Looking to continue as a public servant

A little more than 10 years after being asked serve as a trustee by Mayor Andrew Parise; Ari Brown is still working with his neighbors to continue to improve the Village of Cedarhurst and make it a wonderful place to live.

Brown, a three-term incumbent who is running uncontested for re-election on Tuesday, March 15, said one of the bigger issues the village will face this year is Nassau County’s sewer consolidation project that is currently underway on Peninsula Boulevard that is connecting the Inwood substation with the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant in East Rockaway.

“We’re hoping to get out of the sewer business because it’s unaffordable (for the village) to meet federal guidelines,” Brown said. “The county will benefit since our funds will go to them and their workers will fix it; it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Brown, who was serving on Cedarhurst’s Zoning Board, when Parise asked him to become a trustee one day after Sept. 11, said he enjoys working with such a wonderful board — Parise and Deputy Mayor Benjamin Weinstock, who are also running for re-election — and trustees Ronald Manzilotta Sr. and Myrna Zisman.

“We’re public servants,” Brown said about the board. “We never look for anything except to serve our community.”

With the state in declining financial shape and grants and aid harder to come by, Brown said the village had to cut back on road improvements. He said while they always keep up with maintenance, the village couldn’t afford to re-pave streets until more money is available.

As liaison to Cedarhurst’s Business improvement District and member of the village’s architectural review board, Brown said he works with the business community to help existing merchants and to bring in new businesses.

Cedarhurst’s Central Avenue may not be the “Rodeo Drive of the South Shore” it once was, but Brown said vacancies are now less than 8 percent, compared to 10 percent a year ago.

He added that Banana Republic recently signed their lease for another year and while the board welcomes new establishments, they would rather see retail stores rather than food establishments because of safety issues such as the buildup of cooking grease. “Grease can cause blockage in the sewer system,” Brown said.

This year, the village exceeded its snow budget as a result of the blizzard of Dec. 26-27, and then got hit by a few smaller snowstorms. Brown said Cedarhurst applied for reimbursement through the federal government, but that decision remains pending.

When asked if the village will allocate more money towards the snow budget for the next fiscal year, Brown said it’s too early to tell. “We always budget between $25,000 and $60,000 for snow,” he said. “The first storm cost us $67,000.”

On a smaller scale, Brown said one of the projects the board is working on is to install a covered dance floor in Cedarhurst Village Park that was recently renamed in honor of Parise.

“And something like that has a lot of value since our residents flock to the park for concerts,” Brown said.

Though the village hasn’t had a contested election since the 1970s, several hundred residents do cast their ballots at village hall, Brown said. “We’ll have anywhere from 400 to 600 people come in and vote,” he said. “That’s really just people saying thank you and it’s nice to see. I’ve traveled a lot and I have yet to see a village like ours.”