YMCA, Applebee’s might be coming to Elmont

Residents of Elmont have long been hoping to create more jobs in the community and spur economic growth, and two businesses potentially coming to the area could do just that.

Town of Hempstead Councilman Ed Ambrosino said a YMCA building is possibly in the pipeline for Elmont, and he has heard from community leaders that the Applebee’s Corporation is interested in opening a restaurant where a Sizzler restaurant was located for nearly 15 years, at 1710 Hempstead Tpke.

There is an application for a restaurant at that site, and Applebee’s is interested, he explained.

“It’s a great spot for a restaurant,” Ambrosino said. “If a developer comes in and is interested, we will meet. I want the spot to be developed … I’ll do anything I can to make it easier for them.”

Ambrosino said he is hoping to speak with Applebee’s representatives in the near future, and is planning on briefing Supervisor Kate Murray on the YMCA and meeting with YMCA representatives in the next three to four weeks. He said he is unsure of whether either discussion will lead to development, but he is hopeful of either possibility.

Ambrosino said one possible site for the YMCA would be next to the Elmont Memorial Library, at 700 Hempstead Tpke. in Elmont, on the library’s northeast side. The other possible site is on Hempstead Turnpike near Louis Avenue — a vacant lot where and old welding building used to be.

He added that the YMCA would be a tax-exempt development, due to its community purpose.

Murray said she believes the potential YMCA and Applebee’s would be positive developments for the community, but she has not yet discussed potential plans with either entity.

“The YMCA has a great reputation for being very beneficial for communities. It would be a place where children could go in the after-school hours, between 3 and 6 p.m., which we all know are the bewitching hours for children. I would be most willing and anxious to talk to the YMCA,” Murray said. “We are always very business-friendly here in the town, and anything we can do to help existing businesses, enhance their business, or attract new businesses to the area, that’s very much an important priority for us.”

Claudine Hall, president of the Jamaica Square Improvement League, said she believes the YMCA would be one of the best developments Elmont could have.

“It would be the second best thing to be added to Elmont, the first obviously being a supermarket for adults,” Hall said, explaining that the YMCA would give kids in the community more to do after school, and bring jobs and revenue to the community.

“We couldn’t ask for anything better,” she said. “People would come from all sides of Elmont. It would be an answer to the majority of the community’s prayers … we are just keeping our fingers crossed that this will go through.”

Hall said Elmont was once home to a YMCA, which was located at 1824 Fairfax St., and closed in 1978.

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