By Dana Williams
, which has been the site of a host of criminal activities including prostitution, drug use and assaults.
While other mothers were enjoying breakfast at the nearby IHOP restaurant on Hempstead Turnpike, more than 170 concerned mothers, along with their children, gathered in a parking lot next to the hotel, calling for its closure by chanting ³Close it!² and ³Sell the hotel!²
³All of us mothers came here today to say to the town that enough is enough and we want this hotel out of our community right now,² said one West Hempstead resident and mother who declined to be identified. Other mothers at the rally expressed their outrage about the hotel¹s ongoing sex offender problem. According to the New York State Sex Offender Registry, the Courtesy ‹ which has been called a blight on the community by many residents ‹ is home to two Level 3 sex offenders.
³I came down here today with my mother and my daughter to let our elected officials know that the Courtesy Hotel limits the potential that West Hempstead has to grow as a community,² West Hempstead resident Karen Crowley said. ³The hotel is a crime-ridden place, it has become a haven for sex offenders and it¹s a disgrace, and residents want to see it gone.² Participants in the vigil collectively held two large posters detailing their civic leaders¹ fight through the years to close the hotel.
In 2006 alone, 200 calls were made to the police about the Courtesy. There were 96 incident reports and 42 arrests, 5th Precinct detectives announced at a meeting about the hotel in February.
³It is quite obvious that the community is unanimously in favor of closing the Courtesy Hotel, because a lot of bad things are happening in there,² said state Assemblyman Tom Alfano, who also attended the rally. ³There are prostitutes, drug dealers and sex offenders in that hotel. They ... certainly don¹t belong in this community, so we are all in favor of closing this hotel, and the sooner the better.²
Since the Town of Hempstead¹s effort to shutter the hotel through the public nuisance law has failed, the vigil was also held to encourage the town to sell the Courtesy property to Trammell Crow Residential, a firm that is proposing to develop the property into more than 200 apartments. Residents continue to stress to town officials that this is the best and quickest way to rid them of the Courtesy and its problems.
³Let¹s get this closed and the deal done this year,² West Hempstead Civic Association President Rosalie Norton said to the crowd, referring to Trammel Crow¹s proposal. ³We¹ve had enough of this reign of terror, and we want it to be gone from our community forever.²
³The town is on the same page as you are,² Town Supervisor Kate Murray said in response to Norton¹s comments, adding that town officials hope to have the hotel closed by the end of the year.
Some in the crowd, including Crowley, fired back at Murray that she ³made the same promise two years ago.²
³The bottom line is that I am not only committed to seeing the Courtesy Hotel come down, but to see it beautifully redeveloped pursuant to the vision of this community,² Murray told the Herald. ³This community has long suffered with the Courtesy Hotel, so emotions are running high. At the end of the day, however, we all want to see the hotel shut down, and we want this area to have a new face for the West Hempstead community.²
Murray, along with other elected officials, said that she attended the vigil to assure residents that officials are working diligently to see that the hotel is closed as soon as possible. But some in the crowd continued to express their frustration to the supervisor, because, they said, they don¹t believe the town is doing enough to expedite the process of selling the property. Some even suggested that Murray¹s attendance at the vigil was politically motivated.
³The town is making this whole thing a slow and painful process, and it is crippling our community, because they are not doing enough,² West Hempstead resident N. Scott Banks said. ³I think it is absolutely reprehensible that Kate Murray can be here at this vigil today supporting these mothers, when for seven years the town has turned a deaf ear to this Courtesy problem. It¹s a political year right now, and these officials that are up for re-election, including Murray, know this is a key issue in this community. Where was Murray seven years ago?²
Last month, town officials sent a letter to residents updating them on the town¹s efforts to close the hotel. Town Councilman Edward Ambrosino said at the vigil that it is a ³complicated process² to get the hotel closed, but that he would like to ³see county and town officials put all the politics aside to [produce] legislation to close it tomorrow.²
Residents said that more rallies would be planned until the property is sold, and that efforts to close the Capri Motor Inn on Hempstead Turnpike are under way as well. The state Sex Offender Registry recently reported that there are a Level 2 and Level 3 sex offender living at the Capri.
³Our children have to come walking down these streets, and with these sex offenders living at these places, it is not safe for them to do that,² Banks said. ³Residents here care about doing something to save our community, and will continue these efforts because we want to see these places gone now.²
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