iStar’s proposed tax break sparks charged meeting

Hundreds of residents raised their hands when a speaker asked how many people in the crowd were from Long Beach. Photo by Anthony Rifilato/Herald

The sixth-floor auditorium of City Hall was filled to its 415-person limit, though officials said that a total of 700 and 800 people attended throughout the night. The Nassau County Fire Marshal was on hand to make sure the room never exceeded capacity, officials said.

Former U.S. Sen. Al D'Amato continued his opposition to the requested tax abatement, and again called it a "bait and switch."

City Council Vice President Anthony Eramo said that the development would generate hundreds of local union jobs due to a labor agreement and would support local businesses. The city recently called on the IDA to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the project.

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An overwhelming number of Long Beach residents spoke against a proposed 20-year, $109 million tax break a developer is seeking to build two luxury apartment towers on the vacant Superblock property at a public hearing on Wednesday, though just as many labor union supporters spoke in favor of the tax incentive.

The developer, iStar Inc., and its supporters attempted to convince the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency that a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program was necessary in order to develop the 6-acre lot that has remained vacant for 30 years and had been mired in litigation.

Officials said that between 700 and 800 people — including many residents who waited on line for hours — attended the packed meeting at City Hall throughout the night, which lasted nearly five hours and at times became contentious. After iStar split with its previous developing partner, AvalonBay, last year, it teamed up with Plainview-based E.W. Howell, one of the largest construction firms on Long Island, and the meeting was filled with hundreds of union supporters in yellow shirts from Long Beach and across Long Island.

E.W. Howell Executive Vice President Paul O’Rourke, who is from Long Beach, said that the project would benefit hundreds of union workers in town as well as other communities.

“Please, do not let tonight be about politics,” O’Rourke said. “Let’s make tonight about what’s right for Long Beach and be united. It should be about coming together … and making sure we don’t pass up on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build something spectacular that we can all be proud of and benefit from in the end as a community.”

But many residents and local officials urged the IDA to reject what they called “corporate welfare.” They challenged the economic benefits that iStar claims the project would bring to the community, saying that Long Beach would lose out on much-needed tax revenue under a PILOT and that homeowners, many of whom are still rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy, would carry an additional tax burden. Many residents emphasized that they were not against local union jobs, but the “excessive” tax break.