Rebuild Bayview Avenue: Civic leader

Bill San Antonio

A former Manhasset civic leader has called for North Hempstead officials to rebuild Bayview Avenue, saying the road has been compromised in parts and is in imminent danger of falling apart.

Eric Monroe, who served as the president of the Bayview Civic Association from 2010-13, said the deterioration of the road was exacerbated after Superstorm Sandy and should be of bigger priority to the town.

“It really did a number on us. Water came up into residents’ driveways and there was a decent amount of flooding,” Monroe said. “It buried a good chunk of the roadway.”

Monroe said $50,000 had been appropriated by the town for the project in the 1990s, but he said the civic association at the time lacked the relationships between council members and then-Town of North Hempstead Supervisor May Newburger to bring it to fruition.

“Some of the earth has actually deteriorated away from the footings at the railroad tracks. When there’s no earth next to the road, I can’t imagine how much longer the road will last,” Monroe said. “It’s a heavily-trafficked area. A lot of buses and trucks use that road.”

Monroe said he would like the section of Manhasset Bay near Bayview Avenue to be dredged and for a seawall to be installed to fortify the road against future storms.

In addition, Monroe said he would also like to see a bicycle path be installed along Bayview Avenue leading into Manhasset Valley Park, which was renovated last year to include two turf fields and was recently included in the Macy’s Heart Your Park fundraising initiative.

“As of now, the safest way to get there is to drive,” Monroe said. “I would love to be able to connect the park with the community and let people walk or bike there.”

The Town of North Hempstead applied for a $3 million hazard mitigation grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Superstorm Sandy, but Monroe said he is not sure whether the project will be of priority since former Supervisor Jon Kaiman resigned and Judi Bosworth took office in his place. 

North Hempstead spokesman Ryan Mulholland said in an e-mail Tuesday that the town applied for six hazard mitigation grants after Superstorm Sandy, including one for a seawall at Bayview Avenue, but officials have not yet learned whether they have been approved by FEMA. 

“I think it deserves to look as nice as Port Washington and some of these other areas and be functional and safe,” Monroe said. “I just don’t want it to slip through the cracks again because we didn’t pay enough attention.”

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