Lynbrook, MTA working on Atlantic Avenue lease

For the past eight months, Lynbrook officials debated what to do with the two dilapidated storefronts at 45 and 48 Atlantic Ave., which are currently owned by the Metropolitan Transit Authority. The village and MTA have since engaged in lease negotiations for the two properties, and an agreement between the two entities appears imminent, village officials say.

According to Village Attorney Peter Ledwith, the village received a summary of the lease agreement this week, which proposed a 20-year lease with an option to renew after the first ten. It also stated that the village could sub-lease the properties with the approval of the MTA, and that they had to be restored to "first-class conditions," Ledwith said. The one portion of the summary that needed some work, he noted, was a clause that the lease could be terminated after 60 days of written notice.

"The problem with that is, it's impossible to bring in someone and ask them to spend $200,000 to make the place gorgeous and structurally sound," he said, "and then throw them out with only two months notice."

Ledwith explained that once the contract is agreed upon by both parties, the village would take sole possession of the two properties, with the goal of leasing them to "substantial tenants dedicated to improving the units." He added that renovating the properties will be very expensive, and the village would want to give the tenant the benefit of amortizing those costs over the length of the lease.

Though the agreement must be approved by several MTA departments, Ledwith said — which could hold up finalizing the contract — it's pretty much a done deal. "The mere fact that we have a general shape of the agreement shows that [the MTA] is working hard and wants to get this done," he said. "The mayor and the board have been working with the MTA to get that property and make it beautiful again. Both sides want this to work, and that makes it easier to make the lease agreement happen."