To no one’s surprise the Mineola Board of Education voted last week to approve an agreement to lease the Cross Street School to the Solomon Schechter Day School of Glen Cove.
The five-year lease with an option to renew includes a provision that the ball fields next to the school will remain available to the CYO and Little League.
That provision did little to temper the anger of some local residents who remain adamantly opposed to the lease.
Williston Park residents, including members of the Cross Street Alliance, a grassroots group recently formed that is lobbying for a community center on Cross Street, repeated their concerns about traffic safety.
They are not satisfied with a study done VHB Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architecture, a firm recommended by the Williston Park Village Board or the concessions made by Solomon Schechter. The new school has agreed to open and close 20 minutes earlier than the nearby St. Aidan School to avoid any traffic problem. And in fact there will only be 36 vehicles bringing students to Solomon Schechter each day.
We suspect traffic is not the real concern. There is no impending traffic problem. There is no money to run the building as a community center. The local kids will still have a place to play ball.
Truth is it hurts to lose a public school that served the community for decades.
But critics should give Solomon Schechter the chance to prove it can be a good neighbor.
A Blank Slate Editorial
