Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi held a bus tour on April 9 to discuss ideas for economic development in Westbury and New Cassel. In doing this, Suozzi plans to collect input from residents, business owners, town and county officials and community, civic and religious leaders and apply their suggestions and concerns in shaping the future of the communities.

The bus tour, which began and ended at the King Kullen warehouse on Prospect Avenue in New Cassel, provided the 25 to 30 community representatives present with an opportunity to point out key areas of concern. The tour made its way around Westbury and New Cassel, with emphasis on such areas as Prospect Avenue, Railroad Avenue, Garden Street, Broadway, Urban Avenue, Grand Avenue, Rockland Street, Post Avenue and Union Avenue/Brush Hollow Road.

Joining the many community activists for the tour were several political leaders, including Nassau County Deputy Presiding Officer Roger Corbin and Westbury Mayor Ernest Strada and Village Trustees Paul Echausse and Alphonse Campbell. Also on hand were Rev. Lionel Harvey, Lenny Cobbs and Sheila Tate of the United New Cassel Community Revitalization Corp. (UNCCRC) and representatives from Sustainable Long Island, the New Cassel Business Association, Westbury Chamber of Commerce, Westbury Business Improvement District, the Westbury School District and several departments within the Town of North Hempstead.

At the start of the tour, Suozzi told those in attendance, "I want everyone to be very candid and say, 'Hey, you've got to pay attention to this, pay attention to that.' Let me know what we see along the way that's important for [the county] to know." Along the way, Suozzi took note as members of the community pointed out key areas of concern ranging from dumping, illegal housing and dilapidated roads to graffiti, aesthetics and vacant property in both communities.

Representatives from the North Hempstead Community Development Agency (CDA) discussed plans for town-owned open lots and dilapidated properties, stating that approval for future construction and upgrades is pending for several, including a vacant parcel on Bond Street that has been designated for mixed housing and community use. Suozzi will look into additional vacant properties to determine whom they belong to and what is being planned.

Another problem affecting the New Cassel community is illegal dumping. According to Don Reisfeld, vice president of the New Cassel Business Association, dumping is not occurring only on vacant parcels of land. "It is a big problem because of the large amount of dead ends in the area and lack of enforcement, especially along Urban Avenue," he said, adding that insufficient parking in the industrial area and lack of code enforcement by the Town of North Hempstead are key contributors as well.

One of the ideas put forth by Suozzi to help rectify this problem is the development of a Business Improvement District (BID). Implementation of such an entity in New Cassel, said Reisfeld, "would bring in a better quality of businesses, make the area safer and enable [the association] to do more things with the community at large." He added that building up the community's commercial area would have a positive effect on Nassau County.

"This industrial area means a lot to the county," said Reisfeld. "If we don't have jobs and don't bring in money, nothing else [the county] wants can be done. Doing so will build up jobs and that's what's going to fuel the county, get it out of its problems and keep it stable." At press time, a meeting between members of the business association and the county executive was being planned.

Also pointed out during the tour was the unnecessary amount of vacant lots throughout the community and a particularly large one on Garden Street. "It's a big piece of vacant property from Broadway to Railroad Avenue," said Legislator Corbin. "This property should be used for public use. It's just ridiculous not to. This is where our community center should be." Corbin also stated that many roads in New Cassel are in desperate need of capitol improvement funds, as they have not been repaved in years.

Suozzi stated that the current condition of the Prospect Avenue corridor is having a negative effect on New Cassel's residential area. "This is a nice neighborhood, but when you drive down Prospect Avenue you'd never have any idea that this nice neighborhood was back here," he said. "It gives such a bad impression of the community when in reality it's a nice neighborhood." According to officials, plans are under way to renovate commercial properties along Prospect Avenue in the near future.

Suozzi's tour, which was followed by an economic development meeting later that day at Westbury High School, is part a series being held by the county executive throughout Nassau. To combat the problems individual communities face, as well as to further add to the benefits of living in each community, the county has drafted an Economic Development Plan that outlines broad goals for the future development of the county. The plan divides Nassau's three towns, two cities and incorporated and unincorporated areas into 35 economic development areas. It also allows Suozzi to meet and then work with the individual communities to create a vision based on what community members would like to see in their neighborhood.

"We are going into each of these 35 communities and identifying some of the key issues that exist, in this case in Westbury and New Cassel, so that I can learn and actually see the things that are important to you," said Suozzi.

The overall goal is to develop a master plan for Nassau County as a whole based on six objectives: encourage high skilled technology business; recycle and revitalize the traditional downtown and commercial business districts; recycle and reuse polluted property, clean them up and put them back to productive use; build affordable housing for young people and senior citizens; preserve open space; and encourage sports, entertainment and tourism. (A copy of the county's plan can be downloaded by visiting www.nassaucountynydevelopment.org.)

To do it right, the county executive said each community must focus on smart growth. "Growth is actually good for us. It helps us to achieve the objectives of expanding our tax base and creating businesses that provide good jobs or give money to baseball teams or hospitals or that participate in the community," said Suozzi. "The growth [must also be] consistent with our other goal of improving our quality of life and making sure Nassau County continues to be a great place to live in the future."

In meeting with members of each targeted area, Suozzi said the county will be able to determine which objectives are most important in each community. "We need to establish a plan that takes into account the concerns of the community," he said. "A plan that takes into account concerns about the environment and traffic. A plan that takes into account government and civic groups' concerns."

He added that Westbury and New Cassel are already ahead of other communities in terms of economic development. "The Village of Westbury is actively engaged in downtown revitalization and in the hamlet of New Cassel you've gone through a community visioning process ... to already identify a vision for the future of your community," Suozzi said. "So we want to incorporate both those things and incorporate them into our master plan, which Nassau has to develop for the whole county, see how it fits into the whole plan and help you accomplish your objectives."