For more information about the Matinecock Court Housing Project, go to: www.facebook.com/stopmc

Housing is not a RIGHT when it is at the expense of others.

http://greaterhuntingtoncivicgroup.com/

Please join us. There is a greater impact when we all join forces. If you have any questions you can also e-mail us at GreaterHuntington@gmail.com

John LaVertu
Vice President
Greater Huntington Civic Group

Kim D. This is too dense for this location. There is a reason the sewage treatment plant needs a variance. It is because it does not belong there. Too close to 2 schools. Too close to the proposed housing itself. Too much traffic for these 2 already over crowded roads. If Housing Help really wanted to help people in need they would have scaled down their proposal or built single family homes at this site 30 years ago. Then they could have been helping families for the past 30 years ago!

The real problem is that we the people have elected and/or elected officials that put in place judges that opined that Huntington's zoning was in violation of the Fair Housing Act. When are we going to wake up? Not wanting 155 housing units on 14 acres of land is a violation of law? Not wanting an additional 300 cars on an already over crowed road is a violation of Law? Not wanting a sewage treatment plant right next to an elementary school and high school is a violation of law? Not wanting the additional tax burden this project will bring is a violation of law? We don't need another scar on our land. Debra you are right on. Housing Help must have some sort of political agenda or there would have been a reasonable amount of owner occupied single family homes built on that land many years ago. Now the area is so over crowed I'm against any housing there. The land should be a passive park. If it is built, will our children in East Northport, Northport and Elwood have priority in buying one of these homes? This project is an attack on our community. Why do we insist on turning this Island into NYC? The politicians and judges have failed us all.

Ken

Even if you cannot attend the meeting, write a letter. You have until Nov.28. Those who attended a public meeting in June of 2010 learned that the site where Housing Help hopes to break ground is heavily contaminated with a myriad of chemicals and pesticides indiscriminately used on potato farms in decades past, including arsenic..
Such toxins could be released and impact the air quality near the schools and beyond when the contaminated soil is moved and then capped.
Equally disturbing are reports that when Harlem Meers in Central Park (known to contain high levels of cadmium and lead) was dredged, the waste was dumped on this property. It is very likely that other unreported dumping took place.
When there were plans to build the SHoreham Nuclear Plant, concerned citizens launched writing compaigns. About two thousand letters were received and this stopped the SHoreham and another nuclear plant from being built. People, this is the time to act if you care about your health, your children's health, property values and the quality of life in East Northport. It is not even fair to potential residents of this housing development to live so close to the railroad tracks and the high tension electrical wires. If Housing Help needs a variance for the sewage treatment system it is too close to the high school's sports fields. Imagine children going to school while this housing development is being built. Please ACT !!!!!!

I had heard the site was 14.5 acres.

Please see my previous comment regarding the contamination of the soil.

Hi Elise, I attached a PDF from the Town on the history of their dealings with the project. The Federal District Court quotes the project at 14.8 acres.

Folks, please read my comments on the contamination of the soil of this property. The Shoreham Nuclear Plant was laid to rest. This is what public outcry can accomplish. I should know about SHoreham because I personally gathered 200 to 300 signed statements and mailed them. If you love East Northport and Northport, Please ACT !! Look at the PDF that Leah posted, and write to express your outrage.

While I am otherwise neutral about this kind of project, someone earlier spoke about already-crowded roads, and mentioned both Pulaski and Elwood Roads.

I don't know about Pulaski Road, but I am quite familiar with Elwood Road, and it is already absurdly congested during peak driving hours.

There is no room for dense housing in this corridor, but that is also a problem with not only Elwood Road or Pulaski Road, but other major roads like Jericho Turnpike. The net result is that increases in crowding on major thoroughfares inevitably leads to people trying to find ways to get around traffic blockages, and that often means a substantial increase in traffic on secondary roads making it more dangerous for children and adults living in those communities.

The waste treatment plant is really a secondary consideration.

Jerry, I hope that you will write and voice your opposition.

Congrats to all the residents of that area that keep voting for liberal democrats.
This is what you get. This is the democrat party at its block busting best. The Dems know all the hand out people will vote Dem in the elections and when the area declines(as is the long history of these types of projects) the likelyhood of more hand out Dem voters will take over.
There are plenty of areas that could be revitalized with this money...but no... lets break up this nice neighborhood. It will get more Dem votes!
Didn't we just learn that people that can't afford housing will have a hard time maintaining in a very highy taxed, very high cost of living area?And who pays the school taxes on this ? Increased students and the families won't pay the taxes!!! This means another increase for the working fools.
Geroge Bush, acting like/with the Dems caused the huge housing debacle. His party paid dearly for acting like Dems.... The GOP voters punished the GOP for acting like Dems. Hence, Obama. The giveaways never help. Its a bandaid that always needs replacing. The giveaways are the favorite tool of the Dems. Take taxpayer money to buy votes for their next campaign. The heck with the working class fool that foots the bill.
Keep voting the Dems in !!!
I always wish that I win the Lottery so that I can build this type of developement in the neighborhood of all of the blockbusters. Hey, why don't they put this in their area/school dist?

Ding, ding, ding. Fran hits the nail on the head. What do we have for her? 1-The slow decay of this neighborhood. 2-The slow decay of Northport school dist. 3-Lower property values. 4-Higher taxes. 5-All of the above and then some.

The traffic study that was performed is out dated and the community needs to ensure it is updated and covers several months (September-December). I have seen where they try to do these studies over holiday periods and not peak drive times to force the results. Even based on the old out dated study, it is my understanding that Pulaski and Elwood Roads will need to be widened. The proposal, as I recall it, was that property will be taken from the Pulaski Road School. The school board must not provide land from our elementary school. We need to find out the school boards position and vote accordingly. This issue needs to be raised at the next school board meeting. If the road needs to be widened the land should come from the 14 acres not our kids school. How ironic, take land from our school to widen the road so we can load up our class rooms with more students. There is no way Elwood Road and Pulaski can support the increase in traffic this will bring. We can't drive down Larkfield Road because of the traffic. Now Elwood Road will be the same way.
Ken

No one would believe it now, but the Bronx, Riverhead, Huntington Station and Washington Heights used to be NICE neighborhoods. Desirable neighborhoods. They were all destroyed by low income housing projects just like this. Would you want to move to any one of these neighborhoods now?

Watch my ole friend Kim D' push her agendas on this thread. Notice the last sentence on her reply to Fran. "This type of housing has been built there already".

Fran, your comment about the Matinecock project effectively being the result of people "voting for liberal democrats" is no more than male bovine manure. You seem to be unaware of Court rulings forcing this project.

As a lifelong Republican, who learned from my parents that you should always support the best candidate, regardless of party affiliations, I reject any broad-brush statements about Republicans or Democrats, and you should really try to get out of your bitter mindset.

Oppose the project, or support it, but don't blame it all on one wing of one party; this has been decades of court battles, and it bears no relationship to what politicians were elected over the past decade or so.

If it were not for the traffic impact, I could support a project containing a mix of ownership and rental housing, but there is no way that you can put dense housing on 15 acres at that site, where the main access from the LIE and the Northern State would be from the already overcrowded Elwood Road.

This is NOT a liberal/conservative issue, and it would be nice to hear more rational centrist views about Matinecock.

Jerry and Kim. Your naivety astounds me.
Kim, this all appears to be about you not getting this in HS.
HS, the area where home prices were the best about 20 years ago and have declined drastically since low income/affordable housing became the"in" thing.
When the school district became riddled with crime and the crying out for the closing of a dangerous middle school , the new buyers steered clear. I hope that you realized that. If not, then talk to real estate people that have been around awhile.
Same thing happened in Queens, Hempstead, The Bronx (the garden spot of NYC),Riverhead, Amityville etc. (Jerry,all democrat bastions).
Check out all the parts of our nation that are Dem run. The areas are in near complete shambles. Phillly, DC,Detroit,LA, Chicago, Miami. As a matter of fact, the top ten poverty cities in the nation are Dem run !! You know, the party of the giveaways.......
Also, As proof that this is political.... why have none of the Jerry's and Kims addessed a local housing problem?
THE HOUSING OF THE YOUTH THAT HAVE LIVED HERE THEIR ENTIRE LIVES BUT CANNOT AFFORD TO STAY IN THE AREA?
WOW! iF YOU WERE REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, HOW COME THAT DOESN'T APPLY TO THE YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THIS AREA?
The ones leaving in droves because they can't afford to live in the area where they were born and raised and their parents have paid taxes for years? Any answers?

Everybody that resides in this area should have their children apply for the "affordable housing" thats being proposed.
When they are rejected a civil rights lawsuit should be started and a restraining order of the construction should be put in place until the "local" residents get their fair share of the taxpayer handouts that this project provides.
The more rejections will strenghten our case.
I believe the young people should be able to have affordable housing in the area they have lived. Why no outcry for the locals? They are forsed to leave!
If this is not agreed upon by the project Dems , then you know the motives of the Dem backers.
Some of the housing will be "bought " some of the residents. How long before the people with no stake in the community bring it down?
How many relatives will come from other areas to live with relatives to get into a good school dist?
Will the low income kids resent the kids that can afford more things? And what will their response be to the kids that "have"?
There are answeres to all of this. Ask people that lived in Hempstaed, Amityville, Riverhead when they were the jewels of LI .

You can go back and forth arguing politics or you can get to the heart of the matter. Matinecock has been in the works for 30 years. The original hearing plans are from 30 years ago and all are outdated. Todays hearing was about granting a variance to have a sewage treatment plant on sight.

Fran~ They are leaving because the current housing situation (property taxes) have increased to support the social services (affordable housing??) that others keep insisting we need. Government interference has never worked. Truth is there are people with an agenda (Kim is one from what I can tell reading her old posts) to add "affordable housing" which exasperates the current housing problem (high taxes, lowering property values) taxing us not only out of our single family homes, but out of Long Island.

I don't understand the Kim D'Ambrosio to the J. Christopher comment. If he is a cesspool man this would be a dream job for a cesspool man to get. This is basically a cesspool on a larger scale with it's on onsite treatment plant. It has never been done before and up until now most high density complexes are being built near sewers to accommodate the sewage issue. An onsite treatment plant would set the precedent for future high density proposals to now be located anywhere but at the further expense of our aquifers. The fact that it would be located so close (25 feet) to where children are educated and play is alarming and concerning. This should be moved to a sewer location in a less populated area and no where within the proximity of the school. Also all the proposals (30 years old) need to be updated before any consideration is made.Do something about lowering the property taxes, then you will have affordable housing. Fill up the current housing stock before anything else is even considered let alone a 30 year old plan that time has passed and no longer applies in this day and age.

Linda, I hope that you will look at the PDF that Leah posted and write a letter expressing your opposition and the reasons behind it. I was part of a letter-writing campaign in the 1980s that helped stop the Shoreham Nuclear Plant from being put into operation. You are right; the location of a sewage treatment plant so close to a school is alarming.

Are you a paid lobbyist Ms D'Ambrosio? You comment to ever comment here and tell people unnecessary things, such as "you don't understand" and "you don't get it" Perhaps it is you that does not get it. Homeowners have the right to protect their investments, their private properties. I read you live in Highview? Isn't that also subsidized housing that in fact pays it's taxes to the CDA....the Town of Huntington, which has yet to make a payment to school district #3? I have heard school district #3 is in shambles. Cutting millions out of the budget for rising pension, healthcare costs. Is your intent now that your own school district is destroyed for you to now destroy the next one that is available, being school district #4? I think you have made that very clear in your posts. How ironic! Someone living in subsidized housing posting all day (and night) to convince other neighborhoods you need this too. I am guessing you are not employed (based on your posts) so the irony is, we the working tax paying class, work extra hard to support you all day to convince us to build more housing for people just like you we need to support?

No thanks.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2011-10-06/income-tax-nonpayment/50676912/1

50% of the country is not paying Federal Income tax and the 50% that are, are subsidizing people just like you, and on top of it? Supporting your housing needs.

Again. No thanks.

This development must be opposed on environmental grounds to the Suffolk County Board of Health as indicated on the PDF that editor Leah Bush posted. Are there any environmental engineers out there that would be willing to share their expertise and save the Northport/East Northport area? Regardless of anything, environmenally-speaking this is the wrong place for this development and not even fair to its potential residents. The soil there is heavily contaminated, a point that is not being disputed.

Necker, you are right. If the development is actualized, it will be the fault of the residents for not acting or voicing their opposition. We still have time to act by writing to the Suffolk Board of Health as indicated in the PDF file that editor Leah Bush posted with this article. A letter-writing campaign stopped the SHoreham Nuclear Power Plant from going into operation. We can debate all we want here; but the only way that we can stop this is by taking action. Let's bombard the Suffolk COunty Board of Health with letters saying it is wrong environmentally. Look at the Stopmc.com website for background information.

When I heard that agencies were looking for feedback regarding Shoreham Nuclear Plant, I knew it was time to act on my principles instead of waiting to see what happened. My efforts combined with those of other people in a letter writing campaign generated more than 300 letters opposing Shoreham. I knew that I had to try and honestly I was not sure that our efforts would have an impact. It was later revealed that only about 2000 letters were received from across the country disputing SHoreham and another nuclear plant. It is amazing to think that more than 10% of those letters came from NPT and E. NPT. SHoreham was put to rest. The will of the people did prevail. Let's do it again ! Thank you, Barbara and see if you can inspire any of your friends and neighbors to write.

"you cannot out give a taker" is all that comes to mind everytime I see that other Kim post. She wants more and more of everyone elses tax dollars so we can support more and more of tax sucking non working subsidized people like herself.

For or against? It's not important. Its really about one persons crusade to get her way. REALLY. Its coming, folks. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon. The economy has to be the only problem, because as best as I can tell, they have a blank check and an open ended permit. I apologize for my pessimism, but I have some knowledge. All of the finger pointing won't change it. It started with HHI looking for a cause, and partnering with Queens favorite son, Rep. Ackerman and later, a sympathetic court, and ended with a Town and other Politicians that want no part of this fight and claim they cannot stand in the way no matter what. All of these arguments - traffic, sewerage, density, contamination, aquifers, schools, taxes, even the likely eminent domain seizure on Pulaski Rd Schools property (Oh, you didn't know about that one?) Been there, done that. No one wants to hear the argument - no attorney, engineer, or law firm will take up the cause. So... Drag out whatever political blather you would like. Internet yell at each other. Get involved, right up until there's a soccer game or a BBQ at home and that its not that important to fight today. Its all on paper - in the TOH online, and on the FB site. Every argument, both professional and amateur is dismissed. In the end, with an area that likely has tons of attorneys, architects, environmentalists, engineers, doctors, etc. the cause is led with silence. We failed. Good Luck. I hope that someone is successful, 'cause this one is a doozy.

I agree with Barbara. If those idiots in Manhattan can disrupt the livelihood then why can't the citizens of Northport and East Northport just sit outside Huntington Town Hall and voice the disapproval. I always thought Ackerman was a good man till he is siding in thios case really not understanding the situation. He is not our representative, it is Steve Israel but I imagine he is on the same side of Ackerman. Chris mentions that the town POLITICIANS, Petrone and his gang want no part of this. Well, it is about time they stick up for our rights as well as that HHI group that are nothing bt liberal troublemakers.

Ok. If you heard the Town at the High School - they claim they CANNOT oppose the project. Therefore, Suffolk isnt gonna take it up and get sued. Please read all of the the letters on the website. The SCDOH has already discounted the many threats to the environment. I happen to disagree. It's 37,500 gallons per day of raw sewage being processed and discharged, processed with lye and other maintenance chemicals -Too close to schools, and the aquifer. AND, I have never seen a document that defunded this project, ever. This is a fight that needs to be fought by paid professionals.

It won't help to voice our opposition to our elected officials. You do a search on Patch to see the article that I wrote after attending a public meeting attended by hundreds of residents in June 2010. We have to attack this on environmental grounds. I am wondering if an objective assessment ( in other words not one done by Housing Help ) was done of the environmental hazards of this particular area. Here's a quote from my article regarding the stance of public officials:
"Inference or opposition with the project by town or state officials would make them subject to contempt of court charges, and fines, giving Housing Help grounds to seek from funding from the town, and leaving the town open to future lawsuits, Matthews indicated ( Jim Matthews Huntington Town Board Attorney).
In other words, our elected representatives could go to jail if they interfere.

I see you did not post my earlier input so I guess this will not be posted either. I guess I am just a member of the greatest generation that nobody wants to listen to any more because we are just to old and don't understand the situation of today. We do and it it not what is going on here where one group can just move in and dictate their desires. Didn't that happen prior to WW2 and other situationist where this is just a dictatorial situation which is you have what I want and I will do anything to take it away from you, Sorry, Leah, but I am certain this will be also as all the other inputs. I guess my ideology of the past where representation meant I also had a voice in the discussion is over and I am censored because you do not agree with what I am saying. I do not agree with what is being accomplished and feel my voice in the matter is just as important.

"In other words, our elected representatives could go to jail if they interfere."

Elise they already SHOULD have been put there for things they have already done. From what I have gathered Town Hall is in the process of being sued by 3 local civic groups in the township of Huntington. When the Township was first founded in 1653 the board was originally formed (it was also originally volunteer with no pay, it was an honor to hold) but they were appointed as TRUSTEES OF THE LAND given to us from England. Now they auction it off to the highest bidder. People need to realize tax payers are not an never ended ATM of funding that simply because we have and others have not we should be required to fund it. Charities should be an option, not a requirement. It's become legal thievery.

I quote Chris from earlier. "Every argument, both professional and amateur is dismissed. In the end, with an area that likely has tons of attorneys, architects, environmentalists, engineers, doctors, etc. the cause is led with silence." Doesn't deleting all of my inputs sort of add to the silence.

For anyone who cherishes life in the East Northport/Northport area: As Barbara says, at the end of the day I would like to know that I did my best to stand up for what I believed in. By the way, if this housing development does go through, don't believe for a minute that our inaction would be doing the future residents of Matinecock Court any favor. Are you worried about putting a cell phone to your head? These people would be living right near the high tension electrical wires. Also I have heard that areas near railroads are treated with chemicals ( much like Agent Orange) that have extremely long half lives meaning that within our lifetime, even if they were treated 50 years ago, the chemicals would still be harmful for decades to come. Maybe even thousands of years. No one disputes that the soil is contaminated. It would be very sad if the legacy of this development going to fruition was that the adults and children who lived there developed serious health problems.

Chris Triolo, can you provide any enlightment regarding what went on today in Yapank? Thanks.

We had people there.

You can contact via e-mail. GreaterHuntington@gmail.com

Some of you are really abusive & nasty; you need to figure out how to disagree politely and unemotionally.

I don't support the must-have-regardless-of-effect crew, but I also don't support the outrageous & distorting alarmist opponents. There are valid reasons to oppose the project, but these should not be distorted.

A second point is that some of you are pontificating about the increasing non-affordability of living on LI because of taxes, and then go on to make all kinds of wild accusations about the property tax burden being related to somehow supporting what some of you obviously consider as low-life citizens.

You need to take more courses in math & finance, and also examine your property tax bill to see where the money is going.

Typically about 65% of your tax bill, depending upon the school district, goes for school taxes; school taxes have gotten worse for two basic reasons: (1) NY State has cut back, continuously (as a long term trend) on State aid to school districts, causing local property tax payers to shoulder more and more of the costs, even while the State imposes mandates that cost districts more and more money; (2) NY State ties the hands of school districts with regard to personnel management, with anachronisms like the Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law, and then creates a pension system that causes the rest of us to subsidize the State's public sector employees with hefty pensions.

Don't blame the poor for the Albany's abuses.

Mr.Hannon. I've seen you post on various threads and was wondering if you are a former referee for some kind of sports or something. Your long winded responses are informative but not in the way of solutions. You sound educated but what kind of advice do you have for the good people of Northport, to try to stop the abomination they have before them? As for too many cars and traffic situations, our town council and Suffolk planning board, did'nt give a flying rats butt about that problem on the Avalon Bay issue, which in comparison, dwarfs any traffic problems that Matinecock will present to the people that live over there. Not to compare size, but 300 cars vs. 1100 cars dumping out on Park Ave.( the main artery to Huntington hospital) was not even considered to be a problem to our elected officials. Besides "neckers" cowardly, redneck answer of "we dont want this in Northport, build it in say, Huntington Station", what advice can you bestow upon us?

In a five minute MLS search of Northport, East Northport and only the most immediate neighboring communities, I have 307 houses for sale for less than $350,000 that already have legal septic systems and don't require variances that could compromise the health of our residents. I have my letter.

With the housing market the way it is, this development is not only unnecessary, but will contribute to the further collapse of our housing market.

It takes having a job in the first place Kim, not looking for a free ride.

Mr Hannon I feel very sorry for those actively seeking employment HOWEVER Ms D'Ambrosio is not and has not for at least 2 years (to current , also note how often she posts, per day). She blogs to support affordable housing in neighborhoods where it is not wanted. Please see her posts from almost 2 years ago and look more closely. Also the recession started in October 2007. I will never forget it. 50% of the Nation is being supported by the other half. I don't mind seniors, veterans and those in real need but others that take from those who really need it? When they are capable of us pulling the other 1/2 of the weight? Can't have that, yes it makes me angry. It should make you angry too.

Highview was built in 2001. We subsidized 1/2 of the $40K down payment per unit. (100 units) They pay a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) to the CDA. School District #3 (according to FOILS) has never received a payment for school taxes from the CDA for Highview.

Everyone please keep your comments in check and conduct yourselves as you would in person. Stick to the issues, no personal attacks. Thanks.

Mr Hannon you can go to Town Hall and view all the documentation at town hall at the Tax Assesors Office on the main floor and then the 3rd floor is the CDA. I look forward to hearing your findings. You may also FOIL the income NOT being received from the Town of Huntington due to the School district via the school district OR The Town of Huntington CDA, 3rd floor. Attn :Doug Aloise.

I recommend the school district because it is becoming common knowledge the Town of Huntington finds ways to not give requested FOIL information. Thats why I recommend trying it, and then proving me wrong.

Mr. Christopher, I am not looking for anyone to "prove" anything, and I don't have the time to wade through records at this point.

I am simply interested, from another school district's perspective, in the matter of non-receipt of PILOT fees. Some day that could be an issue for the Elwood School District, and I gather it may be an issue for the Northport School District w/r/t Matinecock.

Is that correct, Northport residents?

Does anyone know what the Huntington School District has done to obtain the payments due to them, and can anyone tell me why the payments for Highview have not been made?

maybe you should watch this video from beginning to end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt_EIbiE0AU

People ONLY seem to get it when it becomes pertinent to them.

More on the Kim D VS taxes VS Highview. Make sure you read the comment section.

http://huntington.patch.com/blog_posts/when-should-a-school-board-send-for-the-lawyers

Mr. Hannon, "mean-spirited, vindictive, and totally lacking in common decency" Really? It's not like I reveiled her SS# or address in HS, so let's not overreact, Jerry..."deeply personal information"...oh, please!!! If Kim posted that I graduated from CW Post in ’96 and that I've been employeed ever since then, I wouldn’t consider that "deeply personal information," would you?

Kim revealed her own address. She has a non-for-profit called HuntingtonOnTheMove.org or something silly like that. She ran it out of her home and sent a 6 page glossy flyer to every home in Huntington with her return address on it, advocating for housing. Right Kim? I think that makes it public record.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Huntington-On-The-Move/140042186064441

She also posts this website all the time.
http://www.portraitofalostneighborhood.org/

and gets paid from the Huntington Arts Council via the Friends of Huntington Train Station.

Sorry but it's public information, not invading anyones personal info when they choose to be that way to begin with.

She gets paid to sit home, blog, and be subsidized. Working is beneath her because she has an MBA, she said it herself, she chooses not to work for pay, but to blog against homeowners and their property rights.

Ms D'Ambrosio has posted all these things here on the Patch. No violation was committed. Please weed through her 2,376,543 posts and see for yourself.

I have no intention wasting my time doing that, Mr. Christopher.

If that is precisely what she has done, and if that is precisely how you or Mr. Triolo developed the information about her degrees, and years of graduation, and lack of employment since "x", then it may indeed be public information.

it would still be mean-spirited to throw that in someone's face, but not many people here seem to understand the concept of civility or reasonable discourse.

We can agree, or disagree, without being mean or nasty or childish.

As Leah Bush, Editor of Huntington Patch, posted earlier today: "Stick to the issues, no personal attacks."

I wish that people would devote the energy that they have been expending by fighting with each other to trying to figure out how we can avoid having this housing development put into an area which is already over-trafficked, and would represent an environmental hazard for those who would choose to live there as the development would be too close to the LIPA substation, too close to the railroad tracks [ whose vicinity has been cleared of vegetation by means of toxic chemicals with long half lives] and contaminated soil from dumping.

et voila

let's keep our focus on the issue at hand, Matinecock court

This is not about the sanctified politicians and their minions looking for innovative ways to bring affordable housing to the region, this is about developers looking to create opportunities to squeeze as much value per square foot of land as possible. The developers propose provocative projects under the guise of affordable housing and gentrification to get their way.

The solution to the alleged housing crises on Long Island is not more housing. Look at how brilliant that idea has been in places like Nevada, Arizona, and Florida. We need to make existing homes more affordable. It starts in this low rate enviroment where a $300,000 mortgage is the equivalent of renting a decent 2-bedroom apartment. The problem is the runaway real estate taxes (mostly to support unfunded school district mandates).

When you build high denisty housing, you continue to add children into a school district without gaining the commensurate tax dollars. Thus the spiral for home buyers continues.

Add to the equations the quality of life issues that a blind man could see coming from adding this type on denisity on this corner. The roadways and sewers simply can no longer handle this influx of popolution this far north of the major thorough fares.

This development is simply a bad idea.

Stop attacking each other, please,and stick to the topic.

Free2BMe hit the nail on the head. What needs to be pointed out that this project is NOT on sewers and would open a whole new way to accomidate high density if the varience goes through. Most proposals until now have been slated for sewers. This one has not. We have housing, make it affordable, when it is full other ideas can be considered but as also pointed out. No jobs. HOW DO YOU BRING MORE PEOPLE IN WHEN THERE IS NO EMPLOYMENT!"

and for the record I am NOT Mrs Lavertue but I do know who she is. I request the editor remove such accusations. Thank you.