1971-01-14

              SOUTH F'DALE PUBLIC LIBRARY
MERRITT ROW uliS ™ RY
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POWELL HOUSE 1700 FABMINODALE OBSERVES
WHERE THE HISTORY OF YOUR COMMUNITY IS RECORDED WEEKLY
An Officiaf Newspaper of The Incorporated Village of Farmingdale — Serving Greater Farmingdale, Bethpage and Melville
Vol. 8 No. 21 Second Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. , , 7 3 6. Thursday, January 14, 1971
A Legacy Fulfilled- And A
New Park for Farmingdale
Work to Start at Property on Staples and Hudson Streets
There " is a lovely corner plot on Staples and Hudson
Streets. It once belonged to long- time resident Emil
Gerngras and now to the Village of Farmingdale
because Emil Gerngras, a public spirited citizen, left it
in his will to the village. And ever since the Village
Board has been wrestling with the question of what to
do with this generous gift.
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THAT'S HOW IT LOOKS NOW - the property willed to the village by
Emil Gerngras. Soon it will be a park for pre- school children and
laughter instead of silence will fill the air at Staples and Hudson
Streets.
Local Resident Heads
Veteran's Agency
Nassau County Executive
Ralph G. Caso has named a
Farmingdale man with 25 years
experience in veterans affairs to
head the Nassau Veterans Ser­vice
Agency.
John R. Ray will serve as
Ray, 46, has served in
numerous elective VFW
positions: state legislative
chairman, 1969- 70; state
rehabilitation and hospital
chairman, 1968- 69; state com­mander,
1967- 68; Nassau com­mander,
1960- 61, and commander
of the Cpl. George Benkert Jr.
Post, Farmingdale, 1955- 1957. He
also is a former president of the
United Veteran Organizations of
Nassau.
Ray has been employed by
Nassau County for 23 years.
The wrestling apparently is
over for last Monday night's
Board meeting seemed to reflect
a consensus that a park for pre­school
children should be
established at the former Ger­ngras
property.
Fortunately this would comply
with Mr. Gerngras' desire for it
willed his land to the village for
the purpose of establishing a
nark And. fortunately again, it
would remove from the viiiagt
Board the burden of non­compliance
and the onus of
disregarding a generous donors'
last wish and will.
Even if such had been the in­tention
- and the Village Board
was careful not to offer an
opinion one way or the other as to
the disposition of this matter
although repeatedly asked to do
so - it might not have been easy if
not altogether impossible. As
trustee John T. Hallahan pointed
out I he changing of the conditions
of Emil Gerngras' will in regard
to this property would most likely
have wound up in Albany and
required a special bill by the
Legislature.
Only one voice of opposition
was evident when the matter of
the establishment of a kiddie
park at Staples and Hudson
Streets was raised. A special
invitation to all residents in the
direct neighborhood had gone out
from the Village Boardjand those
who were present agreed with
residents William Sisco and Ed
Keck that a fine park for young
children would be a nice thing to
have^ -_• althoughv. as^ far^ as Ed
for it since he is without children
who could enjoy the park and, as
a matter of fact, directly abuts
this plot and could reasonably be
expected to be concerned.
Resident Owen Schell ex­pressed
some apprehension that
the park might become a
nuisance but was assured by the
board and Mayor Joseph Zureck
that the property would be fenced
in as well as lighted so that dogs
and other spoilsports could be
kept out. This satisfied him to the
extent that he voted in favor of
the proposed park.
Only Frank Dorfmeister ex­pressed
opposition based on his
conviction that there was no real
need for a children's playground
Gorton's Seat on Library
Board to Be Filled- Maybe
JOHN R. RAY
director of the county agency
which helps veterans in
processing claims for pensions
and compensation and also
assists their widows and depen­dents.
Ray joined the Marine Corps in
1943 and served 16 months in the
Pacific and China theaters. He
joined the Veterans of Foreign
Wars in 1945. For the past three
years, he has been a member of
VFW's National Security
Committee.
Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllll
A special curriculum meeting
to discuss foreign UngUAge in­struction
for grade! r>- l2 has been
called by the school ad­ministration.
The meeting will
take place on Monday, January
IK at 8: 30 p. m. in (. uilfoid Hall at
Farmingdale Senior High School.
The public is invited to attend.
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Carl Gorton is not around anymore. But he is still being talked
about. Like at the meeting of the Library Board last Tuesday night.
The question his past presence raised was what to do with the board
seat he was elected to. Until June 30,1972, if one wants to be exact.
Mr. Gorton's absence without Mr. Niquist sent his opinion that a
leave created a problem that just
about now has been resolved. At
least presumably for nobody is
really sure. As to the problem:
Can, must or should a board seat
that has been vacated by a board
member without him having
officially resigned be filled a) by
appointment b) through election
at the next regularly scheduled
election or c) through a special
election? If c) when must this
election be held at the latest?
New York State Commissioner
of Education Ewald B. Niquist,
also presumably, has the answer
since Library Boards are within
his jurisdiction. Only he has not
ajiswered although he has been
asked. In his stead, however,
Robert D. Stone, Deputy Legal
Commissioner and Counsel to
successor appointed by the Board
of Trustees could serve the
balance of the unexpired term.
On the other hand, though sub­division
7 of section 260 of the
Education Law confers on
Boards of Trustees of school
district libraries the power to
require Boards of Education of
the school district to hold special
district meetings to elect Library
Trustees. Take your pick: A new
board member can be appointed
or elected with the choice left to
the board.
So says Mr. Stone. Mr. Niquist
would most likely say the same
since he would have to get the
opinion of his legal adviser first.
His legal adviser being Mr. Stone
the Farmingdale Library Board
will now move to fill the vacancy
either by appointment or elec­tion.
Nowhere did Mr. Stone say,
however, that the board must do
so. Which leaves open the
possiblity that nothing at all will
happen until June 30, 1972. Next
month's board meeting should
throw more light on this matter
since come Tuesday the board
will meet in executive session at
the Main Street library to decide
on a course of action. An ap­pointment
would save the cost of
an extra election unless no action
is taken or the next annual
election in May or June ( no date
has been set yet) is utilized for
that purpose. Only: An ap­pointment
would require an
unanimous choice as to who
would succeed Mr. Gorton.
Actually it would require more
than that. A small miracle, as a
( Continued on I* age 12)
in this area but rather in a more
accessible and central location.
While no cost estimates were
available Mayor Zureck ex­pressed
his feelings that the
conversion of the, at present,
empty lot into a children's park,
would not overly tax the village's
treasury and that matching funds
from Albany and Washington
might be forthcoming. Work is to
begin at any rate as soon as
weather permits and as soon as
the board has officially gone on
record with its formal decision to
build this park.
That this decision will be af­firmative
seems to be assured
now that the expected fireworks
which made the board so hesitant
to express its own views did not
TnefeYore'nas gaiff^- er « iirvrf « rTi
and fulfilled dead mans legacy.
Burglars
Like The
Observer
Burglars do not seem to be
hampered by inclement weather.
Neither sleet, rain, snow nor cold
nights seem to affect them. From
Northside Elementary School all
the way south to North
Massapequa they left signs of
activity last week and did not
spare the former Observer office
either.
As far as the Observer is
concerned nothing seems to have
been taken. Vandalism, however,
was very much evident in the
cottage behind the Powell House
at 33 Merritt Road where the
Observer was located before it
moved to 24 Beverly Road.
This happened on January 10
while a day earlier Northside
Elementary School was the scene
of an unauthorized visit. Here,
too, mischief and wanton
destruction of school property
seemed to have satisfied those
who broke into the school.
Principal William Johnston did
not report anything missing.
The home of Mr. Leonard
DeLalio on Merritt Rd. was the
target of real burglars, though,
who entered through the rear
door and walked away with
$ 225.00 in cash and jewelry
estimated at $ 450.00.
In North Massapequa burglars
broke into the home of Edward
Costell at 63 Daniel Rd. South and
goat away with $ 400.00 in cash
and $ 170.00 worth of jewelry and
into the home of Florence
Gorodoss at 432 Briar wood Drive
who reported two fur coats and
jewelry with a total estimated
value of $ 700.00 missing.