Town shows off new co-ops, again

The Foster Meadow Golden Age Residence, retirement co-ops for seniors, will be having an additional open house to help fill their remaining units on January 14, 15 and 16.

The open house, which will start each day at 12 p.m. and go until 4 p.m., is an effort on the part of the town to make sure that no qualifying senior who wants one of the co-ops is denied.

Located just off of Elmont Road in Elmont, at 1888 Foster Meadow Drive, the housing units were finished this year after spending more than four years in limbo because of construction difficulties. The original developer of the project had to be changed because of a job conflict, forcing the town to select an entirely new company to do much of the unfinished work.

Once a new construction company, the Bedford Construction Group, was selected to finish the project, everything fell in line. Last September, the Town of Hempstead finally opened the doors of the complex, allowing local seniors to take tours of one fully-furnished unit.

All of the 30 individual condominiums have 955 square feet of space with one-and-a-half bathrooms, energy efficient appliances and a large kitchen that feeds into a living room. Residents also have outdoor terraces, and multiple bedroom/office options.

Seniors looking for information on how to apply for the waiting list for Foster Meadows can call their local legislator, or go to the town website at www.toh.li.

Each of the 30 units in the senior housing development costs $150,000, thanks to a $25,000 Long Island Housing Partnership subsidy gifted to any senior who qualifies to live there. Each unit has monthly maintenance fees just over $500.

With electricity and utility charges, combined with property taxes, seniors can expect to pay between $750 and $800 in monthly fees to live at Foster Meadows.

For many seniors living on a fixed income, the housing represents an opportunity that's too good to pass up, and an improvement over more expensive homes in the area, that also require a lot of back-breaking physical upkeep.

Married couple Larry and Yingmong Chen, from Merrick, won a slot during the Foster Meadows housing lottery back in October and said they hoped to move in as soon as possible. Larry said having a low-cost home they could count on close to their old hometown was going to make a huge difference in their life.

"Once we live here, we can enjoy a new life," Chen said. "It's really our dream. We'll be safe here, we can travel. We're really very excited."

Town Supervisor Kate Murray said during the housing lottery last year that the Foster Meadows condominiums represented a huge investment in seniors.

"Any time you get to build senior housing ... it's a victory for our golden citizens," Murray said. "It's very expensive to live here on long island, and at the same time, our seniors don't want to leave their communities, because these are the communities where they've raised their families."

The units themselves have already passed muster with several Nassau County residents who got an opportunity to take a sneak peek at the co-ops before the official opening late last year.

"It's very nice and very reasonable too," said Adeline Gerolami, who came to the tour the inside of the building with her husband Larry. "We really had no idea [what to expect], since we've been looking at the building for how many years, but it's very comfortable for an older couple, its roomy."

Seniors looking for more information on the Foster Meadows Golden Age Residence can call their local legislator, or go to the town website at www.toh.li.