Village board adopts 2020 holiday schedule, sets hearing date for building proposals

Robert Pelaez
The public hearing for a proposed mixed-use building for 523 Middle Neck Road is scheduled for Dec. 17 (Rendering by Raymond Chan Architects)

The Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees unanimously agreed on Tuesday to adopt a holiday schedule for 2020 and to schedule public hearings for two building projects.

The board had two options in deciding when Village Hall would not be operating. The main reason for a discussion was Veterans Day falling on Wednesday, Nov. 11, next year.

“The policy for the past four years has been that if Veterans Day does not fall on a Friday or a Monday, we usually give it as a floating holiday,” said Abraham Cohan, deputy treasurer for the village. 

Cohan said the purpose of doing this is to not interrupt the village’s workflow. 

Floating holidays mean that while Village Hall is open for business, employees can choose to take off if they wish, as part of the 13½ holidays the village’s employee handbook mandates.

“I think the floating holiday works better for the village and the employees,” Deputy Mayor Bart Sobel said. “For the village purposes, we would rather have the continuation of work not be interrupted.”

Cohan told the board that most of the village staff was in favor of making Veterans Day a floating holiday, along with Lincoln’s Birthday, which will fall on Feb. 12, also a Wednesday.

Ultimately, the board unanimously agreed to make Veterans Day a floating holiday.

The board also unanimously agreed to schedule public hearings for two properties. The properties, 733 and 523 Middle Neck Road, are scheduled to be presented before the public at the Dec. 17 Board of Trustees meeting beginning at 7:45 p.m.

The latter property is the former home of Middle Neck Pharmacy. An initial presentation was made in July by the owner of the building, Steven Wu Kuo of Silver Lake Realty Group.

The presentation was to develop the property into a mixed-use building with 10 apartments, or five for each residential floor, with eight of them being two bedrooms and two being one-bedroom units. Atop this would be a residential terrace taking up half the roof area.

The property at 733 Middle Neck Road was purchased in February by Gesher Inc., a nonprofit Jewish educational organization aiming to bridge “the gaps between different segments of Israeli society,” according to its website.

The property was sold for $1.24 million for use as a religious facility, brokers with Cushman & Wakefield announced on Feb. 21.

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