Woodmere seeking a facelift

To make the business district more attractive, the Woodmere Merchants Association and its newly formed Beautification Committee have begun sorting through short- and long-range ideas on how to achieve that goal.

The mission is to make Woodmere a destination similar to Garden City or Rockville Centre, where many stores and other businesses thrive day and night, according to Vassa Halatas, owner of Vassa Couture and a Beautification Committee member.

Before that can happen, there are major and and minor issues that must be tackled, according to other members of the committee. The business district stretches from Hartwell Place to Woodmere Boulevard.

Ann Schockett, the executive leader of the Woodmere Republican Club and a committee member, said she has identified three issues that should be addressed now. “The sidewalks are not more than three years old and the bricks are coming up,” said Schockett, whose Republican Club office is on Broadway. She noted not only that bricks on the sidewalk are coming up, but that bricks inside the tree areas are being displaced by trees. And the Victorian-style lamps installed three years ago appear to be loosening from their bases, she added.

Schockett said she discussed these matters with Town of Hempstead Councilman James Darcy, who represents the 3rd District, which includes Woodmere. Town spokesman Michael Deery, who responded on Darcy’s behalf, said the brick and street lamp project on Broadway was done in 2008 with a combination of federal, state and county funds, and a similar project was done a few years earlier at the Long Island Rail Road station.

“If the bricks coming up constitutes a potential danger to pedestrians, we can send the sidewalk division to check on that,” said Deery, adding that the street-lighting division would also be sent to evaluate the condition of the light poles.

Schockett said she would like to see more garbage receptacles on Broadway. Currently there is one, and it is in front of the Republican Club. Adding more shouldn’t be a problem, according to Sanitary District I Superintendent Phil Mistero. “If they want to put out their own baskets or use ours, we have no problem picking them up,” Mistero said.

Schockett said she asked merchants in the area to give her a wish list. Tops on Halatas’s list is filling the vacant storefronts that dot Broadway, especially the one opposite her bridal shop at the corner of Franklin Place and Broadway.

Halatas, who has owned the shop for nearly a year and a half, would like to see a coffee shop or diner, where people can gather and socialize and then patronize the other stores on Broadway. “It’s a very busy street,” she said of Broadway, “and we would like people to stop and get out and walk the street.”

By creating that “ahh factor,” or buzz, with different types of restaurants and stores, more people would be attracted to Woodmere day or night, Halatas said, noting that it won’t happen overnight, and that merchants must be willing to keep their doors open later to attract more customers.

To improve the curb appeal of the Broadway corridor in the near future, real estate agent and Beautification Committee member Steve Anchin said that he has looked into the cost of seasonal banners that could be affixed to the light poles. “Those are cheerful and could help liven the appearance quickly,” Anchin said, adding that the Merchants Association needs to market the hamlet better in an effort to help fill the empty storefronts. Decorative planters are another way to gussy up the area, he said.

Federal funding, which would be administered through the Town of Hempstead, could be available to help improve the appearance of the downtown buildings through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Facade Restoration Program, Anchin said. Under the program, a community grant pays for the design of a new façade, and then the building cost is split evenly by the grant and the landlord, according to Anchin, who acknowledged that the idea needs more review.

“[The buildings in] Woodmere are a hodgepodge of designs,” he said, “and this would be an effective, efficient plan and it would be quite a facelift.” Anchin said he thinks that such an “inviting new look” would enhance the appeal of the downtown area to potential new tenants.

The Beautification Committee is scheduled to meet on May 2, and to make a report to the Merchants Association at its May 17 meeting.