At an April 14 meeting with Town Supervisor Kate Murray and her senior staff, the core leaders of the Tri-Community Alliance pressed their case for greater vigilance, increased enforcement and heightened public awareness on the issue of illegal rentals.

"These illegal apartments are eating away at our tax base, at our classroom space, at sanitation, fire and police services and at the very heart of our quality of life," declared Scott Jablow, President of the Cathedral Gardens Civic Association in West Hempstead. "We really need the town supervisor to step to the plate and go to bat for the law-abiding citizen."

"We have two additional building inspectors on the job," explained Supervisor Murray. "We are bypassing the notice or warning phase of the process in dealing with basement apartments, going straight to the issuance of a summons. We are fine-tuning local ordinances not only to make the penalties significant and meaningful, but also to assure compliance with the provisions of the building code."

Murray, together with Commissioner of Buildings Dan Cassella, expressed frustration with the District Court process - a course which routinely drags on for months and sometimes years, with judges often taking a tenant-friendly approach on matters ranging from adjournments to the imposition of fines. With a new administrative judge in Nassau County, the hope is that the process can be expedited, with District Court proceedings more streamlined and less protracted, and with final disposition both swift and certain.

"The building department needs more resources to tackle this problem," said an animated Jerry Urick, communications director for the Morton Civic Association, representing Franklin Square's interests on the Alliance. "Look what's happening in our schools," said Urick. "We're paying millions of dollars, year after year, to educate not only children who do not reside in the district, but those who live in illegal rental apartments, from which no tax dollars are collected. Where does it end?"

The message, both from community leaders and Supervisor Murray, is that it must end here, in the Town of Hempstead. "One of our greatest hurdles is bridging the gap between the reality of what the town is doing affirmatively on the illegal rental front," said Seth Bykofsky, Alliance co-chair and chair of the West Hempstead Civic Association's Zoning Committee, "and the perception among town residents that the town is simply turning the other cheek."

Bykofsky asserted that for all the Town of Hempstead may be doing proactively to stem the tide and reverse the course, the perception is that the town does little other than to react. "Here again we have a disconnect between reality and the perception of reality," opined Bykofsky. "Getting the word out to residents as to the letter of the law, the requirements for compliance and the penalties for any deviation, will go a long way in keeping homeowners in line. When people open their mail, turn on their television sets or read the supervisor's 'Around The Town' column, and see that everyone from the supervisor on down is dead serious about pulling the plug on illegal rentals, you'll begin to see a difference."

Roy Mezzapelle, chair of the Elmont Quality of Life Committee (EQL) who also serves as Alliance co-chair, agreed that the message is not getting across. "At least 70 percent of residents (in Elmont) abide by the law and do not rent out their basements. It's the other 30 percent who we need to reach, and we're not doing it. When we (EQL) file some 800 complaints of illegal apartments with the town's building department, and when residents hear little, if anything, about what has happened on these complaints, there is a presumption that nothing is being done at town hall. The silence on substantive quality of life issues such as illegal rentals only validates and reinforces this presumption."

Supervisor Murray agreed that more needs to be done on the public relations front, acknowledging Mr. Bykofsky's comments that there must be an emphasis on the cold and hard facts of quality of life concerns, and not just a rehash of the "warm and fuzzy" human interest stories. "We can and we certainly will do more in terms of informing and educating residents on these important matters," said Ms. Murray. The supervisor and her chief of staff Ray Mineo assured Alliance leaders that a media campaign dedicated to the topic of illegal rentals was a priority.

Some were not impressed with mere platitudes. "We keep hearing that the Town is taking action and that illegal rentals, particularly of basement apartments, will not be tolerated," said Patrick Nicolosi, president of the Elmont East End Civic Association. "Yet, on my own block, I'm one of the few who does not have tenants renting illegally, and nothing appears to change. In fact, if anything, the situation is getting worse."

West Hempstead Civic Association President Bob Rabey concurred. "We meet monthly with our councilman, Ed Ambrosino. We get sympathetic nods and reasonable assurances. And yet, as we all have observed, little seems to happen, leaving us to wonder, 'Where is the town?' Now, we hear it directly from Supervisor Murray, 'The town is not only aware of the threat posed by illegal rentals, we are doing something about it, and we're going to do more.' We shall see."

"I'm right there with you," said Mineo, a lifelong resident of Elmont. "I see what you see. I hear what you hear. I am equally disturbed and concerned. All of us at the town are."

Part of the frustration, as Mr. Mezzapelle sees it, is the constant need to reinvent the wheel with each succeeding generation of Town Hall officials. "A decade ago, in 1992, we were complaining about the same problems," charged Mezzapelle. "We saw and we chronicled the proliferation of illegal rentals and informed Town officials, with glaring clarity, of the impending threat to our schools, our tax base, our quality of life. For years, we were ignored, presented with empty promises, and summarily dismissed. We are still waiting for the buck to stop."

"The buck stops here," countered Supervisor Murray, reassuring Mr. Mezzapelle and the gathering of community activists that while we do not live in a perfect world, America's largest township will once again be America's premier suburban community. "Quality of life issues are on the top of our agenda," said Murray. As for the day of the illegal rental, "We are going to let every resident know what the law is, what their obligations are as homeowners, and what the town is doing and will do to enforce the law and make certain there is compliance."

"The word on the street," reiterated Mr. Jablow, "is that the local civic associations are hot and heavy on weeding out illegal rentals. We're not going away, and we're not going to let the town off the hook, either. This is too important in terms of our communities' bottom lines, as well as the bottom line on our tax bills, to let this slide."

"Understand our intent," concluded Mr. Bykofsky. "We feel compassion for those who cannot afford to own and maintain homes here in Nassau County. We desperately need affordable housing and significant tax relief. Still, we cannot condone the wholesale destruction of our neighborhoods and our suburban lifestyle by those who, for their own personal gain, would turn single family houses into multi-family dwellings. To legitimize what is now unlawful, as some have suggested, hoping to raise short-term revenues, would only bring us down in the long run. Illegal rentals hurt all of us, and can no longer be either ignored or tolerated."