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Mostly Cloudy A farm of contention in East Meadow
Cornell Cooperative Extension wins bid, angering current tenants
The only farm left in East Meadow will remain a farm. But it appears there will be new tenants.
Cornell Cooperative Extension is expected to move its environmental operations from its small quarters in Eisenhower Park to the more spacious property on Merrick Avenue and Luddington Road. The organization plans to transform the 2.5-acre property into an agricultural hub that combines farming with education, community gardening and research.
“This is going to be a beautiful, fun adventure,” said Nancy Youngford of CCE. “This is the place for us to do our best work.”
CCE is an educational, nonprofit organization that conducts research and offers educational programs focusing on the environment and agriculture.
The property is East Meadow’s lone surviving parcel of farmland, decades after the community began the transition from a rural, agriculture-based economy to the suburban culture of today. In December 2008, Nassau County purchased the property from longtime owner Philip Mark, whose family had lived on it for generations.
In addition to a variety of crops, the Mark family grew carnations and other flowers. The property was often referred to as the Deriso Farm Stand and Fruggie’s Farm, for the tenants who operated farm stands there for nearly three decades.
Mark, who continues to live in the house next to the farm, often discussed selling the operation, and word got back to County Legislator Norma Gonsalves. She worked with the Mark family and the county Real Estate Department to arrange a $2.1 million purchase of the land as part of a two-part, $150 million Environmental Bond Act passed by voters in 2004 and 2006.
The aim was to preserve the property’s status as farmland and to prevent it from being transformed into residential units or commercial buildings.
“I am extremely proud that in my role as both legislator and environmentalist, I was able to have this parcel included in the list of properties to be preserved, and that it has been purchased and will be preserved from development,” Gonsalves said.
