It was with great interest that I read Marlene Friedman’s Aug. 14 letter in which she called Great Neck Plaza “the village of obstruction”—a truly appropriate moniker. Ms. Friedman made it very clear that the current administration has left a lot to be desired in their “supposed” infrastructure improvements—aka obstructions—leaving drivers in the Plaza with an inability to navigate the very heavily trafficked areas near the train station and the post office.
During the Celender/Rosen regime, obstruction in the Plaza has run rampant. Let’s begin with the Barstow Road roundabout, where under the guise of “traffic calming,” the obstruction of drivers’ vantage points by large plantings has caused many dozens of accidents—several of which have come close to killing pedestrians by taking out the fencing around the sidewalks.
This same administration has obstructed the safety of pedestrians in the village by creating an “in name only” Pedestrian Safety Committee. When the committee clearly identified many spots that were dangerous to pedestrians, the group was quickly disbanded by the administration because they had no intention of acting on the committee’s recommendations.
The current administration has also obstructed the safety of those who used to enjoy walking in the village. While ignoring constituents’ objections, they installed dangerous brick sidewalks, which expand and contract during extreme hot and cold weather, leaving protruding and irregular bricks just waiting for someone to trip. Many of the large number of seniors in the Plaza now cannot and will not walk in town for fear of tripping and falling on those dangerous bricks. Although many requests for repairs to the bricks have been made, the dangerous obstructions remain and grow larger every day.
The same administration has obstructed the building of a sorely needed residential garage underneath the post office by refusing to honor the agreement with the post office to go forward with the project. It should be noted that Ted Rosen was the point person on the project, and like so many other projects, he dropped the ball and didn’t finish the job because he doesn’t care about the needs of his constituents.
Our once prosperous business district has been obstructed from thriving, largely due to oppressive regulations and laborious red tape imposed by the current administration. How do we know that? Just look at all the “for rent” signs in the closed stores that line the streets of Middle Neck Road and the adjacent streets.
And don’t let them tell you that COVID 19 is the cause of our dying business district; the downward spiral of businesses in the Plaza has been worsening continuously for as long as Celender and Rosen have been in office. The saddest part is that they really do not care enough to take the time and/or trouble to substantially help our merchants. The staged photo op that appeared in this paper of trustee Pam Marksheid pretending to show interest by visiting a few stores or the administration inviting merchants to a press conference where they pretend to listen to their needs—but have no intention of acting on them—won’t cut it.
The fact that Marnie Ives, owner of Kron Chocolatier, is running for trustee on Leonard Katz’s mayoral ticket certainly should send a loud and clear message about why the village’s obstructive behavior has contributed to the demise of so many businesses in the Plaza.
It’s time to clear the obstructions in Great Neck Plaza by electing a new administration. On Sept. 15, please come to the Village Hall at Gussack Plaza—or request an absentee ballot prior to the election—and write in your votes for Leonard Katz for mayor and Marnie Ives and Robert Farajolla for trustees. They are the team that will revive Great Neck Plaza!
Muriel Pfeifer
Village of Great Neck Plaza
