By Nick Buglione
The housing facilities comprise two complexes: the 49-acre Mitchel Manor in East Meadow, south of Hempstead Turnpike and west of Merrick Avenue, and the 48-acre Mitchel Field in Hempstead.
Though the Navy owns and operates the 510 houses at those locations, members from all branches of the U.S. military stationed locally live there.
Once the property is sold, residents would be allowed to remain in their homes until the end of their tours of duty, according to Lt. Commander Joe Carpenter, a U.S. Navy spokesman. The future use of the property, however, will depend on zoning determinations and the "desires of the new owner," Carpenter said.
"The Navy's recent housing-market analysis determined that a sufficient quantity and quality of privately owned housing exists on the open market to satisfy the needs of the military families in the Long Island area," he said.
Servicemen and women currently have the option of living in military houses like the ones in Mitchel Manor or searching for their own apartments or homes. Service personnel who choose the latter receive a monthly housing allowance in addition to their regular pay.
Housing allowances vary depending on rank and whether a serviceman or woman is married. The number of children, however, does not factor into the equation. The U.S. military adjusts housing allowances to take into account the cost of living in a particular area, Carpenter said.
Once Mitchel Manor and Mitchel Field are sold, the military members stationed locally will receive monthly housing allowances and have to find homes on their own. "If the existing buildings remain as rental properties, then military families would have the opportunity to pursue rentals at whatever market rates the owner is charging," Carpenter said.
A married Navy petty officer third class, someone who has been in the service for three or four years, living on Long Island, is eligible for a $1,526 monthly housing allowance, according to the military's formula. Similarly, a married Navy lieutenant commander, someone who has spent about 12 years in the service, would get $2,394 per month.
Some residents of Mitchel Manor and Mitchel Field, however, don't think military housing allowances can adequately support a family living in Nassau County. "It's too expensive to live in this area," said a four-year resident of Mitchel Field in Hempstead, who asked not to be identified. "If anything, the military needs to add more housing."
David Rivera, who is in the Army and lives in East Meadow's Mitchel Manor with his wife and two young children, is eligible to receive a $1,900 monthly housing allowance, but isn't sure he and his family could make it on that. "I'm not sure how much electricity and gas bills go around here," said Rivera, who is originally from Puerto Rico and owns a house in Texas. "Hopefully [Mitchel Manor's sale] doesn't happen."
Rivera will be moving out of Mitchel Manor in about a year and a half, when he is reassigned.
Saying that they too would be moving out soon, other residents who spoke to the Herald did not seem as concerned about the Navy's intention to sell Mitchel Manor. They said that military families typically lead itinerant lives and move often.
Edward Aulman, director of the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency, is worried about the military families who will remain, though. He thinks that if servicemen can't afford to live here, it might force the closure of local military installations, namely the 1st Marine Corps, based in Garden City. "If enlisted men can't afford to live here in Nassau County, then the Marines in Garden City may have to relocate," Aulman said.
In light of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Aulman maintains that there should be a larger military presence near New York City and that the federal government should cater to these installations.
The decision to sell the Mitchel Manor and Mitchel Field houses is part of a larger U.S. Navy initiative to privatize much of its housing nationwide. "The solicitation process is under way," Carpenter said, adding that the Navy is looking for one company to buy all its housing in the northeast region, which stretches from Maine to New Jersey and encompasses five major installations. "The target date for closing the deal and transferring ownership of the properties is October 2004."
Once Mitchel Manor is sold, it will be put back on East Meadow's property tax rolls. East Meadow residents have long complained that they are overburdened with property taxes, since 25 percent of their neighborhood is considered non-taxable land.
Aside from the federally owned Mitchel Manor, the Nassau University Medical Center, the Nassau County jail and Eisenhower Park are all untaxed. "Putting anything back on the tax rolls that is a positive to the community is good," said Richard Bivone, vice president of the Council of East Meadow Community Organizations. "Putting something back on the tax rolls that is a negative to the community is not good."
Bivone noted that the Navy announced its intention to sell Mitchel Manor a few years ago, a plan that came under fire in the community then. "We were afraid that they were going to put something in that was not advantageous to the community," Bivone said. "The community is going to be very concerned as to what goes there now. Is it going to be housing? Is it going to be commercial?
"Hopefully," he added, "the community will be involved, and if not, then the community will become involved."
The Mitchel houses at a glance
* There are 399 homes in Mitchel Manor in East Meadow and 111 homes in Mitchel Field in Hempstead. Mitchel Manor is an amalgam of 66 bachelor residences and 333 multiplexes. The multiplexes comprise 165 two-bedroom units, 119 three-bedroom units, 47 four-bedroom units, one five-bedroom unit and one six-bedroom unit.
* According to the Nassau County Veterans Services Agency, some 393 military members with 795 dependents live in the Mitchel Manor and Mitchel Field housing facilities.
* Thirty-two percent of the units are occupied by Army personnel, 22 percent by Marines, 19 percent by the Navy, 4 percent by the Coast Guard and 2 percent by Air Force personnel. Twenty-one percent of the units are vacant.
