By Mike Russo
The downtown revitalization project, the state of the economy and upcoming local events were the hot topics.
Michael Rosenstock, counsel to the Chamber, told members that the Town of Hempstead and their selected real estate developers had signed a contract earlier in the month to make the downtown project official, and that he was hearing that buildings should start coming down in the spring or summer of next year.
"We're fortunate to have a developer that decided to stick it out through these rough times and is committed to doing this," said Rosenstock.
Members welcomed Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Mapes, who attended his first Baldwin Chamber meeting.
Ralph Rose, a resident member of the Chamber, announced that this year's Christmas tree lighting, an annual Chamber event, will be held on Sunday, December 7 from 4-6 p.m. While the Chamber does much of the preparation work, they are still looking for people to donate candy canes and donuts for the event.
New World Music Center, located at 1858 Grand Ave. in Baldwin, will hold their Grand Re-opening on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. For more information, call Mike Fincken at (516) 378-7898.
The Chamber also announced that they are interested in holding a fireworks show at their annual Chamber Picnic, which is held every summer. They are looking for people and businesses to help sponsor the event.
"We hope to make this an annual tradition because there are other towns around that have [fireworks shows] and there's no reason why we shouldn't have it too," said Chamber board member Erik Mahler.
Mahler also made a small presentation on the state of the U.S. economy. Having run Mahler Realty in Baldwin for over six years, Mahler has much knowledge on how the mortgage market has been run and why it took a recent turn for the worst.
"With tremendous increases in home prices, you basically only had to be alive to get a mortgage," said Mahler of the lending process in the years leading up to this economic downturn. "Once Wall Street was taking these packages and selling them for profit, the [recipients] realized that many of the people who had been given mortgages could not afford to pay them."
Mahler added that while this is obviously a stressful time for people looking to sell - as the average home in Baldwin has dropped an average of 30 percent over the last two to three years - it is a perfect time for residents, even young people, to buy a home.
"There is plenty of money out there for the average buyer," said Mahler. According to Mahler, when the federal government proposed the $700 billion bailout bill, many in the Congress and Senate were of the understanding that there was no money left in the economy to lend or borrow, which Mahler says is absolutely not true. "It is truly, truly a good time to buy."
The Chamber also participated in the Multi-Chamber Networking event at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside that same night.
For more information about the Chamber, visit www.baldwinchamber.com.
Comments about this story? MRusso@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 283.
