The-Leader_1970-01-22

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FREEP.OUT -ILV. - ',- ;. .
"NASSAU'S LARGEST WEEKLY I I
Freeporf s
CfjHflcial
News|laper
25,000 READERS
•A
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FREEPORT
ZIrCocfe 11520
aitTYear, No. 40
BALDWIN
2(p Code 11510 •
MERRICK
Zip Code 11566
FHEEPORT, N. Y., THUHSDAY, JANUARY 22, 1970
ROOSEVELT
zip Code 11575
PHICE: FIVE CfiNTS PER COPY
m
Inside Freeport
by John Mack
One sure prediction for the Seventies is that more attempts will
be. made to relax our zoning codes so that additional high-rise apart­ments
can be built. Freeport enters the Seventies With strong laws
to protect its suburban, residential character. But it wasn't always
this way. Just ten years ago, we were in the midst of an apartment-buildtng:
binge that threatened to end for^efc'the private-home na­ture
of our Village. The boom in fact did alter Freeport greatly,.
student loans and
iiicreasing the ratio of apartments to 28^ of our total dwelling units/ stickers. The money donated will
Thepresent Village Administration stopped the apartment boom be used for
and passed laws to protect our residential character. But no admin- scholarships,
istration is going to end the pressure for more tall apartments. For
one thing apartments are very profitable to the developers. For an­other,
the demand for apartments by the millions of people living in
4he New-York metropolitan-area- is enoraaous. And fOF still another
reason, the apartment issue is a popular one with local political
opportunists who try to sell the electorate on the idea that apart­ments
will lower taxes (even though the record shov/s'that they
have exactly the opposite effect). And one other reason advanced,
frequently, in fact being circulated right now, is that more high-rise
apartments are needed in Freeport to provide living quarters to
young marrieds and retired oldsters. In this column I wish to deal
with the fallacy of this latter argument. It is not only spurious, it
also is heartless because it raises false hopes, ' ' ' -
Sumper Sticker
Sale Drive Saturday
If A Bumper Sticker Sales Drive
to.raise funds for the Freeport
PTA Council's J. Wesley Southard
Student Fund will take place
Saturday, •'Jan. 24 throughout the
village.
Parents and teachers will drive
teams of high school students to
every neighborhood and canvass
<every house, selling bumper
• .Apartment ^rTurnover" Is The Answer
The way that young married couples,- and old timers, will find
their apartments in Freeport is through "the steady availability of
apartment units through normal turnover. During 1969, for example,
500 of the existing 3200 apartment units "turned over." This means
that 500 tenants moved out and 500 new tenants moved isx. During
every one of the twelve months a substantial number of Freeport
apartments received new tenants, ranging from a low of 31 in October
to a high of 89 in July. Thus there is a steady availability of apart­ments
here, month after month, caused by the continuous process
of apartment residents moving out.
During 1969 an additional 150-plus apartment units became
available in Freeport through completion of the new "Boatport"
apartment complex on West End Avenue. It would be a very in­teresting
project for our Planning Board to study the actual make­up
of the tenancy of this new luxury apartm^rft development. I
will wager that extremely few young marrieds or retired oldsters
leased these new apartments, which are reported to have the highest
rental costs in the Village. (Which figures, because they were con­structed
in this high-cost era). In fact the high costs of money, labor,
materials and everything else assure that anyjiew, large-scale apart-mewts
built here would be of the luxury type ivith rentals beyond
the react of most young and old.
The Timing Doesn't Work
When a couple wants to get married they set a date. That's when
ihey need their apartment. The owner of a new biiildtog is not going
to hold a unit vacant at his loss, until they are ready. Not when he
has a long line of out-of-towners with cash in hand begging for the
apartment. So it would only be sheer coincidence if a new apartment
was available when any specific young-married paid need it. The
same applies to older couples who decide to seU their big house and
move info IriapafBhent They don't just move out and leave their-house
empty. They put it on the market, and when they get a buyer
they seek their apartment. Again, by coincidence, a new apartment
might just be getting completed when they needed their rooms. But
that's a matter of aheer chance. In other words the argument "I^et's
build more high-rise apartments to make homes for young marrieds
and old timers" is a weak one because other people always end up
in the apartments. On the other hand, Freeport already has provided
the means for people of aU ages arid various income levels to obtain
apartments, by having in our housing inventory a large number of
apartments. Through the normal working of turnover, which in our
Village figures out to around 16% a year, an average of forty to
forty-five apartments become avaUable monthly. This fact enables
the younl couple getting wed in June, or the couple virho have set
the sale date.of their home foi^.October, to contact apartments of
their choice and start negotiating lor units that wiE be comingavail-able
at that time. I t is not, of course, aw absolutely certain solution'
to their housing lieeda. But it's far better than a "solution"' that
holds out no promise at all^ It aU seems to bear out the adage that
even the darkest cldiid has a Isiiver. lining. While,the overbuUding
of tall apMiments in the late Fifties; and early Sixties threatened
to engulf our commimity» It was this boom that now provMes the
substantial flow of vac.anciea and makes local apartment living avail­able
to many of thbse who seek i t
C. of C. Auxiliary
To Wold Tove in'
The Ladies Auxiliary of the
Freeport Chamber of Commercfe
cordially iiivites you to a "Ha-;
waiiian Love-In" on Sunday, Feb^
ruary 8, at the Outrigger Restau­rant,
So. Main Street, Freeport,
from 5 to 9.p.m.-Your donation
of $3.50 per person entitles you
to hors dloeuvresj hot buffetv live
nilislc and entertainment.'", z""^''
What better way' to spend a
winter Sunday evening than with
friends and neighbors in a con­genial
atmosphere? Tickets may
be purchased from any of the
members of the Chamber Aux­iliary
or by calling the President
Norma Braun at 623-1857 or
Marion Knoeller at the Chamber
office.
New Business
For Freeport
l^rv-H'^'' 'W'j'r»','7n''t;r'';-;'.'7J«i'^y-^'7'?:7;-rp''"r^-i^»
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Inspection
Automobiles must be inspected
once a year. The month of inspec­tion
is indicated by a punch hole
in the inspection sticker on the
car*."! windshield (the same month
each year). Refer to Section 301
Vehicle and Traffic Law.
induftrlal park in Freeport. Flanking hbn (Irom left) are AI -
Blank, president of t}xmi CoL Walter I#. WoXixmt of U. S. De>
lense Dopl., which has awszded the linn a conttact In lels-com-municatioss
field, and Freeport Mayor Robert J. Sweeney. Fu-tuionics,
26th firm to locate at the Fxeeport site since its was de­veloped
three years ago by the town's Local Development Cor­poration,
is currently located in Port Washington.
/
EVERY WHERE AT ONCE
Freeport QOP To Have
V^XUige Officials Night
The Freeport Bepublican Club will kick-off its 1970 meeting
schedule with "Village Officials Night" in what promises to be a
year of community involvement and awareness. Acceptances have
already been received from Mayor Bob Sweeney and the Villag-;
Board who will be introduced by Executive Leader Julie Mintz anu
Club President Berk Swezey. Au
drey Hendrlckson is progran.
chairman. Mayor Sweeney will
deliver a short address which
will be followed by remarks from
the Trustees.
The program to be held on
Tuesday, Jan. 27, 8:30 p.m., at
the Masonic Temple on W. Mer
rick Road, will mark the first
time in a number of years that
the local administration has ap­peared
ES a body and will serve
to point out the inter-relation-ship
of village government, fra­ternal,
service and political or­ganizations.
Door prizes, refreshments and
a dark horse prize will also be
part of the program.
J^ film Aoim't^ ^m-Wn^BOKt ChainlMr of CmoBuxm lumSmmi
meetins held Bi the Villa AOM, 244 E, Menick Bdm In FfMport.
This flhn thoWB our "finetf' in BCtloti all ovti Ffeeport. (h, to R.)
tChlei Asthonf Elaxi, Fsmpoxt Fotice Dept.. Mlch8iel'if..'Ke!iip,
PxtM, of iiie Chambfur and Mx. T. Mafilbewi< Piet. of Target Films,
produoer of this film.
Free Breakfast
Saturday Mornings
Bethel A.M.E. Church, 59 Helen
Ave., Freeport, will serve free
breakfast every Saturday morn­ing
between the hours of 8 and
10 a.m. All persons of the com­munity
are invited to participate,
especially the unchurched and
the underprivileged. The break­fast
program will begin January
24th.
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