The-Leader_2007-04-05

              to all our readers!
72nd Year, No. 14 Freeport, N.Y. 11520
The Community Newspaper
Thursday, April 5, 2007
^'•ssiP^ ^^i^^ ^HCTSW
by Joan Delaney
Excitement reigned despite traf­fic delays and initial confusion as it became clear that the lights, cameras and action meaiit that the CBS television pilot called "Babylon Fields" was being filmed in Baldwin. All that vari­ous crew members would say was. "it's about zombies."
Production Assistant Reggie Cummings estimated that there were 75 to 80 people on the set. .Wong with scores of technical professionals were sightings of some of the lead actors who will eventually include Amber TamfiKffl."' f»fmer1y of "Joan of .-\cadin." .lamey Sheridan of "Law and Order" and Ray Stevenson of •Rome."
Filming took place over a two-week period in various locations in Baldwin including Merrick Road. Grand Avenue, and Lancaster Avenue. The crew was scheduled to do some filming in Hempstead as well. "They did a great scouting job," said Mr. Cummings.
Several buildings were trans­formed with new facades, an irony not lost on some residents who noted that neither the county nor the town were able to revital­ize the area over a decade. "They did it in a few days." said one res­ident who preferred not to be
identified.
So realistic was the funeral parlor, with a faux wooden front and elongat­ed awning, that this reporter received a phone call at home from a resi­dent asking, "'Does this mean that the revitaliza-tion isn't going to hap­pen?"
Fake stores included a funeral home, flower store and appliance store. Banners, almost identical to the "Welcoine to Baldwin" banners, were hting on telephone poles J
saying,
Babylon.' When was told local
•Welcome to
Mr. Cummings how hard the Chamber of Commerce had to work to raise money for its ban­ners, he replied, "It's amazing what you can do, and do it quickly, when you have the money."
Many people stood along the east side of Grand Avenue on Thursda>-. March 29, as filming took place on the west side of the street, inside an alleyway between stores.
"A fight scene is in rehearsal," said one resident, while most peo­ple seemed willing to cooperate in being quiet when there was a roar
f ZOMBIES AWAIT INSTRUCTIONS in Baldwin as a TV pilot entitled "Babylon Relds" was; filmed last week in the downtown area. Leader photo by Paul Laursen
from a technician to be quiet because ''They're rehearsing."
Some people were thrilled with the idea of the show being shot in Baldwin, One mother with children said, "Maybe it will put Baldwin on the map. Maybe they'll come back to film some more," (If they do, it will have to be very soon since the entire area is slated for demolition in the not-too-distant
future for a reyitalization project.)
Numerous on-duty police, with more police cars than are generally allotted to Baldwin, detoured or significantly delayed traffic to facilitate filming over several days, another detail not lost on some local resi­dents who had long begged for a greater police presence in the area.
State aid: thou^s^andi^i more for Freeport, Bald^rin
by Laura Schofer
jNew "^'ork stale schools will receive more than SI9 billion in educational funding, the largest amount in the state's history and an increase of 1.8 billion over last year's state aid, with Nassau County schools receiving a record increase of $90 million over what was proposed by New York's new Governor Eliot Spitzer. The announce­ment was made after New York law­makers passed the 2007-2008 state budget on April 1.
The governor proposed an average increase of about three percent to local school districts. "The eight Republican senators [from Long Island] held out and fought the governor," said Senator Charles Fuschillo. "We were able to restore aid and we rejected a lot of the governor's proposals."
Saying no to 'save harmless'
In particular Senator Fuschillo said, "We said no to the 300 schools that fell under the 'save harmless' category," The 'save harmless' category would
have left schools ih wealthier, more highly taxed districts with only a three-percent increase in new school aid,"
On average, local districts will receive a 10,13 percent increase, thus maintaining the 13 percent share of state aid that Long Island schools have received in the past. Locally, "it's almost 13.5 percent," said Senator Fuschillo. "The governor wanted to reduce that to about eight percent."
As a trade-off. Governor Spitzer did succeed in changing the school aid for­mula
so that high-risk districts receive
more aid instead of school districts with large enrollments and high property taxes, which could affect how our schools are funded in the future.
This year the additional monies came from the High Tax Aid Fund, which is not tied to the new education aid for­mula.
Increased education funding in the form of High Tax Aid will provide Freeport schools with an additional $983,014 and Baldwin with an addi­tional $799,196.
"I believe these resources [addition (continued on page 15)
Freeport Advisory
Committee offers advice
pages 2 and 3
H
Security eniiancemems atBHS page 5
H
A Taste of Freeport soon!
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$105 million budget
for Baldwin
pages