The Town of North Hempstead recently denied Hillside Islamic Center’s request to expand our house of worship at 300 Hillside Avenue, NHP, from 2 to 3 stories, and to expand the existing parking lot to 3 adjacent properties we already own.

Reasons most cited are potential traffic and safety concerns for the surrounding community.

Council members Robert Troiano and Christine Liu voted to accept the proposal.
Councilmember Mariann Dalimonte abstained. Council members Ed Scott, Dennis Walsh, David Adhami and Supervisor Jennifer DeSena voted no – citing their concerns about public safety and traffic.

After being members of the greater community for more than 18 years with no safety issues, and appearing for many public hearings to address concerns, we find the council persons’ no votes puzzling.

During these 18+ years, we have eagerly worked with concerned members of the
community to address any concerns, and we will continue to do so.

We take exception to the resident who is reported to have said at the hearing, “We live with it every Friday afternoon. It’s like we got a swarm.”

We doubt that members of any religious organization, whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, in fact, any human would appreciate being described in such a way. We sincerely hope council persons’ no votes were not based on the racist and bigoted comments of so-called neighbors who call God’s worshipers a “swarm.”

In the 18+ years that worshippers have been congregating at Hillside Islamic Center, there has never been a single traffic incident at the mosque, the adjacent parking lots, or the adjacent streets.

There has never been a single complaint that emergency vehicles could not pass freely on
the adjacent streets due to our worshipers coming to pray.

Currently, to reduce traffic for our neighbors particularly on Fridays, we’ve disbursed worshipers into three services between 12:30 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.

We contract with separate venues, such as the Elk’s Lodge on Lakeville Rd, about a mile away. Added services and locations are made with the same sincere intention to reduce any burden of traffic on Friday afternoons. There is indeed no swarming.

We are perplexed that the council members did not read the traffic study conducted by
Greenman-Pedersen Inc. that clearly stated that there is no traffic or safety concern with the plans.

We worry the council members’ “concern for safety” is not based on facts but is instead
being used as pretext to deny this community the opportunity to support its congregation.
Hillside Islamic Center at 300 Hillside Ave. in New Hyde Park.

There are several, much larger religious institutions on busy streets in the area. In fact, Notre Dame, along New Hyde Park Road, takes up an entire block, and we are certain the congregants do not “swarm” their neighbors or cause traffic and safety issues.

We do not seek a variance; the town building code allows three stories.

As it is, the building department concurs with our plan based on the allowable square feet and parking spots afforded by our properties.

With the added floor and parking, we could easily and safely accommodate more cars in the larger lot. This would alleviate street congestion and new curb cuts will easily
handle the traffic flow, especially on 2nd and 3rd Streets.

For our neighbors who are sincerely concerned for their quality of life, the additional parking lots will accommodate our community and take cars off of the streets.

We again note that the proposed 63 contiguous parking is for property we already own, a part of our application that was completely denied.

The location of our mosque at 300 Hillside Ave. was an abandoned one-story building covered with grass and weeds until we purchased it in 2005. We carefully maintain our property so that the entry point to New Hyde Park is as welcoming and beautiful as possible.

We offer five daily prayers, Sunday school, and afternoon classes four days a week, we are a vital religious community. However, we’ve no plans for a full-time school.

As many of you know, our public schools, specifically NHP Memorial High School, are doing
better and have become more diverse and attractive to families of every race, color, and ethnic background.

Our members have greatly contributed to these achievements, and we take pride in
our children’s efforts.

Our members own more than 50 homes locally. Most are committed to walking to our center for services—because our Prophet (peace be upon him) advised us to walk to a mosque because it is more virtuous.

In closing, we extend our sincerest gratitude and thanks to the many fine people who have lived here longer than us, who have helped us to feel very welcome.

And as believers who have firm faith in the Almighty One God and His infinite wisdom, the
same God of Christians and Jews, we believe that He has better plans for us all and we will strive to achieve them.

Despite yet another setback after years of hard work and community effort, as
Supervisor DeSena has requested, we will continue to meet with residents and community
leaders to address any concerns – as we always have. Please step forward, we look forward to working with and welcoming you.

This is our community, we are proud to be here. We respect the right of everyone to pray and to worship, we only ask for the same simple courtesy.

Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan

Hillside Islamic Center
Chairman,
Board of Trustees