Nassau pressing for sales of its property

Nassau County continues to push through the potential sale of chunks of county property as it waits on a judge to rule on whether the takeover of its finances by the Nassau Interim Finance Authority was legal.

On Friday, the county publicly offered for sale an 11.7-acre plot of vacant land along Ring Road in Garden City, on the southwestern corner of the Roosevelt Field mall.

Although the offer of sale was open-ended and did mention a minimum sale price, the county estimated in documents it sent to NIFA on Jan. 5 that the plot could fetch $6.25 million.

That and other land sales were among the contingencies the county proposed to use if there was a shortfall in revenue this year.

Nonetheless, NIFA voted Jan. 26 to take over the county's finances, finding there was a budget gap of $176 million. County Executive Edward Mangano sued, saying the budget was balanced and the takeover was illegal.

NIFA has agreed not to exercise its control powers until State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Diamond rules on the case. He has promised a decision before the end of this month.