by Jonann Brady
About 25 members of BOCA turned out for the sometimes heated meeting at the Grand Avenue School on Wednesday, Feb. 13. As they have at two other public forums, members of BOCA expressed distress at AHRC's plan to open a home for six developmentally disabled adults at 1206 Hicks Place.
The meeting featured a presentation by Norman Rothleder, director of community living services at AHRC, who tried to quell residents' fears by explaining AHRC's services and the process by which a group home site is chosen.
Because the Town of Hempstead did not oppose the plan to buy the home by the Feb. 5 deadline, AHRC is now in the process of buying the property. Rothleder said the closing would most likely happen within the next two weeks, and after renovations, residents would probably move in late in 2002.
Neighbors, however, said that they didn't consider the purchase "a done deal." Audience members voiced a number of complaints, including charges that AHRC and the state had targeted the neighborhood because it is predominately black. Residents also decried what they say has been an indifferent response from local
politicians to their concerns.
One BOCA member, Glen Sylvester, said that the decision to move the group home to Hicks Place was a slap in the face to homeowners who have worked hard over the past several years to rehabilitate the neighborhood.
"I've lived in this community 30 years," said Sylvester. "When I moved in, they threw eggs on my garage door. This community has evolved. When black people move in an area, they say it falls down. This area has been uplifted. This [the group home] is very disrespectful to black people living here."
Many resident questioned whether there were group homes located in more affluent neighborhoods. "Is there a [group] home in Garden City? Is there one in Rockville Centre?" said one woman in the audience.
Neighbors also said they felt blindsided by the proposal. Members of the community said they received a letter from the Town about the plan just 10 days before the Feb. 5 deadline. They also charged that Town officials have been indiffernet to their concerns.
"The officials tell us nothing can be done. They don't represent us," said Richard Ellerbe.
A representative for Councilman Anthony Santino was at this meeting, and Santino attended another BOCA meeting in late January. In a previous interview with the Herald, both Santino and the Town Attorney said that the Town's hands were essentially tied in opposing the group home, and that no municipality has ever successfully fought the opening of a group home for the disabled. Santino could not be reached at press time for this article.
Sabrina Mitchell, who lives adjacent to the Hicks Place home, asked Rothleder why AHRC wouldn't consider another neighborhood, considering the opposition from the Baldwin Oaks community.
Rothleder replied that most neighborhoods are initially opposed to a group home opening, but AHRC "works with the community...to make them not as hostile."
Rothleder also extended an open invitation for neighbors to tour both the house on Hicks Place or other AHRC group homes in Baldwin.
At the end of the meeting, neighbors said they would continue to fight to keep the group home out and would consider hiring their own attorney or even picketing the real estate agency that sold the house.
"It's not a done deal!" vowed BOCA member Calvin Powell. "If we holler loud enough, they'll pay attention."
