Island Park village meeting heats up

Litter, speeding, illegal parking — even a rumored shooting — ignited some tempers during an Island Park village board meeting last week, and one resident was escorted out of Village Hall after he squared off with a trustee.

About 40 residents turned out for the village's regular board meeting on June 17, where they raised a number of issues. But it was during an update by Nassau County police, when questions arose about the village's code enforcement officers and their responsibilities, that some tempers flared. Several audience members inquired about the role of code enforcement officers, with some saying that they are not enforcing some infractions aggressively enough, such as illegal parking, speeding through stop signs, absentee landlords who residents claim do not maintain their properties and rent illegally, litter and other issues that residents said are “ignored.”

One resident claimed to have seen a code-enforcement truck drive by her street, Deal Road, and ignore apparent parking violations in front of her home, where she said people often park illegally, despite No Parking signs. But Village Trustee Joseph Annarella explained that the vehicles are sometimes used by employees other than code-enforcement officers, who are not authorized to issue violations. Other board members said that if residents see illegal activity, including parking issues, they can always call the police, such as the Fourth Precinct's POP unit, or 911.

According to Mayor James Ruzicka, the village currently has several code enforcement officers: two part-time employees who work 10 hours per week and are responsible for issuing tickets for things like parking violations and expired registrations in the village, but are not authorized to pull motorists over or issue speeding tickets; and a part-time building inspector and an assistant building inspector, who handle inspections and can give out parking tickets as well. Another code enforcement employee was recently hired for the Sanitation Department.

Resident Keith Smith questioned the efficiency of the part-time officers, and told the board that when code-enforcement officers are off-duty, it's basically like the “wild West.” Village laws such as alternate-side-of-the-street parking should be monitored more thoroughly by code enforcement officers, Smith said, who should not have to rely on police to address those issues.

“I don't see where all of this effort is going,” he said, and asked the board where his tax dollars are going. “We're paying for this — I pay you. I pay your salaries.”

Ruzicka said that enforcement has been aggressive. Within the past two years, he said, the number of tickets issued by code enforcement officers leaped from 20 to 200.

Still, Smith questioned the impact that part-time code enforcers make. “I can win the lottery, but it doesn't mean it's going to happen,” he said.

As Smith pressed on, criticizing the board for not hiring a full-time code enforcement officer, Annarella appeared to have had had enough, and said he resented Smith's tone. After some more back-and-forth, Smith told Annarella to calm down, at which point the trustee lost his temper.

“We're doing our best by the taxpayers — don't make a shambles out of this board! I work my butt off for you,” Annarella yelled, at one point pounding his fist on the dais as other officials tried to calm him. “Don't stare me down,” he yelled.

Annarella quickly composed himself, and a police officer, who was at the meeting to provide residents with an update on police issues in the community, intervened. The officer asked Smith if he had any other concerns he wanted to ask the board about. Smith said he did not, and the officer asked him to step outside so they could speak. The heated exchange was ultimately defused, but both village officials and residents said they could not remember the last time that tempers were tested.

“It got blown out of proportion and sometimes tempers flare,” Ruzicka said after the meeting. “It's the first time I've ever seen [Annarella] lose his composure. I think that's what the frustration is — that people don't trust politicians anymore, but we're trying to tell people the truth.”

Other residents said that Annarella, who could not be reached for comment after the meeting, is usually a calm, receptive trustee. “... Annarella is normally a gentleman, and I think he took the brunt of the aggravation for the mayor's lack of response to the issues,” said one resident who declined to be

identified.

“I was a little shocked, but Annarella is genuinely a nice guy and always receptive to residents' concerns,” resident Patti Ambrosia said afterward. “No one in the community is going to hold it against him. Everybody is entitled to a bad day, and all the years he's been up there he's never acted like that.”

Earlier in the meeting, residents asked the county police officers about a range of issues, including a rumor that there was a shooting at Paddy McGee's over the Memorial Day weekend. Police said there was no shooting there or at any of the clubs that weekend, and that the rumor was based on misinformation.

Resident Michelle Baratta said she was concerned about potential drunk drivers coming out of the bars and nightclubs in Barnum Isle, and asked about enforcement in that area. The police said that officers patrol the area, Austin Boulevard in particular, especially during the bars' and clubs' busy hours.

Ruzicka said that the board and police should only discuss issues related to the village of Island Park, and not Town of Hempstead areas such as Harbor Isle, which some residents were quick to criticize. “We all live in 11558 — why wouldn't anyone want to know about police issues?” Ambrosia said after the meeting. “I'm a little confused that Mayor Ruzicka is not concerned about Barnum Isle. That is very unfair.”

Other residents asked the board about litter in the area. Baratta and others claimed that not enough was being done to keep streets clean around the village, particularly on Island Parkway. “The town is not being maintained,” Baratta said. “I don't think you're doing an effective job.”

Ruzicka maintained that Island Parkway is a county road, and that the village is not responsible for its upkeep. “We are hiring additional people — the village is not as dirty as you're alluding to,” he said.

Baratta disagreed. “Mr. Mayor, instead of telling me it's not your responsibility, please listen to what I'm saying,” she said.

Ruzicka said that the village is in the process of replacing its 1978 street sweeper with a new, more efficient vehicle, among other initiatives. He said that every complaint that comes in is considered, and that officials try to address the problem the best they can. “We clean as much as we can with the manpower we have available,” he said.

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