By JUDY RATTNER and JESSICA OTIS
In a forum that spanned breakfast and lunch and included a walking tour of Rockville Centre, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi shared his views and encouraged discussion. Sponsored by the Nassau County Planning Federation, the conference started with the premise that Long Island needs to expand its tax base and become an exciting place for young people to live.
The fear is that college graduates and young adults have their sights set on Manhattan, Brooklyn and other urban areas that offer easy commutes to work and ready access to shopping and dining. Ideas, Culture and Education, or ICE, is an acronym used to describe the amenities that attract people to a community.
Calling this idea "the key to our future," Suozzi described Nassau County's suburbs, the first in the nation and the most mature, as a wonderful place to live, with great schools, not much crime and open spaces. He said the challenges the county faces are shared by other suburbs, with young people not settling in the communities where they were raised.
In addition to tax base expansion and ICE, other major defining characteristics of a "cool" downtown, like Rockville Centre, Suozzi said, are a number of multi-story rental, co-op and condo units near a train station that attract unmarried young professionals in their 20s and 30s as well as young families. The housing is within walking distance of restaurants and retail establishments.
Creating more of these downtowns would not only keep more young people on Long Island, Suozzi said, but lower taxes by expanding the tax base, reduce traffic and help eliminate the county's pockets of poverty. He said his idea neither abandons the current understanding of suburbia nor encourages the urban sprawl that has been dubbed "Queensification," but instead "takes the great things we love [about our suburbs] and enhances our quality of life."
Suozzi came prepared with visual aids. A slide show of pretty downtown scenes was accompanied by maps and written descriptions of many of the county's downtown areas. One handout suggested that Rockville Centre, Long Beach, Garden City and Great Neck were already cool downtowns. Mineola, Westbury and Glen Cove are "on the way," and Elmont, Hicksville and Hempstead "should be" cool downtowns.
Other categories included "potentially cool" downtowns - Lynbrook, Valley Stream and Baldwin; quaint/historic districts, including Bellmore and Island Park; and auto-oriented commercial centers, including East Meadow.
Emphasizing that no area should be left out, Suozzi called for community representatives to come up with both short- and long-term visions for their own localities. He said the county was not interested in overseeing planning and zoning, "or telling local areas what to do." But he did offer the county's services as a "coordinating influence" in assembling a "big picture." And he vowed to continue this conversation, and to coordinate creative efforts throughout the county.
Larry Siegel, president of the Rockville Centre Chamber of Commerce, recognized the importance of the county's working with local entities. "If the county works together with the village," Siegel said, "a lot of things can get done. And the Chamber of Commerce is willing to work with both parties to make Rockville Centre a great place."
Mayor Mary Bossart offered the session's welcoming remarks, saying that the conference "provides us with an important opportunity to learn from each other, to share ideas, to understand and capitalize on how we are alike while using our distinctive differences to best advantage.
But Bossart also said that "local control is essential so that each municipality can encourage different kinds of development appropriate to their own local conditions. For example," she said, "you would probably be surprised to know that at 3.3 square miles, Rockville Centre has almost 500 businesses in its downtown."
Following her welcome and Suozzi's opening remarks, Town of Hempstead Councilwoman Dorothy Goosby, standing in for Supervisor Kate Murray; Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman; and Jack Libert, Planning Commissioner from the Town of Oyster Bay, standing in for Supervisor John Venditto, discussed why the county needs cool downtowns. A second panel, which included Councilman Edward Ambrosino, who works on the Elmont Redevelopment Coalition, and Long Beach Councilman Leonard Remo, along with officials from neighboring communities, focused on how to duplicate others' successes.
In her concluding remarks, Long Island Rail Road president Helena Williams emphasized the railroad's role in helping to create "sustainable" and revitalized communities. She spoke of a balance between the LIRR's historic and "affirmative" role, and of the need to develop policies that are community-sensitive.
During the question-and-answer session that followed the panels, RVC planning board member Ed Oppenheimer, who also chairs the village's Traffic, Transportation and Parking Committee, raised the issue of parking. Suozzi said that federal funding would be needed for at least 10 new parking facilities throughout the county, and that adequate parking should be added to the attributes of a cool downtown.
"We had a wonderful opportunity today to show other people from Nassau County what a great community we are, " Bossart said as the conference ended. "As I said in my introduction, it's always good to have these conversations. We can learn from each other. And because we have local control, we can choose what's best for Rockville Centre."
Trustee Dave Krasula said, "I think it was a very positive reflection on Rockville Centre. The session itself raised some issues which I think we as a board and the community need to consider."
Another take on the session was that it focused on issues relevant to communities that have been left behind. Kevin Ryan, chairman of Rockville Centre's Zoning Board of Appeals, said, "It was a great event with a lot of nice ideas. Certainly some are relevant, and we'll think about them. However, since we're already a 'cool' village, I think really most of what was said today is aimed at other communities. However, it was great for the village. It showed Rockville Centre as the outstanding place it is."
Comments about this story? RVCeditor@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
What they saw
After the "Cool Downtowns" speakers were finished, Tom Suozzi, accompanied by Mayor Mary Bossart, other village officials and leaders, representatives from county government and a swarm of reporters and photographers - about 50 people in all - took a fast-paced jaunt along North Village and North Park avenues, stopping in at businesses along the way, meeting and greeting proprietors and sampling their specialties.
The group crossed Sunrise Highway and visited Leders Jewelers, a surf shop scheduled to open soon, DeBono's deli and Halperin shoes, where Manuela Barrera, from Milano Dolci on Merrick Avenue, raced across the street with a tray of cookies and engaged in a brief and spirited chat with Suozzi, who like Barrera, is fluent in Italian. Passing drivers, recognizing members of the group, honked and waved.
Next up was Village Luggage, and around the corner the entourage stopped in at Kathleen's of Donegal Irish Imports, Concord Jewelers, Cabo, LRS Gallery, Rockville Camera, Grillfire and Miceli's Pizza. After Suozzi's aides, with the help of two village crossing guards, stopped traffic on Sunrise Highway for the visitors, who ducked into Flowers Off Park (where long-stemmed roses were distributed), Front Street Bakery, where the visitors indulged in pastries and brownies, and finally Chadwicks at the Station, which offered up crab cake and quesadilla
appetizers.
The tour finished back at the Parish Center where guests, some already full, enjoyed a boxed lunch provided by conference sponsors.
