1970-10-01

              FARMINGDALE PUBLIC LIPRARY
27^ Main S t r e et
Faruinpdaie, N. Y* 1 1 7^
10c on newiatands
or $ 6 yearly
by mail locally
POWKM, IIOIISK 1700 FA& MIN6DALE OBSERVER
WHERE THE HISTORY OF YOUR COMMUNITY IS RECORDED WEEKLY
Ait Official* N « . wsi » aprr of The Incorporated Villanc of l-' arminwlalc Nerving Greater r'armingclalc. Rothpage and Melville
Vol. 8 No. 6 Second Class Postage has been paid at r'armingrialc, N. Y. I 1735 Thursday, October 1, 1970
STORM PLAYS HAVOC
The Village as well as the unincorporated areas of Farmingdale
received the brunt of a sudden windstorm that battered the central
area of Nassau County and western Suffolk shortly after noon last
Sunday.
The long and sultry heat wave that had been bearing down on Long
Island for nearly a week disappeared in the space of minutes when the
storm, without warning, brought breezes ranging from 40 to more
than 100 miles per hour down upon an unsuspecting community.
Strollers and sun worshipers made for the nearest form of cover as
the heavy winds and rain sent debris, dust and tree branches hurtling
into the air.
A gauge used to measure the wind velocity at Republic Aviation
airport in East Farmingdale, is said to have recorded winds of more
than 100- mph before the needle on the gauge broke. Employees
working in ' he airport's control tower abandoned their observation
point and an airplane, attempting to land and escape the storm was
turned over.
At least 20 other- planes stored at Republic were flipped over by the
windy blasts.
More than00 volunteers from East Farmingdale aided the airport's
own fire crew in righting the planes to avoid the spillage of oil and fuel
onto runways and a fire department generator truck was put into
service when electricity was lost.
Fire departments from East Farmingdale, South Farmingdale and
Farmingdale Village were out working within minutes after the storm
struck. Many of these volunteers, joined by emergency highway
crews from the Village, State and Town of Oyster Bay were in
operation all during the day as calls poured into this newspaper office
and local municipalities.
Fallen trees and branches blocked traffic on Oakview Ave and
Duane St. and flooding detoured cars from the intersection of Main St.
and Melville lid. The Melville lid. area, Lenox Hill areas and Staples,
Prospect and Fulton St were among the hardest sections hit in the
Village.
Trees blown over by the wind struck wires and shattered a LILCO
pole on Merritt lid., north of Beverly lid., in South Farmingdale,
requiring that lire department to leave a detail for four hours to
protect the public.
The Village volunteers sent tar paper, tarpaulins, lengths of hose
and a pump to the Main St. school to assist in a water pumping
operation caused by tiie wind ravaging the school roof.
The roof of the rectory building of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church
suffered damage when a tree was blown against it and the roof of the
Farpoul Restaurant on Conklin Ave. disappeared entirely with one
strong gust. That same gust of wind also caused much of Farmingdale
to lose its electric power as parts of the roof brought down cable lines.
At least five lines were out in the Village.
Bethpage State Park closed its five golf courses because of 200
toppled trees. Park Superintendent Eric Siebert said 40 men were
assigned to clear the 1,000 acres of golf course and three courses were
expected to be available by the weekend.
Town Mulls Main Street Zoning Change Petition
. . . - . ' ... „. Walfpr Dirkson o
The Oyster Bay Town Board
conducted a public hearing on
Tuesday for a change of zone and
special permit request to allow a
Volkswagen dealership to be
established in Farmingdale.
The site of the petition is a 2.45-
acre tract with a 303- foot frontage
on South Main St., adjacent to the
southwest corner of the Long
Island Railroad and Village of
Farmingdale boundary lines. The
plot of land in question includes a
rectangular- shaped piece to the
rear of the Veterans of Foreign
Wars Building on Main Street.
This additional parcel was
purchased recently from the
V. FW.
The petition, by George W.
Benedict and Ronald Pecunies,
calls for a change of zone from
Residence D to Business G
District and a special permit use
for a garage and used car lot.
The applicants were
Scattered brickfi on a roof at 29 Woodward Parkway, South Far
miiigdalc arc the remains of a chimney demolished in a few seconds
by the freak storm on Sunday.
Photo by Robert J. Greco
represented by Attorney Charles
J. Cronin who stated that World
Wide Volkswagen would erect a
modern building that would in­clude
an inside- service shop,
parts department, dealer
executive offices and a display
room. The building would be 19-
feet high.
Cronin stressed that the ex­terior
lighting would be directed
toward the cars and not nearby
residences. He said the ap­plicants
would approve of
covenants which would permit
no exterior servicing and no body
work inside or out. He said the
owners would fence off the
property, including a section
bordering on James Street which
local homeowners felt might be
used for ingress and egress.
James street presently dead- ends
at the vacant property to the rear
of the V. FW. buidling.
The applicant also agreed to a
30- foot buffer of grass and
shrubbery in front of the dealer­ship
following questioning by
Councilman Philip B. Healey.
Four letters opposing the
petition were read into the record
by Town Clerk William B. ( Bud)
O'Keefe and seven neighborhood
residents spoke in opposition
Morris A. Sidikman, a
Manhattan attorney, addressed
the Board on behalf of some
homeowners and submitted a
petition with 262 signatures in
opposition. Sidikman. stressed
fear about noise, fumes, traffic
and lighting and the residents
following him echoed his
remarks.
Richard Brummer of 110
James Street wanted to know if
the Town would enforce any
covenants it placed against the
petitioner and Town Supervisor
John W. Burke assured him the
Town would if it approved of the
application.
Walter Dickson of 113 James
street said he was worried about
the operation becoming a
" glorified junk yard" and stated
that the applicants were the
owners of Ronnie's Auto Body
and a transmission shop located
nearby. Dickson and some of he
other speakers also expressed
concern about traffic hazards
that would develop for
youngsters walking along Main
St. The Board reserved decision.
A ULCO pole on Merrill Road, north of Beverly Road, South
Farmingdale was one of the poles knocked over by a tree during the
freak storm. The South Farmingdale Fire Department had a detail
here for four hours to protect the public on Sunday.
Photo by Robert J. Greco