By JOSEPH KELLARD
For a year, Monfiletto, president of the American Postal Workers Union in Oceanside-Rockville Centre, and Al Semonella, a shop steward, have tried unsuccessfully to get a no-parking restriction lifted at the southwest corner of Atlantic and Lincoln avenues. Monfiletto claims that parking was permitted along this 100-foot stretch until a year ago, when signs reading "No Stopping Anytime" were posted. If the restriction is lifted, four or five cars could fit there at one time.
"We're trying to get people more parking, because parking is a big issue around the post office," said Monfiletto, who feels that his request should have been settled in February, after Nassau County sent the Town of Hempstead a letter asserting that the town had final jurisdiction over the matter.
Monfiletto and Semonella first wrote the town about lifting the restriction in August 2004, and Town Supervisor Kate Murray sent them a letter, dated Sept. 22, stating that she had sent their request to the town's traffic division to assess the need for a change. The postal workers received an Oct. 27 letter from town attorney Joseph Ra, asserting that the matter falls under the county's jurisdiction, and that he would forward their request to Peter Gerbasi, the county public works commissioner, who would review it and report back to the town with his findings.
Gerbasi mailed Ra a letter on Feb. 8 that cited state law and concluded that "...the final decision on what traffic controls are appropriate lies entirely with the local municipality. In this particular case, we do not believe that the traffic system control being considered would have a significant negative impact on the County road system. Therefore, the County has no objection to the type of control proposed in the documentation you provided this office."
However, Susan Trenkel, a town spokeswoman, pointed out that Gerbasi's letter pertained to the vicinity of Atlantic Avenue and Court Street -- near the drive-up mailboxes -- and not to the southwest side of Atlantic Avenue, across the street from this area.
Monfiletto countered that he and Semonella mailed the town a handwritten map highlighting the areas they wanted the town to look into, particularly the southwest side of Atlantic Avenue. The matter at the Court Street-Atlantic Avenue corner, he noted, was addressed a few years ago, when, at residents' requests, the post office moved the drive-up mailboxes farther east on Atlantic Avenue to improve visibility for drivers pulling out of that corner. (This eliminated about two parking spaces from the area.) Considering the time he has waited for the town to survey the area, Monfiletto said, he feels he's getting the run-around.
Trenkel said the town's traffic control division is presently conducting a traffic survey of the southwest corner of Atlantic Avenue to see "if there could be some possible modifications that would be safe." She said the no-parking signs were originally posted there in 1969 so that motorists heading east on Atlantic Avenue could see motorists heading north on Lincoln Avenue. Trenkel also claimed that at some unknown point the signs had been knocked down, and were posted again last year. "When they did work [building a showroom] at Dee's Nursery, there was probably something going on there, they realized the signs weren't there, and put them back up," she said.
"As far as I know from the 20 years I've worked here, there was always at least 15-minute parking on that side," Monfiletto said. He noted that Dee's Nursery's new showroom already blocks the view of motorists driving northbound on Lincoln Avenue.
Monfiletto believes there is a general lack of adequate parking around the post office, and so many patrons look to park in the lot behind the CVS Pharmacy in the Great Lincoln Shopping Center. No-parking signs are posted high up on the pharmacy building, and Monfiletto sees cars being towed from the lot almost daily.
"We're trying to do all of this so that patrons don't have to deal with being towed because they park across the street," Monfiletto said. "It's heartbreaking seeing these old ladies getting their cars towed." He added that he has tried to contact the shopping center owner to ask her to open this lot for post office parking, but has been unsuccessful.
When citing other parking issues involving the post office, he points to Court Street, where parking is permitted for 15 minutes and 2 hours in a confined area directly behind the building. "At one time there was all-day parking over there," Monfiletto said.
Trenkel pointed out that a stretch of road beyond the restricted area, along southwestern Atlantic Avenue, has one-hour parking from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. that post office patrons can use. Monfiletto claimed that this area once had all-day parking, and that, for the most part, postal employees parked there.
Asked if the post office could open its rear parking lot, where it keeps its vehicles and employees park their own cars, Monfiletto said that for security reasons, the lot is generally kept closed to the public.
"Something has to be done to improve parking around here," he said, "and lifting the restriction at Atlantic and Lincoln would be a good first step."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
