Fire Department – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
Congratulations to our incoming Chief staff: Chief of Department James Dodson, First Assistant Chief Brian Hamerman, Second Assistant Chief Daniel Bennett, Third Assistant Chief Gil Luger, and Fourth Assistant Chief Eric O’Connor. Be well and safe as you protect us all.
Great admiration and appreciation go to Chief of Department Michael Saville for his twenty-seven years of Fire Department leadership and service, five on the Chief staff, and twenty-six years with the Police Department. God bless you and your family always.
Department of Public Works – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
Our DPW crews are everywhere these days. Pothole patrol and repairs are ongoing. Park preparation for summer is an enjoyable task as our parks come alive with families and friends going for a stroll, children playing, our sports teams revving up, and Floral Park gathering outdoors for fun and relaxation.
Road construction will begin again this spring on Spooner, including the Spooner parking lot; Marshall (Orchid to Covert); Clayton; and Hinsdale (Jericho to Lowell). Residents of those streets will be invited to a presentation at which plans for the reconstruction projects will be presented with opportunities for comments and questions. Those residents should watch for flyers, with details about an April 26th, 7:30 pm meeting in the Village Hall courtroom, the flyers to be delivered to their homes.
Trees and spring go together in Floral Park. PSE&G is removing approximately fourteen damaged and weakened trees on Plainfield Avenue. Approximately twenty-five new trees will be planted there by PSE&G shortly. Residents have been notified.
Fifty new curb trees have been planted by the Village in front of happy residents’ homes. More trees will be planted in June. Call DPW at 516-326-6320 if you would like one.
Chambers of Commerce and Our Businesses – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
On March 29th, our Floral Park Chamber and Covert Avenue Chamber met for an enjoyable joint meeting. It was great to bring all the Floral Park and Stewart Manor businesses together for a meet, greet and plan event. Floral Park Chamber president, Pastor Evan Peet announced the return of the very popular Floral Park Chamber Street Fair on Tulip Avenue on Sunday, June 12th, the culmination of the Belmont Stakes weekend. President Rene Jorglewich of the Covert Avenue Chamber announced that their Street Fair will return on Saturday, October 15th. Both announcements are welcome news after two years of excitedly anticipating the return of these very special events. Be sure to mark your calendars!
Conservation Society – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
The crowds are returning to Centennial Gardens as are the sunshine, warmth and blooming flowers, bushes and trees. You can take your trip there daily between the hours of noon and 5pm to experience the bright and colorful transformation of nature, including the Gardens’ unique plants, animals and birds returning for the late spring and summer seasons.
Then, come celebrate with the Conservation Society at its annual (although first since 2019) Garden Party. This beautiful event will be held in the Gardens on Friday evening, June 10th. Usher in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes horse racing activities with family and friends in our magnificent Gardens. Details to follow.
Floral Park Recreation Center – Trustee Jennifer Stewart
Spring is here and that means much activity at the Floral Park Recreation Center. Tennis courts are being readied, fields are awaiting the call of “play ball” as little league is set to begin shortly. The Annual Little League Parade will be this coming Saturday, April 23, step off at Village Hall at approximately 9:30am, marching to the Rec Center. After the parade, the opening ceremony will be led by News 12 Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo singing the National Anthem. This will be followed by the Little League Festival including the Pitch, Hit and Run competition and interactive carnival games. Come on down and have some fun as LL kicks off its season.
As of earlier today, the 2022 Recreation/Pool Booklet has been available on the village’s website. Hard copies will not be mailed to each resident. If you prefer a hard copy, they are available at the following locations: Village Hall, the Library and the Recreation Center. May 11th will be our big registration night for all summer programs at the pool including the all day program, from 7pm -9pm at the Recreation Center.
LIRR/3TC – Trustee Jennifer Stewart
Representatives from the LIRR visited a few of the areas directly impacted by the third track project with village officials. Village officials are working hard to hold the LIRR and 3TC to the MOA agreed to at the beginning of the project. Residents are encouraged to complete 3TC’s Community Scorecard which can be found online, google 1Q2022 survey monkey and click on the 1Q2022 Community Scorecard Survey. If you need assistance, please email me at jstewart@fpvillage.org. The Village continues to work hard to mitigate any negative impact the construction continues to have.
Floral Park Library – Trustee Michael Longobardi
Congratulations to the winner of the Friends’ Easter basket, Peggy Byrne. Thank you, Peggy, and all who took a chance on the basket and helped support our Friends of the Library.
Reminder, the new book store ‘The Book Nook’ is now open. The current hours are Wednesdays from noon – 2 pm and Saturdays 10:30 am – 12:30 pm.
Helping to combat identity theft, the library is hosting an on-site shredding event Friday, April 29th form 11 am – 1 pm with A Shred Away Inc. No registration is required and you can bring up to five boxes of papers to shred.
Thursday, April 21, we’re hosting a spring break movie event using the Library’s new big screen. The movie is “Sing 2” and it’s for kids 12 and under. All kids under 9 must be accompanied by an adult. Saturday, April 23, the Friends of the Library are holding their lawn sale on the library’s front lawn. All sorts of vendors will host tables from 10 am – 4 pm. April 25 from 6 pm – 8 pm, we’re hosting game nite for adults. Adults can bring their own board games or use one of the library’s games. Game night will run for a period of 10 weeks with registration required weekly.
April 26, from 3:30 pm – 5 pm, we’re hosting a teen exam cram, with special study time reserved for only those who need to study for upcoming tests. This is the first of 8 weeks of reserved study time for teens.
Some of the other events down the line include “Paint like the Greats” on May 3rd and a defensive driving class on May 12. A group that I find every interesting is the Floral Park Library Urban Explorers group. This group of explorers organizes visits to various sites of interest that give a glimpse back into our history in New York.
As always you can find this and many other events and interesting items on the Floral Park Library Website: www.floralparklibrary.org.
Four Village Studio (4VS) – Trustee Michael Longobardi
The production of new shows is picking up this spring as the studio is building back to pre-pandemic levels. There were recent upgrades to some of the aging computer systems to keep them operating efficiently. As well there is some lighting upgrade right now to the studio to enhance the set for future productions.
Mayor’s Report – Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald
Thank you. On Thursday, May 5, 2022, is the West End Civic Association monthly/quarterly meeting. The guests will be David O’Rourke, President & CEO of the New York Racing Association (NYRA) and Glen Kozak, Senior Vice President of Operations and Capital Projects for NYRA. They will be at the meeting to discuss projects committed to and an upcoming project that they would like to do at Belmont Park. So, that should be an interesting meeting as they have a lot of ideas that hopefully will keep Belmont Park, like I said many times, “beautiful Belmont Park”. I think they have some rather good plans to keep horseracing at Belmont for a very long time. So I am looking forward to that presentation. Anyone is welcome to come to that.
Before I make a motion to close this part of the meeting, I would like to thank Brandon Duffy who I see on Zoom from Blank Slate Media and Felix Procaccia who is here from Just the Facts Media. It is good to see you back here Felix and I hope all is well. Thank you.
