East Meadow Year in Review: July/August

July

World cup of Irish football comes to East Meadow 

Ireland's games took center stage in July in East Meadow, as about 3,000 players from England, Ireland, Canada and the U.S. competed in international Gaelic football and hurling tournaments.
        

 The four-day Continental Youth Championships, sponsored by the Dublin-based Gaelic Athletic Association, were held July 28-Aug. 1 in Eisenhower Park. They drew an estimated 10,000 spectators, and featured 150 teams of boys and girls ages 8 through 18.

The tournaments kicked off with a parade in Rockville Centre on July 28. Though some squads had yet to arrive or were finishing games at Eisenhower Park, the parade featured about 27 groups from Ireland, Canada, England and the U.S.

Zoning move cuts Lighthouse in half

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray announced that an “alternate zone” created for the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum property is half the density of the original Lighthouse proposal. 
           

Murray’s announcement came during a press conference at Town Hall on July 12, where she unveiled the long-awaited zoning blueprint that could make way for a scaled-down version of the Lighthouse. 
           

Murray pointed out to reporters that while the alternate zone seemingly cuts the original proposal in half, the maximum density for the site would be the greatest anywhere in the Town of Hempstead — more concentrated than the neighboring Omni building, the Marriott Hotel and RXR Plaza. 
           

A glaring example of the new zone’s limits is its building height requirement. The tallest structures in the Lighthouse proposal were two 36-story towers that would have included a five-star hotel and luxury residences. In the new alternate zone, the maximum permissible building height is 100 feet, or nine stories — comparable to the Marriott Hotel that stands on the property. 
 

The town’s alternate zone also includes roadway improvements to enhance traffic flow and safety, as well as a renovated Coliseum, additional open space and areas for residential units, retail businesses, restaurants, a hotel, conference space and a cinema. 
            

Chamber rails against MTA payroll tax

Some local business owners are drawing the line. 
    

The Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax, known as the MTA payroll tax, has become a bone of contention among business owners. The measure, passed in June 2009 but retroactive to March 2009, requires employers and the self-employed to pay a tax of roughly 3.4 percent, or 34 cents per $100, on their company’s payroll. School districts and nonprofit organizations are not exempt from the tax.

The tax was approved by the state Legislature in 2009 as part of its plan to bail out the financially strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which faces a deficit of about $750 million. The measure passed easily in the Assembly and, after much debate, was approved by majority Senate Democrats in a 32-30 vote. 
  

One Long Island business owner, Bill Schoolman, decided to challenge the tax in court. In December, Schoolman filed a lawsuit against New York state for instituting a tax that he says violates sections of the state constitution. MTA officials have maintained that the tax is not illegal. 
    

The East Meadow Chamber of Commerce invited Schoolman, who owns the Bohemia-based Hampton Luxury Liners, to explain his case to local business owners. He spoke at the Chamber’s July 7 meeting in the East Meadow High School auditorium.

August

A ‘road diet’ for Newbridge Road

Newbridge Road in East Meadow, between Hempstead Turnpike and North Jerusalem Road, underwent a “road diet” in August.

In an effort to improve a roadway marred with excessive speeding and numerous automobile accidents, the New York State Department of Transportation reduce the road from two lanes in each direction to one each way. The transformed street, which runs north to south, also includes shared turning lanes.

The project was spurred by community concern over the high frequency of accidents on the road. Legislator Norma Gonsalves worked with state representatives, including Sen. Kemp Hannon, to address the issue. Once the wheels went into motion, the DOT completed the project within a week, in time for the First Day of School.      

The change drew some criticism from residents. It remains uncertain whether the change has reduced the amount of incidents; however, some residents have lauded the new-look Newbridge Road. 

Clarke alumnus wins first PGA title

Golfer Arjun Atwal began the week without any guarantees. His card with the PGA Tour had expired, and he needed to win a Monday qualifier to make it into the Wyndham Championship at the Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. He succeeded. 
             

Then he won the tournament.
            

On Aug. 22, Atwal, a 1991 graduate of W.T. Clarke High School, sank a clutch putt for a birdie on the 16th hole and followed it with two straight pars to clinch the championship on Sunday by one stroke over David Toms, with a 20-under-par score of 260. It was the 37-year-old’s first PGA Tour title. 
                

When he called his old coach and friend Larry Dell Aquila the day after the biggest moment of his career, not much had changed. “He won the biggest tournament of his life, sunk the biggest putt and his head is not even swollen,” said Dell Aquila, who coached Atwal at Nassau Community College. “He said: ‘You told me I’d always get one. Well, I got it.’”
     

Battle for the ballot

Two Democrats fought in court for weeks in pursuit of appearing on the primary ballot to face David Mejias, who was tapped by the party to challenge longtime Republican state Sen. Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City). Hannon represents East Meadow and Salisbury, in addition to other areas.

Those two were Ethan Irwin of Levittown and Francesca Carlow of Plainview. Though Irwin was unsuccessful in his bid, Carlow remained.