Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
Fire Department
We begin with congratulations and great thanks to former Floral Park Chief of Department (2003) Robert R. Kloepfer, Jr. In addition to his years of service in our Village, Chief Kloepfer just completed his term as President of the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs. What an extraordinary honor for Chief Kloepfer, his family, the Floral Park Fire Department and our Village! Chief Kloepfer was recently honored at the NYS Association of Fire Chiefs Convention in Syracuse, with our Chief of Department Jep Dodson and several Assistant Chiefs there to add their applause.
Training is a primary focus for our Fire Department and it takes many forms. Recent Chiefs’ training programs have included Fireground Strategies (planning the fire attack and execution) and Basement Fires. Programs dealing with fire inspections and behavioral health have also been important. In September, the entire Department will travel to the Nassau County Fire Service Academy in Bethpage for four nights of real life, hands-on firefighting in staged burning buildings. Further updates next month.
Throughout June, there were 111 calls for Fire Department assistance which include eighty ambulance and four mutual aid calls. Monday afternoon, our Department was called to fight a dangerous mutual aid fire in a vacant, multi-story, commercial building on Meacham Avenue in Elmont. Four hook and ladder trucks surrounded the building with three tower ladders extended to the roof to extinguish the fire. Thanks to all the first responders, including Trustee and Former Chief of Department, Michael Longobardi, who fought this challenging fire.
Department of Public Works
The Village’s road projects continue. Following a delay due to a change in road construction contractors at the July 19th Village Board meeting, another contractor will begin the Spooner Street project. Tree removals, that are deemed necessary by the Village’s engineers and arborist, will start during the week of August 22nd.
In addition, a road repaving project, done in conjunction with 3TC and the third track, will take place on South Tyson Avenue between Jericho Turnpike and Woodbine Court in the coming week. DPW Superintendent Kevin Ginnane will work with the School District, John Lewis Childs School, and Bright Horizons Preschool to facilitate their getting ready for school activities. Residents and businesses will be notified too.
The Hinsdale Avenue (Jericho to Lowell) and Clayton Avenue road projects will begin in the months following Spooner Street and the Spooner parking lot.
Following reconstruction on Marshall Avenue (Covert to Orchid), the last phase will be new tree planting and sod at the curb lines. The other newly paved roads in the Hillcrest section are scheduled for line striping next week.
We are all very grateful to our DPW and Sanitation crews for their dedication and hard work throughout the many weeks of this heat wave and humidity. Thank you all!
Conservation Society
As we celebrate Centennial Gardens’ BEST PUBLIC GARDEN OF NASSAU award, it’s also time to congratulate our other BEST OF NASSAU winners. Locally, we have the BEST AMERICAN RESTAURANT Crabtree on Jericho Turnpike; BEST BUTCHER Pellegrini’s Prime Meats, Fish and Catering on Covert Avenue in Stewart Manor; BEST FITNESS FACILITY Legacy Strength Gym on Jericho Turnpike; and BEST VASCULAR CARE Metro Vein Center on Atlantic Avenue. Trustee Longobardi will be announcing one more of our big BEST winners. As you can see, the Village of Floral Park is definitely THE BEST OF NASSAU, too!
Our best public garden, Centennial Gardens & Bird Sanctuary, is now open weekends 9am to 7pm, at least through August. Already we see many enthusiastic Centennial Gardens fans visiting during the weekend morning and evening hours. Weekday hours remain at 12-5pm for now. So, stop at the Gardens during the weekend. Now there’s more time to enjoy it!
Chambers of Commerce and Our Businesses
Our Covert Avenue and Floral Park Chambers of Commerce are getting ready for fall and scheduling their welcome back meetings in September. We invite all our Floral Park and Stewart Manor businesses to check out floralparkchamber.org and covertavenuechamber.org to read about our Chamber members, upcoming meetings and events, and discounted dual memberships.
Be sure to save the date Saturday, October 15th for the very exciting return of the Covert Avenue Chamber of Commerce Street Fair.
And, to all, are you SHOPPING AND DINING LOCAL here in Floral Park and Stewart Manor, our best of Nassau? Enjoy!
Trustee Frank Chiara
The Police Department and the Building Department have no reported updates.
I would like to remind and encourage all of our residents to drive safely and observe the traffic regulations, especially on the newly paved roads. In particular, the speed limits should be adhered to and full stops should be made at all stop signs. During this summer season, especially our children and all residents enjoy walking on and riding bicycles on our streets, so PLEASE drive safely. Thank You.
Congratulations to all of our “Best of Nassau” winners. To all the volunteers who make our Centennial Gardens so beautiful, this is a well-deserved acknowledgment of all of your hard work. Not surprising, two years in a row, our Library is the Best of Nassau. The library with its creative staff is second to none. The programs and services that the library provides to our community are always well received and appreciated by our residents. Kudos to our local business owners, Crabtree, Buttercooky, Pellegrini, Legacy Strength Gym and Metro Vein Center who were also awarded the Best of Nassau. These awarded local businesses highlight some of the great services available in our Village, making Floral Park not only a great place to live but a great place to shop, dine and visit. Congratulations to all and Thanks for all of the services you provide to our Village.
Stay safe and enjoy the remainder of the summer!
Trustee Jennifer Stewart
LIRR/3TC
The inaugural ride along the third track corridor signifies the beginning of 3TC holding up its end of the bargain to Floral Park and all other communities along the third track corridor. This includes fixing damaged roads, landscaping where appropriate, addressing safety concerns and cleaning up after themselves.
Recreation Center
We are looking forward to work beginning on the multi-purpose rink this fall. This renovation will provide a safe place for our Screaming Eagles roller hockey league as well as courts for pickle ball and basketball.
I will be meeting with league representatives from all our sports leagues next week to discuss fall field use, all leagues should note that their permits come with the understanding that use may be revoked for a particular day during their season due to needs of the community.
Morning sports for our elementary aged students has come to an end, I am confident that all athletes learned something new about the rules of sports as well as sportsmanship. Congratulations to all our adult league winners in both men’s and women’s volleyball and basketball. Good sportsmanship was practiced, or at least attempted each week on the courts.
Our pool season only has three weeks left. The Pool will close on Labor Day with the traditional last jump at closing time and then be open on 9/6 for our annual senior citizen’s luncheon.
Congratulations to our Pirates Swim Team which finished the summer undefeated in swim meets against Mineola Pool and Stewart Manor Pool. We are so very proud of your accomplishment.
As many of our summer staff at both the pool and the park head back to school in the coming weeks, we wish you much luck and we’ll see many of you next summer!
Trustee Michael Longobardi
Floral Park Library
I am happy and honored to announce that our Library has once again been selected the Best Public Library in Nassau County. It is a great honor and it is a testament to the great activity and education center that is our Library. This is not possible without the hard-working dedicated staff at the Library starting with our Director Pat Eren, Assistant Linda Sartini, our Library Board of Trustees and all of the hardworking employees and volunteers that make the Library work and be the great center that it is. Thank you for all your work and dedication. The Library is another piece that makes this Village a great place to live and raise a family.
And here are some of the current events and activities that have made the Best Library in Nassau possible. One of our librarians, Kelly Fernandez, was recently highlighted in the Nassau Library System as a published author for her graphic novel: Manu. Congratulations to her. Ongoing right now on Tuesdays in August is Pilates on the Lawn. This Friday morning at 10:15 is a family event with live animals from Green Meadow Farms. Next week Monday through Wednesday will be Civics for Kids where they will learn about the history of the Village. Thank you to Bobby Sings Bobby for a great concert on the Library lawn last week. These and many other events are listed on the library website: www.Library.org.
Four Village Studio (4VS)
Yours truly had the honor of being Mayor Fitzgerald’s guest on the latest FP Mayor’s Report show and is currently posted on the website available to watch. It will run as part of the September lineup. Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity; I truly enjoyed the time and discussion. It was also very interesting to watch how they record and produce a show. Other shows currently running include Uncorked and Wes Houston Presents. Please visit www.4vs.org for dates and times for the complete list of shows.
Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald
Good evening. I have a few updates tonight on the Third Track.
LIRR Third Track
Yesterday, Village Administrator Bambrick, former Trustee Archie Cheng and I at the invitation of the Governor’s office and MTA, rode along for the inaugural train on the Third Track from Jamaica to New Hyde Park. Although the project is not complete in Floral Park and there a number of items that need to be discussed and rectified here in the Village, I think this would be a good time to extend some thank you’s as the long discussed and debated project is near its completion.
I would like to thank our current and past state elected officials for intervening where necessary on our behalf with the MTA before and during the project to make sure our concerns were heard. I would like to thank the MTA LIRR and 3TC for working with us to ensure that items were being addressed on the ground and in real-time.
I would like to thank our former Floral Park Mayors starting with Ann Corbett, Phil Guarnieri, Kevin Greene, Tom Tweedy and Dominick Longobardi for keeping the focus on our residents’ needs. I would like to thank the members of the Third Track Task Force for their hours and hours of research and testimony. Additionally, I would like to thank the hundreds of residents that provided their testimony to ensure that this project was thoroughly thought through by the MTA and 3TC prior to its beginning. Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not thank Village Administrator Bambrick and former Trustee Archie Cheng for their tireless efforts during the last few years when the bulk of the construction work was occurring. There certainly is a lot more work to be done but we are almost finished with this project that for all intents and purposes is almost complete and even though it was not always smooth sailing we were not a boat left adrift in a tempest.
Thank you to everyone who attended this evening.
The full versions of the Mayor & Trustee Board Reports are available online at www.fpvillage.org.
