road.

Despite the rainy weather, a crowd of several dozen people, including residents and village officials, traveled to the main entrance of the Air National Guard Station Monday morning, April 17, to attend the joint press conference held by Mayor Koblenz and Rep. Ackerman.

Joking that the transfer represented the "best real estate deal since the Dutch bought Manhattan island from the Indians," Rep. Ackerman noted that the sale was one of the faster transfers of land among the many similar military sites around the country which were scheduled to be shut down following downsizing plans earlier in the decade.

The federal government agreed to sell the property to the village for $3 million after it closed the station in 1995. Rep. Ackerman also recalled that when he learned that the station would be shut down, he began working closely with Mayor Koblenz for a usage that would keep the land in public hands and out of the hands of private developers.

Mayor Koblenz thanked numerous local officials, including former East Hills Mayor Larry Aaronson, Rep. Ackerman, Jack Russo, chairman of the East Hills National Guard committee, and current and former members of the East Hills Board of Trustees for helping him to guide the sale to completion. Calling the land the "last virgin property" in the county, the mayor said he wanted to preserve the land not just for usage by East Hills residents, but also for environmental reasons.

"The acquisition of the property," Mayor Koblenz said, "will provide East Hills with control over the only remaining large open tract of land in our village, and adds to our community one of the most picturesque and majestic parcels of land anywhere on the island.

"The prospects for the park are exciting, the potential immense," the mayor added. "Our hope is to offer recreational facilities for every age group [in the village]."

The village plans to pay for the property by selling the current village hall and other village property. The village will also float a bond to pay for parkland development of the property. Noting that the village's Moody's bond rating is AA3, Mayor Koblenz said that he foresees no problems concerning the bond issue.