By:Elizabeth Sagarin
Island Park board of ed working out deal with towing company
Ever since Principal Gloria Maffettone can remember, commuters have left their cars in the small parking lot across from Francis X. Hegarty Elementary School while they rode the train from Island Park into the city, despite signs that say the parking lot is meant for school and library parking only.
On the many occasions she has confronted commuters, politely asking them to remove their vehicles from the lot, she has been met with nastiness. I've been threatened, called names and asked Who do you think you are?Maffettone said. They've even told me I don't have a right to do this.
The rude behavior of the commuters combined with a dearth of parking available to the school and library have prompted the school board to take definitive action against those who disregard the signs. They've decided to work out a deal with Al's Towing to remove cars that clearly aren't supposed to be parked in the lot.
Commuters who park cars in the lot will be subject to pay at least $80 to get them back. Signs indicating the new procedure will be posted within the next couple of weeks, according to Charlie Stein of Al's Towing. Since the school owns the lot, by law it is well within its rights to remove cars that do not belong to people who have business in the school or library.
Commuters at the nearby railroad station said they wouldn't park someplace where they might get towed, but in the meantime, Stein said, those commuters gravitate to the place of least resistance.
One concern the school administration has is what effect the displaced cars might have on the surrounding neighborhood.
But one commuter from Long Beach said that when he parked in front of a house near the railroad, where there were no signs prohibiting him from doing so, the homeowner left notes on the car and then resorted to destroying his windshield wipers to dissuade him from parking there. The commuter then purchased a village parking permit for $175, the cost for non-village residents. Also, angry homeowners near the school got the Town of Hempstead to install signs limiting parking to a fixed amount of time.
Until there is more commuter parking, which doesn't seem to be a viable option, according to Village Hall, Maffettone and Superintendent Edward Price contend that removing cars is the option for the school to accommodate the 70-plus staff members at the school. If you ticket, the car is still there and staff members still don't have a place to park,Dr. Price said.
Maffettone added, that in cases where teachers were forced to park on the street, they have on occasion been ticketed because they violated a time limit. The cops have been very good to us, but they have to do their job,she said.
