By Nick Buglione
The businesses at 342 to 350 Newbridge Road, which include a pizzeria, a cocktail lounge, a Chinese restaurant and a salon, will soon sport new, polished facades and uniform green signs. The project will cost about $250,000, and is being split by the town and business owners. The town has already put out a request for bids, and anticipates that work will begin in late May or early June. It should take about a month to complete.
³These facade projects are always very exciting for our communities, because they truly help revitalize our local business districts,² Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray (R-Levittown) said.
The town already has a number of facade-improvement projects under way in other neighborhoods, including Franklin Square, Oceanside and Levittown. Improving the aesthetics of commercial strips has been shown to have a positive impact on business, Murray said.
³It¹s such a fabulous program,² she said. ³We¹ve heard over and over from areas improved that it really does [increase] the number of people coming through the door. We¹re hoping that the same scenario happens for Newbridge Road.²
The only difficulty the town sometimes runs into when trying to initiate these projects is getting the store owners to agree to pick up half the bill, Murray said.
Businesses along Bedford Avenue in Bellmore were the first in the Town of Hempstead to benefit from the facade improvement program, though the state, county and town worked together on that project. ³It was like a ghost town,² said town Councilman Gary Hudes (R-Levittown) of business before the revitalization, which took place about a decade ago.
Hudes owns Gennaro Jewelers on Bedford Avenue. ³One out of every three stores was empty, boarded up or for rent,² he said. ³We had businesses moving out. To have that kind of 30 percent vacancy in the downtown area, there was nobody coming here. On a Saturday afternoon we could have played a touch football game in the street and not get hit by any cars.²
Business picked up significantly after the improvement project, Hudes said. ³With the exception of one building, I would say we have 99.9 percent occupancy,² he said. ³You can¹t get a parking spot. We certainly can¹t play football in the street anymore.²
The project was so successful that it became the model for others. ³We received visits from other villages and towns to see what we did here,² Hudes said. ³I¹m thrilled this program has continued. It gives greater pride to residents in the community. People are very proud of their homes, and they want to be proud of their community as a whole.²
John Arigo, president of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce, thinks the Newbridge Road project is a great idea. ³From a business standpoint, it makes it more appealing to shop,² he said. ³It makes it more appealing to the neighbors, more aesthetically pleasing. Anything that¹s good for business is good for us.²
This isn¹t the first time the town has focused on improving a commercial strip in East Meadow. In 2001, it completed a streetscape project on East Meadow Avenue. Businesses on the west side of the street, from Front Street south to Prospect Avenue, received new sidewalks, brick work and landscaping.
³Owners take a little more pride in their property since the streetscape,² said James Skinner, who owns a business on East Meadow Avenue. ³It looks a little more homey now.²
Comments about this story? NBuglione@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
