New Hyde Park residents oppose proposed Harley-Davidson dealership

Noah Manskar

A proposed New Hyde Park Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership met strong opposition from residents at Tuesday night’s village Board of Trustees meeting.

Many of the about 65 residents who came to the public hearing said they were concerned about noise from motorcycles in an area already inundated with sound from Long Island Rail Road trains, helicopters and low-flying airplanes.

Some were also concerned about Harley-Davidson’s clientele changing the village’s culture.

“I think this will destroy the character of the village,” said Terry Moran, who grew up on Herkomer Street, which borders the proposed location at 1324 Jericho Turnpike. “It will not be the Village of New Hyde Park any longer.”

The dealership would replace a group of buildings at 1324 Jericho Turnpike, currently owned by James and John Miller of Miller Bros. Plumbing and Heating, with an 8,000-square-foot showroom and a 6,200-square-foot service center in the building’s basement.

The Miracle Mile Harley-Davidson store in Great Neck would close and be folded into the New Hyde Park location.

Amir Jarrah, the owner of the Great Neck dealership, said the company wants to make the change because most of Great Neck’s customers come from the area between Mineola and New Hyde Park.

In his appeal to the board for a special-use permit to open the dealership, architect John Notaro said he has “done everything (he) can” to dampen noise on the property.

His design includes a six-foot fence and an eight-foot-wide buffer of hedges along the perimeter of the dealership, he said. The service center’s underground setup would also minimize noise from motorcycles coming in for repairs.

Residents also voiced concerns about bikers speeding down Herkomer Street, a residential area where many children live.

They were also worried about the dealership’s promotional events attracting crowds of people and disturbing the normally quiet neighborhood.

Jarrah said he only expects 10 to 20 customers on a given day, and he would post signs to prevent them from traveling down Herkomer Street.

The store would sell an average of 20 to 25 motorcycles each month, he said, with its busiest season being April through September.

Jarrah also said the store’s largest event, a charity ride to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, would only attract 60 bikers at most. 

Cameron Blattner, another Herkomer Street resident, pointed out inconsistencies in Jarrah’s testimony about the proposed dealership’s events.

The Great Neck Harley-Davidson store’s Facebook page shows that it sponsors many more during the course of the year, including a “bikini bike wash,” a “ladies’ garage party,” an “LED lighting and boom audio workshop” and the “first annual Chap Cheeks Poker Run.”

Christopher Podyiski, a Herkomer Street resident who said he has been in the motorcycle business for 40 years, also questioned Jarrah’s claims.

Some of the events at Podyiski’s dealership attract up to 200 bikers, he said, and are a big part of the shop’s business.

“I can tell you one thing — what he says, a lot of things, are not true,” he said, adding later that he was unsure how the dealership could sustain itself selling 25 motorcycles a month.

Jarrah said the concerned residents’ concerns would be assuaged if they came to visit his Great Neck dealership, which he said has operated near a residential neighborhood for 10 years with few issues.

The trustees asked Notaro and Jarrah to commission expert witnesses to study the dealership’s potential impact on traffic, noise levels and property values.

The board will keep the public hearing open until Nov. 17, when the experts will testify.

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