Editorial: How not to be a good neighbor

The Island Now

If they can’t stop the expansion of the Hillside Islamic Center in New Hyde Park, some of the neighbors of the center appear determined to tie up the construction in red tape.

Two of the neighbors, Patrick Holohan and Karen Zachow, who live adjacent to the property, called the state Department of Labor to complain that the demolition of the house had left exposed asbestos, and aluminum siding and other debris on the site.

“We called about the asbestos,” Zachow said. “We worried about what would happen with the asbestos when they knocked the house down.” 

We note that they didn’t call the company doing the demolition or Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan, president of the Hillside Islamic Center.

Bhuiyan acknowledged that errors had been made in the demolition work. 

He told our reporter, “I would definitely say it was a mistake to remove the siding. But it’s taken care of.” He added the debris had already been removed.

This appears to be a tempest in a teapot, a thinly veiled effort to block the expansion of the center.

The un-neighborly battle has been going on for years. Plans for the proposed expansion were rejected by the Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals two years ago after New Hyde Park residents expressed opposition at a public hearing to the center’s plans to purchase adjacent residential properties to expand the parking lot of the existing structure.

The center subsequently applied to the town for a building permit on the basis of the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which was passed in 2000 and relaxed zoning restrictions on religious institutions located in residential neighborhoods.

The leaders of the Islamic Center have been anything but reckless. In fact they have been sorting out various issues with the town Building Department to secure approval for plans to start building a 9,100 square foot structure on 23,000 square feet of land after acquiring four adjacent houses in the past year.

Bhuiyan said a list of inspectors who will inspect different aspects of the construction has been submitted to the building department for approval. He hopes that is the final hurdle before the Islamic Center gets the green light to begin construction.

Town Councilwoman Lee Seeman said she was setting up a meeting with New Hyde Park civic leader Jim McHugh, neighbors of the center and members of the town Building Department to discuss the community’s concerns about the Islamic Center expansion.

 Hopefully she will take a strong stand and say that real concerns about the construction have to be separated from opposition arising out of religious bias. 

She should ask McHugh and others to show Bhuiyan the same respect they would show the Bishop of Rockville Centre if he wanted to build a church or recreation center in their neighborhood.

Bhuiyan has made every effort to be a good neighbor. Some of his neighbors have made every effort to show his congregation they are not welcome in New Hyde Park.

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