Village, MTA eye fixer-uppers

Two vacant storefronts at 45 and 48 Atlantic Ave. have long been an eyesore on the busiest stretch of the village’s downtown district, and the village board has taken action to change that.

According to Village Administrator John Giordano, the two properties, which once housed Mur-Lee’s Mens and Boys Designer Clothing and Sportswear and Picker Pharmacy, are owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which leased them to their former owners, Harry Levitt and Kanti Vadsola. The stores, located under a Long Island Rail Road trestle, have been vacant for nearly five years. The village board met with MTA officials about a month ago, Giordano said, and discussed leasing the property from the MTA, with the hope of renovating the stores and renting them to a not-for-profit.

“By doing this, it’s a win-win,” Giordano said. “The MTA doesn’t have the responsibility of renting the stores, and the village benefits because the storefronts will be active and could bring additional people downtown. The goal is to create more of a pedestrian presence there.”

Levitt, the owner of Mur-Lee’s, who moved his shop farther down Atlantic Avenue in 2001, said the MTA was “very restrictive” with its lease of the two properties. He added that he thinks that may be a reason why the stores remain vacant. “Something needs to be done,” Levitt said. “The MTA treats Lynbrook like a step-child.”

Levitt noted, however, that the buildings are in disrepair, and he doesn’t know if it will be financially feasible for the village to fix them up. It might be best for the business district, he said, for the village to turn the former pharmacy into a parking lot. “If the village takes this,” he said of a possible lease “it will get into a bottomless pit trying to repair it. But I’m glad the administration is getting aggressive with the MTA.”

Village Attorney Peter Ledwith said that when board trustees toured the two vacant stores, they were in terrible condition. The roof of the former pharmacy had sprung leaks and was in danger of collapsing, he said, and the floors were rotted. The village would not consider leasing and renovating the properties, Ledwith explained, unless the MTA offered the village a 20-year rent-free lease and the cost of renovations was feasible.

“In order to make the deal, the village would have to amortize its investment in the repairs,” Ledwith said. “So the per-year expense is a modest sum.”

Though discussion between the village and the transit authority is still in the preliminary stages, Ledwith said that the MTA has sent the village a letter of interest, and the village agreed to it. The agreement is in general terms, Ledwith said, and states that the MTA would allow the village to use the property and rent it out. The next step, he explained, is for the MTA to draw up a lease agreement for the village to review. He noted that the village still needs to come up with a liability clause with the MTA, decide how the rent would be shared among the village and the MTA, and determine whether the village could renew the contract after 10 years.

Salvatore Arena, spokesman for the LIRR, said that the MTA is eager to have the dilapidated stores renovated. “The MTA and the Long Island Rail Road are anxious to see the buildings at 45 and 48 Atlantic Avenue restored as viable business or office sites,” Arena said in an e-mail to the Herald. “We welcomed the proposal by the Village of Lynbrook, and the MTA Real Estate Department is actively negotiating with the village on the possible terms of such an agreement.”

Arena added that the buildings’ decline was the responsibility of the owners who followed Levitt and Vadsola, not the MTA. “The properties have been vacant since 2005 after previous tenants failed to maintain the sites as they were required to do ... under the lease,” he said.

Vadsola, the owner of Picker Pharmacy, said that when he moved to his current location, at 18 Atlantic Ave., in 2001, the site under the LIRR tracks was in good condition. “I don’t know who was there after that,” he said. “I think having someone renting there will be good for everyone’s business.”

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