When America’s favorite actor, Clark Gable, declared, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” film audiences in 1939 went wild and their women uttered a collective gasp.
But elected leaders flaunting a similar, “I don’t care attitude,” in 2018 — seldom receive cheers — rather the audible sounds you hear may be that of Men on the Move relocation vans rolling into town.
One thing I know for certain, a critical mass of long-time residents, in the Village of Great Neck, are discouraged and disillusioned by a dictatorship-style government that refuses to prioritize resident’s concerns.
There is no delicate way to deliver what I am about to say — so here is the straight speak.
In the early morning hours — especially in the summer season — many of the village streets emit a foul odor.
For the past two years, twice a week, every week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) — village sanitation trucks wind their way along attractive, tree-lined streets — only to deposit enormous, foul-smelling spills of liquid garbage.
Sizable spills, some measuring as large as 6 feet by 3 feet, mark the spot, driveway after driveway, block after block.
Household garbage, with various unspeakable contents (like dirty diapers and discarded food refuse) produces unsightly street stains that rarely disappear.
So, the unsightly street stains created on Tuesday are stagnant on Thursday.
In most cases, these stains remain grossly in place on Friday and Saturday — until the cycle commences again on Tuesday morning with another sanitation pickup. (Please Note: The hard-working DPW employees cannot and should not be blamed.)
If your brisk morning walk leads you to the likes of Essex, Colgate, Hampshire, Croyden, Picadilly or Radnor Road (7:30 to 8:30 AM) — you know exactly what I am talking about. This is not becoming for a village that boasts an enviable,top-ranking public school system. Residents of the Baker Hill Road vicinity (a mere hop, skip and a jump from Village hall and E.M. Baker Elementary School) are routinely gifted with unsightly filth that marks the outside of their single-family homes.
Any attempt at bringing the spillage up for public discussion at Board of Trustees meetings is met with derision, arrogance and pure lack of interest.
Yet, if similar unsanitary conditions existed in a low economic neighborhood in New York City — community advocates would be all over it.
Two years ago, my family was responsible for submitting 20-plus photographs, documenting the spills, to the mayor and village clerk.
At least one other resident also submitted telltale photos. Several long-time residents also lodged complaints. To date, these efforts have produced no positive results, or acknowledgment, whatsoever.
At the present, our village does not have a working plan to address our slipping standards. If you subscribe to the Great Neck News, you already know that the pursuit of a revitalization project on Middle Neck Road, as advocated by elected leaders, is code for dense, vertical, apartment-style housing that will exceed existing zoning laws.
How will elected leaders handle the undesirable side effects (additional fifth, traffic and congestion) in the foreseeable future?
We have already become an embarrassment to neighboring communities. Just feast your eyes on the village-owned property on East Shore Road, carefully enclosed in a chain link fence opposite the BMW service center. Is the Village so cash poor they are unable to perform basic maintenance on this overgrown eyesore of weedy vegetation that is leased out for $30,000 a year?
Building bridges in a community typically connotes inclusion — with the promise of harmony and positive outcome.
In this case, the diversion of funds for a potentially $50,000 unnecessary footbridge, to benefit a single demographic, ensures the very opposite of harmony. Building bridges, of this sort, is certain to create divisiveness.
In the Village of Great Neck, which is home to many diverse cultures and religions, what priorities should receive attention first?
Do we focus and invest in basic maintenance to improve our existing infrastructure? Or do we commit to the construction of multiple three and four-story, vertical, apartment-style housing which will surely strain our infrastructure?
Please excuse my own diversion, when I refer to William Shakespeare’s quote from Hamlet, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”
With respect to village government, the question that begs to be answered is, “Do the deal or serve the people? That is the question.” Shakespeare could not have said it better himself.
Judy Shore Rosenthal
Great Neck
