By Paul Shapiro
Cedarhurst, which has been known as a South Shore fashion center, has a business district that spans Central Avenue and its side streets, boasting 283 stores and offices within a four-block area. Mayor Andrew Parise, who has overseen the village for 14 years, said he has not seen any major changes downtown during the current economic crisis.
“I haven’t seen any problems — at least I’m not aware of any,” Parise said. “Our commercial area is doing well as I understand it.”
One indicator of local economic health is the vacancy rate. A survey done by the village during the first week in October showed that Cedarhurst’s vacancy rate is just over 6 percent, well below the national average, which recently rose to 13.6 percent. The village has not seen an increase in the rate, according to Parise.
“We have about 200 stores here in the village, and the vacancy rate is less than 10 percent on those,” he said. “We’ve been hovering around that figure. That really hasn’t changed in years. It’s been pretty level.”
The vacancy rate reached its highest point in recent years in January 1998, when it was at 12 percent. In August 2004 it dipped to 3.5 percent. Last March the rate was 5.09 percent. “We see close to no change in the last year or so,” Parise said. “It’s been pretty much the same, and we’re happy about that.”
Village Trustee Ari Brown, head of the village zoning board and a member of its architectural review board as well as the Business Improvement District board, said he is proud of Cedarhurst’s low vacancy rate. “We have one of the lowest vacancy rates anywhere in the country,” Brown said. “... I think the reason why is because we are the only working village board around. When the board works with the economy and tries to work with the local people, this is what happens.”
Seven of the village’s vacancies are on Central Avenue, two are on Cedarhurst Avenue and eight are on the surrounding streets — two on Spruce Street and one each on Chestnut Street, Carman Avenue, Columbia Avenue, Maple Avenue, Willow Avenue and Elderd Lane. “Of those vacancies, four or five of them are in the process of being rented, so our vacancy rates should go down,” Parise explained.
Whether the rate goes up or down, the financial crisis may still have an adverse effect on the village’s business district. There are three banks on Central Avenue — Washington Mutual, Citibank and Wachovia, and Chase has a branch just blocks away on Cedarhurst Avenue. Steven Schneider, chairman of the Business Improvement District, thinks that makes the village more vulnerable than other suburban shopping districts.
“We have four banks ... and with Chase acquiring Washington Mutual and Citibank taking over Wachovia, it would seem to me that they would close two of those locations,” Schneider said. “So Citibank and Wachovia will end up being one bank and Chase and Washington Mutual will be one bank. Those will be significant vacancies, which is not good in the short term. If I was the head of a bank, I wouldn’t have two of the same banks on the same street. I would suspect that they would be closing one.”
Cedarhurst recently lost its Starbucks when the coffee conglomerate was forced to close 600 locations. Jerry Cohen, vice president of the Business Improvement District and landlord of 426 Central Ave., which housed the Starbucks for 15 years, said, “It is my own feeling that this store — even though it did very nice numbers and was a successful store — they are victims of an overexpansion and an economy that seems to be tanking. And you mix that all together and it didn’t work for them. But on the other hand, I’ve had so many phone calls for the property from coffee companies from across the country that are interested in the space.”
Cohen said he has shown the store to two national coffee chains and, he added, “We’re working toward a rental with one of them.” Cohen did not even put an ad in the newspaper, he said, but the competitors clearly know the demographics of the region. “I’m mystified that Starbucks would give up a very active spot,” he said. “There were always people in the store.”
Bernie Flaton, president of the Business Improvement District board, who has been a local landlord for more 30 years, said he thinks Cedarhurst seems to be slightly better off than most areas. Flaton has 11 commercial tenants, all of whom are retailers, and all of his stores are currently rented. “I would say it’s in good shape,” he said of Cedarhurst. “Certainly, it’s in better shape than most downtowns. Fortunately, Cedarhurst is a pretty vibrant shopping area and it’s still one of the nicest, if not the nicest, downtowns in Nassau County as far as walkability. It’s a very pleasant-looking community. There are some problems for some of the larger tenants, like the banks, with overexpansion and now contraction, but I think Cedarhurst is doing better than most communities, and hopefully the people are more prudent and conservative than our government has been.”
“We’re keeping a very strong business downtown, but we will be affected by the economy,” Brown said. “We haven’t solved it yet. No one has.”
“I think like everyplace else, we’re going to be hurt by the economic crisis and it’s going to have an impact on the community‚” Schneider said. “I definitely don’t think we’ll be hurt more than other places.”
Cedarhurst isn’t the only local town that is still thriving. Parise said he thinks many areas of the Five Towns are doing well. “I would guess Lawrence is pretty much the same [as we are], with a lot of the same people,” Parise said. “The others I can’t say for sure because they are incorporated areas. The others are smaller, without any commercial areas, like ours and Lawrence. And Lawrence doesn’t have that big a commercial area either, but they have a busy building department there. That hasn’t stopped at all, as far as I can see.”
Woodmere also appears to be holding its own. Seymour Glass, president of the Woodmere Merchants Association, said he thinks residents are being smart about what they are doing and purchasing. “Everybody is struggling, business is bad on the retail end, but we seem to be holding on,” Glass said. “It’s very difficult, no more or less than any other community.”
Glass said he believes the economic crunch must be felt everywhere in the area, but especially among families with children in private schools and college as well as those who are out of work. “It’s very difficult not to participate in this community if you have children and they go to private school, but we seem to be rolling along,” he said. “There are families who have children who go to school and parents who might have been laid off from work from all of this, so everybody seems to be cutting back and holding on. We’re in the same boat as everybody else. It’s just that we have to cut back from some of the things we normally do. It’s just a standby. We do a little less. We’re not driving so much or going out to theaters.”
Cohen, who owns Trees Accessories Handbags, which has been in Cedarhurst for 64 years, has experienced both the ups and the downs of the American economy. “I think that we’re adjusting to what’s going on,” he said. “... Certainly we’ve been through many downturns in the last 25 to 30 years in this town. We’ve had recessions in the town, and we’ve survived. We do have a strong community — there’s a strong base of people who support the town. I’ve noticed that if we’re not selling one thing, we’re selling another. It’s obvious that those in the community want the town to thrive.
“Try to get a parking spot in Cedarhurst,” Cohen added. “You still can’t.”
Comments about this story? PShapiro@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 201.
