February 9, 2007
Letters to the Editor
Wreck The Hall's
Seems we're always "looking forward" in West Hempstead , but only occasionally "moving forward." Take the long-awaited restoration of Hall's Pond Park , for instance.
Just ask Michael Uhl, who spearheaded the Community Green project, or John Shaud, one of a handful of dedicated volunteers who toil, year in and year out, to keep this centerpiece of West Hempstead green.
For a decade or more, the few - local volunteers - have maintained and nurtured our public park, which, labeled "passive" by the county, has languished in neglect.
Today, our community, and its civic leaders, herald in a new day for Hall's Pond Park , a most deserved "thank you" to our civic association for its perseverance in high order.
Still, let me see if I have the timeline - and how things really work in our neck of the abandoned woods that grace the northern end of the park:
We approve a $50 million Environmental Bond Act (EBA) in 2004. A proposal for West Hempstead's Hall's Pond Park is submitted in early 2005. Later in 2005, the proposal is accepted, and, thereafter, unanimously approved by the Nassau County Legislature. Not one penny of funds allocated and to be appropriated under EBA for the restoration of Hall's Pond Park and environs is expended in 2005, 2006, or, to date, in 2007. In 2006, Nassau County residents pass a second Environmental Bond Act (EBA II), this time for $100 million, with little having been done - other than paying for interest - on the first. In early 2007, after a meeting to discuss nominations for projects under EBA II, while having yet to undertake much if any of the approved projects under EBA, West Hempsteaders are told that work will begin on the Hall's Pond Park restoration project in the dead of winter, end of 2007, or, perhaps, in "early 2008." [God forbid someone - anyone - might think it prudent to at least suggest that this work be started in the coming spring of 2007.]
So, here you have it: We sing praises and pat backs for initiatives we approved (and started paying for) three years ago, which, by all rights, should have been completed (or at least well under way) two years ago, and now, we are told, won't even move from drawing board to Nassau Boulevard until almost a year into the future - if we're lucky.
Gee, could the long-awaited reconstruction of Hempstead Avenue be far behind?
Am I missing something here - and elsewhere, apparently - or do we simply "enjoy" paying, waiting, paying, waiting, and paying, waiting some more, with no appreciable community benefit to show for either our patience or our interest payments on those bonds? Seems to me it has become somewhat of a bad habit, be it on the restoration of a park, the reconstruction of a roadway, the revitalization of our "downtown," or the closure of a no-tell hotel, to simply accept the talk, while waiting all too patiently for action.
The tale is spun that good things come to those who wait. We pay dearly for the tale (and for the yarn to spin it). Nothing happens. We thank one and all for what's been "done," and for their promises to do more of the same tomorrow. Tomorrow never comes, yet it looks so much like yesterday that we can barely distinguish it as anything other than today. And the tale is spun yet again. . . Clearly, we are all missing something here!
Yes, "looking forward" is wonderful. Actually "moving forward" is even better.
Seth D. Bykofsky
(The writer is a former president of the West Hempstead Civic Association. His proposal for improvements to Hall's Pond Park was among the nominations submitted and approved by the County of Nassau - back in 2005.)
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