By Rachel Kalina
In 2003, Dr. David Grossman decided he was fed up with the condition of the municipal lot behind his dental office, where he has worked for the past 12 years.
"I've watched things deteriorate in the front on Merrick Road," Grossman said, adding that along with some empty store-fronts, the parking field in the rear has become a mess. "When something gets treated like a dump, it looks like a dump. The main concern is if it's not kept up properly and it looks like a place to dump garbage it's going to perpetuate."
For his part, Santino said he shares Grossman's sentiments, and the two have corresponded about the field for the past three years. Santino agreed that if the lot was cleaned and maintained better it would attract more businesses to the area and would dissuade graffiti or littering in the area, both of which Grossman has cited as major problems in the past.
"We've been doing a lot of parking fields in Baldwin," Santino said. "You can't do them all at once, obviously finances don't permit that. Sometimes with things like this, it just involves getting in line."
Although Santino ensured interim repairs were made, he said other priorities slowed the schedule for the lot's full repair. As a result of his correspondence with Grossman, Santino said he repeatedly appealed to the Departments of Engineering and Building, asking for a renewed lot. Now, he said a refurbishment plan to redesign and repave the lot is set to begin in the fall.
"We'll be able to finally address Dr. Grossman's concerns in their entirety," he said. "I'm very happy that based on my requests going back two years, the Department of Engineering has been able to budget the funding to completely refurbish the field."
One of Grossman's patients, Rick O'Toole of Baldwin, has said he also noticed problems with the field. While he said he hasn't noticed people speeding through the lot, he has seen drivers use it as a cut-through to avoid the traffic light on Merrick Road.
"It's a crummy looking parking lot to begin with," O'Toole said. "It's kind of cramped. People almost backed out into me from time to time. It could be a designed a little better."
Grossman said that cleaning the lot would help to solve other problems such as the abandoning of vehicles in it for weeks at a time. A more aesthetically pleasing lot would discourage littering as well, Grossman said. To this end, he has also asked for police to visit the lot and ticket vehicles that clearly exceed the posted eight-hour maximum parking signs. Santino has been in contact with the First Precinct about this issue, but he said it would take time to address, and said that vehicles can't just be towed away.
This isn't the only vehicular violation with which Grossman has been concerned, however. He worries about the cars that speed through the lot to beat the traffic light on Merrick Road.
"Someone will get mowed down here," Grossman said. "It would help a lot if a policeman spent a few minutes each day here and people would see that and stop," he said, adding that he realized "[the police] are busy and it's not going to be a high priority thing."
According to Inspector Rick Capece, the First Precinct Commander, the lot is en route for police cars making their rounds.
"It's patrolled by the sector car and the parking enforcement aid," he said, adding that this is done on a regular basis.
Grossman said he has noticed at least one instance after appealing to Santino, in which a policeman was present in the lot, but that this is something he hopes will continue. There is a sign stating "No Thru Traffic" at the lot's entrance, but the sign directing traffic with an arrow that should be next to it has since fallen off.
Refurbishing the lot, said Grossman, will not only prevent traffic violations, but also be a great step for a planned revitalization project on Grand Avenue and Merrick Road. The lot can be a major source of parking for the Town of Hempstead's proposed shopping area, said Grossman, and would help attract potential businesses.
"I think the two go hand in hand," Grossman said. "Who wants to start a business next to a dive?"
Santino said that the parking lot would fit in nicely with the redevelopment project, which is in its early stages.
"It's designed to make that part of Baldwin a shopping mecca," Santino said.
Grossman said he is encouraged that after three years of appealing to and working with Santino he will hopefully get to see the fruits of his labor starting in the fall.
"I know that Santino has been very helpful facilitating the issues I brought up with the people who can resolve the issues. It's encouraging that we are moving in the right direction," Grossman said. He added that while projects get planned, they don't always start or finish as intended, and he said Baldwin residents are still waiting to see the efforts of the impending revitalization project.
"We're going to be optimistic," Grossman said. "Now we'll have to see if they act on their words."
Comments about this story? Baldwineditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 207.
