By Dana Williams
According to detectives, during a routine patrol in the Courtesy’s parking lot on Dec. 31, officers found five clear plastic bags of cocaine in the pockets of Frank Krayer, 52, of Glenmore Avenue in East Meadow. Krayer was arrested and charged with fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance. He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead later that day, police said.
This latest arrest, civic leaders say, is just another example of the many drug-related incidents that have occurred at the problematic hotel in recent months. The Courtesy has become a haven for a wide range of criminal activities, including prostitution, assaults and robberies, and has been home to several registered sex offenders. Police announced in August that officers had responded to 119 calls and made 28 arrests at the hotel since January. Crime statistics for all of 2008 were still being tallied as the Herald went to press on Monday.
At several Town of Hempstead meetings last year, dozens of residents contended that the Courtesy presents a clear danger to children and other residents, and continues to attract the “wrong element” to West Hempstead.
“It’s important to note that the people being arrested at the Courtesy are either from areas surrounding West Hempstead or out of the state,” said Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Civic Association. “They are not from West Hempstead. The Courtesy attracts nothing but problems and people with problems to our community, and we’re just counting down the days until this deplorable business is gone.”
Residents are awaiting not only the Courtesy’s demolition, but the construction of a 150-unit apartment complex on the property. After Town Supervisor Kate Murray announced on Nov. 13 that the town and real estate firm Trammell Crow Residential had reached an agreement to replace the Courtesy with “attractive, train commuter-friendly rental apartments,” the Hempstead town board approved the rezoning of the Courtesy site at a public hearing on Nov. 25. The property is now zoned for residential use.
The Long Island Rail Road has agreed to transfer a .97-acre parcel of land it owns next to the Courtesy to the town, which will allow Trammell Crow’s complex to be in compliance with the town’s density limit. The deal still needs to be approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board, officials said.
For more than two years, residents have lobbied to have the Trammell Crow development replace the crime-ridden hotel. The developer has been in contract to purchase the hotel from its owner, Bruce Zwelsky, since March 2006. Zwelsky’s attorney, A. Thomas Levin, said Zwelsky is waiting for the sale to be finalized and is cooperating fully with all of the parties involved. “We have been trying to sell to Trammell Crow all this time, so now that a deal has been worked out between Trammell Crow and the town, we’re just waiting for the sale to go through,” Levin said.
Trammel Crow’s four-story complex, to be called the Alexan at West Hempstead, will feature a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, two levels of underground parking and a host of amenities.
“We were able to get approved by the town for the rezoning of the property, so that was a big step in this whole process,” explained Maria Rigopoulos, the firm’s vice president. “Now we have to get through a site plan approval on both the town and Nassau County level, and that can take several months. There are a number of steps that need to be completed, but this project is moving forward.”
Comments about this story? DWilliams@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 205.
