Recreation Department – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
At Centennial Gardens, the Recreation Department and Conservation Society hosted the very popular, second annual “Meet the Easter Bunny” photo ops this past Saturday. On a beautiful, sunny spring day, 300 children posed with our colorful bunny and were delighted with their special bags of Easter treats. In all, more than 500 guests welcomed spring at the Gardens that day.

Thanks to Recreation Superintendent Kurt Meyfohrt and his staff, DPW Superintendent Kevin Ginnane and his staff, and Conservation Society volunteers for their winter prep work so that, now, we can all celebrate spring at Centennial Gardens. It’s open daily 12-5pm, so plan your trip to enjoy Floral Park’s favorite garden spot!

Spring activities are returning to our rec center, too. The fields are prepped for our sports teams, as we have already met with the coaches to schedule this season’s games and practices. The Floral Park Little League used grant funding to replace the dugouts at Field 4, an important project with a valuable funding source. Thank you, Little League. And, happily, our Little League parade will resume this year on Saturday, April 23rd at 9:30am, marching the route from Village Hall to the rec center. Opening Day ceremonies at the park will follow and, once again, we’ll be hearing “Let’s play ball!”

Department of Public Works – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
The Village-wide LED lighting project is just about complete. Next week’s coming attractions include the Floral Parkway side of Centennial Gardens and the installation of the new lights. Thanks to DPW Superintendent Kevin Ginnane, Deputy Superintendent Joe O’Grady, their staff, and Building Superintendent Renee Marcus for making this important project happen.

Pot hole refilling continues as the Parks Department prepares the Village parks for our spring and summer activities. Tree planting begins shortly. Please contact DPW at 516-326-6320 if you’d like a tree for your curb line.

Chambers of Commerce and Our Businesses – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
On Covert Avenue, at the site of the September 2020 fire, two applicants’ building proposals are moving through the Village of Floral Park’s review processes. Hillcrest of Floral Park LLC is proposing a two story structure with five businesses on the first floor and ten apartments on the second floor with rear residential parking, not including the property occupied by the former Park Place restaurant. Hillcrest of Floral Park was approved for variances for parking spaces and apartment sizes by the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). The owner and his team next did an informative presentation for the Hillcrest Civic Association, at which concerns were noted and many questions were answered. The Architectural Review Board (ARB) met last Wednesday, when another informative presentation was made by the owner and his architects. At that meeting, the building design was approved. A second ARB meeting (open to the public), to consider the building’s site plan which encompasses exterior features, will be forthcoming, ARB date to be determined.

The owners of 41 Covert Avenue (formerly Park Place) will appear before the ZBA at Village Hall on Thursday, April 14th at 7:30pm. At that public hearing, variances for parking and rear setback will be considered. The public is invited to attend to pose questions and offer comments.

Great appreciation is extended to Building Department Superintendent Renee Marcus for her leadership in guiding these significant building projects and providing information to the public.

Fire Department – Trustee Lynn Pombonyo
In two weeks, our Fire Department will gather at our April 19th Village Board meeting for the swearing-in of the Chief staff for the coming year. We will also honor our current Chief of Department, Michael Saville, for his strong leadership and valuable service. Please take a moment to let our firefighters and Rescue’s emergency medical volunteers know how much you appreciate their countless hours of voluntary service, fire protection, and emergency medical care. Thank you, Floral Park Fire Department!

Trustee Frank Chiara
I’d like to once again congratulate Mike and Jennifer on their election and welcome Mike to his first official Board of Trustees meeting. I really look forward to working with both of you.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who came down to the reorganization meeting last night. It is really gratifying to see how many people in our Village come out and volunteer their services to help this community out. It really shows their commitment to the community. Particularly, last week, we had a special Architectural Review Board (ARB) meeting and the volunteers on that committee all came out and showed their commitment by offering their services on an extra night that they weren’t supposed to be there. It is really so nice to have members of the community who are so dedicated and I thank them.

Police Department – Trustee Frank Chiara
Trustee Chiara congratulated Police Officer Christopher Timm on his promotion to the rank of Detective. Trustee Chiara offered the following: “Officer Christopher Timm joined the Floral Park Police Department in 2009. He joined our ranks as a Police Officer after eight years of service with the NYPD. As a NYPD Officer, he was awarded the Commendation for Bravery. Prior to being in the NYPD, Chris honorably served our country for four years in the US Air Force. He was awarded the high honor of the Airman Medal for Non-Combat Valor.

Chris has served the Village of Floral Park as a Police Officer protecting and serving our community for 12 years. He has been a mentor to fellow officers, is the originator of the Highway Safety Program and is a CPR and Stop the Bleed instructor. He has proven himself to be a professional police officer with an admirable work ethic. Chris was raised in northern Virginia and both of his parents are DC Metro Police Officers. He currently resides in the Village with his wife and two children. Chris often volunteers his services to assist seniors in our community.

Based on the recommendations of the Police Commissioner, his supervisors and the Mayor and Village Board, tonight, I am honored to announce the well-deserved promotion of Officer Timm to Detective Timm. Congratulations, Detective Timm. I wish you all the best in your new position and a safe career.”

Trustee Jennifer Stewart
I’d like to start my report this week by thanking the community for their support by voting for myself and Michael Longobardi. I am really looking forward to continuing as your trustee.

Also, I would like to offer my congratulations to newly promoted Detective Christopher Timm. The Village is fortunate to have you as our newest detective, stay safe.

Floral Park Pool – Trustee Jennifer Stewart
I am very happy to announce that the pool will be opening slightly earlier this year on Friday, June 3rd from 4pm-8pm. Hours will be posted very soon; be on the lookout for a postcard being mailed to every resident with information on pool membership as well as all the fabulous program offerings that come with pool membership such as swim team, swimming lessons, and fun theme nights. Pool booklets will be available at the rec center, village hall and the library. Information will also be available on the village website. We are looking forward to a wonderful fun-filled Summer Season at the Floral Park Pool.

Floral Park Library – Trustee Michael Longobardi
First, thank you to residents for coming out and supporting me in the recent election. I am honored to serve and look forward to my new Trustee role and working with the entire Board.

This week is National Library week. You are invited to stop by and connect with your local Library. The Friends of the Library are opening a book store called the ‘Book Nook’ on the lower level of the Library. The hours to start will be Wednesdays from Noon – 2pm and Saturdays from 10:30am – 12:30pm.

For kids grades 1-3, we’re offering an ‘Easter Eggs with Young Engineers’ program where the kids will decorate Easter eggs on a machine with gears they create using Legos. Each child creates and brings home his/her own Easter egg. The event is on Thursday, April 7th at 5pm and registration is required. The Library now owns Nintendo switches. Grades 4-6 are invited to come on April 20th at 3:30pm to play video games, board games and hopefully win a gift card from the Tulip Sweet Shoppe.

The ‘Sidewalk Astronomer’ returns on April 12th for a viewing of the full moon, weather permitting. The Moon Party begins at 7pm with Tom Lynch explaining facts about Earth’s closest neighbor.

Lastly, our ‘Book Club, Evening Edition’ will be meeting this month on Thursday, April 14th at 7pm. For further information and registration, call the Library reference desk at 516-326-6330 ext. 3105 or visit the website at www.floralparklibrary.org.

Mayor’s Report – Mayor Kevin Fitzgerald
This is an update on the Third Track Project. The Charles Street sound attenuating walls continued to be delivered to the site. Installation will begin this month with substantial completion expected no later than May 15, 2022. This is the first time that I have seen an actual date in writing and that was on the update that they provided last week. Crews will set the sound panels on the north side of the existing walls from Plainfield Ave. to Covert Ave. and installation may require crews to work overnight on weekdays throughout April. As we have done in the past, we will disseminate the information related to this work to you as soon as we get it, as well as any expected outages.

Next Wednesday, April 13th is the Annual Budget Hearing at 8PM here in Village Hall. As I have mentioned at many Civic Associations, if there is one meeting a year you can come to this is the one to zoom or dial into. It is informative, educational and we endeavor to get through it as relatively painlessly and quickly as possible.

Last, and certainly not least, it is another holiday season. I want to wish everyone a Happy Passover and a Happy Easter. I don’t think there is a meeting before that, so please enjoy the holidays whatever you celebrate. And as always, be safe. Thank you.