The Village of East Hills has been named as one of the nine "featured communities" in all of New York. The announcement was made last month at the governor's Quality Communities Awards for Excellence Conference held in Albany.

The awards program recognizes initiatives implemented by counties, towns and villages that demonstrate innovative solutions to improve the quality of life and the natural environment of their communities.

According to state officials, East Hills was selected as a finalist for the Quality Communities Awards due to the vision shown by its board of trustees in acquiring the 50-plus acre Air National Guard property, which had stood on village grounds for over five decades before closing down in the late 1990s.

The village was also cited for its fiscal prudence in paying off the purchase price within a year, and for the plans to preserve close to one-third of the property for nature trails and wildlife.

Plans to convert the area into an all-outdoor park are presently being designed by village officials, and will be submitted for a referendum upon completion. Earlier, a more ambitious project, one that included plans for numerous recreational and athletic amenities, was withdrawn in order to allow the residents the opportunity to learn of their real estate reassessments and tax increases from Nassau County.

"We are proud and delighted to be selected as a finalist," said East Hills Mayor Michael R. Koblenz.

"We share the honor with many of our friends who supported us throughout the process. Again, I am particularly grateful to Congressman Gary Ackerman who shepherded the application through the nation's capital; Jack Russo, Roslyn Water District commissioner and civic leader who was the author of the idea to obtain a special groundwater protection area for the preservation of the land and water in our area; Senator Michael Balboni, who carried our banner in Albany; Assemblyman David Sidikman, who lent his political assistance; Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, who provided valuable assistance in obtaining the approval by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; and Mayor Larry Aaronson who was always involved as we completed each step of the process. The 50-acre picturesque and majestic land is a prize we will always be proud to have captured."

The Air Force first came to East Hills during World War II, when the US government leased part of the Clarence Mackay estate as an Air Force Defense Post of the First Fighter Command. Later, from 1948 to 1959, the site was the home of the 26th Air Division's Air Defense Control Center, which controlled the entire air defense of the northeastern states. Formal title to the site changed in 1953, when the US government discontinued leasing the 50 acres. From then on, the station was owned by the United States Air Force. Since 1959, New York State has had a lease on the station for its use as a communications, electronics, and civil engineering training site for the Air National Guard.

The Mackay estate once stood on 230 acres of land in the East Hills area. At its peak, it employed 400 people and entertained such royal visitors as the Duke of Windsor and the famed aviator Charles Lindbergh, who was honored on the estate following his return from Europe in 1927.

The "transfer day" ceremony, held on Dec. 9, 2000 at the new grounds of the village hall, attracted a crowd of over 1,800, making it the largest-attended event in the village's 69-year-old history. One civic leader called the happenings "the greatest thing that has ever happened to East Hills."

Among the day's events was the planting of a time capsule, one to be opened sometime in the year 2050. The time capsule featured artifacts of life in East Hills and mementos from the Air Force's time in the village. Some of the items in the time capsule include a Subway World Series 2000 official program, a $200 gift certificate from Rallye Motors redeemable in the year 2050, the 2000-2001 Zagat Survey of Long Island restaurants, the latest East Hills Record as published by the village, plus various Air Force medals, ribbons, patches, and handbooks.