Volume XXIV No. 10 Hometown Newspaper for Glen Cove, Sea Cliff, Glen Head, Glenwood, Locust Valley and Brookville Week of 10/30/14 75C Building a Better World Day at Sea Cliff School The Sea Cliff School celebrated the beginning of fall with a day dedicated to collaborative outdoor learning and school community service work on Fri- day, October 17th. On this Building a Better World Day, school began with an opening assembly focused on the idea that actions speak louder than words. The school reviewed the Sea Cliff School Declaration of Environmental Respect and focused on the question: How can Sea Cliff School Build a Better Earth? Over the course of the day, each grade level spent time outdoors, engaged in hands on learning. Kindergarten students engaged in a discussion with their teachers in the Kindergarten courtyard about how they could prepare that space for fall. Stu- dents planted mums, and engaged in station activities regarding the type of apple they liked best. They also pasted the color of their favorite apple on a class survey poster and examined class prefer- ences. Grade 1 students engaged in beautify- ing the grade 1 pond and in helping to around the topic: what is our responsibil- 3 is launching a composting initiative of the experience, students discussed clean up the front of the building. They ity to nature? this week. their team strategies. also discussed the benefit of complet- Grade 3 students learned how to plant Grade 4 and Grade 5 students engaged The day ended with a closing assembly ing outdoor work and creating a plan to bulbs and students planted over 70 bulbs in cleaning up the front of the school and in which students spoke about what they work as a team. in the front of the school under the di- working as a team to figure out how to learned over the course of the day. The Grade 2 students were instructed by Ms. rection of Ms. Krupin. Students then move leaves with using tools that are message of “actions speak louder than Krupin in how to plant bulbs and stu- engaged in a lesson about composting powered by gasoline or electric. Students words,” was exemplified by students’ dents planted over 60 bulbs in the front presented by Sherry Login, a Sea Cliff discussed the benefit of saving energy by own reflections. of the school. Students then engaged parent, and Debra Dumas, Sea Cliff En- doing work by hand as well as the physi- Article advised by Principal Zublionis in a Socratic discussion and read aloud vironmental Committee Member. Grade cal benefits of outdoor work. At the end Pictured are students and teachers participating in a collaborative outdoor learning experi- ence along with school community service work on Building a Better World Day at Sea Cliff School! Photos by Shelly Newman Page 2 Gold Coast Gazette Week of October 30, 2014 Alan Frederick LaMere Glen Cove Veterans’ Day Honoree Veterans’ Day Ceremony Nov. 11, 11 a.m., at Doughboy Monument 730998 Alan Frederick LaMere, center, is pictured with Mayor Reginald Spinello and Joe Lavery, the Commander of VFW James Donohue Post 347 in Glen Cove. Poop Mayor Reginald S. Spinello is Navy, Fred was employed as an aviator pleased to announce that this year’s City at Grumman Aerospace. Among his re- 1-800-Dog 1-800-Dog of Glen Cove Veterans’ Day Honoree is sponsibilities was testing aviation equip- Alan Frederick LaMere, a member of ment as well as calibrating the computer Scoopydoo the VFW James Donohue Post 347 and system on the LEM. Having successfully a proud veteran who served with the taken the examination for the Nassau Got Poop? Got United States Navy. The City’s Veterans’ County Police Department and the City Day ceremonies will be on Nov. 11, at 11 of Glen Cove Police Department, Fred a.m. at the Doughboy Monument on the was appointed to the Glen Cove Depart- corner at the Glen Cove Library. ment in 1964. He served the Department Fred, as he is known around for 26 years and has served the Glen town, joined the Navy when he graduated Cove Volunteer Fire Department for 55 from High School in 1955. He served on years. Fred was married to his “sweet- a fleet oiler whose assignments included heart from Philadelphia,” the late Eva. The Gold Coast Gazette fueling Navy ships in any of 21 countries They had six children, 10 grandchildren 57 Glen Street, including Lebanon in 1958. After the and two great-grandchildren. Glen Cove, NY 11542 (USPS008886)(ISSN10651748) Postmaster: Send address changes to The Gold Coast Gazette, 57 Glen St. Glen Cove, NY 11542. Entered as second class paid postage at the Post Office at Sea Cliff N.Y. Published weekly on Thursday by KCH Publications Inc. 57 Glen St., Glen Cove NY 11542. Phone (516) 671-2360. Price per copy is 75 cents. Week of October 30, 2014 Gold Coast Gazette Page 3 THE VILLA PROJECT PUBLIC HEARING WED., NOV. 5TH @ 8:00 PM STOP GLEN COVE OVERDEVELOPMENT! At this Hearing, which is a continuation of the previous one, the public will have an opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns regarding The Villa Project. If approved, it will be located on Glen Cove Avenue, on one of our only 2 corridors, proposes 194 units, and will be capable of housing approximately 776 occupants within a narrow, 2 block curving strip of land, on a dangerously steep hill. Are you aware of the following facts? • All legislation passed by the City of Glen Cove must be filed with the Secretary of State, by law, in order for it to become effective. It has recently been discovered by watchdog residents that Glen Cove, over a period of years, neglected to follow that procedure. Therefore, all legislation passed by Glen Cove during that time frame, which was not filed with the Secretary of State, is probably null and void. The City has been informed that the Master Plan and its associated zoning changes fall into that category. • The administration chooses to ignore these facts and continues to allow the process to proceed, violating our rights. Our elected officials and members of The Planning Board are responsible for decisions that will transform Glen Cove forever, into the Master Plan’s “new suburbia”, (i.e., an urban mass of high density, housing complexes with their associated problems), which will decrease the value of our homes and destroy our quality of life. • Do not let them remain anonymous. The community should know the names of those who disregard our wishes. It is time you became familiar with their names and how they vote on these matters! Mayor: Reginald A. Spinello; City Council: Anthony Gallo Jr., Efraim Spagnoletti, Pamela Panzenbeck, Timothy Tenke, Michael Famiglietti, name of member to be elected on Nov. 4th; Planning Board; Thomas Scott (Chairman), Michael Bellissimo, John DiMascio, Patrick Hall, John Perrone, Robert Jakobsze, and John Maccarone. • Despite the State Environmental Quality Review Analysis’s warning, the City continues to ignore the totality of the effects arising from the following projects, thereby increasing our population by approximately 6,500 residents, (approx. 25%): The Villa (194 units), The Village Square Piazza (110 units), Carney St. Apts. (50 units), The Mews (Congregation Tifereth Israel - 72 Units), Garvies Point Waterfront Project (860 – 1110 units), North Manor Estates (Glen Cove Mansion – 46 units), and Sea Isle (8 units). There are also projects currently pending, under discussion: The Triangle (STAPLES), Konica Imaging, and Photocircuit sites, and now The Coles School. Will other projects also surface? • The City grants developers and certain selected businesses, PILOTS, (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes), for long periods of time (up to 40 years), which are drastically lower than their normal, local taxes. The shortfall must be absorbed into the annual property taxes paid by the City’s homeowners during the duration of the PILOT. New developments, like The Villa Project, will ask for, and may be granted PILOTS, burdening the taxpayer even more. Now ask yourself the following questions: • We, (the taxpayers), are subsidizing the developers who stand to make mega-millions on these projects! Why? • Will The Villa Project and others like it, make Glen Cove and its surrounding communities, a more, or less desirable place to live? • Will market conditions force the applicant to offer the units as rentals, not condos? • Will its expected increase in traffic cause intolerable and dangerous traffic jams throughout Glen Cove? • Will its enormous increase in student population raise our school taxes proportionately and require new schools to be built? • How much will our property taxes be increased, in order to build the necessary, additional infrastructure it requires, and to provide the municipal services needed to sustain this population? • Can members of the Planning Board and City Council freely vote their conscience, without fear of reprisal? • Why has the City accepted the Applicant’s inadequate solutions to the numerous, adverse, environmental impacts, defined by the SEQRA, rather than demanding their TOTAL ELIMINATION? • Why did the Planning Board accept the Villa Project’s inadequate Findings Statement and recommend specific density bonuses for the project to The City Council, knowing that its legal basis is questionable? • Why didn’t the city stop The Villa Project from continuing the application process, knowing that the developer had not paid his local property taxes in the amount of approx. $300,000? His finances need to be currently investigated , thoroughly documented and totally revealed before any vote on the project can be taken. The current administration now has the opportunity to rectify the misguided vision of past administrations, thereby taking responsibility for its own actions, starting with The Villa Project.