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FAST FORWARD: The Mineola Mets: An Amazing What-If

By Irving Long | Staff Writer

The Mineola Mets? The LaGuardia Expressway? Who knows what might have happened if the county now known as Nassau had not split from Queens a century ago.

``Maybe the secessionists made a mistake,'' said Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), who was born in Queens. ``Imagine if we were still a part of New York City: the Mineola Mets, the Seaford Subway, Mayor Mondello and a plethora of potholes for Al D'Amato to fill.''

King was one of a number of elected officials who were asked to conjecture just how life would have been different, for them and for their constituents, if the two counties had not gone their separate ways.

The secession issue may still be a difficult one for politicians. A few declined to speculate, including Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta and Queens Borough President Claire Shulman. Others faced up to the what-if question with tongue-in-cheek bravery.

``I wouldn't have all this conflict, deciding whether to be a Rangers fan or an Islanders fan,'' said Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat whose Fifth Congressional District embraces parts of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk. ``I would save a lot of money, in that I wouldn't have to buy both the Queens and Nassau editions of Newsday . . . I wouldn't have to worry about my constituents having different area codes.''

Ackerman added: ``I would have had 73 less mayors to deal with.'' And he hypothesized that Rudolph Giuliani wouldn't be mayor of New York City because he would have been unpopular with Nassau voters.

``Probably somebody from Great Neck would have been mayor of New York City,'' Ackerman said. He suggested ``Bob Rosegarten, the mayor of Great Neck Plaza.''

Both Ackerman and County Legis. Bruce Nyman (D-Long Beach) agreed that property taxes would be lower in Nassau County if it were a part of the city. ``Children in Nassau County would probably be going to school in Flushing,'' Nyman said, ``so our property taxes would be lower, but our bus ride would be longer. And we would have a city income tax. I would be a city councilman, I guess. And New York City would have more council districts than Washington has congressmen.''

Nyman, who collects old postcards, says he has one from the 1890s - a few years before the split - which was mailed from Long Beach and which is postmarked ``Queens, N.Y.''

He saw two more possibilities to ponder. If Nassau were still a part of Queens, he said, ``Joey Buttafuoco would have been tried in the city, and the Long Island Expressway would have been called LaGuardia Expressway.''