Emotions high at Mt. Sinai mall hearing

Brookhaven's town board heard arguments over a proposed 30-acre outdoor Mount Sinai mall Tuesday night during an emotional two-hour public hearing.

The proposed Mount Sinai Village Centre includes a 209,000-square-foot development with a clock tower, village green, retail and office space and restaurants.

The hearing attracted about 50 residents wearing yellow "I Support Mt. Sinai Village Centre" badges. But dozens of residents also showed up to oppose the project, which they said would put smaller retailers out of business and snarl traffic.

Developer Paul Elliott "will make money, everyone else will lose," said Peter Oldschuk of nearby Rocky Point.

But Michael DiMarco of Mount Sinai defended the project.

"We'd like to actually spend our own money in our own community," he said.

Elliott, president of Soundview Realty, wants the site to rise next to King Kullen near Crystal Brook Hollow Road. Keith Brown of Melville, an attorney for the project, said the development would create jobs and "a town center in the Mount Sinai area."

The town board left the public hearing open for written comments for 45 days.