By Richard Tedesco and Mike Caputo
Suozzi told the Nassau Herald last week that the county would be "willing to sell or give the property to the the Five Towns Community Center."
He also declared, "The county will not do anything with the property unless the new owner improves the services." Suozzi said the county was approached by the Jewish Community Center of the Greater Five Towns, which expressed an interest in acquiring the property and expanding community services.
It wasn't immediately clear whether Suozzi's comments indicated a change in his position about the center or simply represented another way of explaining the county's initiative to find a new owner and relieve itself of the burden of being a landlord in the process.
Negotiations on conveying the property to the community center commenced six years ago, shortly after Suozzi took office. Those talks stopped and restarted several times, on the sticking point of repairs to the building that the Five Towns Community Center board believed should be undertaken by the county before any transfer of ownership, according to a source close to the talks. Representatives of the community center felt the county had been slow in addressing needed repairs to the facility, the source said.
"The county is not a good landlord and we have had a difficult time maintaining this building. It's an uphill struggle every day," said Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside), the Nassau County legislator who broached the idea of a possible sale of the property to the JCC.
"We've come to a point in time where services can be provided by another party," he said. "I think the county is interested in what's best for the community. If that's the status quo, then the status quo is fine."
Rina Shkolnik, JCC executive director, said the idea that her organization would take over the center and eliminate existing programs is "false."
The JCC was invited by the county to discuss a possible sale of the community center, and the JCC is "evaluating" the opportunity with the intention of maintaining existing programs as it adds some of its own.
The JCC would be supplanting the county as landlord of the property for the remaining 17 years of its 50-year lease with the Five Towns Community Center. Sources say two National Basketball Association stars have put feelers out to community center representatives about contributing funds to refurbishing the center's indoor gym, which includes basketball courts. That suggests the community center might be able to find creative ways to finance restoration of the facility if the county balks at the idea.
Many Five Towns residents, particularly Inwood residents, are concerned that the arrival of the JCC as landlord would effectively signal the departure of vital social services to the community.
Prior to a Nassau County Planning Commission hearing on the county's request for proposals, or bids, on the property, Jonathan Davis, community center executive director since 1989, made it clear that his constituency is in the developing fight over the future of the center for the long haul.
"We'll be back before the Legislature. This is just the beginning," he said.
He noted that there were no terms in the current agreement with the center for the county to break its lease. But the absence of such language in the lease agreement wouldn't prevent a sale or transfer of that lease.
"We don't know what's next," Davis said, "That's why we're here, so we don't get to that point. But if we do get to that point, we're going to be in court for a long time, longer than this county administration will be in office."
A community meeting that drew 300 concerned residents on May 21 touched off a campaign to circulate petitions to forestall any sale or transfer of the property to an outside entity, with Inwood school children going door to door to collect signatures. A telephone campaign was also organized to call the county executive's office with objections to any deal that would usurp the community center's control of the property.
That property also includes a soccer field and outdoor basketball courts built by the county that see a lot of use by community members.
Hearing kept open
There was a collective sigh of relief when a motion was made during last Thursday morning's planning commission public session to continue the public hearing at its June 28 meeting. The center currently serves serves approximately 16,000 people a year, Davis said.
Planning Commission Second Vice Chair Neal Lewis conceded there were questions that remain "unanswered," which is the reason he, along with the rest of the board, decided to keep the public hearing open on the county's RFP.
Although a little over a month may not seem a long time for center officials and community members to try to stop an RFP from going out, time is what center officials have identified as the most critical element of the situation.
"We need time," Community Center Associate Director Peter Visconti said. "It happened suddenly."
Community center officials were notified at a May 8 meeting with Nassau County legislator Jeff Toback (D-Oceanside) about the county's desire to sell the 100-year-old center to a private organization.
Once the public hearing portion of the planning commission is closed, the committee has 45 days to make a recommendation to Suozzi and the county Legislature, which would take a final vote on issuing the RFP. The Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee (OSPAC), which also conducts public meetings, also would make a recommendation to the county executive and the Legislature. The next Space and Parks meeting takes place on June 13. OSPAC has 30 days to reach a decision on the recommendation.
It was reiterated during the meeting that a potential purchaser of the property must honor the remaining lease on the center, which runs through 2025. "We are concerned that whoever is buying it will break the lease," Davis told Commission members. "If we leave, there will be some serious impact."
Other than Davis, five community members voiced their displeasure at possibly losing the center.
Rev. Michael Lisbon of St. John's Baptist Church in Inwood, said the center is a crucial linchpin: "It's very important," said Lisbon "It's like a bridge from the church to the community."
Natasha Mays-Fredericks, an Inwood mother of five who used the center as a child, described it as a "safe haven" for children.
When their children are at the center, "parents in the community can put their mind at ease," said Mays. "How [can anyone] explain taking away the one thing that means so much to them?"
Comments on this story? RTedesco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
