100 homeless families to be moved into Jericho School District



The Jericho School district has notified residents that the Hampton Inn on Jericho Turnpike in Jericho was recently sold and will be converted into housing for homeless families.

The Jericho School District has regularly been rated among the top ten in the nation. As a result, houses in the district command premium prices.


It is unclear who bought the closed hotel, but Nassau County Social Services is working with a non-profit-agency, Community Housing Incentive, to renovate the three-story building to house as many as 100 families, said Town of Oyster Bay spokesman Brian Nevin.

Nevin said the town, after being contacted by Jericho residents, reached out to the county to find out what is going on.

He said the town was told there are currently 15 homeless families living in Jericho. The county is looking for one facility to house 100 of Nassau's homeless families, he said.

The school district notice says it was told that the new families being moved into Jericho will continue to send their children to their home school districts.


Although there appears to be interior painting and other work underway at the Inn, Nevin said the new owner has not yet filed an ownership change with the building department nor requested a change of zone. The current interior work does not need a permit.

Town zoning only allows temporary stays of 30 days at the former Inn.

"Our position is we will fully enforce our code," Nevin said "If they want a change of zoning, they will have to apply for it. We will not let anyone come in and arbitrarily dismiss town laws."

If the county owned the property outright,  it could skirt town zoning laws.

A letter signed by "Jericho Resident" went to town and county officials requesting a public hearing on the project.  It also asks, "Please present a financial proposal on how the county will provide funding to the Jericho district for $40,000 - depending on the latest school budget -- per new enrollment per year until the student leaves the school district."

It requests additional police, security and staff.  It adds, "Asking Jericho residents which has a very small population in Nassau County to foot the entire education bill for this county project is not right and it is not fair."

County Executive Laura Curran's press office did not return a request for comment.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CSEA retirees file suit to stop new contract insurance change (Updated)

Image
Civil Service Employee Association retirees today were in court attempting to stop a change in health insurance included in a new union contract scheduled to take effect Jan.1. The "Nassau Retirees Legal Fund" and eight other CSEA employees argue in a class action lawsuit filed today against Nassau and County Executive Bruce Blakeman in Nassau Supreme Court that they face  " imminent and irreparable medical, emotional, and financial harm because the County intends to deprive them of promised health benefits in 2024." The new contract negotiated between the union and Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman and ratified by members in August changes the health insurance from New York's Empire plan -- which provides platinum coverage -- to the New York Excelsior plan. The Excelsior plan is more costly for union members but less expensive for the county.  Update:  The state, meanwhile, has increased rates for the Excelsior plan -- in come cases by more than 40 pe
Read more

Nassau CSEA contract deal -- talk of the county for two days -- finally announced (UPDATED)

Image
Talk around Nassau County for the past two days has been that Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman had struck a new labor agreement, signed Monday, with the county's largest union, the Nassau Civil Service Employees Association. The CSEA, which include most non-law enforcement county employees, has been working without a contract since the end of 2017. As of June, there were 3,359 fulltime CSEA members. An announcement went out late today but it didn't say much: A spokesman for Republican County Executive Bruce Blakeman did not respond to an email today asking when the CSEA deal would be announced. Everyone is looking at the CSEA because exempt employees -- county workers who are hired and fired at will -- traditionally are given the same benefits as the union members. But the exempts are not happy with some of the rumors about the agreement: one is that the CSEA will take a lesser health insurance plan in return for an upfront payment, perhaps of $1,500, for each member.
Read more

Eisenhower Park restaurant to be run by D'Amato client

Image
                                                                                A Manhasset group with ties to the food service business has won its bid to run a county-owned restaurant, cigar club, and golf concessions in Eisenhower Park,  replacing longtime operator Anthony Capetola. Capetola, a colorful Republican lawyer, has operated Carltun on the Park since 1995 through various license agreements and extensions under four different county executives, Republican and Democrat. But the county selected EGB Hospitality LLC of Manhasset from two proposals for a new 15-year operating license that begins this fall, with another five-year option, according to the deal submitted to the county legislature for approval on Monday. Lawyer Elias Trahanas, of Great Neck appears to be the lead principal in the five-member EGH group, along with his brother Bobby.  EGB Management Team Both Elias and Bobby trace their food service roots to the family-operated Golden Reef Diner in Rockville Centre, s
Read more