Bethpage-Tribune_1971-12-16

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Island Trees Serving Beth page - Plainwiew - Island Treat * Plainedge - Seaf ord
Vol. 6 No. 6
Old Bethpage
Thursday, December 16, 1971 10c per copy
Tobay Enters Final Stages
In Preparing Master Plan
HOLIDAY LIGHTS! Ushering in the Chanukah-
Christmas holiday season Albert Schachner lights the
first of eight daily candles on an ancient Menorah
(ceremonial candelabra) to launch the Hebrew
"Festival of Lights" last Sunday evening, while
Patrick Caputo turns oh the lights of a Christmas tree.
Ceremony took place last week at the Hicksville office
of Long Island National Bank, of which the two men
are directors. ...
The Town of Oyster Bay is,
according to its Supervisor, John
W. Burke, about to enter the final
stage of its effort to develop a
Comprehensive Master Plan.
Burke-made the announcement
earlier this week when he briefed
members of the fourth estate at
one of his regularly-scheduled
press conferences. Burke also
took this occasion to release to
the media a 300-page document
that marked the formal con­clusion
of the fact-finding' phase
of the development of the Master
Plan.
The document, entitled
"Prelude to Planftttfg," "Is «otf*
sidered the Most comprehensive.
and detailed study ever done on"
the Town. It was compiled by the
Town's planning consultants,
Raymond, Parish & Pine, Inc.,
with the cooperation of the Oyster
Bay Planning Advisory Board
which is chaired by Dr. Lawrence
Ravich.
-Burke said that progress on the
plan was running slightly behind
schedule, but he added that this
was only because of the
tremendous interest and desire to
participate in the planning
process that has been displayed
by residents of the Town.
"We began in August of 1970,"
Burke recalled,"'and at that time
we estimated we would be
finished in February of 1972."
"However, the residents
became involved even more than
we hoped, particularly in the
special study areas of Hicksville,
Jericho and Syosset-Woodbury.
"It was gratifying to see this
interest and in order to en­courage
it the Planning Advisory
Board and consultant have been
meeting with the various civic
groups, school boards and fire
and water district officials who
have expressed a desire to join in
the effort.
"We also have slowed down oUr
schedule' of meetings with
-^vfeirious groups and organizations
\ during vacation periods and in
the month of December to insure
a broader-based participation
when the holidays were over."
Burke said the planning con­sultants,
at no cost to the Town,
will continue to work full time
with the Advisory Board and the
Town Board through completion
of the plan.
A representative of the Ad­visory
Board said that formal
proposals from that group and
the consultant will be made to the
public and the Town Board for
the Jericho study area in
January, with the Syosset-
Woodbury recommendations
scheduled for late in January or
early February.
Public meetings on the
proposals for the unincorporated
area of the Town not included in
the Special study areas are to be
held in late February.
All of these proposals will be
aired at public meetings so the
Advisory Board can take into
account the views of the residents
before their final recom­mendations
are submitted to the
Town Board. The Town will then
conduct public hearings if it
considers any zoning changes, as
it did when it adopted a special G-
1 Business District in Hicksville
and when U adopts a formal
Comprehensive Master Plan.
Burke said that copies of
"Prelude to PimtatUig*-' will be
made available at no cost to
school districts and libraries
throughout the Town and a
limited number of copies will be
provided for responsible
organizations.
The document contains
background on a wealth of topics
including housing, tran­sportation,
development-redevelopment
opportunity
areas, existing land use,
population analysis and com­munity
opinions. These studies
have been utilized as an in­ventory
of facts that have helped
to define the Town's problems
and to identify areas of possible
improvement.
New Head For BADA
SCOUT CAMPAIGN: Present, at the kick-off for
Nassau County Boy Scouts' fund-raising drive, held
recently at the Beau Sejour in Bethpage, are (1. to r.)
Francis Looney, president of the Nassau County
Council; Vincent Geraci,' chairman for the Bethpage
district, Roy Fuchs and Charles Mitchell, both cam­paign
workers. First fund-raising event here in Beth­page
will be an art sale and boutique at Fairplay
Lumber, 140 Stewart Ave., Bethpage; a portion of the
proceeds from the sale will go to the scouts.
Photo Credit - Ray Shelton
u l . > , A J . A j ' i A i j . / u . ' ^ ' i L i .
-HRISTMS SHOPPERS SOID
Santa's show of Christmas
gills, now in
your HoiiH'lowir si ores.
A "together head" is (or was)
one drug culture term for a with-it
person. Bob Jacob is (or has)
such a head, which may be the
reason Bethpage students asked
him to become executive director
of BAD A (Bethpage Against
Drug Abuse).
Jacob has been on the job for
two and a half weeks. The way
the telephone rings in the BADA
center (26 Railroad Ave.), and
the way kids congregate in the
six-room house, indicate that it
has been a busy few weeks. But
the hassles of starting a new job
have not kept him from reaching
•some early conclusions about
what BADA needs, and who
needs BADA.
For instance, the director
believes tht most hard-core
addicts ignore community
programs such as BADA. As long
as the heroin or methadone is
available in big-enough doses,
addicts do not have a "problem",
at least as they see it.
"The kids we get here are
generally on soft drugs-marijuana
hash-hish. mild
stimulants but they come here
with a real problem, too. It might
be parents, school, love", explains
Jacob.
Here, the right approach is a
must. "What's your reaction
when someone comes up to you
and says you 'have a problem'?' he
asks the reporter. Obscene
gesture, answers the newsman.
"Right", replies Jacob.
The better answer, though, is to
motivate people to change
themselves. This is something
Jacob constantly urges on the
listener, but it is no empty cliche,
for the director is busy
organizing positive programs
that convince drug abusers it can
be fun to be straight.
Programs do not go far in two
and a half weeks, but Jacob hopes
to have movie-making and
photography workshops un­derway
soon. The center, open
seven days a week from 10 a.m.
to 10 p.m.. also has one full - time
counselor and one part - time
group leader, as well as five or
six steady volunteers who are
initiating projects of their own.
Jacob, who graduated from
Bethpage High School in 1966 and
still lives in Bethpage. realizes
that BADA has a long way to go
yet. One problem is that* some
students seem to feel the com­munity
group is a "clique" of 30
or 40 "regulars."
"There is a potential there,
though", Jacob points out. if and
when 30 or 40 people become a
positive force among their own
peers.
Jacobs is paid by New York
State, but he is not afraid to speak
out against the "boss." Citing
figures from the state comp­troller,
for instance, he criticizes
"Rocky's $2 billion mall" (of­ficially
priced at a sixth of that)
which, he argues, keeps the
budgets frozen while programs
die from lack of funds.
Still, money seems to be the
smallest element in what should
be a productive tenure for Bob
Jacob. It's only a hunch, but this
reporter thinks BADA will be
moving fast and strong now that
the emphasis is on people and not
just drugs.
BADA's phone number is 822-
6888. "Anyone with questions,
young or old. is welcome to call,
anytime", adds Jacob.
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