Memorial Park, BP Station Lead Residential Complaints

While many New Hyde Park residents were voicing their continued concerns over the behavior of patrons of Empire Billiards at the May 21 meeting of the New Hyde Park Village Board, others brought the spotlight back onto another village hotspot, that of Memorial Park.

“By the time you call the police, they’ll be gone,” resident Bruce Hecht said of loiterers and litterers on Albert Street in the dusk and post-dusk hours, suggesting that a “no loitering when park closes” sign be placed at the location.

While there are “no loitering” signs at the park, Hecht said that something “more specific” is required because the individuals “will hang out until 10, 11 or even later, they finish their fast food or whatever they’re having, they throw the garbage, they throw the paper cups, the plastic cups, the bottles, etc. and it’s not getting better.”

He also wanted “random patrols” from either the Nassau County Police or village auxiliary police at around 8:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. each night.

“The problem is when the park closes if there’s ball players,” mayor Robert Lofaro said. “We kinda have to figure out what’s the right time but we’ll look at the signs and consider what might be a right option.”

The village has spoken to the Third Precinct personnel as well as its auxiliary officers about increasing patrols in the area.

“We’ve spoken to them but we haven’t gotten any feedback back from them as far as if they’ve implemented it, how regularly and that’s probably a good idea to get that back,” Lofaro said. “We spoke to the police department and we told them what the problem was and here we are now two months later and nothing’s changed and we don’t have any information back as far as the patrols go, things of that nature; we have areas that have been identified as problem areas that we want additional patrols done; Memorial Park is certainly one of those areas, and there’s other areas as well, probably getting the feedback back is one of the challenges.”

Other areas of concern in New Hyde Park include North 12th Street near Empire Billiards and Nuzzi Park.

A neighbor of Hecht, who identified himself only as Jay, said that his children ages five and three, “they ask me what’s the smoke coming out of their mouth, what do you want me to tell them?”

Another resident reported numerous beer cans and bottles behind the BP station on Jericho Turnpike and Ingraham Lane. Resident Sean O’Connor stated that the county police reportedly “addressed an issue” about the sale of marijuana and heroin in the parking lot of the gas station while Lofaro stated that there had been a fight about someone buying beer. In response to the fight and other reports, the village board had spoken to both the owner of the business and property owner who was “cooperative” following a previous occasion and placing improving lighting in the area.

“We will notify him, and we will alert him of this incident you’re saying and hopefully he will react as he did the last time,” Lofaro said.

The village board was also notified about a mugging that occurred in front of the Electrolux business where two individuals beat up a village resident from Hillside Boulevard and a stabbing on about  May 10 at 2:30 a.m.

“Knowing of the problem, hearing of the problem doesn’t solve the problem,” Lofaro said. “And we know we have a problem.”

The village board had a meeting scheduled with Third Precinct commander Sean McCarthy on May 28. The board had requested a representative from Third Precinct be in attendance at the meeting, but no such person was present.

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