Island Park village hall is demolished

Town Supervisor Kate Murray made Village Hall come down.

Courtesy Robert Perry

In front of the former Village Hall were, from left, town Board of Appeals member Katuria D’Amato, Receiver of Taxes Donald Clavin, Island Park Fire Chief Anthony D’Esposito, Village Trustee Joseph Annarella, Town Councilman Anthony Santino, Town Supervisor Kate Murray, Mayor Michael McGinty, Village Trustees Matthew Paccione and Irene Naudus and Town Clerk Nasrin Ahmed.

Courtesy Robert Perry

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With a little help, Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray took the controls of a pay loader and began the demolition of Island Park Village Hall on April 23. The building had stood empty and boarded up since Hurricane Sandy.

After taking down one side, Murray turned the controls over to the town’s Building Department staff.

The demolition would have cost the village about $25,000, according to Mayor Michael McGinty. But the town and village worked out an agreement that will be a cost savings for both, Murray explained. “The town has the equipment, and the workers are on regular-day payroll,” she said. The village benefited by not incurring any expense for the demolition.

In return, the village will allow the town to park its equipment in the village beach and public works parking lots in the event of a storm or similar emergency. After Sandy, the town spent money transporting equipment back and forth from Hempstead to Island Park to work in Harbor Island and part of Barnum Island that is in the town’s jurisdiction.

Village officials have been working out of a leased trailer parked just behind the damaged Village Hall since the storm. Last month the village board passed a $1.5 million bond anticipation note to build a new headquarters, which will include a small police substation and an office of emergency services.

Some residents are upset about the expenditure for the new hall. McGinty said it is all part of a plan to make Island Park a destination, but those residents complain that it will just be an additional tax burden. The village is still recovering from Sandy, with homes and businesses that remain empty and streets that are in need of repair.

While some say that a new Village Hall will make the area more presentable, others say they would rather see the streets fixed and drainage improved. They would prefer that village officials move into one of the many vacant businesses. McGinty explained that retrofitting a vacant building to meet requirements for record keeping, emergency services and police presence requirements would not be cost-effective.