1972-07-13

              FARMINGDALE OBSERVER
AN OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VILLAGE OF FARMINGDALE
SERVING THE GREATER FARMINGDALE AREA, B'
A MEMBER OF THE OBSERVER / T R I B U NE
VOL. 9 No. 47 Second Class Postage has been paid at Farmingdale, N. Y. 11735 • Published by THE OBSERVER, i:
' I I
July 13, 1972
Parking Problems Still of
Concern to Village Board
The parking problems in Farmingdale keep on being a matter of concern to the
Village Board of Trustees. Last Monday night's board meeting took up among
other things the question of parking at the railroad station, finishing with a
batting average of .500.
STRANGE PULPIT: A fire ladder may be strange place for some
members of the clergy, but not for pastor David Wilson of the Far­mingdale
Baptist Church. A member of the South Farmingdale Fire
Department, he is shown above introducing his vacation school
children to fire fighting equipment during a recent demonstration of
the department at the church grounds. Photo: Robert J. Greco
S. F. Firemen Visited
Baptist Bible School
Happy ( summer) days are
hare again and that goes for over
300 children too who attend the
daily free vacation bible school
run by the Reverend David
Wilson, pastor of the Farming-dale
Baptist Church on Carmans
Road in South Farmingdale.
Those 300 children who come
from all walks of life are listening
to stories straight from the bible,
they play games, work on han­dicrafts
and have contests among
. themselves. They get a light
snack to keep their energy going.
Recently, the South Far­mingdale
Fire Department, of
which pastor Wilson is the
chaplain, came down to the
vacation school and gave the
children a demonstration of some
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New Traffic Light
Urged on Route 109
Assemblyman Philip B. Healy
( R- Massapequa) is trying to halt
the inordinate occurrence of
traffic accidents at the in­tersection
of Route 109 and
Heisser Lane in South Far­mingdale.
Assemblyman Healy this week
requested the Babylon Town
Department of Transportation to
initiate the installation of a
traffic light to regulate tht How of
traffic in order to eliminate the
cause oi many accidents at the
crossing at Route 109 and Heisser
Lane.
Healy said: " Traffic lights are
a protection for both pedes trains
and drivers alike. The in­stallation
oi a traffic light would
eliminate the hazardous situation
which has caused several ac­cidents
in the past."
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of the fire fighting and rescue
equipment. Pastor Wilson is also
an active member of Truck
Company and he donned his gear
to take part in the demonstration.
Pastor Wilson is very grateful
to all the local stores for donating
food, games and equipment so
that the school can be operated
free for all children. Most of them
are not members of the church
but come from other
denominations.
On the plus side was the ad­dition
of another 19 parking
spaces created with strictly local
resources and at no cost to the
taxpayers. These additional
spaces are at the Station Parking
Field 5 for permit parking, with
11 of them at the east end of the
station building facing the
platform, while the other 8 are for
parallel parking south of the
station building in the access
lane.
Regarding shopper parking in
the village, the board wiil ad­dress
this problem at a public
hearing scheduled for Monday,
July 27, at village hall. The board
is considering the acquisition of
two vacant parcels of ' and on
Division St. which could provide
space for another 30 cars.
On the minus side was the
refusal of the Long Island
Railroad to alter the terms of the
proposed lease of the unused land
directly north of the station.
Earlier indications were that the
railroad would lease this parcel
to the village for 10 years,
whereupon the village would
create some 100 parking spaces,
after an expenditure estimated to
be $ 15,000 for grading, surfacing
and fencing. As it turns out, the
railroad wants to reserve the
right to cancel this lease anytime
it chooses, after giving a 3 month
notice.
In view of this slightly one­sided
deal the village board
authorized mayor John Hallahan
to try again to get the 3 month
cancellation clause removed
from the contract
Taking its cue from the Far­mingdale
Board of Education,
which approved an increase in
the earnings limits from $ 5,000 to
$ 6,000 annually for the eligibility
for the senior citizens tax
exemption, the village board
talked about similar action. No
figures are available, however,
as to the effect of such a measure
on the village's finances and the
proposal therefore was held in
abeyance, pending further study.
On behalf of the local
congregation of Jehova's Wit­nesses,
Harold Thompson,
presented plans for a Convention
Hall to be built on Maple St and
Dexter Ave. The property is
presently vacant and its removal
from the tax polls would reduce
annual village income by less
than $ 200. Thompson, who headed
the Farmingdale School Board
from 1963- 1966, pointed out that
the maximum utilization of this
convention hail would be under
200 persons since the rules of
AN ICE CREAM PARLOR may grace the presently rather unsightly empty lot on the southwest
corner of Fulton Street ( Route 109) and Heisser Lane. The Friendly Ice Cream people would like to
put up a building such as this at this location if they can get the Farmingdale Village Board of Zoning
Appeals to grant them a variance from the required set back distance. If this were to happen soon,
construction could start in September and the opening would be in December. These building plans,
by the way, should lend additional weight to the request for a traffic signal at Fulton Street and
Heisser Lane.
Jehova's Witnesses limit any
local congregation to that amount
of members.
Because the parking
requirements as per zoning or­dinance
were not met the board
denied the application for a
building permit This now opens
the way for the granting of a
variance by the Zoning Board of
Appeals. A neighbor of the
proposed convention hall would
be the New York Telephone
Company, who stands ready to let
the congregation use their
parking facilities, thereby
assuring off- street parking in any
case.
Students Honor
President Laffin
Dr. Charles W. Laffin, Jr.,
president of State University at
Farmingdale, has been honored
by the college's Equal
Opportunity Program students
for his " outstanding services and
enormous contributions in aiding
the Equal Opportunity
Program."
Equal Opportunity programs
have been sponsored by the
college for disadvantaged
students since 1967 when the
faculty, students, community and
administrators began the Wider
Opportunity Program at
Farmingdale ( WOAF), currently
known as the Equal Opportunity
Program. It is designed to give
disadvantaged students
an opportunity to acquire a
college education.
In making the award
presentation, Shirley Berry of the
Bronx, a dental hygiene senior,
told Laffin; " We, the graduating
EOP students, have come to
realize in our years at
Farmingdale that without your
understanding of the many
problems that we faced and your
cooperation in providing
necessary assistance to
overcome them by allocating
funds for tutors, continued
financial aid and ( he waving of
tuition, we would not have been
able to come this far."
Accepting the honor, Dr. Laffin
expressed his appreciation for
the students' generous gesture:
" If this expression on your part
represents recognition, the total
team effort of administrators and
students joined here in bringing
equality to all human beings,
men I am pleased to be part of the
combined effort."
The president promised that
the award, a hand- lettered
certificate, done by students and
laminated in a walnut plaque,
will hang in a prominent place in
his office.