'Call to action' against blight in Baldwin

A grassroots campaign to save Baldwin's troubled business district kicked off Saturday with a gathering of about 200 concerned residents at the local public library.

"This is a call to action. This isn't the kind of meeting where you come in and listen," said Linda Degen, 51, a school secretary and one of the organizers of Baldwin Needs Revitalization. "We are aggravated . . . fed up."

Vacant lots, boarded-up storefronts and "For Rent" signs are ravaging the hamlet's main commercial area, and the new group aims to spark efforts to reverse the trend.

David Viana, 18, who grew up in Baldwin and has volunteered in the past, set up the Facebook page that gave the group its name in August. Over the past three months, the number of "friends" on the site grew from 10 to 450.

Residents posted dozens of messages, worried that urban blight -- from shuttered businesses to burglaries -- has taken root.

"I guess I just saw things that weren't getting done and we needed to simply start," said Viana, a freshman at Stony Brook University. "I was also sick of people my age having nothing to do."

Nassau County Legis. Joseph Scannell (D-Baldwin) said residents and lawmakers need to put pressure on owners of the vacant commercial properties.

"The only way businesses are going to be motivated to beautify their space is to get violations," he said.

About $2 million has been spent in recent years on a five-phase beautification project that added flower pots, benches and antique streetlights. Those efforts have helped make the business district more visually appealing, Scannell said.

But some in the crowd complained that local taxes are too high to attract needed stores and restaurants.

"We have to make it affordable for a business to actually move into this area," said Ralph Rose, co-president of the Baldwin Chamber of Commerce. He said there are more than 80 vacant commercial properties in the hamlet, home to about 24,000 people.

One storefront was recently filled by optimistic entrepreneur Kristie Lengel of Lynbrook.

Two weeks ago, the Hofstra graduate opened LEARN, a fitness and nutrition center with a focus on children. She was attracted to the Merrick Road location because of the low rent, the central location, and the income and diversity of Baldwin.

The space she's leasing had been vacant for more than a year.

"I'm nervous, obviously, but you got to start somewhere," said Lengel, 22.

Also at the meeting was Ntina Paleos, 46, who grew up in the hamlet and now raises her two young children in the home she inherited from her parents. She has fond memories, calling the area "a slice of Americana."

"There was so much spirit back when I was growing up here," said Paleos, welling up with tears as she passed the shuttered bridal shop where she bought her wedding dress.

"I want my kids to have those same fond memories," she said. "I want that spirit back."