Wiser plan for Baldwin precinct
Nassau Legislature Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt announces plans for a new police precinct on Tuesday in Baldwin Credit: Howard Schnapp
For six years political gamesmanship by Nassau County Democrats stymied the replacement of a shabby and inadequate police precinct in Baldwin.
Wisely, the current Republican administration last year junked an expensive and nonsensical plan to relocate the precinct to a strip mall, pay the cost of construction and rent for 30 years and then turn the deed for it over to the landlord.
Before then, there was an even more controversial plan to move the precinct to a vacant building in Roosevelt, a community that badly needs taxable properties.
County Executive Edward Mangano's solution, just approved by the legislature, isn't cheap at $13 million, but is estimated to come in at $10 million less than the previous proposal.
Owning the land, keeping the busy precinct adjacent to the current Merrick Road location and providing more parking is a good plan. Even with a county budget stretched thin, this is a move that's long overdue. hN
