NASSAU COUNTY CIVIC ASSOCIATION, INC. "The government is us, we are the government, you and I." Teddy Roosevelt

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND INITIATIVES

Taxation

One of the most important issues facing Nassau County residents is the high burden of taxation. We have successfully lobbied the Nassau County Legislature on their effort to raise property taxes in fiscal years 2004 & 2005, a home heating fuel surcharge, and their attempt to raise their salary by 90%.

On November 3, 2004 following the passage of the County Executive's multiyear budget plan which calls for property tax increases in 2006 & 2007, letters were sent to all 19 legislators demanding that they vote down these increases when they come up for the actual budget vote and instead cut taxes. We then supported a demonstration on November 22, 2004 at the county legislative building along with The Community Alliance protesting these increases. In April 2005, the County legislature agreed to hold the line on property taxes.

On April 6, 2006, a forum entitled, "Albany’s Role in Long Island’s School Tax Problem” was held at the Hilton Hotel in Huntington. This meeting was held in partnership with LIFER (Long Islanders for Educational Reform www.lischooltax.com). The meeting was moderated by Peter Kohler of Channel 12 News. Our featured speakers were State Senator John J. Flanagan (R), Assembly members Charles Lavine (D) & Marc Alessi (D), Business Leaders Bruce Bent & Chris Murray (Nassau Chamber of Commerce) and civic leaders Pat Byrne (Nesconset-Sachem Civic Association, Laurie Pendelakis (Manhasset Civic Association) and Frank Russo (Port Washington Educational Assembly). County Executive Steve Levy (D) who was initially unable to attend did appear at the forum and spoke briefly at the end. This forum focused attention on the problem of excessive school taxes and received statewide media attention. 

On September 16, 2006, a representative of the NCCA participated in a forum entitled, "High Taxes on Long Island: What are the options?" This forum  was held at Hofstra University and was organized by the Center for Governmental Research in Rochester. The forum also featured Patrick Halpin, executive director of the Institute for Student Achievement; Richard V. Guardino Jr., executive dean of Hofstra's Center for Suburban Studies; Lisa Tyson, director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition; Pearl Kamer, economist with the Long Island Association, State Senator John J. Flanagan (R), and Elaine Gross, president of Erase Racism. The forum was televised throughout the state on WLIW Channel 21.

In October of 2006, we launched our initiative to provide property tax relief, "The Property Tax Reduction Law". Under the County Charter (the constitution of Nassau County government), a mechanism exists under Article 1A which authorizes qualified voters of Nassau County to draft and introduce legislation before the Nassau County legislature. This requires the gathering of signatures via the petition process which is then submitted to the country clerk to certify. Unless there are valid or viable legal objections, the legislation then goes to the legislature via the appropriate committee for their consideration. While it is up to the committee to accept or reject the legislation, the issue of tax relief then enters into the political process. If the legislature rejects the legislation by either voting it down in committee or holding the bill without voting, they will have to justify their actions before the people. 

In February 2008, a member of the board testified before NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief chaired by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi. The NCCA came out in support of the proposed property tax cap and in opposition to the circuit breaker approach which would exclude the majority of Long Island taxpayers. In September 2008, a board member of the NCCA attended a second public meeting of the NYS Commission on Property Tax Relief. The Commission ultimately produced a final report to Governor Patterson in December 2008. 

in February 2009, a board member of the NCCA appeared at the Nassau County legislature in an effort to speak out in opposition to the proposed home heating fuel tax. Several legislators spoke with the NCCA prior to the vote and indicated that they would have to support the tax. Our opposition to the vote was expressed. When it came time for public comment, the process broke down and opponents were blocked from speaking. The NCCA posted the results of the vote and voting record of all legislators relating to hikes in the property tax. 

In 2009, the NCCA joined up with TEA party movement. Our members have attended several TEA party events across Long Island. Some of the events include the Levittown Tea party in April, Rockville Centre in June, Massapequa in September and Merrick in October. A member of the NCCA board was invited to speak at the Massapequa and Merrick events. The NCCA is continuing to work with our friends in the TEA party movement.

In January 2010, the NCCA came out in opposition to 32-47% pay raises for the leadership of the Nassau County legislature. The pay raises were rescinded in February 2010. Our action was consistent with opposition to the prior legislative majority’s effort to vote themselves double digit raises and the 60% salary increase for the four executive positions. We also opposed pay raises for the town of Hempstead and Oyster Bay.

Education

In April 2004, we challenged the proposal by the Lawrence school district to replace four fire escapes for two school buildings at a cost of approximately 1.1 million. An independent engineer disputed the recommendation for replacement and instead recommended the repair of these structurally sound fire escapes at significant cost savings to the taxpayers.  Unfortunately, the Lawrence school district went ahead with the project. On October 19, 2005, Newsday reported that a review by the state comptroller found the district's auditing firm "produced sloppy work that did not comply with auditing standards" and criticized the school board for poor oversight of the audits.  

We have proposed a fiscal reform package for school districts that ensure fiscal responsibility and accountability. One of our proposals, to require all school budgets to be posted online was endorsed in a News 12 Long Island Editorial (August 2004). The proposal is currently under consideration by both houses of the New York State Legislature.

On November 19, 2004, letters were sent to all 54 school districts in Nassau County requesting that they voluntarily adopt our reform package excluding those initiatives that require legislative approval.

We have lobbied the New York State legislature to enact common sense school safety reforms in light of the Mepham High School hazing scandal. Our recommendations effectively balance school safety while preserving the rights and liberties of students.

On August 31, 2004, we recommended that the New York State Comptroller's office conduct an independent forensic audit of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District. This request was based on the resignation of a school board member who failed to return excess funds and to provide appropriate documentation for monies which he actually expended on school related business. While the board member resigned and reimbursed the district for monies owed, this incident called into question the integrity of the district's accounting practices and internal controls as it took the district nine years to uncover.

On September 14, 2005, Nassau District Attorney Dennis Dillon announced the arrest of the school board member in question, Charles Reinhardt. The DA's press release stated the following: "My office commenced an investigation when we received information from the Superintendent of the Bellmore-Merrick Schools that Reinhardt did not reconcile expenses incurred while attending out of town school conferences. During our investigation my office discovered a previously undetected fraud in the amount of $1,423.77. Reinhardt went to New Orleans in 2003 for an education conference. He accepted a cash advance from the Bellmore Merrick District while he also used a credit card of the North Bellmore District to pay for expenses on the same trip. As a result, the North Bellmore District suffered a loss of $1,423.77." Mr. Reinhardt is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

In September 2006, Suffolk DA Spoda impaneled a grand jury to investigate corruption involving school districts in Suffolk County. The DA subpoenaed the records of every school district in Suffolk County and issued a report critical of lucrative benefit packages to school administrators, called for legislative changes and recommended citizen oversight before school boards authorize generous salary & benefit deals. We were gratified that the Grand Jury report adopted many of our reform proposals recommended back in July 2004.

Illegal Immigration

We have lobbied the Department of Homeland Security to address the crisis at our nation's borders. We lobbied congress to include the 911 commission's recommendations relating to illegal immigration and border security in the final intelligence reform bill out of the House/Senate conference committee (HR 10 & S 2845). In December of 2004, the congress passed and the President signed the Intelligence Reform bill into law. While the law contained the intelligence reforms, it did not include the immigration reforms which were passed by the House. While not all of the provisions were included, the legislation did call for minimum standards for driver licenses and personal identification cards. President Bush and members of the Senate conference committee agree to address the immigration reforms in 2005 as part of separate legislation.

On January 26, 2005, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman James F. Sensenbrenner (R) Wisconsin introduced the “Real ID Act”. The main provisions of the bill were as follows; establish a uniform rule for driver licenses in all fifty states, have licenses expire when an applicant’s visa expires, reform of the asylum law, mandate that grounds for inadmissibility in the U.S. such as links to terror related activities be grounds for deportation, and allow the final construction of a fence on the California border in San Diego. This legislation was signed into law by President Bush in May. The Nassau County Civic Association, Inc, and its members successfully lobbied members of Congress for passage of the Real ID Act. Our support of this legislation was noted on a petition submitted to the United States Senate. We would like to thank NumbersUSA which spearheaded the effort to pass this essential legislation. For more information, please read our article, "Illegal Aliens and Driver Licenses".

In April of 2004, Fox News reported Home Depot in Los Angles was going to allow a hiring hall for illegal aliens to open at one of their stores. It was our concern that this would lead to hiring halls at other Home Depot locations in Nassau County. For the last 18 months, we have sent correspondence and have communicated with members of Home Depot's executive management to determine the status of this effort. Our position in opposition was quite clear; while Home Depot is not responsible to enforce our nation's immigration policies, Home Depot does not have the right to violate the law. In October of 2005, the Fox News show, "The Big Story" with John Gibson reported that Home Depot has recently posted signs at their stores to ensure that there is no loitering on their property in response to illegal aliens soliciting work on their property. 

On June 4, 2006, several members of the NCCA participated in a protest in support of secure borders and against the  invasion of millions of illegal aliens. This protest took place in Garden City close to the Immigration office. Over 100 people showed for this successful protest. 

On June 21, 2006, several NCCA members attended a meeting at the Albertson VFW which featured former INS Agent Michael Cutler who provided expert testimony before congress. During this meeting, Pat Nicolosi (who is the President of a local civic association in Elmont) was informed of a ongoing problem in Franklin Square involving illegal alien day laborers who have been harassing and threatening local residents. The NCCA assisted Mr. Nicolosi by contacting local, state and federal officials requesting immediate assistance. Pat Nicolosi spearheaded the effort to remediate this ongoing problem with appearances on Fox News and a story in the New York Times. We applaud Pat Nicolosi!

The NCCA advocated for passage of a strong immigration enforcement bill. A strong enforcement bill ultimately passed in the House of Representatives in December, 2005. The Senate passed their own version in 2006 which contained no border security provisions and an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens. The House stood their ground and the Senate's "immigration reform" bill went no where. In September, the House passed a more limited enforcement bill which included the construction of a border fence which put pressure on the Senate to act. The Senate passed the measure in September and the President Bush signed the bill into law on October 26, 2006. 

During the question and answer session of the public forum "Immigration on Long Island: Our Challenge, Our Responsibility" held at Adelphi University on Thursday, May 15, 2008, Marianela Jordan, Executive Director of the Nassau County Coordinated Agency for Spanish Americans (CASA) acknowledged that CASA assists "undocumented immigrants" with filing out federal forms to obtain tax id numbers so they can work in Nassau county. The tax id numbers are issued by the U.S. Treasury Department in order to collect taxes even though the applicants are illegal aliens. After informing the Nassau County legislature, we received a response denying the practice but privately were informed that the practice was stopped after it was brought to the legislature's attention.

Defense of Marriage

We have lobbied all levels of government to defend marriage as the union of one man and one women. We have and will continue to hold our elected officials accountable to enforce New York's Constitution and New York State Law.

On March 2, 2004, letters were sent to Governor Pataki and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno over the failure of state officials to intervene against New Paltz mayor Jason West who began solemnizing Homosexual marriages in violation of Articles 2, 3 of the Domestic Relations Law. While Ulster County District attorney, Don Williams charged Mayor West with 19 misdemeanor counts, the Mayor vowed to continue to defy state law. The national public interest law firm, Liberty Counsel ultimately obtained injunctive relief against the Mayor and two other individuals he appointed to illegally solemnize homosexual marriages. 

The effort to sneak the bill through without allowing sufficient time for public disclosure was disgraceful. The public hearing was scheduled on a Monday morning immediately after the Spring break which coincided with Easter and Passover.  Many residents take vacation and return to work on the date of the hearing. While the current law requires notification to the public be provided within 4 days of the vote, Presiding Officer Judy Jacobs could have placed the issue on the agenda and posted the legislation on the county's website 30 days prior to the hearing.  She could have also scheduled an evening hearing to give residents an opportunity to speak. To ensure open and honest government, the Nassau County Civic Association, Inc submitted a bill to the legislature on the date of the hearing entitled, "The Disclosure and Accountability Reform Act". Please click on the link for details.

On July 30, 2006, letters were sent to all State Senators representing Nassau County and to Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno criticizing their failure to adequately defend marriage in NYS. While they defend marriage in word, they have been destroying it in deed with the passage of contrary incremental legislation.

In mid October, 2006, State Senator Nick Spano came out in support of homosexual marriage and promised to sponsor legislation to amend the Domestic Relations law. He also came out in support of legislation which would re-define gender roles. As his actions would effect every resident of New York State and Nassau residents, his position in support of these changes were disseminated to the public consistent with our mission statement.  

In an effort to defend marriage, the NCCA joined forces with the Coalition to save marriage in New York in 2007.

In mid October, 2007, Nassau County Legislator David Mejias came out in support of homosexual marriage and promised to sponsor legislation to amend the Domestic Relations law. He also came out in support of legislation which would re-define gender roles. As his actions would effect every resident of New York State and Nassau residents, his position in support of these changes were disseminated to the public consistent with our mission statement.

In October 2008, the NCCA launched the Marriage and Gender Initiative. The initiative includes the following; a) educating the public about the pending legislation, b) explain the ramifications of the radical public policy proposals, c) inform the  public of the voting records of each State Senator and Assembly member, d) encourage public participation in the political process consistent with our goals, e) and advocating to maintain the current definition of marriage and gender. Consistent with this initiative, an "Action Center" was created and the voting records of all Assembly members and Senators have been posted. A statewide mailing was completed in October 2008.

In January 2009, Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith promised to sponsor legislation to amend the Domestic Relations law and legalize homosexual marriage. As his actions would effect every resident of New York State and Nassau residents, his position in support homosexual marriage was disseminated within his district in May and June 2009.   

In December 2009, the NCCA contacted several Senators and urged a NO vote on homosexual marriage. The legislation to legalize homosexual marriage was defeated 38-24.

Election Reform

We have recommended that the New York State Legislature amend state election law to require all special districts and governmental entities to hold elections on the same specified date.  We would also recommend that Education law be amended to require all school districts to hold any budget re-vote (for those budgets that fail) on the same specified date unless the legislature eliminates the re-vote requirement. This proposal will be submitted to the legislature for consideration. Please read our article, "Election Reform for Accountability".

In June of 2007, NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and County Executive Suozzi endorsed our NCCA initiatives for Open Government Initiative and Election Reform for Accountability

Open Government

We have recommended that all governmental line item budgets be posted on the internet. Letters were sent to county, town and city governments in Nassau County recommending the adoption of this initiative. The Town of Hempstead was the first local government to adopt this reform proposal. Accordingly we would like to thank Supervisor Murray for adopting our proposal and Peter J Ruffner who successfully advocated for this reform. 

Our efforts remain ongoing. We would like to thank County Executive Tom Suozzi for posting the county's line item budget. Several villages such as Lynbrook, Cedarhurst and school districts such as Farmingdale have also posted their line item budgets. As of January 2007, eight of the thirteen towns on Long Island and Suffolk County have posted their line item budget. To see which entities posted their budgets, please visit the "Open Government Update" page.  

On April 24, 2006, our initiative; "The Disclosure and Accountability Reform Act" was presented to all nineteen Nassau County Legislators. Under current law, the legislature is only required to provide notice of proposed legislation in final form 4 days prior to consideration and notice as to their agenda 7 days prior to the scheduled hearing. This allows for extremely limited notice to the public and encourages last minute items to be considered without the public's knowledge. The most recent example is the attempt to enact pay raises of 35% & 90% and passage of the domestic registry. This reform measure would require a minimum of thirty days notice prior to any hearing date. Furthermore, it would require the establishment of a public registry where all proposed legislation (in final form for passage) would be published on the county website and made available at all public libraries thirty days prior to the public hearing. As no action has been taken by the legislature to enact this good government legislation, signatures are being gathered to submit this legislation to the Nassau County legislature consistent with Article 1A of the Nassau County Charter. 

On Nov 2007, this bill was submitted in legislative form to the legislature. In December 2007, the bill was formally introduced by legislator Joe Scannell, however no action was taken. The bill was submitted to the legislature several times during 2008 but again not action was taken. In February 2010, the Minority Leader, Diane Yatauro came out in support of the bill. The bill's chances have improved this year with the recent controversy over pay raises for the leadership in the Nassau County legislature. 

Family Issues

We have successfully lobbied congress to pass a bill which was signed into law that increases the penalties for the broadcast of indecency and Obscenity. Formal complaints were filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) against Viacom, CBS and its affiliates for the Super Bowl incident involving Janet Jackson.

On November 17, 2004, a formal complaint for indecency was filed with the FCC against ABC for the unedited broadcast of "Saving Private Ryan"  which contained over 78 indecent expletives.  

In February 2007, we worked to oppose the effort by Assembly member, Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale) to sponsor legislation mandating all school age females be vaccinated with Gardasil. Gardasil was found to reduce the risk of cervical cancer caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV), however as the drug only protects against four strains out of one hundred (with thirty sexually transmitted) and its use is not consistent for girls between the ages of 9-16 years, why mandate its use? The answer, Merck. The company commenced an underground marketing campaign by donating money to legislators in twenty states in an effort to pass legislation mandating the use of Gardasil. As this vaccination had nothing to do with preventing the spread of communicable diseases within the school setting, the effort to require its use was an over reach by the state with the assumptive belief that government always knows best versus that of parents. Less then two weeks later, Merck ceased their marketing campaign of Gardasil. A NYS Board of Election report filed by Assembly member Amy Paulin discloses a contribution from Merck.

Religious Discrimination

The Bellmore school district removed Christmas from the 2003-2004 school calendar. A member of the civic association challenged this action as all other federal holidays were listed along with Yom Kippur. Our member recommended the inclusion of Christmas, Easter and all Jewish holidays on the school calendar. The board rejected this recommendation and instead restored Christmas to the 2004-2005 school calendar while excluding Easter and all Jewish holidays.

Beginning in November 2004, we announced our initiative, "Defending Religious Liberty". We agreed to assist any Nassau County resident who has been subjected to religious discrimination as outlined in our article “The Constitution and religious liberty”. This assistance will be in the form of filing complaints with local elected officials and with various federal, state and local agencies. We will also arrange for a public showing of support against the entity and or governmental agency that has engaged in religious discrimination. If the entity declined to comply with the law, we will direct residents to one of four public interest law firms that specialize in religious discrimination.

Continuing with our initiative, a memorandum of law was sent to all 54 school districts in Nassau County in November of 2005. This memorandum of law (from the national public interest law firm Liberty Counsel) clarified what is legally permissible as to religious expression in area of education. The intent of this effort was to protect the religious liberty of students and school employees.

On November 25, 2006, a memorandum of law was sent to all 70 towns, cities and village in Nassau County including county executive Thomas Suozzi. This memorandum of law (from the national public interest law firm Alliance Defense Fund) clarified what is legally permissible as to religious expression in the public square and at public buildings. The intent of this effort was to protect the religious liberty of residents and municipal employees.

Beginning in December of 2005, we challenged a policy change by NYS Parks to rename all "Christmas Tree" lighting events to "Holiday tree" lightings. While Commissioner Bernadette Castro indicated that she does not agree with her own policy, she has stated in a letter that the Attorney General's office advised Parks not to change their policy until they conduct a "legal review". As of December 2006, this "legal review" has been pending for over one year. As there is no basis in law or common sense to purge Christmas from the public square, we will continue this battle to change this policy. Several national groups have agreed to assist and we welcome their efforts. Go to the religious liberty page for more information.   

In September of 2007, the NCCA was contacted by a south shore Rabbi who reported that he was having a problem with equal access at his local library and with a park facility in Town of Hempstead. After contacting the library, the issue was resolved. The Town of Hempstead acted immediately to resolve the issue and was very responsive to the needs of people of faith. 

During 2006 and 2007, the NCCA attempted to work with the Town of Oyster Bay over its revision of a local ordinance relating to the distribution of literature in local parks. The town was sued by a religious group, "Jews for Jesus" over their actions wherein they arrested a member of the group for distributing religious literature in a public park. In September 2007, our Executive Director Robert Kosowski an attorney appeared before the town board and testified that the law as written was unconstitutional. When asked to comment, the US Department of Justice Special Counsel on Religious Liberty, Eric Treene agreed that the amended ordinance was unconstitutional yet the town in its own arrogance dragged their feet when asked to amend the ordinance. Ultimately the court ruled again that the town's amended ordinance was unconstitutional. The NCCA ran a show on Cablevision's public access channel highlighting the town's actions.

On December 10th, 2007 a memorandum of law was sent to all 54 public libraries and over 60 Fire Departments throughout Nassau County addressing religious liberty.  The memorandum of law (from the national public interest law firm Alliance Defense Fund) clarified what is legally permissible as to religious expression in the public square and at public buildings. The mailing to public libraries included a copy of the Information letter on Equal Access to clarify when government can regulate or limit speech. The intent of our effort is to ensure that all Nassau residents have the freedom to express their faith by way of speech and not suffer from discrimination based on viewpoint.

Crime

We have lobbied for passage of civil confinement and "Jessica's law". Both are part of a comprehensive package of legislation that will help protect our children and our families from sexual predators.

Civil confinement calls for a psychiatric evaluation of all convicted sexual predators prior to their release from prison or when a person is charged with a sexually violent offense. The law would deal with a narrow class of persons and would limit civil confinement to those under limited circumstances. The confinement criteria would include a finding of a “mental abnormality” or “personality disorder”, a danger to society and difficulty controlling their behavior. Those who meet this criterion would be afforded all of the constitutional protections with the decision to confine rendered by a jury or trial judge. If ordered confined, the individual would be held in a secure mental health facility to receive treatment until they are deemed safe to release. Civil confinement has been upheld by the US Supreme court in  Kansas vs. Hendricks and Kansas vs. Crane

Based on the kidnapping, rape and murder of 9 year old Jessica Lunsford, the state of Florida passed “Jessica’s law”. Some of the provisions are: 25 years to life for first time aggravated rape of child 14 years or less,  Lifetime electronic monitoring for violent sex predators, Creating a class A felony for removing or damaging a monitoring device for anyone subject to life time monitoring, Enhanced monitoring by corrections, parole and probation,  Creating a new felony for allowing a sex predator to reside in one’s residence knowing that the sexual predator failed to comply with registration and Requires information sharing between corrections and law enforcement agencies.

Since 1993, the New York State Senate has passed civil confinement legislation nine times with bipartisan support, however the legislation went no where in the Assembly. On December 6, 2005, the Nassau County Civic Association, Inc was informed that the leadership of the Assembly agreed to pass a civil confinement bill with increased criminal penalties and monitoring of sexual predators. During the 2006 legislature session, the Assembly did pass a civil confinement bill which lacked sufficient teeth. Efforts to reconcile the Assembly & Senate bills failed during the current session. A final effort to pass a civil confinement bill during a special session in December 2006 failed as Speaker Sheldon Silver blocked a vote. He did state that he will allow a vote to reconcile the competing bills in January during the 2007 legislative session. We will continue to press for passage of this important legislation.  

On January 18th, 2006, the Governor signed a bill which strengthened Megan's Law. The most violent sex predators, Level 3 would have to register for life, those who are level 2 would also have to register for life but could petition a court to be removed after 30 years and level 1 offenders would have to register for 20 years. 

Economic Development

It’s important to understand that most Nassau residents do support development, however most do not support the current methodology of development oversight. Nassau County is a mature county with limited land and the old rules no longer apply. It is imperative for elected leaders to take a fresh look as to how we can further refine development in order to balance the need to increase the tax base while preserving our suburban quality of life.

In April 2007, the NCCA and the Town of Hempstead Civic Council advocated for a moratorium on the issuance of building permits for construction of new single family or two family homes on substandard residential lots in the Town of Hempstead. This moratorium allowed the Town to conduct a study of the current zoning laws, meet with civic groups, builders and other interested parties and enact amendments to the building code. The changes addressed the problem of "Mc-Mansions" which are large oversized residential buildings on small parcels. The amendments addressed in particular side set backs, the size of the home foot-print and a formal definition of building height. Additional amendments addressed houses of worship and enforcement issues such as the height of grass subject to a fine.

In December 2007, the NCCA came out in opposition to the Trammell Crow redevelopment plan for West Hempstead. The Town of Hempstead Department of Planning and Economic Development (DPED) recommended up to 45 condominium or rental units per acre well above the current building code of 20 units per acre. As this plan would establish a precedent for increased building density in other areas of the town, we sought an alternative plan. in November 2008, a compromise plan was approved by the town with the support of all parties.

In 2008 and 2009, worked to defeat the proposed redevelopment plan for the coliseum area located in Uniondale due to several factors. The Light House plan if approved would have transformed suburban Nassau County into an extension of urban New York City. One of our board members appeared on Channel 12's program "LI Talks" in July 2009 to address our concerns and testified against the plan before the Hempstead Town Board in September 2009. Charles Wang's project is currently stalled. The town has decided to have the engineering firm which was involved with the Lighthouse plan conduct a study and provide recommendations on how to best redevelop the property. The NCCA supports the town's effort to redevelop the property consistent with the suburban character of Nassau County.

This page provides a summary of our accomplishments and initiatives but is not all inclusive of our efforts and or activities. This page will be updated as information becomes available and as events warrant.

Page last updated March 2010