Mangano seeks to void 1st Precinct lease

County Executive Ed Mangano is seeking a judgment against Grand Baldwin Associates L.P., the company that is leasing two acres of property for the county's new 1st Police Precinct, claiming that the deal finalized at the end of last year was "an insult to Nassau's taxpayers" and should be voided entirely.

"This is just a very bad deal that takes advantage of every Nassau taxpayer," Mangano said. "I will find a better solution that will protect the taxpayers' wallets but ensure that public safety is not at all compromised."

On Feb. 22, the county filed a lawsuit against Grand Baldwin Associates, which had agreed late last year to lease part of its Rosen Shopping Center property on Grand Avenue to the county for a new precinct. The deal was debated in Baldwin in the weeks leading up to a vote by the county Legislature on Dec. 16, with some residents suspecting a sweetheart deal between the company and the county. The lease was approved, with all 10 Democrats voting for and eight Republicans voting against.

The county’s lawsuit claims that the lease should be voided due to several factors, including that last year's Democratic majority failed to conduct a thorough environmental study and circumvented Wicks Law, and that the official lease document was never endorsed by the previous administration.

Officials went so far as to state that building a police precinct on the property "constitutes an unreasonable risk of danger, excessive noise, pollution and congestion detrimental to the residents of the community of Baldwin and the County of Nassau."

But Legislator Joe Scannell (D-Baldwin), who led efforts to stop then County Executive Tom Suozzi from moving the precinct out of Baldwin in 2005 and has worked to secure a new home for the police since then, defended the lease deal with Grand Baldwin Associates. Scannell cited favorable testimony given by county finance and real estate officials as well as from the county's independent budget review office, which stated that the county secured rent payments on the new site at less than market value.