Massapequa Park's largest parking lot set for big upgrades
Municipal Field 1 parking lot in Massapequa Park last month. Credit: Thomas Hengge
The Village of Massapequa Park is eyeing renovations to its largest parking lot and main thoroughfare.
Officials are considering a complete overhaul of the municipal lot on Park Boulevard. The lot, between Front Street and Clark Boulevard, fills fast and includes parking for LIRR commuters, the IGA supermarket and various restaurants and shops in the village's main strip.
A $1.5 million federal funding award has allowed the village to proceed with “some projects that we were going to put off,” Mayor Daniel Pearl said in a phone interview. The funding will also cover road work on Park Boulevard.
Officials would like to fix deteriorating blacktop in the lot, install new lighting and reconfigure how parking spaces are laid out, Pearl said.
The village resurfaced the lot more than five years ago. But inclement weather — from prolonged heat waves to this year's cold streak — has worsened conditions. The village already repaired Park Boulevard next to the lot, but the funding covers improvements farther north.
The village typically spends more than $1 million annually on roads, though that figure could rise following the recent snowstorms, Pearl said.
“Unfortunately, this winter has been terrible, so like every municipality we have a list of roads and the order of priority. But sometimes when you get this kind of weather, a road that was rated a C that wouldn’t be up to be redone this year — all of a sudden it’s crumbling,” he said.
Pearl said Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Sayville) secured the $1.5 million for infrastructure upgrades.
“Massapequa Park is a great community, and like many areas on Long Island, its infrastructure needs real investment,” Garbarino said in a statement.
Possible disruptions
Local business owners expressed concern about the construction potentially affecting their day-to-day operations.
Denise Tristano, the owner of Denise and Company Salon, said the businesses share some of the lot with commuter parking. The lot gets crowded quickly.
While the work is underway, she said she hopes the village will "relax the rules" and avoid ticketing customers who park in commuter spots.
"But it definitely needs to be reorganized, repaved, redesigned, because it's not as functional as it can be," Tristano said in a phone interview. She suggested reclaiming some of the commuter spots for customers, creating a better layout for traffic flow and moving some merchant parking closer to the storefronts.
Jimmy Lyons, the owner of North Fork Doughnut Co. of Massapequa Park, said “it’s a busy lot.” About a quarter of his customers enter directly from the parking lot through the store's back entrance. Limited parking may deter shoppers from coming into the store, he said.
Lyons said while there may be some disruptions, the improvements are needed.
“At the end of the day, there’s certain costs of doing business for small business owners and business owners in general,” Lyons said.
Pearl expressed similar worries and said the village would have to consider the timing of the work. The construction will likely be done in phases, he said.
“That’s something that I’m concerned with because that’s our largest parking lot,” Pearl said of the possible disruptions to businesses. “We would have to see the time of year we’re going to do it.”
Parking upgrades
- The Village of Massapequa Park plans to overhaul its largest municipal lot, and parts of Park Boulevard, with the help of $1.5 million in federal funding.
- Business owners say the lot is often full and could benefit from a redesign to improve traffic flow.
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