What does it mean to be a good neighbor?
At a minimum, being a good neighbor means giving a quick hello when you pass each other on the street. It means respecting your neighbors privacy and property. It means keeping your house and land in respectable condition so as not to offend your neighbors. It means keeping your parties noise level to a minimum after a certain hour and making sure your guests are not blocking your neighbor’s driveways. It means helping each other out in a time of need.
It means not subjecting your neighbors to environmental hazards.
Recently, Patrick Holahan and I have been accused of being “bad neighbors” to the Hillside Islamic Center by the editor of the NHP Herald Courier.
We were considered “bad neighbors” because over the years of residing next to the Islamic Center’s rental property, we have had to ask them to pick up the garbage and clutter around the house and cut the grass that was almost waist high.
We are considered “bad neighbors” because we have complained about the noise during the summer months extending into the night long after “quiet time” is deemed by the town due to their high holy days. And we were considered “bad neighbors” because we reported to the state Department of Health that the home they were prepared to tear down had exposed asbestos shingles.
The shingles themselves do not propose a problem because the asbestos was encased in cement, but once they are pulverized the asbestos particles would be emitted into the air causing a potential health hazard for the construction workers as well as the community. It should be noted that I am especially sensitive to this issue as my father died from mesothelioma secondary to asbestos exposure at age 53. So this makes us “bad neighbors?”
Good neighbors, in my opinion, do not put other neighbors in the position of having to ask them to follow these simple rules. Good neighbors would notify the neighbors directly next door that a bulldozer would be showing up at 8 a.m. to plow down the house 10 feet from their bedroom window. And/or provide a heads up, so that one could adequately prepare their four and seven-year old children who were forced to witness this on their way to school and now tell me daily that “they are afraid someone might knock down their house.“
Pat and I have been neighbors now for almost 10 years.
Never once have I had to ask him to cut his lawn, clean up his property or properly dispose of hazardous wastes. Four years ago, when I renovated my home, I let my neighbors know the date and time the destruction would occur and ensured that the inconvenience to my neighbors was kept to a minimum. I made sure that my construction team followed the rules and cleaned up after themselves and I came out and maintained my property even though I wasn’t able to live in my home during the renovation.
I take great offense to the editor of NHP Herald implying that the reason we asked our neighbors at the Islamic Center to follow such rules is because Pat Holahan and Ii have a religious bias.
The fact is we would hold anyone to the same standard. The Islamic Center keeps trying to make this a religious bias or prejudice issue. This has nothing to do with any of that.
This is a community issue! Knocking down residential homes with the intent to build a parking lot and lure more traffic and people from other communities into our once quiet neighborhood affects the whole community, especially those that reside in close proximity to the center such as myself. I would have the same concerns if the gas station on the corner, CVS or any other establishment wished to expand.
At the Town Hall meeting tonight the president of the Islamic Center stated that there is a diverse population of students that attend Memorial High School and that we should be teaching our children how to accept each other’s differences. My children play with a Middle Eastern family across the street. I have no biases to anyone’s differences from my own.
What we the residents are objecting to is the effect that this structure will have on our property values, and how this will directly impact our community environmentally.
But the Islamic Center chooses to play the prejudice card rather than speaking on how they intend to limit the effect it will have on our community.
Last time I checked, this was still America and we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
We have a meeting scheduled on June 5 with the Islamic Center, [town] Councilwoman Lee Seeman, the civic leaders and residents of the community.
Let’s see if Islamic Center is willing to make some amicable compromises that go above what the Town of North Hempstead building/zoning requires so that it will be for the greater good of us all. Let’s see if they can be neighborly.
Sincerely, your neighbor,
Karen Zachow
New Hyde Park
