Local business owner Mark Kaufman remembers when the New Cassel industrial park was considered a black eye to the Town of North Hempstead. "The buildings were in poor condition, there was garbage everywhere, criminal activity was common, the banks weren't giving out mortgages or loans, the entire corridor was listed on the state's Superfund registry, and, basically, no one really cared about the area."

In the span of three years, Kaufman claims, all of that has changed.

The New Cassel Business Association, Inc. (NCBA), headed by Kaufman, and boasting members from over 100 diverse businesses in the New Cassel area, is on the way to accomplishing its goals--to make the industrial park a viable part of New Cassel and the Town of North Hempstead, and to restore pride in the area.

The original group came together in 1984, but disbanded shortly after the death of its president. The organization started up again three years ago, and began in earnest to focus on three ways to change the park--resolve sanitation problems, cut crime, and improve parking conditions.

NCBA began its efforts to clean up the industrial park by prompting town officials to change proverbial "slap on the wrist" penalties for dumping and littering to $500-$1,500 fines and possible jail sentences. "In the past," Vice President Don Reisfeld explained, "outsiders were coming in to dump because it was cheaper than going to a landfill, and they were never caught." Since then, police have stepped up surveillance in the area, and dumping has become a less frequent occurrence. The Town of North Hempstead has also come to the organization's aid. Sanitation workers dispatched by the town have physically removed much of the garbage and debris from the park.

Although criminal activity in the area has been drastically reduced, NCBA is hoping that increased police presence will help to wipe out crime completely. After three years of preliminary legal procedures, permission was recently granted by Nassau County, the town, and a local landlord to establish a police booth located centrally on the corner of Main St. and New York Ave. Kaufman hopes that the new booth will further reduce crime in the area. "Our goal is to foster a safe working environment for everyone," Kaufman said.

Finally, NCBA has tackled the issue of parking in the area. When the town inadvertently put restrictions on weekend parking in the retail sector of the corridor, NCBA stepped in. The organization's officials are presently working to have the regulations repealed.

They have also fought several cases in the District Zoning Appeals court regarding businesses with insufficient parking spaces. As a result, some businesses have had to knock down portions of their buildings in order to create more parking.

Those who had trailers parked on the street, some for weeks and months at a time, were recently forced to move them or risk being towed when, at the NCBA's request, alternate side parking regulations were put into effect. "At one time, there were as many as 54 trailers parked on the street on any given weekend," Kaufman said. "Now, we are down to four or five."

Unfortunately, not everyone is grateful for their efforts in this department, according to Kaufman. "Sometimes the town gets a little over-zealous. They try to do too much. They give people tickets that they think are unreasonable, then our own members call up blaming us." He added that he feels "people are finally starting to realize that we all have to cooperate in order to make this effort work."

"The difference between conditions in this area three years ago and today is astronomical," Reisfeld said. "Property values have gone up, investment in the industrial park is climbing, and crime has gone down." Kaufman and Reisfeld, on behalf of the NCBA, wish to thank Town Supervisor May Newburger, Commissioner John Kaiman, and Lt. Matthew Simeone of the 3rd Precinct for their aid and cooperation.