Hempstead Village is taking good steps toward revitalization

There are  Long Islanders who still remember when the Village of Hempstead was the center of Nassau County, when its dynamic downtown served as the region's economic engine, when it drew residents and visitors to a bustling nexus of housing, retail, commerce and entertainment.

But decades of disinvestment and troubled leadership followed, leading to the village's deterioration. Vacancies rose and hope waned.

For nearly 20 years, attempts at revitalizing Hempstead have come and gone. Plans for housing, business development, public spaces and more emerged, only to fail. Developers arrived with big promises, splashy presentations and beautiful renderings, then disappeared from view. Some mayors and other leaders welcomed opportunities; others turned them away.

This time could be different, as it seems Hempstead's leadership, including Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr., is putting its residents and its future first, and making talk of a rebirth plausible. The village's Downtown Revitalization Initiative win, which provided $10 million in state funds, was a good jump-start. Village officials hope to use the money for everything from transforming the vacant Hempstead Bank property into an art gallery to adding much-needed residential space, parks and destination activities. Making the village's busy crossroads more pedestrian-friendly is also key.

Even before the winning the state grant, Hobbs and his team took steps in the right direction by welcoming the construction of new apartments and planning to turn the six-story Helen Keller office building into a new village hall and police headquarters, while improving parks and other recreational facilities. When now-State Sen. Siela Bynoe was at the Nassau County Legislature, she secured $41 million for roadway improvements, just the beginning of what the village will need.

These first steps are good ones. Hobbs has been a strong advocate, building political bridges, seeking new financing opportunities, and opening the village to new partnerships with developers, engineers and others. Village officials must keep that momentum going. They'll have to learn from the achievements and mistakes of other grant recipients, and use the state's seed money wisely. Showing success early on will improve their chances of getting more resources.

It's an enormous undertaking. The village faces significant challenges, including dealing with its troubled school district, working through its complicated politics, and seeking support from county, state and federal officials.

Hempstead Village residents have seen their hopes dashed before. Onetime master developer Renaissance Downtowns still features Hempstead on its website, with pretty pictures of tree-lined streets and promises that the village "will serve as a model for the holistic and comprehensive redevelopment of suburban downtowns throughout the entire nation."

Now, there's reason for hope again, but there's a long way to go. If Hempstead's new leaders and partners see their efforts through, the village might just become such a model, a story of a once-vibrant suburban downtown that came back to become a dynamic part of Nassau County again.