After last Tuesday's vote on whether to keep the name "West Hempstead" or change it to "Mayfair Park," the majority of residents decided that "West Hempstead" isn't so bad after all. So, supporters of the name change movement will have to squash their aspirations of sending their children to the Mayfair Park Union Free School District, sending and receiving mail through the Mayfair Park Post Office and attending meetings of the Mayfair Park Civic Association.

Residents of West Hempstead voted overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the name as opposed to changing it to "Mayfair Park." The final vote saw 2,092 voting against the name change, where as 1,098 voted in favor of it.

West Hempstead Civic Association President Seth Bykofsky, who had helped spearhead the campaign to change the name, looked on the brightside, saying it was encouraging that so many residents came out to vote. "I'm never disappointed in the good people of our community," Bykofsky wrote in the civic association newsletter. "They have put their votes where their hearts are, and that's what makes West Hempstead the wonderful town that it is and always will be."

Interestingly, more residents voted on the name change issue than the 2001-2002 school budget last month. In the school budget vote, 1,584 residents voted, whereas with the name change vote, 3,190 let their choice be counted.

Now that residents know they will remain citizens of West Hempstead, attention turned to the West Hempstead Pubic Library vote, which took place on Tuesday.