Dems say Baldwin HQ showcased town failings

“We visited quite a few communities, looking for a place to put our headquarters,” said Gary Port, a Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged Kate Murray for Town of Hempstead Supervisor on Election Day. “But when we got to Baldwin, I knew we’d hit bottom. This was the worst place we saw.”

The idea that Baldwin — and specifically the row of unoccupied storefronts on Merrick Road, off Grand Avenue — is thought of by anyone as the most unattractive location in the Town of Hempstead may strike some residents as shocking, others as insulting and still others as a sad reality, but one fact is beyond partisan debate: the condition of the area was the reason Democrats chose to locate in a storefront at 832 Merrick Road during the recent campaign.

“During the Coliseum vote, I campaigned here,” explained Bob Young, president of the Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club, which selected Baldwin as the location for Democratic headquarters. “I looked around and said, ‘My God, this is not the Baldwin I knew.’ Everything was boarded up. I knew there was a plan to revitalize Baldwin, but I made a decision to put [our headquarters] here to draw a contrast between what the Town of Hempstead says it will do and what they actually do.”

Despite recent developments along Merrick Road — the reopening of the New Old Venice Inn and the debuts of the LEARN Fitness and Nutrition Center and the boutique Amused — the Democrats were united in their feeling that Merrick Road showcases a failing on the part of the town. Barbara Spadanuta, a Baldwin resident for 16 years and a Democratic organizer, said, “We all felt this place highlighted the promises the town made and what actually happened.”

Spadanuta added, “During my campaign work for Barack Obama I tried nine places along Merrick Road, and no one would rent to me. When we got this place I wanted to make a sign for the window saying, ‘It’s gotten so bad they’re renting to Democrats.’”