By Scott Brinton
What started last Wednesday night as a quiet question-and-answer meeting about the Merrick Mall's new Stop and Shop quickly turned into a raucous venting session over what residents called the mall's "unsightly" state.
The Joint Council of the Merricks convened the meeting at the Merrick Public Library to discuss the Stop and Shop, as well as a proposed movie theater for Broadcast Plaza in downtown Merrick. The standing-room-only crowd at the library appeared generally to favor the theater. When the subject of the mall was broached, however, it drew the ire of many residents in attendance.
Barry Fox, president of the Merrick Park Home Owners Association, led the charge. The civic leader said that, if action were not taken to clean up the mall, residents would picket the Hewlett Bay Park home of the mall's managing partner, Barry Kirshner, and Stop and Shop's headquarters in East Meadow.
Mr. Fox said Stop and Shop is a tenant in the mall and not its owner, but as its largest renter, the supermarket alone possesses the clout with the Drayman Family Trust, the mall's owner, to have the shopping center polished and repaired.
Along with many residents at the meeting, Mr. Fox spoke of: trash that blows through the mall; graffiti that is sprayed on shops; chewing gum and pigeon droppings that coat sidewalks; potholes that mark the parking lot; and reported crimes that have occurred there. Among those crimes, authorities said in an earlier Herald article, were two recent rapes in and around the mall.
"There's no security in the Merrick Mall..." Mr. Fox told residents. "It's a dirty, dangerous place."
Mr. Kirshner, who is son-in-law of the Drayman trust's chief executive, rebutted by saying that a "great number" of Mr. Fox's statements were "lies" or "overstatements."
In reply, one woman said of the civic leader's presentation: "Everything he said is true. Maybe it's overemphasized, but it's true." The woman also implored Mr. Kirshner to "take a walk down the mall and tell me it's not disgusting."
Mr. Kirshner, who said he visits the property five days a week, admitted, "There are times when the mall isn't as clean as it can be."
The mall's managing partner said, though, that the Drayman Family Trust has taken steps recently to police the property. An attendant "hand picks" the shopping center's parking lot of debris twice daily, in addition to weekly machine "power sweeps."
Those measures, however, did little to appease the incensed residents, who demanded further steps to maintain the mall. One resident suggested that Mr. Kirshner employ a "full-time" superintendent, whose sole responsibility would be upkeep of the property. "Don't say once a week, twice a week," the resident told Mr. Kirshner.
Michael Gallagher, the Town of Hempstead sanitation code enforcement officer responsible for overseeing the Merrick Mall, said the Drayman Family Trust must do a better job in maintaining the property. "With all due respect, Mr. Kirshner, I shouldn't have to make 7,000 phone calls to you," he said. The inspector added that the mall requires a "crew" to keep it clean.
Kieran Crowley, president of the Smith Pond Homeowner's Association, questioned Mr. Kirshner why the Drayman trust does not renovate the property. "Is your owner willing to spend a buck or two? Is your owner willing to respond to this community?" he asked.
Mr. Kirshner's response to the renovation question came swiftly: "It's not going to happen." He noted, however, that the Drayman trust poured money into revamping the mall in recent years. How much money, he did not say.
Bob Hempson, district manager for 11 Stop and Shops throughout the area, said his company put $1.5 million into renovating the Merrick store. Additionally, Mr. Hempson said he has an attendant clean garbage that is strewn along Hewlett Avenue primarily by commuters. "I'm cleaning up their debris trying to be a good neighbor in Merrick," Mr. Hempson said.
"You talk about revitalization in Merrick, we're there," the Stop and Shop manager said.
Residents also complained of the tractor-trailers that deliver goods at the back of Stop and Shop. One man said the truck drivers run their engines throughout the day, disturbing nearby homeowners.
Residents also called Stop and Shop's loading dock an "eyesore," suggesting that the supermarket erect a "solid green fence" around the area so that it is hidden from view.
Mr. Kirshner concluded by saying that "we [the Drayman trust] will try to do a better job" in maintaining the mall.
Apparently, "try" is not good enough for Barry Fox and several other residents. Mr. Fox said, "This [residents' protest of the mall's condition] is not stopping. In 20 years, we haven't stopped, and we're not stopping now.
"If it doesn't happen," the civic leader said, "we're going to have to deal with Stop and Shop and the Drayman Family Trust."
