Great Neck Plaza mayor enjoys village, deals with challenges

There was a light breeze, the sound of crickets and it was just an amazing last night at the park. We had 12 concerts this summer and we tried to have a really good mix of music genre. We’ve been doing this, oh gosh, maybe 26 years. What amazes me is that even in tough fiscal times we still put on these musical acts.

Our village is small, but we’re dense. Ninety-two percent of development in the area are multifamily units. There are 148 single-family homes. We’re focused on the fact that we have a downtown, train station and we’re trying to constantly keep downtown economically vibrant. Our government works to maintain sidewalks and make it safer for pedestrians to cross streets using traffic-calming measures.

We’re still seeing difficult times for our retailers. We’ve seen some restaurants close. [Now-closed] Pancho’s catered to families until people just weren’t eating out as often. It’s hard to sustain a business when people just aren’t coming in regularly anymore.

Well, we have promenade nights in which we close streets and people come out to dine and shop. It’s casual and friendly. People have a great time in their own community. This is part of the Sept. 9 Street Fair and Autofest from noon to 5.

We do have a lot of diversity and neighborhoods to live in. We have an affordable housing project under way with 19 units up for sale [at The Maestro high rise]. We’re trying to do more. We want to help the young people who just got out of college or families just starting out.

I think it has a very charming, historic and hometown feel. It has the feeling of quaintness. You go on the street and recognize your neighbors walking by.