Long Island

Future of LI Downtowns

<a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> is looking downtown to secure its future. 
With increasing urgency, leaders are working to revive town centers - to reverse blight, broaden a tax base that now weighs heavily on homeowners, and add badly needed housing for <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s young workforce. 
And they're having success. In <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a>, preserving the history of the downtown has also filled storefronts and brought more foot traffic. In <a href="/topics/Patchogue%2C_NY">Patchogue</a>, millions in public grants helped turn a shuttered theater, purchased in the late 1990s, into a performing arts center that now draws 130,000 a year. Now there's talk of a seven-story hotel. <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a> is working to restore its waterfront, and in <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a>, an urban renewal zone is paving the way for mixed-use developments. 
Their plans have echoed other downtown revivals from <a href="/topics/Portland_Maine">Portland</a>, <a href="/topics/Maine">Maine</a>, to <a href="/topics/Portland_Maine">Portland</a>, Ore. In Mashpee, Mass., developers took a tiny strip mall and parking lot and turned it into a town center. In Rochester, Mich., a face-lift brought in more than 1,000 new jobs. 
On <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, many planners say now more than ever, downtowns are the key to reversing some of its own troubling trends: fleeing young workers, soaring taxes and vanishing open space. <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> has virtually nowhere left to build, and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>'s open space could be gone within a decade. Development pressures in the next 20 years will mount in the very single-family home neighborhoods Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> have sought to protect. 
"We don't have room to sprawl anymore," said George "Bucky" Starkie, mayor of <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a>, where studies are under way for Main Street revitalization and hundreds of units of new housing near its train station. "That's over." 
To be sure, it's a tough sell convincing Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> who fight fiercely to protect their single-family way of life and see higher density as the enemy, bringing in traffic, more demand on schools, and downtowns more <a href="/topics/Queens%2C_NY">Queens</a> than quaint. But without so-called "smart growth" - lively downtowns with condos, rentals and town houses attractive to young workers and empty nesters, and the vibrant culture and spending power they bring - the tax and lifestyle consequences will be stark in the coming decades. 
"It's your kids who are not going to be living here, it's you who are not going to be able to afford the ever-increasing school taxes if you have ever fewer families supporting the overhead," said Ann Golob, of the research nonprofit The Long Island Index. 
&nbsp; 
Young adults move away 
The numbers give a taste of things to come: 
Between 2000 and 2008, Long Island lost 22 percent of its young adults who went looking for more exciting or more affordable places to live. 
School taxes - the largest portion of property taxes - increased 72 percent from 1998 to 2006, while inflation rose 27 percent, according to a report. 
Thirty-seven percent of Long Island's residents pay more than a third of their income on housing, a 2008 survey found. 
Seventy-two percent of homeowners said they couldn't afford their home at current prices. 
Without property tax relief and more affordable homes, the exodus of the young workforce will continue, and with it, the jobs and cultural and economic boost that defines the most successful communities. Still, demographers predict an increased population on Long Island over the next three decades. And with open space disappearing, those who can move onto and around Long Island will put development pressure on single-family neighborhoods. 
Already, developers are using existing zoning to squeeze more houses onto lots in Long Island's single-family neighborhoods: In <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>, before the recession, the county had seen a steady increase since 2000 in the number of applications to build two or three houses where one had stood before. 
"Most of the time the neighbors are not happy. . . . We say to people every day that the development pressure will go somewhere and that's what we're trying to change," said Graham Long, manager of the <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County planning department's Community Visioning Program. Master planning for communities like <a href="/topics/Freeport%2C_NY">Freeport</a>, he said, steers development downtown and away from single-family home neighborhoods. 
Whether to reverse dangerous blight, preserve the historic character, or inject new day- and nightlife into a transformed town center, Long Island's leaders are pursuing revitalized downtowns. 
But there are significant challenges: securing investors and financing, lengthy review processes, inadequate infrastructure and outdated zoning. And changes are needed to some long-standing public policies: State and federal subsidies have favored roads and suburban-style development over sewers, transit, and mixed uses along walkable streets, many planners say. 
But most critical is getting the support of residents deeply resistant and fearful about the impact of development and density. Leaders know the importance of addressing these concerns, saying they want downtowns that serve, not replace, the single-family neighborhoods that surround them. "Change is inevitable but the ability for a community to determine change for itself is invaluable," said Mayor Jack Martins of <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a>, where hundreds of units of apartments near the train station, including a nine-story high-rise on Old Country Road, are nearing approval. 
And redevelopment need not mean big changes in density, said urban planner Sarah Lansdale, executive director of Sustainable Long Island, who is working with <a href="/topics/Centereach%2C_NY">Centereach</a>, <a href="/topics/Selden%2C_NY">Selden</a> and <a href="/topics/Farmingville%2C_NY">Farmingville</a> community groups on plans based on their own wish lists. "This is not a cookie-cutter approach." 
But convincing homeowners that new multifamily housing won't flood schools with new students is paramount to gaining support for downtown change. 
Proponents say studies and experience - in <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a>, for example - show that apartments and condos bring in far fewer children than single-family houses. Only 10 schoolchildren, including five who already were in the district, live in the 80-unit Copper Beeches town house development in <a href="/topics/Patchogue%2C_NY">Patchogue</a>, according to Mayor Paul Pontieri. 
And in suburban White Plains in Westchester County, a downtown revitalization campaign added 2,500 units in 10 large buildings since 2003 but only 20 to 30 schoolchildren, said Mayor Adam <a href="/topics/Adam_Bradley">Bradley</a>. 
&nbsp; 
Beware of the pitfalls 
While downtown development often requires inducements, some civic groups and environmentalists argue that too many tax breaks or density concessions, or proposals presented without a master plan, won't benefit existing communities. 
"What we're seeing is high-density development contributing to sprawl, frequently without mixed use, and other times without being transit friendly," said Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society. 
When <a href="/topics/Brookhaven%2C_NY">Brookhaven</a> Supervisor Mark Lesko announced a plan last week to foster redevelopment of abandoned sites through tax incentives, sewer expansion and expedited approval processes, Amper said he feared it was an excuse to allow more density. 
Bradley cautioned that in White Plains, revenue from downtown redevelopment hasn't met expectations. Because of extensive tax breaks and inducements for developers, the city didn't always recoup the cost of added demand for services and infrastructure, he said. 
But adding new development may be the only way to stabilize taxes in the long run, say public officials like Ralph Suozzi, mayor of <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a>, where a master plan calls for more high-density development and a major waterfront project is under review. 
"Some of the same people who argue against change will tell you they can't afford to stay here and that the taxes are too high," he said. "The tax burden on the people who remain here will be unsustainable without new growth." 
Communities that have taken the time to produce master plans with community involvement may wind up with development that homeowners feel more comfortable with. 
&nbsp; 
Different approaches work 
Long Island has had successes with different downtown approaches. <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a>'s historic-preservation approach, for example, has helped reduce storefront vacancies from 18 percent to 9 percent since 2000 and added at least 30 jobs, said Isaac Kremer, executive director of the <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a> Main Street Association. <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a>, on the other hand, has sought higher density residences to complement its commercial development and offices. 
But wish lists share a "unifying quality of greater walkability in their downtown, more variety of retail stores, and opportunities for entertainment for families," Lansdale said, pointing to successful downtowns like <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a>, <a href="/topics/Northport%2C_NY">Northport</a>, <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">Port Jefferson</a>, <a href="/topics/Great_Neck%2C_NY">Great Neck</a>, <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a> and <a href="/topics/Greenport%2C_NY">Greenport</a>. 
<a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a> and <a href="/topics/Port_Jefferson%2C_NY">Port Jefferson</a>, with restaurants and shops, were cited in a Long Island Index survey in 2008 as the two most popular downtowns. 
In <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a>, business leaders attribute the success of their village to aggressive efforts to fix problems. When the recession began to cut into revenues in the usually robust restaurant businesses, "we put together a restaurant week and created a real buzz in the community," said Robert Bontempi, chairman of the village's Chamber of Commerce board of directors. "We used our Fall Festival as the kickoff to restaurant week and we drove 20,000 meals in to the 52 downtown restaurants." 
Prosperous villages are often in prosperous communities, but newly revitalized downtowns can help boost their local economy: <a href="/topics/Greenport%2C_NY">Greenport</a>'s revitalization helped raise property values and the tax base, not only in its once-rundown downtown but the entire <a href="/topics/North_Fork%2C_NY">North Fork</a> region, said former Mayor David Kapell. 
Other leaders hope their downtowns will eventually see the same benefits, despite residents' fears about change. 
"The thing is," said Mayor Suozzi of <a href="/topics/Glen_Cove%2C_NY">Glen Cove</a>, "what is the alternative?"

News

LIMAIN02

Suburbs look at 'smart growth' for their downtowns

lipatchtf12

When developers build a downtown from scratch, they can avoid getting bogged down in land acquisition from property owners in an established business center. They can incorporate more varied uses and generally higher density than with a downtown redevelopment project, builders and planners say. In short, they can think big. 
"It somewhat easier for us to implement our vision," said developer Jerry Wolkoff, who is planning the sprawling Heartland Town Square project in Brentwood. 
But the scale and density involved raise proportionately increased concerns about traffic, sewage and other infrastructure issues. The review and approval process can drag on for years. 
That's what has happened so far with the two largest Long Island projects - Heartland and the Lighthouse at Mitchel Field.

LIALT02

Intro on the new downtowns

Brentwood - tomorrow

<a href="/topics/Michael_Kennedy">Michael Kennedy</a>, 48, of <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a>, an accountant and lifelong Long Islander who visits downtown <a href="/topics/Sayville%2C_NY">Sayville</a> often. He believes Main Streets should limit traffic to two lanes and speed limits to 15 to 20 mph. "True Main Streets should never be of a design so that they are considered by commuters as an alternate means to speed up their trip. All the programs in the world cannot correct the problems in <a href="/topics/Smithtown%2C_NY">Smithtown</a> until the road is redesigned." 
Julia Morales, 49, of <a href="/topics/Lindenhurst%2C_NY">Lindenhurst</a>, has lived on Long Island for 18 years. She is a stay at home mom, as well as a writer and singer. She believes downtowns should create art centers, family-oriented theaters and venues for live bands. "Community is all about family. There should be a community meeting place where people can get to know the people who live around them.” 
Jerry Tuthill, 63, whose family owns the waterfront Claudio’s restaurant empire in <a href="/topics/Greenport%2C_NY">Greenport</a>, is one of the larger employers downtown — 130 people in season, though they close for the winter. He touts the village as a vital transport hub, with one of the most scenic waterfronts on Long Island. “<a href="/topics/Greenport%2C_NY">Greenport</a> used to be a hidden secret. Now it's like <a href="/topics/Times_Square%2C_NY">Times Square</a>. It's all about location, location, location, mostly all waterfront. And there's a lot of transportation--the ferries, the train to New York City, a bus terminal. We have hotels, and a lot of retired people are moving out here." 
Anthony Galvin, 33, of <a href="/topics/Holbrook%2C_NY">Holbrook</a>, is a sales clerk who has lived on Long Island all his life. Galvin said he loves shopping at downtown stores, and says good customer service is key. "A lot of little shops, no chains, just very nice area where you feel safe and you feel like you're getting a better product. Employees must be attentive to the customer and not on their last text message or the conversation they are having with their co-worker.” 
Isaac Kremer, 29, of <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a>, has lived on Long Island for two years, and is executive director of The <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a> Main Street Association, a nonprofit pushing for the revitalization of downtown <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a>. He believes government fast-tracking zoning permits for news businesses is a key to bringing back downtowns. The only way to create sustainable change is having someone there who is pushing the agenda forward every day. 
Lisa Schinasi, 48, of <a href="/topics/Lindenhurst%2C_NY">Lindenhurst</a>, is a private caterer and has lived on Long Island for 16 years, and believes building an inviting downtown must start with protecting assets, including the beach near her home. "People are just jumping the wall because that way they don't have to pay. I need to know that your kids are safe," and that officials are enforcing rules. 
Melissa Willis, 25, of <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a>, is a nursing student who has lived in Long Island for the past six years. She believes <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a> needs a variety of businesses, such as bowling alleys and movie theaters. "I would just like to see more corporations coming into the community. <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a> should be somewhere where people can come and relax and just enjoy themselves." 
Elsa Vasquez, of <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a>, has lived in Long Island for 14 years and works as a Domestic Violence program director at Circulo de la Hispanidad, a nonprofit. For her, it's all about security and police patrols, “So that people can feel more comfortable walking around. I hang out in <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a> because it's safer. I would like to see more security patrols, especially when you go to the malls." 
Bill Allan, 58, of <a href="/topics/Miller_Place%2C_NY">Miller Place</a>, has owned a Minuteman Press printing shop on Main Street in <a href="/topics/Riverhead%2C_NY">Riverhead</a> for six years. He’d like to see a lot more businesses, and a parking garage to help accommodate those they attract. “We’ve probably lost 15 or 20 businesses in the last six years. There’s no reason for anyone to stay here anymore...I’d like to see a grocery store, or the movie theater open. I’d like to see things like a (another) restaurant or clothing stores or other small businesses. A reason for people to walk around, like <a href="/topics/Sayville%2C_NY">Sayville</a> or <a href="/topics/Babylon%2C_NY">Babylon</a>." 
A.J. Haque, 55, of <a href="/topics/East_Meadow%2C_NY">East Meadow</a>, manages <a href="/topics/Wyandanch%2C_NY">Wyandanch</a> Drugs in <a href="/topics/Wyandanch%2C_NY">Wyandanch</a>. He said he would like to see the downtown area cleaned up so that businesses can flourish. A new sewer system is key. “We need a good sewer system — a cesspool is no good. (Trash around the train station “needs to be cleaned. It would look better. Do something for the good of business.” 
William Pruitt, of <a href="/topics/Westbury%2C_NY">Westbury</a> is executive director of the nonprofit McCoy Center Family and Youth Services in <a href="/topics/New_Cassel%2C_NY">New Cassel</a>. He thinks the community needs a bank, a pharmacy, housing, and grocery stores. “I think that will be a great place for children to utilize. Just new construction in <a href="/topics/New_Cassel%2C_NY">New Cassel</a> in general will improve people’s feelings about their community.” 
Jessica Laforest, 23, of Hempstead, works at a family business in <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a>. She said the biggest concerns for <a href="/topics/Mineola%2C_NY">Mineola</a>’s downtown are parking and road maintenance. “I have people who come in, then stop shopping because they have to run and put a quarter in the meter. If you’re able to make it more convenient to be downtown, they won’t have a problem frequenting the stores.” 
Linda Colombo, 53, of <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>, owner of Frank’s Pizza, said downtown <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a> is clean and charming. But it has one big problem: parking. “It’s crazy because you just drive around looking for a place to park.” 
Gail Hoag, of <a href="/topics/Patchogue%2C_NY">Patchogue</a>, who declined to state her age, executive director of the Greater <a href="/topics/Patchogue%2C_NY">Patchogue</a> Chamber of Commerce. “People want to come to <a href="/topics/Patchogue%2C_NY">Patchogue</a> because they know it’s a thriving area and it is a growing area ... You certainly don’t want it to stay at one level. You want it always to be growing and changing.” 
<hr> 
Compiled by Yamiche Alcindor, Jennifer Barrios, Mitchell Freedman, and Mark Harrington, and Patrick Whittle

LIVOIC02

Voices of Long Island: Downtowns

Babylon - then

I ventured into Huntington, my local downtown, the other day to find out what makes it one of Long Island's most popular downtowns. The village - which isn't an incorporated village but looks and acts like one - always scores at the top of Long Island's great downtowns list. Beyond the obvious, which is Huntington's enviable mix of restaurants, bars, museums, churches, movie houses and businesses all within walking or biking distance, what's the village's secret? 
Actually, there are five: 
1. Customer Loyalty. Francine Federici met her husband in downtown Huntington. She worked at one clothing store. He worked at another. The couple married and raised three children. Now, Federici has her own business, Francine's fashion boutique. But her husband, Gerry, still works nearby, at Marsh's. What makes Huntington great? "A big part is loyal customers who make it a point to support local businesses," Francine said. "It's people who make the difference. I have customers who have followed me around for years." 
2. Community Pride. Rita Ciaffone was 14 years old when she walked into Fern's gift and collectible store looking for a job. She got it. She also dreamed of one day owning the 24-year-old business. Eventually, she got that too. "I knew at 15 I wanted it," Ciaffone said, smiling. And when the chance came, "I begged, borrowed and stole to get it." Why does she stay? "I'm Huntington born and bred," she said. "I know this is the greatest place in the world." 
3. Excellence. <a href="/topics/Mary_Alice">Mary Alice</a> Meinersman used to wear a white hat and sit in a storefront window, dipping chocolates. But don't call her Lucy. Back then, Bon Bon Chocolatiers didn't have a machine like the one made famous by an "I Love Lucy" episode. When Meinersman first bought, moved and expanded the store, she didn't have business training. "We are constantly moving things around here," said Meinersman, whose daughter, Susannah, also manages the business. "The goal is to keep your loyal customers and attract new ones." What works in Huntington? "You have to be good or else you don't make it in Huntington," she said. "You have to pay attention to detail." 
4. Friendliness. It takes months for Albert Garbus to get Huntington Business Supply ready. And then the lists start coming home after the first days of school and, boom, the store fills with parents who often gossip while a controlled storm of children gather up school supplies. Garbus puts the notebooks, pens, book covers and mostly everything else at the front of the store, so children stay close to parents. And when the fast-moving checkout line sometimes stretches clear to the back, no one seems to mind. "This is Huntington, which means that the line is full of neighbors," said Garbus, who has owned the business for almost 40 years. "Yes," his wife, Amira added, laughing. "Someone told us we should serve wine and cheese." 
5. Longevity. Jane Greenberg, owner of A Lion in the Sun, is now seeing parents who once ordered birth announcements returning to help their children pick out wedding invitations. "I wouldn't leave," she said, "I wouldn't leave, ever." And there are other business in Huntington that are determined to stay too, through a recession that, even in downtown Huntington, has left several storefronts empty. "There are a lot of institutions here, a lot of history and a lot of businesses that, thanks to willing, loyal customers, have become institutions too," she said. "We dig in because it's Huntington. We dig in because there's no place like it, no place to walk like it, no place to spend an entire day in like it. We don't want to be anywhere else."

Columnists

Joye Brown

LIJOY02

LI downtowns: Why Huntington's works

Huntington then 570px

THE VISION 
In 2004, Charles <a href="/topics/Charles_Wang">Wang</a>, after making a fortune in computer software and shifting to sports ownership with the Islanders and real estate development, unveiled a plan to reimagine and revitalize central <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>. Wang offered a vision for a $3.8-billion new downtown on 150 acres, including the 77-acre, county-owned Coliseum site. He envisioned his legacy as a massive sports-technology, entertainment and residential complex crowned by a 60-story lighthouse containing a 500-room hotel and condos. 
"There's a lot for everybody to do," he said. "Our kids can get jobs." 
The first phase, Wang said, would be to renovate the <a href="/topics/Nassau_Coliseum">Nassau Coliseum</a> and build an athletic complex with two ice rinks, a basketball court and a health club. But the second phase garnered the most attention with its centerpiece: "The Great Lighthouse" - modeled on the ancient "Great Lighthouse" of Alexandria, Egypt, and twice the height of the county's tallest building. 
In 2006, then-County Executive Thomas Suozzi chose Wang and partner Scott Rechler to redevelop the site, and the next year the developers applied to the Town of Hempstead for rezoning to create a planned development district. 
&nbsp; 
OBSTACLES 
The immense project polarized planners, politicians and residents. Some hailed it as a source of jobs and vitality. Others howled about the height and design of the tower and overall density as well as the likelihood of gridlock despite elaborate plans for upgrading mass transit. So the plans were scaled back, with The Great Lighthouse giving way to two 36-story towers. 
"It is an area that could benefit from a more urbanized approach," said Lee Koppelman, director of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a>. "But there are legitimate concerns about traffic and overdensification." 
&nbsp; 
PROGRESS 
Hempstead officials have objected to the size of the Lighthouse, which has 2,300 residential units, 1 million square feet of office space and 500,000 square feet of restaurants and retail outlets. Last fall, Wang pushed the town to decide on the rezoning, and if the answer was no, to tell him what would be acceptable. The town halted its review when Wang declined to pay for additional studies the town sought because he wanted an answer whether the project would go forward. 
With the project "bogged down, we have taken a proactive step" of hiring a planning firm to create a scaled-down version by this summer, Supervisor <a href="/topics/Kate_Murray">Kate Murray</a> said. "We certainly hope that Wang and Rechler remain the contractor." But if there is no agreement, the town would try to get the county to pick different developers. 
Michael Picker, president of Lighthouse Development Group, said, "We look forward to Supervisor Murray's vision and we're hopeful for the ability to bring the jobs and the tax money that the area so desperately needs." 
The picture grew murkier last week when <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County Executive Edward Mangano announced he had been in talks with the Shinnecock Nation for a casino alongside a renovated Coliseum. He described an envisioned "entertainment-sports-resort," which would include a casino built by the tribe, as a "very real alternative" to the Lighthouse project.

LILIGH02

Hempstead Town officials hold up Lighthouse project

THE VISION 
As developer Jerry Wolkoff gazes at the expanse of the former Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, his eyes don't focus on the few medical buildings still standing, or the grassy fields delineated by piles of demolition rubble. 
What Wolkoff sees on the 476 acres in <a href="/topics/Brentwood%2C_NY">Brentwood</a> is his proposed $4-billion Heartland Town Square, a dense and vibrant downtown. Pointing to a tree-lined access road that would become the Main Street of his community, Wolkoff said, "You'll have apartments on both sides where people are walking, and very few cars but lots of bicycles. This will be the plaza with fountains, and on either side will be retail. Over here is an office building. Over there is a movie house." 
With 15,000 to 18,000 young people and empty nesters living in more than 9,000 mostly rental apartments and 5.3 million square feet of offices, retail and entertainment facilities, Heartland would be the largest of the new downtown projects proposed in the country. 
"The model is <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>," Wolkoff said. "It's important for us to keep our young people here on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> and give them an exciting place where they can walk to entertainment." 
Wolkoff said the residents would live in buildings as high as 20 stories, adding he could compromise on the height but not the density. "Density makes this work," he said. It gives Heartland the critical mass to make the place lively day and night and pay for amenities like an ice-skating rink. 
Said Eric Alexander, director of Vision <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, a not-for-profit planning organization: "The density is not a problem. In fact we need it." 
&nbsp; 
OBSTACLES 
"A heavy-use concept like this is clearly appropriate for the site," <a href="/topics/Islip%2C_NY">Islip</a> Supervisor Phil Nolan said. "The question is how heavy and . . . he's got to pony up more money" than the $25 million offered for road improvements to handle increased traffic. But Nolan said the town has not determined how much more money it needs for such improvements. 
There may be objections from environmentalists. Richard Amper, executive director of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Pine Barrens Society, called the project "anything but smart growth. It would create higher density than <a href="/topics/Queens%2C_NY">Queens</a> in a state-designated special groundwater protection area." 
Perhaps the biggest hurdle is the rezoning required. The site is now zoned residential for up to 450 homes, but Wolkoff needs zoning for a planned development district. He also needs a building permit, and approval of the site plan and environmental impact statement after rezoning. The county and state must also OK traffic plans. 
As for the $4 billion, he says he has been negotiating with financial backers and says the money "is close to being in place." 
PROGRESS 
Town and developer have agreed that the project would be built in three phases to better gauge the impact on traffic and sewage treatment. If the problems exceed his projections, Wolkoff said the town could veto the later phases. 
The town says the latest revision of the plans did not fully address traffic and environmental issues. Officials are waiting for an update before holding another public hearing.

LIHEAR02

Developer eyes The Heartland Town Square

Brentwood - now

Take a depressed seaside village with lots of Old World charm and transform it into a revitalized North Fork destination that attracts youths, artists and new money. HOW THEY DID IT 
In 1994, the village dismantled its police force, which a Suffolk grand jury report said had operated for years in "a grossly unprofessional manner," and passed law enforcement responsibility to Southold Town. That freed up nearly $1 million in the budget. "Once we did that we could spend the money on projects like Mitchell Park," said David Kapell, who served as mayor until 2007. And in 1997, Greenport sold its public water system to the Suffolk County Water Authority for $3.5 million - another cash source for downtown development. 
After acquiring a 2.3-acre lot of the burned down Mitchell Restaurant in the center of downtown in the mid-1990s, the village board voted to sell bonds and got more than $700,000 in state grants to develop the property. Bank loans and Greenport's $225,000 reserve were also used to finance the $3-million project. The village spent $600,000 remediating toxic waste from the property - costs reimbursed 75 percent by the state. The state also gave $50,000 to help pay for a Mitchell Park design competition. A state grant of $305,000 paid half the cost of the park's skating rink. 
Mitchell Park, with the rink, boardwalk, outdoor theater and a carousel, attracts more than 100,000 people each year, local officials say. It's the centerpiece of a downtown that now sports tony restaurants such as the Frisky Oyster, an expanded Greenporter Hotel, art galleries, high-end clothing, gift and cheese shops and antique stores. 
Greenport also relied on its built-in advantages to lure projects like the Peconic Landing retirement community, including cheap electric rates - 13 cents a kilowatt hour vs. around 22 cents from LIPA, says Mayor David Nyce. It's also a transport hub: the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> ends here; the ferry to New England is nearby; it's a stop for the Hampton Jitney bus line; and a ferry provides a link to Shelter Island and the Hamptons. 
Part of its appeal to the artsy set followed a 1998 move to ease zoning restrictions to let artists live in second-floor lofts of commercial buildings. 
Sacrifices also were made. During his tenure, Kapell made the difficult decision to remove a popular tall ship, the Regina Maris, from the waterfront because it was a safety hazard. 
&nbsp; 
WHAT'S NEXT? 
Mayor Nyce said city planners are looking to the future with the notion of maintaining affordability to keep diversity and attract more young people. One solution: opening up more residential zoning atop buildings on Front Street, where it's currently restricted to one side of the street. 
Challenges still abound. 
In 1980, the home vacancy rate in the village was 5 percent or less, Kapell says. In 2000, that number rose to close to 30 percent - a signal, he says, of the growing number of people who maintain second homes in the scenic village, many of whom don't winter there. Kapell explained that a 2006 local census found some 2,500 residents living in village homes (including immigrants) - 800 more than a 1980 census. But there are another roughly 1,000 who owned village homes but did not live in Greenport full time. Greenport's decision to rezone to encourage two-family conversions has helped the village absorb the population increase, though more people are squeezed into the existing home stock. 
Even now, many shops are seasonal, choosing to close until late spring, when a summer influx fills municipal lots all over the village. The impact of the winter freeze was visible on Front Street last month. Five stores on the south side of the most visible part of downtown were shuttered. One announced its return in spring.

LIGREN02

How they did it in Greenport

liCROSSROADSjcw

A downtown lively with foot traffic where people live, shop and take advantage of public transportation at the nearby <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> station. High-density development (such as condos) that feed pedestrians into the downtown and trigger businesses to locate there. 
HOW THEY DID IT 
Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri, in office since 2004, said the village has redeveloped by targeting vacant or underperforming properties for rebuilding and partnering with developers to build anew. TRITEC, an <a href="/topics/East_Setauket%2C_NY">East Setauket</a> developer leading a project to transform the shuttered Swezey department store, is redeveloping a nearby property as 56,000 square feet of retail and office space. The village bought the Patchogue Theatre in 1996 and renovated it with $7 million in federal and state grants. The old vaudeville theater and movie house, which had been closed for more than a decade, reopened as a performing arts center in 1998. It now draws 130,000 people every year. The village owns the building and runs it with a nonprofit theater board. 
More than 200 housing units have risen in the last six years at condominiums such as Bay Village and Copper Beech Village. For the Copper Beech affordable-housing development, which consists of attached, two-bedroom units (costing $325,000 to $350,000), the county helped pay for land acquisitions for the 5-acre site. The village also changed zoning to allow for greater density there. 
"They are fixing the sins of the past," said Eric Alexander, director of Vision <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, a nonprofit planning agency. "The sins of the past were redeveloping outside of the downtown center." 
Membership in the local Chamber of Commerce has doubled to 400 since 2000, and the Main Street vacancy rate has fallen from about 50 percent in the mid-1990s to less than 20 percent today. 
WHAT'S NEXT 
The next big question concerns the future of the stalled Swezey redevelopment project, which originally called for a seven-story or higher hotel on the site of the department store that once anchored downtown. The developers said they are rethinking their plans because of the soft economy. Last weekend, a new Patchogue-<a href="/topics/Watch_Hill%2C_NY">Watch Hill</a> Ferry Terminal opened, easing the way to <a href="/topics/Fire_Island%2C_NY">Fire Island</a>. It's expected to bring more people to downtown Patchogue. The $4.6-million terminal is twice the size of the old station and has an art gallery, bathrooms and public space. 
Stalled for now is an extension of the village's river walk project, a half-mile walk the village built near the Patchogue River and ferry terminal. Pontieri has said the village plans to link the river walk to the terminal, <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> station and waterfront, but a delay in getting promised federal funding has stymied what Sen. <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Charles Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.) has called the kind of 21st century project needed to keep young people on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>. 
Even as Patchogue moves ahead, the changes downtown are not embraced by all. Former Mayor Edward Ihne laments, "Our beautiful river community is being turned into condos on the water." A busier downtown has brought growing pains, acknowledged Thomas Keegan, owner of the Brickhouse Brewery and Restaurant on West Main Street, while noting it has also brought more prosperity. Keegan said some residents have observed that Patchogue was never used to this kind of density. "And they are right," Keegan said. "But there has never been this many feet on the street."

LIPATC02

Patchogue targets vacant, underperforming properties

liMAIN02

THE VISION 
Building on the vibrancy of the downtown, which bustles with office and hospital workers strolling to and from the busy <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> station and to lunch at various eateries. Idea is to extend the bustle to the evening and weekends, when those who work in Mineola's many professional offices or Winthrop-University Hospital go home. A village green or park is also envisioned. 
&nbsp; 
HOW THEY DID IT 
Convened a community-wide visioning process, during which people came together and brainstormed ideas. It revealed that residents wanted to see more housing downtown. To help this along, and other development, the village adopted an "overlay district" plan. For developers who want to build within the overlay district - essentially, the downtown - the village provides a streamlined approval process without being mired in the village's zoning restrictions. 
The overlay district eased the development of a 22-unit condominium complex. As part of the deal, developers compensated the village with perks such as enhanced street lighting and $150,000 for future capital improvements. 
In some ways, Mineola already worked, and the village was determined to build on Mineola's existing advantages, with mayor Jack Martins describing the village as "geographically blessed." It's anchored by a busy train station and bus hub, which is next to a major hospital and near the county seat. "A busy office presence in our downtown has worked to create the downtown we have today," Martins said. 
Residents downtown already have walking access to businesses that range from dry cleaners to pubs to clothing shops to salons, said John Broder, second vice president of the Mineola Chamber of Commerce and vice president of external affairs for Winthrop. "Everything that people look for in their daily lives is right here," he said. 
The village has also devoted annual federal community development grants of about $200,000 toward streetscape improvements such as lighting and pavers. Work is starting on repaving Station Plaza and building a small park, using grant money, Martins said. 
"What they're trying to do in Mineola is absolutely a model," said Ann Golob, director of <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Index, a not-for profit research group. 
&nbsp; 
WHAT'S NEXT 
An office building on Old Country Road is being converted into 28 one-bedroom apartments and retail space. Two other condo complexes - one with 285 units and another with 257 units - have been approved and await construction. Developers have pledged more than $3 million toward capital improvements in the village.

LIMINE02

Mineola works to get people to stay after work

THE VISION 
To take a disjointed downtown with an incongruent mix of residential, commercial and industrial uses and transform it into a vibrant transit-oriented downtown. The Town of <a href="/topics/Babylon%2C_NY">Babylon</a>'s "Wyandanch Rising" calls for the redevelopment of more than 60 acres at an estimated cost of $500 million, much of which the town has said will come from private development. 
At the center is a $45-million mixed-transportation facility adjacent to the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> station that will house a parking structure to accommodate 2,000 vehicles, along with buses and bicycles. Nearby will be buildings with residences above businesses, and European-style plazas, including fountains and space for outdoor concerts, ice skating and a farmers market. 
Dangerous main road Straight Path will be narrowed, and a sewer line put in along the business corridor. 
&nbsp; 
OBSTACLES 
Hooking up the business district to sewers is critical, experts and town officials agree. But recently revised figures show the town only has $5 million of the estimated $15 million cost: $2 million in grant money for the downtown section and $3 million from its solid waste fund to connect to the town ashfill. The town has applied to the state Environmental Facilities Corp., which provides low-cost financing for infrastructure projects, for $9.5 million. 
More money is also needed for the $45-million transportation hub. The town has pledged to bond for $15 million, money it said will be recouped from parking revenue. The rest will come from federal grants, officials said. 
The business community, supportive of revitalization, remains wary of how it might affect existing merchants. Community members also say the area's crime rate and the perception of the area being unsafe must be addressed. Seven murders were recorded in Wyandanch from Jan. 1, 2008, through Nov. 30, 2009. "The problems continue to exist and need to be addressed," <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> Legis. DuWayne Gregory (D-<a href="/topics/Amityville%2C_NY">Amityville</a>) said earlier this year. Gregory represents the area. Over the same period, Straight Path had 324 reported traffic accidents. 
&nbsp; 
PROGRESS 
Wyandanch Rising has been embraced by the community and supported by local, state and federal political leaders. This is key to any revitalization, experts said. Last year the area was named one of three "spotlight" communities statewide for a new initiative to support redevelopment of 250 brownfield sites. <a href="/topics/Babylon%2C_NY">Babylon</a> has already received nearly $7.5 million in grants used for planning and has acquired 19 properties for $15.5 million. The town has made improvements and beautification efforts along Straight Path, including new Colonial lighting and flowers. 
In November the town opened a resource center in Wyandanch to assist residents with job training, home ownership and other services. In February, Babylon signed a contract with <a href="/topics/Maryland">Maryland</a>-based Torti Gallas and Partners to come up with an overall design. In April, County Executive <a href="/topics/Steve_Levy">Steve Levy</a> signed legislation to waive sewer connection fees for new development within Wyandanch's downtown corridor. Last week, Torti Gallas, the town and community leaders took part in a weeklong charrette, an intense design process made up of work and public input sessions that is essential to revitalization efforts. The town plans to begin construction on the sewer line in July.

LIWYAN02

Bringing focus to disjointed Wyandanch downtown

THE VISION 
A redeveloped Prospect Avenue to anchor a revitalized New Cassel downtown. High-quality affordable housing, a main street free from high-speed traffic. A full-service supermarket, bank and pharmacy that residents can walk to. The hamlet has never had such amenities before. 
During community meetings, residents "wanted a nice, well-lit, safe corridor with landscaping and art," said <a href="/topics/North_Hempstead%2C_NY">North Hempstead</a> Supervisor Jon <a href="/topics/Jon_Kaiman">Kaiman</a>, who was a town attorney when the meetings took place. 
&nbsp; 
OBSTACLES 
Many were skeptical of the scope and promises associated with the project, said Mary Ann Allison, an assistant professor at Hofstra who authored a 2008 study on revitalizing New Cassel. With such a large project, buy-in takes a lot of time and residents get impatient, Allison said. "It's also vulnerable to things like <a href="/topics/Economic_Recession">recession</a>," she said. For example, the downturn in the economy prevented prospective condo owners from obtaining mortgages, said Viviana Russell, a New Cassel resident and <a href="/topics/North_Hempstead%2C_NY">North Hempstead</a> Town councilwoman. 
The renewal plan was delayed by a corruption scandal in the Town of North Hempstead building department and by problems with a contractor who removed twice as much soil as permitted from the foundation of a building under construction on Prospect Avenue. That put the building in danger of sinking and led to a stop-work order in July 2006. A key developer, Ranjan Batheja, ran into financial troubles and couldn't obtain additional funding to complete his projects. Still, the project proceeded. 
Union complaints also contributed to about a year of delays, Kaiman said. While most workers were union members, some property owners chose nonunion contractors, he said. 
&nbsp; 
THE PROGRESS 
Construction is constant along Prospect, where there are plans to reduce traffic to one lane in each direction, install lighting and build pocket parks. A building at 821 Prospect, with 14 apartments and retail space - including a pharmacy - is complete. Also finished is a building on Prospect and Union Avenue that has 67 occupied rental units and is slated to include a dentist, day care, beauty salon and restaurant. Two other buildings on Union are also complete. 
A building on the south side of Prospect near Grand Avenue, with 26 apartments, retail space and a bank, is expected to be complete next month. Two other buildings are near completion and another has yet to begin construction. A state-of-the-art community center on <a href="/topics/Broadway%2C_NY">Broadway</a> and Garden Street will go out for bid in the coming weeks. 
Faith-based organizations - New Cassel is home to about 50 churches - have been the driving force for revitalizing the area. Unified New Cassel Community Revitalization Corporation, under the leadership of Bishop Lionel Harvey of the First Baptist Cathedral of <a href="/topics/Westbury%2C_NY">Westbury</a>, has been active in giving the community a voice.

LICASS02

Many skeptical of plan to revitalize New Cassel

THE VISION 
To transform 26 acres around the downtown Hempstead train and bus terminals, including 11 acres of village-owned parking fields, auto shops and other businesses. A preliminary plan envisions a village green to greet commuters who arrive to the transit hub, surrounded by a mix of housing and shops. The area, roughly 15 blocks bounded by the railroad and North Main Street or North Franklin Street, is designated an urban renewal zone, which would allow the village to condemn private property in the zone as blighted and acquire it for redevelopment as needed. 
The proposal also calls for open space, wide sidewalks, bicycle paths and parking hidden from view. It doesn't specify a number of housing units or commercial spaces, leaving it up to developers to propose such details. 
The hope is to create jobs, draw young professionals and empty nesters, and strengthen the tax base in a community where properties comprising nearly a third of the village's assessed value do not owe taxes. 
&nbsp; 
OBSTACLES 
The main challenge, says veteran planner Lee Koppelman, is attracting a developer who can pull off such a big project. "You're talking about a megamillion-dollar investment on the 26 acres. It's not a small deal by any means," he said. 
The village may also have to ease fears of displacement raised by the phrase "urban renewal," village officials said. The area is now zoned for business use only, but it contains 11 single-family houses and an unknown number of apartment dwellers that could be displaced. Mayor Wayne Hall Sr. estimates no more than 1,000 people live in the area. The state's urban renewal law requires that the village relocate residents. "[This] was not a residential area to begin with," Hempstead Village community development agency commissioner Claude Gooding said. 
Rundown structures also pose a problem. A 2005 survey of 69 privately owned buildings in the area found 30 of them - 43 percent - were deteriorating or deteriorated. Gooding said the village doesn't intend to raze a swath of buildings wholesale but prefers to rehabilitate existing structures where possible. 
&nbsp; 
PROGRESS 
So far, it's mostly on paper. The village's community development agency has issued a request for proposals that developers were asked to respond to by last Friday. Last fall, the village board adopted a master plan for the urban renewal zone and a much larger area of the downtown, paving the way for amendments to the zoning code that would enable developers to build mixed-use structures. That plan recommends increasing allowable building heights from 85 feet to 120 feet within a quarter-mile of the railroad station to allow for higher-density development.

LIHEMP02

Plans for area around Hempstead's train, bus terminals

Hempstead - now

THE VISION 
To turn a merely existing downtown into a thriving one. Congestion along Main Street doesn't always translate to business for the merchants along the nearly-mile-long stretch from Port Washington Boulevard to the waterfront. Although the downtown has an <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> station off Main Street, one of the biggest problems has been a lack of parking for the station and surrounding businesses. Main Street also has mixed-use buildings with commercial space below apartments, but the apartments are outdated, and many of the businesses sit vacant, residents said. 
Mindy Germain, executive director of Residents for a More Beautiful Port Washington, said the business façades need a more consistent look with more modern, condo-style residences above them. Germain said some residents also would like to break Main Street into themed districts based on existing merchants. One area could include businesses devoted to arts and antiques, while another might be based more on restaurants with cuisines from different cultures. 
&nbsp; 
OBSTACLES 
Experts and officials agree that the biggest hindrance is trying to get a consensus among residents. 
In 2005, residents participated in a series of meetings hosted by the Town of <a href="/topics/North_Hempstead%2C_NY">North Hempstead</a> to create a visioning plan. A hotel and additional parking were among some of the items at the top of their list. But in 2007, a proposed boutique hotel at the lower end of Main Street was rejected by residents concerned about the impact on traffic and density. They also wondered whether the hotel - three stories, containing 46 rooms and a conference center on a one-acre site - would clash with the surrounding buildings. And last year a proposed two-story parking garage on South Bayles Avenue near the train station drew fierce opposition. Many cited safety and traffic concerns. 
&nbsp; 
PROGRESS 
The town has sent out a request for proposals to design a shuttle system to take people from designated areas to and from the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> station. The shuttle could make stops along Main Street, thereby boosting foot traffic to the businesses there, <a href="/topics/North_Hempstead%2C_NY">North Hempstead</a> town councilman Fred Pollack said. The town also may buy vacant properties to use for parking, he said. 
Germain's group began efforts to beautify the downtown last year by starting Clean, Green Zone, where volunteers cleaned up, while the town offered recycling bins. The next step, she said, includes facade development. 
In March, <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County picked Port Washington as a pilot community with the potential to be a "vibrant downtown." The county hired a consultant to evaluate the downtown and a meeting was held with community leaders.

LIPORT02

Looking to improve Port Washington's Main Street

Port Washington, 2010

The Future of Long Island: Downtowns

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