by Mike Schnitzel
The three-member panel, which included Deputy Mayor Guido Cirenza and trustees Edwin Fare and Richard Coffman, heard arguments from Danny¹s of Valley Stream Inc. at a hearing at Village Hall. The panel is expected to make a decision on the appeal, which contends that Village Clerk Vincent Ang¹s decision to reject the proposal was arbitrary, once final arguments have been filed.
Ang initially rejected a proposal filed by Danny¹s Car Service in October 2005 for a license to operate at a stand near the Gibson Long Island Rail Road station, calling the venture unnecessary. According to Ang¹s decision, the Gibson station is a ³small, single-track, grade-level station,² and, by contrast, the Valley Stream LIRR station has ³considerably more departures and arrivals throughout the day than does the Gibson station.²
Ang concluded that Valley Stream Taxi, which has operated from the Valley Stream station since 1977, ³adequately fulfills the demand for such service in the village,² and that ³neither public convenience nor necessity mandates further taxicab service in the village generally, and at the Gibson station in particular.²
Mayor Edward Cahill agreed with Ang¹s assessment. ³It¹s not a needed entity at this time,² said Cahill. ³It¹s a bad location, and there¹s no parking near the station.²
Tom Frigenti, manager and operator of Danny¹s Car Service, which has been in business in Rosedale for 60 years, said that the company does a lot of business in the village, and that he believes it is being unfairly denied a license. ³We do 30 to 40 percent of our business out of Valley Stream,² Frigenti said. ³I just want to keep the piece of the pie I already have. I¹m not looking to steal business from Valley Stream Taxi. They run a good operation.²
Danny¹s is allowed to operate in Valley Stream, but only on calls that are either to or from the village. The company is not allowed to transport people to and from destinations in the village without a franchise agreement.
Frigenti said he would be willing to operate from another location if the village feels that the public would not be well served by taxis stationed at the Gibson depot. ³We¹re a fair company, and I don¹t mind competition,² said Frigenti. ³It¹s freedom of choice, and that¹s what this country was built on.²
The main concern of property owners in the area seems to be traffic. Few residents or businesses the Herald spoke to seemed to object to the idea of another tax company¹s presence in the village if the operation would not congest area roads. ³It wouldn¹t bother me at all,² said DuBois Avenue resident Marian Guethler. ³We already have traffic from people at the station, so maybe if a taxi service was there to pick them up it would help.²
Mike Patel, owner of Cold Cut Express, also said that a taxi service in the immediate area could be a positive. ³I think it would help my business rather than hurt it,² Patel said.
John Lapata, a buyer for Cross Island Fruits, said he felt that another cab company could help ease congestion at the railroad station. ³I think business owners would like to see another cab company in the area,² said Lapata, adding that it is better not to have a shortage of cabs.
Not everyone would like to see a taxi company at the Gibson station, however. Cochran Place resident Steve Franceschetti agreed with Ang¹s reasoning. ³I am totally against it,² Franceschetti said. ³I think it would be a detriment to the area. There¹s no need for another taxi service.²
Representatives of Valley Stream Taxi did not return calls for comment.
According to Village Attorney Mike McKenna, a decision will be made two to three weeks after final arguments are filed, which he said should happen within the next two to three weeks. McKenna contends that most of the calls Danny¹s receives in the 516 area code are from shoppers at the Green Acres Mall, which is outside the village. Under current law, McKenna explained, Danny¹s can pick up a fare at the mall and transport a passenger into the village.
³The Malverne station sees more volume than the Gibson station, but they don¹t have a taxi stand,² McKenna said. ³There is not enough demand at the Gibson station to warrant a taxi stand there, and it would cause parking problems in the area.²
Steve Kressel, counsel for Danny¹s owner Donna Frigenti, said he was optimistic that his client¹s appeal would be granted by the village. ³My client is very experienced with running a taxi service,² said Kressel, of Massapequa. ³The public would be well served by the competition, and I don¹t think that Valley Stream Taxi would be hurt by this.²
Fare said that the board¹s decision would be based on whether another taxi service was necessary in the village, and whether that service would benefit the public.
Kressel said that if the village rejects his client¹s proposal, Danny¹s would file an Article 78 complaint with the State Supreme Court to examine whether the company¹s application was denied in an ³arbitrary and capricious manner.²
Comments about this story? MSchnitzel@li-herald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 265.
