Village News 1983-02

              Crime Down;
Arrests Up
According to the state's Di-vision
of Criminal Justice Serv-ice,
reportable crime in Freeport
was down by 561 incidents
from the period of January
through November, 1982 as op-posed
to the same period in 1981.
; The 1982 total was 2,204 and
2,765 in 1981.
The biggest drop, was in-bur-glary
occurrences, going from 929
cases to 625. Larcenies decreased
from 1,407 to 1,222, motor
vehicle thefts from 244 to 175;
robbery from 125 to 115;" ag-gravated
assault.from 60 to 49;
and' rape from nine to ' .four. .
There were no instances of negli-gent
manslaughter in 1982 and
one a year earlier. There was one
murder in 1981 and three in 1982. .
The 1982 annual report of the
Freeport - Police Department,
indicates that the local arrest rate
increased over a year earlier.
The four-man detective division
made 174 arrests as opposed to
•87-in 1981.'Sixteen persons were
arrested for burglary, 12 for
robbery,' eight for assault,
seven for grand larceny, and six
for possession of stolen property.
The remainder of the arrests
.were for misdemeanors. The ar-rest
figures in the Village annual
report do not take into account as-
•sistance provided by detective
division and other Freeport police
officers which led to apprehen-sions
by the Nassau County
Police. In total, the .Freeport
Detective Division handled 496
investigations during 1982 with
those involving narcotics and vice
being coordinated with the ap-propriate
squads on the county
level.
: For- the past 15 years, one
detective in the division has
acted as the Juvenile Aid Officer.
In 1982 the officer handled 204
complaint investigations includ-ing
child abuse, child neglect,
persons-in-need-of supervision
and all complaints involving those
under 16 years of age.. In total,
39 juveniles were brought before
.the Nassau County Family Court
on charges including assault,
criminal mischief, criminal tres-pass,
menancing, petit larceny
and sexual abuse.
Portable Heaters Twirling Festival
Banned In Village
FEBRUARY 1983
Residents are reminded that
the use of portable heating equip-ment
which uses a flame, gas-oline
or kerosene is prohibited
throughout'the Village, be h in a
private home or in a place of pub-lic
assembly.
During the current energy cri-sis,
such equipment is being
heavily advertised for sale. They
' have- been prohibited in Freeport
for many years however,' as being
both a fire hazard and emitting
dangerous gases. Portable elec-tric
heaters are not covered under
this ban.
Films At Library
Residents are reminded that
the Freeport Memorial Library
presents free films on a regular
basis. Most films are shown at
. 3:30 pm and then repeated at
7:30 pm.
'Scheduled for March 1 is
"Smokey and the Bandit";
March 4, "Rocky III"; March 15,
"On Golden Pond"; and March
25, Black History sports films,
"Only The Ball Was White" and
"The Rafer Johnson Story"
(7:30 pm only).
Gem And
Mineral Show
The annual Gem and Mineral
Show will be held at the Freeport
Recration Center on Saturday
and Sunday, March 19 and 20.
Hours on Saturday will be 10 am-
10 pm and 10 am-5 pm on Sun-day.
Admission is $1 for adults
and 50<t for children.
The Show includes exhibits,
demonstrations, articles for sale
and special events. , ,,- „,„, .
The Freeport Re-Creations,
New York State and North East
Regional Champions, will pre-
.sent their annual Twirling Fest-ival
on Sunday, March '27 at 'the
Freeport Recreation Center
beginning at 10 am.
'The U.S. Twirling Association-sanctioned
contest will include all
levels from beginner to advanced
strut. The event will also include
a "Miss South Shore Twirler"
modeling contest. :
Admission, for adults to the all-day
competition is $1.50.
The Freeport Re-Creations,
: coached by Freeporter Jill Comer-
-ford, are sponsored by the Free-
.port Recreation Department.
Formerly known as the Apache
Twirlers, the team would like to
publicly thank Jo and Frank
Cona of ,the Apache II • for • their
support in the years past.
Village
Cablevision Show
The next "Focus on Freeport"
show over Cablevision 's Channel
30 will be shown on Saturday,
March- 19 and again on Friday,
March 25. Both showings will
begin at 8pm.
Subject of the March show will
be the Freeport Recreation Cen-ter
with members of the staff
as guests. The show's hostess is
Austine White and the program
is produced by the Village's
Publicity Department.
Income Tax
Assistance
Senior citizens may receive
help in filling out their tax forms
every Tuesday, 10 am to noon,
at the Recreation Center.
The assistance will be available
..in, the Senior Lounge.
ir$ SMART TO SHOP FREEPORT
A Healthy Business
Community Lessens The
Burden -Of The Taxpay-ing
Resident . . .
• by broadening the tax
base
• by providing employ-ment
• by attracting more
tax-reducing develop-ment.
You can Help By Thinking
"Freeport First"
.For Purchase Of Goods
and Services
r
A Public Information Bulletin
of The, Village Of Freeport
46 North Ocean Avenue
Telephone FReeport 8-4000
William H. White, Mayor
Village mm ^J News
Public Meetings on the 1st. and 3rd. Mondays of the Month, at 8:00 P.M.
Tax Hike
Kept Under $1
The Freeport municipal budget
for fiscal year 1983-84 carries-a—j*y
tax increase of 8.8%, or 98<t per
$100 of assessed valuation, for a
total Village tax rate of $13.06 per
$100. The tax rate for fiscal year
1982-83 was $12.08. The budget
was the subject of a public
hearing on January 3.
This operating budget calls for
expenditures of $16.5 million, an
increase of $1,029,817 over last
year. Estimated revenues for the
fiscal year stand at $4.3 million
to which is added $848,000 in
funds on hand. Therefore, $11.3
million must be raised by taxation
on real property in the Village
currently having an assessed
valuation of $86.7 million.
The increase means an addi-tional
cost of $68.60 for the year
to the average Freeport home-owner
whose house is assessed at
$7,000, for example.
The tax increase, Mayor
William White pointed out,
reflects unavoidable increases in
operating costs such as salary
increases to police and other
municipal employees granted in
the 1982-83 fiscal year and
amounting to $400,000.
A contingency fund of
$675;000, up $375,000 over last
year, in the 1983-84 budget has
been set up to take into account,
among other times, both the Civil
.Service Employees Association
and Freeport . Police Benevolent
'Association contracts again in
negotiation.
Health insurance costs for
employees, budgeted last year for
$420,000, are set at $530,000 in
Winners All
Fencers from the Freeport Recreation Department's Youth Work-shop
program receive trophies at their final competition. Standing,
I to r: Director Tanya Adamdvich, Nicholas Negron, Leona Streater,
Michael Simmons, Colin Gumb, Andrew Sands, Tania McDicken,
Alberto Moore, Frank Tranchilla and Nancy Negron. Knelling, I to r:
Billy hjeuberger, Brooks. Watson, Shantel Jones. Coach Adamovich is
a former member of the U.S. Olympic team and a U.S. Fencing Cham-pion.
Frank Tranchilla has won the opportunity to go to the Junior
Olympics in Tampa, Fla. at the end of February after winning the L.I.
championship in Epee and Saber for under 16 year olds. Tranchilla
also took second place in Foil.
the next fiscal year in recognition
of an already state-approved rate
increase. A proposal by the
Village administration earlier this
year that employees in the future
absorb such rate increases totally,
or on a graduated salary scale, is
currently .a matter of contractual
and legal dispute.
The 1983-84 budget also
reflects the fact that last year's
municipal budget was based on
$100,000 more in anticipated
state aid . than was actually
received.
Mayor White pointed out that
these increased costs added up to
a tax hike in excess of $1 but
honing down in other
resulted in the final 984.
areas
Trustees: Dorothy Storm, Alfred Sirlin, James Clark, Vincent DiCostanzo
Village Clerk: Thomas DeVincenzo; Attorney: Harrison J. Edwards, Jr.; Treasurer: Thomas M. Molloy
It has long been a common
statement in the Village that
there are 22 native languages-in
Freeport. The origin, arid ac-curacy,
of that statement has
been lost in time.
For the 1980 census, the fed-eral
government directed that
certain ethnic groupings be
counted. The Freeport count,
recently received by the Village
government would seem to sus-
' tain the probability of the "22-
languages" premise.
In reporting the following cen-sus
results, we use the federal
government's terminology with
the understanding that "Irish, "
"Mexican" or whatever, the
count was. made of Americans
only to determine their ethnic
origin however many generations
past.
The highest "single ancestory
group" (mother and father of
the same ethnic origin regardless
Freeport: The Melting Pot
of American or foreign birth)
among Freeport's counted are
the Italians at 2,534, followed
by Germans at 2,037 and Irish
at 1,855. Others,, in alphabetical
order are: -Asian Indian (56),
Chinese (140), Cuban (611),
Dutch (119), English (1,805),
Filipino (44), French (128),
Greek (471), Japanese (26),
Hungarian (183), Korean (14),
Mexican (99), Norwegian (120),
Polish (695),•- Portugese (15),
Russian (590), Scottish (128),
Swedish (90) and Ukranian
(101).
The federal census also includ-ed
American Indians (68) and
Puerto Ricans (1,127) in the
•'•'•Single ancespry groups. ",.;•;• ...
The counting in 1980 also in-cluded
"persons in selected
multiple ancestory groups"
which, simplified to three gen-erations,
would mean grandpar-ents
of the same national origin
(regardless of American or
foreign birth) but a mother or
father coming from a different
group.
In Freeport, the Irish lead that
grouping with 4,194. Others, in
descending order, are: German
(3,938), English (2,371), Italian
(1,485), Polish (901) and French
(833).
Obviously.^missing for a true
picture of Freeport's interesting
multi-ethnicity, is the federal
counting of groups from such far-separated
areas as Columbia,
Wales, Jamaica, Czechoslovakia,
etc, etc.
It is also recognized that a
•, large proportion ..of .bjack . Amer-icans
were not included in this
special count as their country
of national origin was not deter-mined
by the federal Census Bur-eau.
gig Brothers And Sisters Needed
Freeport has again been invited
•to participate in the "Battle of
the Villages" to see which com-munity
in Nassau County can
generate the most volunteers for
the Big Brothers/Sisters local
chapter of the national organ-ization.
Big Brothers/Sisters as-signs
responsible adult volun-teers
to single parent children in
order that these youngsters
might realize that their full po-tential
as human beings and
avoid conflict with society. It
is a prevention program.
There Is A Need
• there are over 40,000 single
parent children in the County.
• Of the children in the County's
Big Brothers/Sisters, 31% are
black or hispanic and 67% are
white. Most live' at home and are
between the ages of seven and 19.
• Single parent children are four
times as likely to quit school and
six times as likely to be arrested.
A child placed in a state institu-tion
by the Juvenile justice sys-tem
can cost taxpayers upwards
of $30,000 per year.
• A research study of 400 children
involved in-.Big Brothers/Sisters
showed that 90% made more
friends, 82% improved their
school conduct, 91% improved
their self image and 100%
improved on scholastic achieve-ment
tests.
• Currently 285 Nassau County
children in the program are
actively matched with their
adult volunteer. Some 125 are.
awaiting such a match.
The Program
• One-to-one relationship is the
key.
• Three to five hours of volunteer
time per week with a minimum
commmitment of a year is neces-sary.
The average Big Brother or
Sister spends.$300 per year on
costs incidental to the relation-ship.
All expenses are tax-deductible
including 12$ per mile.
• Orientation and training of
volunteers are provided by staff
and staff support is provided on a
regular basis.
• There are monthly group activi-ties
plus discounts to various
places of interest such as movies
and sports events.
Residents who wish to volun-teer
are urged to call 489-7440.
When calling, please identify
yourself as living in Freeport and
as of having been alerted of the
need for volunteers by the Village
government.
Chamber Made Holidays Bright
Many residents noted that the
major thoroughfares in the
Village sported new lighted
decorations during the past holi-day
season. .They constitute
a $50,000 gift to the Village and
its residents from the Freeport
Chamber of Commerce.
Hung by the Freeport Electric
Department, the new decorations
replaced those purchased by the
Chamber 15 years ago. Purchased
through a four year plan, funds
have been, and will continue to be
raised, through car raffles and
other events sponsored by the
Chamber. Larry .Grebinar, First
Vice President of-the Chamber
and owner of Irving's Men Shop
on the Mall, is chairman of the
drive. • •
The Chamber is also to be
thanked, along with the Recrea-tion
Department, for the Annual
Holiday Festival at the Recreation
Center attended by over 2,000
children. The free event included
a visit and gift from Santa Claus
(Richard Cantwell of Carvel's)
and Mrs. Claus (Deputy Mayor
Dorothy Storm), free .ice skating
and entertainment by Freeport
resident Zippy the Chimp and
others.
'82 Bumper Year For Homefinders
Ramona Crook, director of the
••Village's federally-funded Homer
finders Service, reports that 106
houses were sold through her
Village Hall office in 1982. Undoc-umented
are additional sales by
. area real estate brokers to buyers
attracted to Freeport by the Vil-lage's
advertising and' public
relations activities.
A thumbnail sketch of the year-end
report out of Homefinders
. shows:- . '.^ -• —.-. »u- t -.
• An additional 106 houses
were sold bringing the total to
over 600 since the Service began
in 1978.
• In addition to the 106 families
who have since purchased homes,
351 other potential buyers were
interviewed during, the-year- and
:are still actively looking.
• One third of the • buyers
passing through the Homefind-ers
office are young couples with
at least one spouse having been
raised in Freeport.
• Fifty-five houses placed for
sale through Homefinders by
their owners in 1982 were with-drawn
from the market with many
now undergoing expansion con-struction.
• The sales prices-in 1982 for
houses sold through Homefinders
went from $140,000 for water-front
to $40,000 for a "handyman
special."
• A house sold through Home-finders
two and a half years
ago for $39,000 has since been
resold for $69,000 through the
same office. A house sold a year
ago for $64,000 is again listed
with Homefinders but for $89,500
while the owners are looking to
purchase another house in the
Village.
• The average three bedroom
brick colonial sold for $42,000
when Homefinders first began.
The same house now brings
about $80,000.
-. • Homefinders reports that, the
average person putting their
Freeport house on the market is
a retiree. A smaller percentage
are involved in divorce pro-ceedings.
----- •__• ...--..-. . -
• The clients of Homefinders
last year came from as far away as
Brazil and as closeby as Baldwin,
Merrick, Bellmore, Franklin
Square, Floral Park, Great Neck,
Manhattan, etc.
• Homefinders has been
known -to-sell Chouses- over-one
weekend — a possible record!
However, it must be understood
that the real estate industry's
Multiple Listing Service of Long
Island, with all of its resources
not available to Homefinders,
takes an average selling time of
75 days for its Freeport listings.
There are many variables in-volved.
• Forty-one "Section 235"
houses were sold in the north-east
section of the Village through
Homefinders in 1982. The hous-ing
lots were sold ' by the
Freeport Community Develop-ment
Agency for $1 to private
developers for the construction
of houses offered to buyers
through a federally-reduced mort-gage
program. The Village Board
of Trustees charged the Home-finders
office with the respon-sibility
of attracting buyers to
the program who would comple-
Safe Driving For Seniors
Periodically the American As-sociation
of Retired Persons spon-sors
a safe driving course for those
over the age of 55 at the Freeport
Recreation Center. The course
consists of two classroom sessions
and centers on defensive driving
techniques applicable to seniors.
Fee for the course is $10. Those
completing the course are issued
a certificate which can be used
to gain a 10% discount on their
liability insurance. The State
Motor Vehicle will also eliminate
three points on the drivers li-cense
of those passing the course.
The next course will be given
on March 14 and 15, 9 am to
. 1 pm. Those wishing to register
should call the instructor, Ber-nard
Eisen, after 11 am, at
546-3141.
Sidewalk Contractors
ment the area improvement ef-
• forts already successfully under-way
through the Village's Home-steading
program which has re-habilitated
75 houses.
• Prospective buyers with no
family ties or real familiarity with
the Village come to Homefinders,
and area real estate brokers,
through a variety of methods.
One Franklin Square couple
came to Woodcleft Avenue to
buy fish and spotted ;.the-Home-.
finders banner strung across the
street. A Great Neck resident
was intrigued by the Homefinders
ad in the 1982 calendar produced
and distributed by the Freeport
Kiwanis Club. Other buyers first
came into the Village as users of
"the"Free'port Recreation Center
where Homefinders maintains a
small additional office.
Other prospective buyers arrive
as the result of publicity such as
the article on the Village in the
September issue of American
Express' "Travel and Leisure"
magazine and the article entitled
"In Freeport, a Revival of Grace-ful
Living," which appeared in
the real estate section of the
December 5th Sunday New York
•Times. The latter centered on the
purchase and renovation of the
Village's older large houses.
Advertising has also been ef-fective
in attracting potential
-buyers. The February and March
issues of "Metropolitan Life,"
(formerly "Apartment Life")
carry full page ads from Home-finders.
The magazine has a
large circulation in New York,
Connecticut and New Jersey.
There is a need for more li-censed
sidewalk contractors in
the Village. The Village has
recently eased requirements by
eliminating the need for a per-formance
bond.
Those interested should con-tact
the Registrar at Village Hall.
LOOSE DOGS
The Village of Freeport con-tracts
with the Town'of Hemp-"
stead Dogs Warden for the
pick up of loose dogs within
the Village.
Residents spotting wander-ing
dogs should call the
Warden's office at SU 5-5220.
Consistent complaints of
animal nuisances, such as
barking dogs, should be re-ported
to the Village Clerk's
office at Village Hall.