North Hempstead moves ahead in court fight to stop mosque expansion

The neighborhood surrounding Hillside Islamic Center in New Hyde Park will turn into "a parking lot" unless a state appellate panel undoes a judge's ruling that paved the way for the mosque to move ahead with expansion, according to an appeal filed in New York Supreme Court by the Town of North Hempstead.

In January, state Supreme Court Judge Erica L. Prager ruled in favor of the Hillside Islamic Center, which had filed an Article 78 lawsuit — a legal maneuver to appeal decisions made by local governments — challenging the North Hempstead board's decision to block the expansion. The board had cited concerns about parking and traffic in its January 2024 decision.

The mosque argued it was entitled under New York law to "preferential treatment in land use determination" as a religious organization, according to Hillside's February 2024 lawsuit in response.

In its appeal filed last month, North Hempstead's Uniondale-based attorney Michael Sahn wrote: "Municipalities are not, and should not be, powerless to prevent expansion of religious uses into residential neighborhoods. ... This is precisely one of those cases where the denial of an expansion of a religious use into a residential neighborhood is proper. The Respondent's building, even if expanded as proposed by Respondent, cannot adequately accommodate its growing congregation for weekly prayer services."

Kathleen Deegan Dickson, the attorney representing the mosque, declined to comment Tuesday. 

Abdul Bhuiyan, chairman of the Hillside Islamic Center’s board of trustees, told Newsday on Tuesday the town's appeal took Election Day next month into account. 

"They want to show, whoever their constituency is, that they're standing their ground," Bhuiyan said. "They want to make sure this is something they show to them, disregarding the public fund [they are] paying the attorney. But it's not their money, they don't care."

North Hempstead Town Attorney Richard Nicolello said in emailed statement that the board had found the "proposed expansion would generate excess traffic, parking, and related issues, which would severely damage the health, safety, and welfare of the surrounding residential neighborhood."

Nicolello added: "Residents and taxpayers are, in fact, concerned about the excess traffic and parking in the area and how it may negatively impact their quality of life."

The mosque, which opened in 2005, is a 5,428-square-foot, two-story building on Hillside Avenue that hosts thousands of congregants every week, Bhuiyan told Newsday earlier this year.

The site plan calls for the construction of a third story, as well as the knocking down of three nearby properties the mosque owns to create more parking. 

Prager had ruled that the board's decision to deny the expansion was "arbitrary and capricious." She wrote that the ruling for the site plan should be "remanded to the town board with the direction to grant the initial application." But North Hempstead declined to reconsider the site plan and instead filed the appeal.

"Granting the Respondent's Amended Application would irrevocably and irreversibly change the character of the neighborhood and turn it into a parking lot that still would not have enough spaces to satisfy Respondent's needs," the appeal states.

Hillside Islamic Center is not the only mosque in Nassau County to face municipal blowback for its expansion plans. In January, Muslims On Long Island Inc., the organization that owns Masjid Al-Baqi in Bethpage, sued Oyster Bay Town, which has blocked the mosque's plan to create a three-story building. 

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.