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Residents say Lynbrook's Capri motel is a danger to the community

Manager says establishment is clean, within code

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In the wake of a car chase that began outside the Capri Lynbrook Motor Inn on May 5 and resulted in a drug arrest, concerned residents have sought guidance from the village administration on the best ways to address the history of criminal activity around the motel.

“We have intensified patrols, we’ve made a lot of arrests and we hope to continue to do so,” Police Chief Joseph Neve said. “Other than that, until we close it, there’s nothing else we can do.”

At a Town Hall meeting on May 12, several residents who live near the motel said they believed it was a nuisance to the community. The village began taking steps to curtail suspicious activity there in 2009, meeting with motel employees, according to Village Administrator John Giordano, who said that the village recommended adding security cameras, improving lighting and limiting the number of suspiciously short-staying guests.

Officials said at last week’s meeting that they do not have legal grounds to seize the Freer Street property, and Village Attorney Peter Ledwith explained that the village’s most viable path of action would be to seek to revoke the motel’s room rental license. To do so would require a record of three incidents — not necessarily arrests — within a three-month period at the motel. The village would then have grounds to hold a public hearing to decide whether to revoke the license.

Ledwith said that in order to seize the property, the village administration would need proof that crimes in the surrounding area were a direct result of the motel. Crimes on and around the property would have to be proven to be the direct result of a failure on the part of the business.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a problem area,” Neve said. But, he added, “You can’t just take people’s property away.”

Joe Pizzuto, general manager of the Capri, said that the criticisms of the motel are rooted in stereotypes and uninformed opinions. “That arrest on Freer Street could’ve happened on Park Avenue in Manhattan,” Pizzuto said. “It’s all a stereotype situation that has nothing to do with the motel.”

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