Outgoing Village of New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio presided at his last village board meeting on Tuesday night in a Village Hall meeting room packed with public officials, village employees and resident in attendance to pay their respects to him.
The sense that the meeting was an end of an era was heightened by village attorney John Spellman’s announcement that this would his last meeting as well.
But the focus remained on Petruccio, who decided to not seek re-election after 12 years in office.
“He has a tremendous ability to get the group to agree. More often than not this group is voting unanimously,” said a visibly emotional village Trustee Donald Barbieri, who called the experience of serving with Petruccio on the board “fabulous.”
Village Trustee Richard Coppola described Petruccio as “level-headed” and said, “He did a great job.”
“As a community activist, he saw issues with our budget and he stepped up. He saw issues with our infrastructure and he stepped up,” said community activist Edward Powers, who presented Petruccio with a commendation for his services on behalf of Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano.
State Sen. Jack Martins also sent Petruccio a commendation. State Assemblyman Edward Ra was present to congratulate Petruccio “on a job well done.”
Steve Dalton, a former student of Petruccio’s at Chaminade High School, said having Petruccio as a teacher had made him “a better person and a better Catholic.”
New Hyde Park administrator Janet Bevers presented Petruccio with a framed collage of pictures taken during his tenure and signed on the back by well wishers.
“We respect you. We like you,” Bevers said. “It has been a pleasure and an honor.”
The most compelling comments about Petruccio after the meeting formally adjourned were delivered by Mayor-elect Robert Lofaro, who said Petruccio had been “like a brother” to him.
Lofaro began by recounting a newspaper story about the Long Island municipality of Brightwaters, which is reportedly considering a 15 percent tax hike to repair roadways. Lofaro said Petruccio confronted a similar situation of an urgent need for road repairs when he took office as mayor in 2000.
“He got involved as a community activist, not a politician,” Lofaro said, recalling that in the contested election race that put Petruccio in office “Dan rose above the political fray.”
Lofaro became emotional at times as he praised Petruccio for leading the village through a difficult time when some residents were calling for the village’s dissolution. Lofaro credited Petruccio with helping to put the village on sound financial footing and improving the village’s infrastructure.
He handed off to village Trustee Lawrence Montreuil to present Petruccio with a proclamation declaring April Mayor Dan Petruccio month in New Hyde Park.
“When we started as a group, we wanted to make this community a better place,” said Montreuil, who was first elected trustee when Petruccio was elected mayor.
Petruccio thanked all those present for the “tremendous response” in giving him the send-off on Tuesday night, which included a cake and coffee in the village board room after the meeting.
“The 12 years has gone by in flash because there were some very productive Tuesday nights,” Petruccio said.
He said he had grown to love the community, which was not originally his home. He said when he first came into office, he frequently heard people pointedly telling others they lived in the unincorporated section of New Hyde Park, but added he had noticed a change in recent years that made him feel proud.
“People want to say they’re associated with this village,” Petruccio said. “There’s a family feel to New Hyde Park that makes it a great community.”
He thanked his family for the sacrifices they made during his tenure, recalling that his wife Roseann always kept dinner warm for him on board meeting nights and attended parent-teacher conferences while their three daughters, Elyse, Caitlin and Lianna were attending schools in the village.
He also thanked residents for their support, saying, “This community always embraced me.”
Petruccio decribed the decision to hire Spellman as village attorney “one of the smartest things I every did,” and recalled how Spellman “guided a novice board through a long period of change.”
“John, you were our shepherd,” he said.
In earlier remarks, Spellman said, “It’s been an honor to work with the New Hyde Park board.”
Spellman said an associate in his law firm, Ben Truncale, would be replacing him as village attorney.
“I feel very comfortable stepping back because there were people to step into the void,” Petruccio said.
He recalled his first night as mayor, when a former village clerk came to his house so that he could sign some time-sensitive village documents.
He also recalled his surprise at learning that, as mayor, he had the right to perform marriage ceremonies and recounted his wife’s reaction over the first ceremony he was to perform.
“The first time I told my wife I was going up to Village Hall to marry someone she followed me up here,” he said.
Petruccio said he had confidence in Lofaro’s ability to serve as mayor and said his “passion” for his responsibilities to the village was evident. And he said he would now be content to be at home on his couch on Tuesday nights, keeping track of village affairs from a distance.
In other developments:
• The village board unanimously approved an application for a total of $185,000 in federal Community Block Grant Funds. Village Trustee Donald Barbieri said the application included $110,000 for commercial rehabilitation, $25,000 for residential rehabilitation and $50,000 for completion of Project Mainstreet, the upgrade of the village’s business district. He said distribution of residential rehabilitation funds would be based on need.
• Barbieri said work on the final phase of Project Mainstreet – including installation of benches and bulbouts – rounded corners intended to slow down vehicles making turns off Jericho – would soon begin.
“We’ll be going out for bid in about a week on this. We’re almost there,” he said.
He said agreements made with utility companies who may need to redirect power lines to facilitate work on the project have been submitted to the state Department of Transportation for approval. The DOT will be installing countdown traffic lights on Jericho Turnpike at the intersections of New Hyde Park Road, Lakeville Road and Hillside Boulevard to begin the project’s final phase, he said, with handicapped sidewalk ramps to be put in place with that work to be “happening shortly.”
Barbieri said the DOT’s resurfacing of Jericho Turnpike from Herricks Road to the Queens border will start in June in the evenings. He said the DOT was to restart its resurfacing of Jericho Turnpike in Mineola, work that was interrupted by Hurricane Sandy, will commence on April 8 at night.
• The annual village meeting for installation of new officer will be held in Village Hall on April 1 at 8 p.m. A public hearing on the village budget is scheduled for Village Hall on April 2 at 7:30 p.m.
• The village board gave conditional approval to a special-use application from Panayiotis Papasera Phim for bakery at 1200 Jericho Turnpike that had been occupied by Cafe del Dulce. The board also approved Phim’s application for installation of new ovens in the rear of the location. Phim said he planned to bake cheesecakes, and assorted tarts and planned to call the bakery “SweeTart.”
Currently a math teacher in Woodside, Phim said baking was his “passion” and he planned to operate the establishment with limited seating seven days a week. He said he was hoping to open the business in June.
The village board’s approval is subject to review by the county planning board.
• Barbieri called on residents to donate photographs and historical memorabilia to the New Hyde Park Museum, which is now open on the second floor of New Hyde Park Village Hall.
“Slowly but surely, we‘re making progress,” he said.
• Village auxiliary police commander John Concannon reported Sgt. Nancy Kraft had retired after five years on the auxiliary police force. He said Nathan Vargese would be joining as a new officer.
• Montreuil said the annual Memorial Day Parade to honor the 54 village residents who had died in combat would be held on May 25, with ceremonies at the Village Hall Veterans Memorial and in Memorial Park.
