Progress reported during NHP Islamic Center meet

Richard Tedesco

Leaders of the Hillside Islamic Center and three New Hyde Park civic associations said the two sides had made progress in addressing concerns surrounding the center’s planned $1.5 million expansion project following a meeting at town Councilwoman Lee Seeman’s office last Wednesday.

“Things got aired out,” New Hyde Park civic leader Jim McHugh said of the meeting, which was also attended by several residents.

Hillside Islamic Center president  Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan agreed.

“I thought the meeting went well. There are issues here and there. Everything went okay,” Bhuiyan said. “We told them whatever is legally required we are doing it.”

McHugh, who is past president of the Park Civic Association, said Islamic Center leaders agreed to residents’ request to plant shrubbery behind a solid green fence to be erected around the periphery of the Islamic Center property as a noise buffer. 

McHugh said the Islamic Center representatives also raised no objection to a suggestion the civic leaders made to seek to make 3rd Street a one-way street in the direction of Hillside Avenue to reduce traffic from the center moving through the neighborhood. McHugh said the Islamic Center leaders also gave a verbal assurance that no calls to prayers would be made from minarets that the center plans to build.

The 40-foot height of minarets was also an issue of concern to the residents, who McHugh said became “emotional” at times during the meeting.

The center’s plans to build a two-story 9,100 square foot structure on 23,000 square feet of land at 300 Hillside Ave. has been the subject of controversy since it was first proposed two years ago, The plan was originally rejected by the Town of North Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals following heated opposition by area residents. The center then announced plans to move ahead with the plan without town approval based on federal law that permits religious institutions to build without regard to local zoning requirements.

As demolition recently began at the former home of the center, residents raised objections about improper asbestos removal and debris from a house knocked down on property adjoining the Islamic Center to provide additional room for parking space. Civic association officials and residents also said the center had refused to work with them to minimize the impact of the construction work and other concerns.

McHugh had volunteered to be a liaison between the north New Hyde Park residents and the Islamic Center leadership at a recent town board meeting where residents aired their concerns about construction at the site. 

McHugh said following the meeting in Seeman’s office that the Islamic Center representatives also agreed to keep the surface area of the construction site watered to minimize dust resulting from the construction.

Bhuiyan said there already had been plans in place to plant shrubbery behind the fence of the center as a noise buffer.

He said there was never any intention to issue calls for prayer for the five times observant Muslims pray each day from the four minarets to adorn the building at each corner.

“They’re just for decorative purposes,” Bhuiyan said.

He said construction permits have now been issued for building of the new center to start. The center still needs additional funding for the project, which Bhuiyan said would take a year or more to complete.

“We have all the permits. The funding is an issue. When you do construction, nothing goes according to plan,” he said.

The center has bought four houses in the neighborhood, including the house that was razed. At the meeting, the New Hyde Park civic leaders asked if the Islamic Center could make a commitment to not buy more houses in the neighborhood, but he said he declined to give that assurance.

“I just said it’s a free-market economy. If someone wants to sell a property, it’s his or her right. If someone wants to buy, it’s his or her right,” Bhuiyan said.

Marianna Wohlgemuth, president of the Lakeville Estates Civic Association, said she was concerned about Bhuiyan’s reluctance to make a written commitment about not issuing calls to prayer from the center. She said she was also concerned about use of the 600-square-foot kitchen planned for the new center, where weddings and other events could be held. 

She said Bhuiyan said the center eventually planned to add a third story to the planned building and she said she would continue to press the issue about the height of the minarets.

“There will be future discussions, I will request at each of those discussions that those minarets be reduced,” she said, but added, “We can try for more meetings, but I don’t know what good they’ll do.”

Bhuiyan said future plans might eventually include a third floor if the center needs the space. He has said the center has planned its current expansion to accommodate its growing religious community. The new center will also include classroom space. 

Both McHugh and Bhuiyan have made a commitment to hold future meetings as construction of the new Islamic Center proceeds.

Seeman said she was happy to be able to get the two sides together for the meeting and is looking forward to future meetings.

“We’ll probably have more meetings. I want to do everything that makes people a little happier in their neighborhoods,” Seeman said.

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