By Jeff Lipton
An application filed earlier this month with the Town of Hempstead Buildings Department proposes to convert an existing building at 1199 Railroad Ave., off Franklin Avenue, into a private high school, according to town spokesperson Susie Trenkle. The proposed site is currently occupied by a long red-brick building, the former home of the Long Island Gymnastic Academy and now a storage facility.
Specific details on the size of the proposed high school were not immediately available because the application was new and the dimensions of the project could easily change, Trenkle said.
The plans were filed by Rabbi Ari Ginian, the executive director of Reenas Bais Yaakov, a girls' yeshiva high school currently operating out of the orthodox Congregation Ahavat Yisrael, also known as Young Israel of Hewlett, at One Piermont Ave. The school has been run from the synagogue building for about five years, and about 40 girls attend classes there. One employee confirmed that the students would be moved to a new location next year.
Trenkle said that under the current proposal, the project would have to go before the town's Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance, but it was not immediately clear whether the variance would be needed to waive the required number of parking spaces or whether operating a school in that area would require a zoning change. She added that the Buildings Department was reluctant to release that information now because the application is fresh and could be altered.
The application is in its very early stages, and anything could change, Trenkle said.
Parking spaces in Hewlett have become scarce, and business leaders have called on the town to help free up some parking. But even with the lack of parking, Joe Gelb, president of the Hewlett Business Association, said his group would not oppose the plans for the high school. The group, he said, would rather work harder on trying to find solutions to the parking dilemma. Parking is particularly a challenge at the train station, since commuters in the Five Towns park their cars in the neighborhood.
We're not going to fight it, Gelb said. We welcome anyone willing to come in. We want to help them satisfy the needs of the community. We will cooperate with them. I don't think we want to stop the facility. They can work with us to modify the plans if necessary. We are here to help them any way we can.
It was not immediately known whether the school would build its own parking lot or if it would have the required number of spots to operate a yeshiva high school.
Traffic is obviously one of the biggest issues we have here, said Nassau County Legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside), whose office is located across the street, at 18 Franklin Ave.
Gelb views the school as a positive, saying it will bring in more families who could potentially shop in area stores. We're just going to have to get more parking and make more drastic moves to do it, whether it's building a double-decker parking lot or something else, he said.
Gelb said he was looking into creating additional parking with Town Councilman Anthony Santino (R-Hewlett), specifically the possibility of acquiring a parcel on the north side of the railroad tracks.
Officials at the nearby Hewlett Fire Department said they were somewhat concerned about the lack of parking with a high school being proposed as a neighbor, but said they would first have to see what the plans looked like before worrying about it. It's going to be very interesting, said one fire official. It's a concern, but we'll first have to see what plans they have.
When the L.I. Gymnastic Academy moved out of the building a few years ago, it was taken over by Ellman International and converted to a storage facility. Sources said the yeshiva bought much of the property on the Railroad Avenue block to make way for the high school.
The owner of Bagel Bob's, at 31C Franklin Ave., the corner of the block, was told by the landlord, Ellman, that he had to move out by June to make room for the school. The owner, who did not want to be identified, said he has been operating the shop at that location for about 12 years and is not happy about the move. He said he would move to his new location, across the street, at 26 Franklin Ave., in two or three months.
Independent Coach Corp., which provides buses for local public and private schools, operates at the other end of the block and has large parking lots for its vehicles. But bus company officials said they have not been approached about their property. We're not leaving, said one. We're not going anywhere, at least not in the near future.
Rabbi Ginian could not be reached for comment.
