Community Watchdog

Readers have contacted us about streetlights in their neighborhoods that need to be replaced. Here's a list of town links that should help you get a light replaced on your block:

Joe Evans holds a collection of letters he's received from various officials in his efforts to get working street lights on Northern Boulevard in Manhasset.
Newsday photo by Gwen Young

It’s been almost three months since we first wrote about a complaint by Manhasset resident Joe Evans about lights on Northern Boulevard.

Evans has trying for more than four years to fix a street lighting problem on Route 25A by repeatedly contacting state, town and village officials.

The non-working lights that border the Villages of Munsey Park, Flower Hill and Roslyn Estates leave the road dark and dangerous at night, Evans said.

In early May, North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman told us the problem shouldn’t be hard to fix.

But for years the issue has been trapped in Long Island’s morass of overlapping jurisdictions. The state Department of Transportation sent Evans letters saying the villages are responsible for the lights. However, LIPA said the Town of North Hempstead was the municipality of record. Kaiman said that while the town could easily take on the lighting maintenance, the villages would have to sign agreements allowing the town to do the work.

We first published Evans’ complaint in early May, after Kaiman said he’d meet with the Munsey Park mayor to determine a course of action.

We checked on things last month and learned that the meeting didn't happen because of conflicting schedules.

Recently, we called again to ask for an update. In an e-mail, town spokesman Collin Nash wrote: “While a LIPA map shows that the lights in question, located on the north side of Northern Boulevard and Copely Road, are on TONH property, it’s not clear-cut from the town’s standpoint that that ndeed is the case. Northern Boulevard is a state road and as such the rights of way falls under the town’s jurisdiction`. That said, the town is willing to take responsibility for maintaining the lights but we need authorization from the three bordering villages... The town is now in the process of preparing and negotiating an inter-municipal agreement with the three villages to grant us easement to maintain the lights. In the meantime, we are trying to establish protocol to begin maintenance of the lights before finalizing the agreement.”

The agreements, Nash wrote, could be drawn up within four to six weeks.

Stay tuned.

A reader who saw that the Town of Islip town board recently passed restrictions on when garbage cans and how long they can stay at the curb, wrote this comment:

"No one listens to the Town of Hempstead codes...no full trash cans at the curb before 7pm the day before...cans must be removed no more than 3 hrs after being collected."

it's about enforcement. The towns can have all the codes they want, but if their not enforced, what good are they? Of course, it's a double-edged sword. We all want enforcement because they're directly related to our quality of life. But it's the same with traffic laws - there are so many drivers who violate them because there isn't enough personnel to enforce them.

Long Island has changed over the years and so have the people. There was a time when people were considerate of their neighbors, when they didn't throw garbage from their car windows, when they didn't run stop signs and red lights. It seems that many "newcomers" have changed the rules.

Better enforcement might help. But adding more personnel on the state, county or town level to make a real difference almost always means higher taxes.

Joe Evans has been trying to get lights on Northern Boulevard fixed for nearly four years.
Newsday photo by Gwen Young

I have been trying to solve this issue going on four years. There are a dozen or so streetlights on the north side of Northern Boulevard that borders the Village of Munsey Park in the Town of North Hempstead. The lighting along this stretch is in major disrepair. Not only are a majority unlit, most fixtures are broken or missing. This leaves a heavily traveled roadway dark, including the area in front of Munsey Park Elementary School. The Village of Munsey Park denies ownership. North Hempstead Town Councilman Wayne Wink told me he didn’t know who owned the lights and the town wouldn’t fix them. No municipality will assume responsibility but many would benefit from the repair of these lights.
Joe Evans, Manhasset

North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman is stepping up to handle this issue. He’s arranged a meeting between the town, the Village of Munsey Park and the Long Island Power Authority May 13 to discuss what to do with the lights, town spokesman Justin Meyers said.

The back story on the lights, according to Kaiman’s research, is that at some point, the former LILCO transferred the lights to local municipalities. But under state law, the town isn’t allowed to own lights within an incorporated village.

So, in 1999, the town notified Village of Munsey Park officials that they needed to take ownership of the lights or contract with the town to maintain them, or they would be taken down. Apparently, no agreement was forged, but the lights weren’t removed.

“It might make sense to take them down, then put up new lights,” Kaiman said. “It’s not a big deal for us, but we can’t do it without authorization from the village.”

Kaiman said the town eventually would also reach out to the villages of Flower Hill and Roslyn Estates, which also have streetlights on Northern Boulevard that aren’t working.

Marianne Haughey-Barrios needs a building permit for an add-on to her New Hyde Park home.

Newsday photo by Bill Davis

I live in New Hyde Park and have been waiting for a building permit since last July. Although I’ve seen stories about the indictments in the Town of North Hempstead’s Building Department, I haven’t heard much about how absurd the wait has become for permits. Can you update the town’s permit backlog and common problems?
--Marianne Haughey-Barrios, New Hyde Park

While the town still hasn’t caught up with the backlog created by the 2006 building department scandal involving the illegal issuance of permits and certificates of occupancy, the wait has been “significantly reduced,” officials said.

An 18-month probe of the building department led to the arrest of three town employees, including former commissioner David Wasserman, and prompted officials to temporarily stop issuing permits, causing a delay of nine to 12 months.

Now, it’ll take about three months to get a building permit. The backlog should eliminated by July, town spokesman Justin Meyers said. “The industry standard is 6-8 weeks...We’re almost back to that point.”

In November, the town assembled two teams of four employees to trim the backlog. The teams are stationed away from the building department offices to minimize distractions, Meyers said, and are using a new tamper-proof computer database that replaced an outdated paper file system.

Some common problems such as deviating from the approved plans halfway through the process can cause bottlenecks in the permit process or submitting plans that aren’t fully to code, he said. “The backlog should be totally killed by July,” town spokesman Justin Meyers said. “The industry standard is 6-8 weeks.... We’re almost back to that point.”

In Haughey-Barrios’ case, Meyers said the surveyor who stamped her documents wasn’t licensed in New York and that caused a delay. He expects her to receive her permit for a second bedroom shortly.

--MICHAEL R. EBERT

Denise Romero says she has a hard time backing out of her driveway because her neighbors park their cars their vehicles on the narrow street.

My problem is with neighbors who live across the street from me. The family has four cars and park three of them in the street. One car is parked directly across from my driveway, which makes it hard for me to pull out. This is a curved and narrow residential street that accommodates only two lanes of traffic, not parked cars. This is why we have driveways and garages. Are there any laws or rules of etiquette that could be enforced?

We've received a number of inquiries on this issue.

Everyone with a legal driver’s license knows you can’t block a hydrant or a driveway, and there are local ordinances that restrict overnight parking on some streets. But Nassau’s Third Precinct Police say there are no laws requiring homeowners to keep their cars off the street, regardless of how narrow or difficult to navigate the street may be.

“This is an increasing problem on Long Island,” said Officer Nick Mosesso, with the precinct’s problem-oriented policing unit. “Years ago, a lot of families had only one car. Now that each family has multiple cars, they’re more inclined to park in the street to avoid blocking each other in the driveway and moving cars around every five minutes.”

According to Mosesso, there are only two main restrictions with regard to parking on residential roads in the area covered by the Third Precinct: 1) no commercial parking after 10 p.m. 2) no parking in front of fire hydrants or sidewalk and driveway aprons.

One tip, Moesesso said, is for drivers to let oncoming traffic pass before trying to “squeeze through” a funnel of parked cars.

“Also, if you have a good enough rapport with your neighbors, politely ask them to use their driveway,” he said. “It’s the best solution.”

In the Romero’s case, however, the nice-guy approach hasn’t worked.

“We wrote them a letter, which was ignored,” Romero said. “I guess we’re out of luck.”

Related sites on this topic: