New Cassel business lost in bureaucratic spin cycle

One of the most common complaints North Hempstead Town Councilwoman Viviana Russell hears from her constituents in New Cassel is that a Laundromat on Prospect Avenue is no longer there.

"It does concern me," she said. "It's unfortunate that things worked out the way they did."

In 2005, a fire destroyed Westbury Laundromat Inc. on Prospect Avenue near State Street. Owner Fermin Nunez spent $350,000 to rebuild and received a permit from North Hempstead in January 2007, allowing it to again be used as a Laundromat.

But unknown to Nunez and the building inspector who issued the permit, the town board days earlier had changed the zoning code to prohibit new Laundromats from being built in New Cassel, in response to some residents' concerns about crime.

After the town's Board of Zoning Appeals denied Nunez's request to open the facility, he filed papers in State Supreme Court, which ruled in 2008 that the permit revocation was "an unconstitutional deprivation of the petitioner's property rights."

The town appealed to the Appellate Division, which ruled against Nunez in May 2009. The decision found that the permit Nunez obtained after the fire was invalid and that he also failed to show that he would be unable to profit by operating another business there.

So the Laundromat, which Nunez had filled with new equipment, continued to be unused.

Russell said complaints from some residents led to the zoning change that prohibited new Laundromats, though she added that "it may not have been the feeling of the entire community."

Bishop Lionel Harvey, pastor of the First Baptist Cathedral of Westbury and president of the Unified New Cassel Community Revitalization Corp., said residents were clear about their concerns that such businesses attract crime and other nefarious activity. He pointed out that new apartments already built or under construction along Prospect Avenue have their own laundry rooms.

Nunez said residents still ask him when the laundry will open. Deciding he had no other options, he recently sold the washers and dryers and rented out the space to a barber.

"I feel bad," he said. "What can I do when something is not in my hands? I did the best I can to open the Laundromat. In the end, there's nothing I can do."

"People need this laundry," said Rose Pierre, 38, who lives nearby and works as a hairdresser across the street. She said she takes her laundry to Hicksville.

"To me, it's very unfair," said Linval Stockhausen, 57, who lives on State Street. "We need one right here. We have to go miles away."

Stockhausen said he pays $7 each way in taxi fare to go to a Laundromat on Old Country Road, about a mile and a half away.

There are at least two other Laundromats on Union Avenue, which is 17 blocks to the west of State Street. Both are more than a mile away, which residents complain is a burden for those without transportation.

Leonard Llewellyn, 65, owner of Ernie's Barber Shop across from Nunez's Laundromat building, said he often sees area residents balancing laundry on bicycles and shopping carts.

"Thank God I saved enough money and I can afford a washing machine," said Llewellyn, who lives in Roslyn.