Great Neck keeps ban; pet chickens must go

Alfred Basal will soon have to get rid of Fluffy, Cutie and the other four chickens considered pets by his children after the Village of Great Neck this week declined to lift a ban on the birds.

Great Neck Village Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said Wednesday that he told Basal he could have a "reasonable" amount of time to find new homes for the prohibited fowl.

Basal said his three young boys were "very sad" Wednesday morning, a day after the village board of trustees chose not to ease a ban on chickens, which under village code are considered nuisance animals like pigs, goats and donkeys.

Kreitzman said the village does not have enough personnel to regulate chickens. "We should not change our law," he said at Tuesday's meeting.

Basal bought the chicks about a year ago and put them in a coop in his backyard. But the village found out about the chickens in February, and gave him a notice of violation.

Last month, Basal appealed to the village -- armed with a petition signed by more than 100 people -- requesting that chickens be taken off the nuisance animal list. Basal argued that the chickens, who produce about six eggs a day, are educational.

During the debate Tuesday, chicken supporters praised the birds as part of a sustainable lifestyle, saying the fowls consume kitchen scraps and insects and provide eggs and fertilizer. Carl Santoro called them "loving pets who give back more than they receive."

Several speakers said chickens are harmless and suggested the government was being intrusive by prohibiting them.

Village resident Jean Pierce said, "I'm really surprised that so much fuss is being made about chickens."

But detractors said Great Neck is suburban, not rural, and chickens don't belong there. Mitchell Lechner, who lives next to the Basals and complained that the clucking sometimes woke him, said, "I was living there first." Citing concerns about salmonella and avian influenza, Lechner said, "It is a health risk."

He and others also said it was unfair to violate the code and try to change the law afterward.

Villages across Long Island treat chickens differently. For instance, Centre Island, Hempstead, Great Neck Plaza, Greenport and Port Washington North do not allow chickens. But Freeport, Amityville and Islandia permit them with restrictions.