"These illegal apartments are eating away at our tax base, at our classroom space, at sanitation, fire and police services and at the very heart of our quality of life," said Scott Jablow, president of the Cathedral Gardens Civic Association in West Hempstead. "We really need the town supervisor to step to the plate and go to bat for the law-abiding citizen."
Murray told the community group said the town now has two additional building inspectors on the job. "We are bypassing the notice or warning phase of the process in dealing with basement apartments, going straight to the issuance of a summons," said Murray. "We are fine-tuning local ordinances not only to make the penalties significant and meaningful, but also to assure compliance with the provisions of the Building Code."
Murray, along with Commissioner of Buildings Dan Cassella, expressed frustration with the District Court process, which routinely drags on for months and sometimes years, with judges often taking a tenant-friendly approach on matters ranging from adjournments to the imposition of fines. With a new administrative judge in Nassau County, the hope is that the process can be expedited.
"The Building Department needs more resources to tackle this problem," said Jerry Urick, communications director for the Morton Civic Association, representing Franklin Square's interests on the Alliance. "Look what's happening in our schools. We're paying millions of dollars, year after year, to educate not only children who do not reside in the district, but those who live in illegal rental apartments, from which no tax dollars are collected. Where does it end?"
Seth Bykofsky, Alliance co-chair and chair of the West Hempstead Civic Association's Zoning Committee, said that for all the town may be doing to stem the tide of illegal housing, the perception is that the town does little other than to react.
"Here again we have a disconnect between reality and the perception of reality," said Bykofsky. "Getting the word out to residents as to the letter of the law, the requirements for compliance and the penalties for any deviation will go a long way in keeping homeowners in line. When people open their mail, turn on their television sets and read the supervisor's 'Around The Town' column, and see that everyone from the supervisor on down is dead serious about pulling the plug on illegal rentals, you'll begin to see a difference."
Roy Mezzapelle, chair of the Elmont Quality of Life Committee (EQL) who also serves as Alliance co-chair, agreed that the message is not getting across. "At least seventy percent of residents [in Elmont] abide by the law and do not rent out their basements," said Mezzapelle. "It's the other 30 percent who we need to reach, and we're not doing it. When we [EQL] file some 800 complaints of illegal apartments with the Town's Building Department, and when residents hear little, if anything, about what has happened on these complaints, there is a presumption that nothing is being done at Town Hall."
Supervisor Murray agreed that more needs to be done on the public relations front. "We can and we certainly will do more in terms of informing and educating residents on these important matters," said Murray.
The supervisor and her Chief of Staff Ray Mineo assured Alliance leaders that a media campaign dedicated to the topic of illegal rentals was a priority.
Some were not impressed with mere platitudes. "We keep hearing that the town is taking action and that illegal rentals, particularly of basement apartments, will not be tolerated," said Patrick Nicolosi, president of the Elmont East End Civic Association. "Yet, on my own block, I'm one of the few who does not have tenants renting illegally, and nothing appears to change. In fact, if anything, the situation is getting worse."
West Hempstead Civic Association President Bob Rabey concurred. "We meet monthly with our councilman, Ed Ambrosino. We get sympathetic nods and reasonable assurances. And yet, as we all have observed, little seems to happen, leaving us to wonder, 'Where is the town?'"
"I'm right there with you," said Mineo, a lifelong resident of Elmont. "I see what you see. I hear what you hear. I am equally disturbed and concerned. All of us at the town are."
Part of the frustration, according to Mezzapelle, is the constant need to reinvent the wheel with each succeeding generation of Town Hall officials. "A decade ago, in 1992, we were complaining about the same problems," said Mezzapelle. "We saw and we chronicled the proliferation of illegal rentals and informed Town officials... [but] for years, we were ignored, presented with empty promises, and summarily dismissed. We are still waiting for the buck to stop."
"The buck stops here," said Murray, reassuring the community activists that, "we are going to let every resident know what the law is, what their obligations are as homeowners, and what the town is doing and will do to enforce the law and make certain there is compliance."
Jablow said the local civic associations would be watching. "We're not going away, and we're not going to let the town off the hook, either," he said. "This is too important in terms of our communities' bottom lines, as well as the bottom line on our tax bills, to let this slide."
