I continually read what Superintendent Nagler is saying about school building repairs and the referendum. I have had the time to look over some of the Mineola schools and I have determined that the district should employ a handyman or two.
I am quite a handyman myself and I know what a handyman can do. It is similar to what Sammy Davis Jr. and his chorus used to sing, “Oh, the handyman can, (Oh, the handyman can), The handyman can ‘cause he mixes it with love and makes the schools look gran’ (makes the schools look gran’).”
This Sunday I went and looked over the Meadow Drive School. How else could I cast an informed vote on the referendum? All of the windows in this building look very nice. I have read it quoted that some unspecified windows can’t be opened. I guarantee that I could open them without damaging them.
It might be necessary to use some special equipment to pry on them at the right spot(s). Once one is open, clean it as necessary, apply some silicon spray or those cakes of silicon matter that cabinet makers use to make drawers slide smoothly and it would work fine. Nothing more than maintenance, and simple for a handyman.
The doors all look good too. One or two of them are the same color as those that were recently installed at the high school. They do look new. There was a quote of being able to look right through a “hole.” This would be like buying a new car and throwing it away when the tires wear out.
There are all kinds of weather stripping products available. Again, a simple task for a handyman. Also, on the east wall above the windows is what looks like a sheet metal section painted white. There is the appearance of a little rust on the upper edge. An eyesore too. Clean it, scuff it and spray on some Rust-oleum protective enamel blended with the rest. Problem solved.
One handyman holds the ladder awhile then the other. Not bad for the price of a can of spray paint and is should look good for a number of years.
The only other thing I saw was on the north side on what looks like a chimney. There is a cornerstone that says 1953.
On the right upper edge of it, mortar needs to be injected in an area of three bricks. There have to be devices for injecting mortar on a small scale similar to a caulk gun. Don’t use any ugly white hardware store caulk!
Also, there are businesses locally that deal in marble and granite, etc. They have to have mortar of various shades or know where to get it and how to mix it to get an exact shade. Nothing else needed on Meadow Drive.
The Cross Street building is good as is. The doors are all charming, in harmony with it and in good condition. A window sill was repaired and if one did not know it was broken, it would go unnoticed.
The Willis Avenue building keeps being included in this vast array of proclaimed ugliness. It is as perfect as the day it was built.
I will only say that along the base of part of the west wall there are what appears to be louvered aluminum vents. They are beginning to be coated with spots of filth.
With moisture, they will become corroded. They have to be kept clean.
All of this has led me to notice all the brick buildings around. There are hundreds, even in Mineola. Some have very fine mortar work and others less so. Most have never been retouched.
The work on the Willis Avenue building is comparatively quite sloppy. There is the fine, very old building at Rockaway and Stewart avenues. It has had no brick teasing, whatever that is, and can last another hundred years. There are others like it around too.
Regarding the Hampton Street School, there is nothing handymen could not tackle and remedy.
Above the lintels of all the windows there are no cracks in the brickwork. Just a little mortar here and there and perhaps above the lintels. If there is rust, a cleaning and Rust-oleum is the answer.
The Mineola school board and the administration are directly liable for not caring for these buildings on a day to day basis.
Charles Samek
Mineola
