Bosworth Joins Opposition to Proposed Great Neck Synagogue Project

Nassau County Legis. Judi Bosworth has joined mounting local opposition against a proposed Middle Neck Road project. 

Bosworth and other local leaders are voicing concern over traffic, parking and safety impacts of a proposed project by Congregation and Yeshiva Beth Eliyahu at 195 Middle Neck Rd.

According to Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning Appeals records, the synagogue is seeking variances to expand a non-conforming commercial building for use as an educational facility with insufficient off-street parking, insufficient number of loading zones, parking located off-premises. The varience calls for the elimination of required buffer strip a playground and building addition.

"I take this relatively unusual step of expressing my views publicly with respect to a pending BZA case, because of the detrimental impact that approval of this application is almost certain to have on the quality of life in the residential neighborhoods near the subject property, especially the immediately adjacent Allenwood community," said Bosworth, in a Dec. 6 letter to BZA members.

The “use variance,” requires a very high standard of proof which is virtually impossible for the applicant to prove in this case, given the well-established values of commercial property on the Great Neck peninsula and the alternative uses for which this particular property is suited under the Town of North Hempstead Zoning Code, according to Bosworth.

Bosworth claims specific bus “pick-up/drop off” areas  or schedules have not been identified, thus creating a potential traffic “nightmare” on the effected streets. The site and adjacent streets would be completely inadequate to handle the number of buses involved, including their parking, staging, maneuvering and turning, according to Bosworth, D-Great Neck.

"It is clear from the record that a significant number of school buses would be utilized to transport students to and from the property," said Bosworth.

Bosworth joins the villages of Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Kensington, Lake Success and the Allenwood Park Civic Association, who have spoken out against the plan.

"This has potentially very serious traffic ramifications, not only for the village but the entire peninsula, so we think it needs to be very very carefully reviewed,” said Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman in a Great Neck Record report.

Congregation Beth Eliyahu representatives addressed the project's safety and traffic concerns at a July public hearing, according to the GNN report.

“It’s very simple. It’s impossible for it to be a safety hazard,” said attorney Steven Schlesinger. “If three minibuses in Great Neck are a traffic problem, I’d like to know what you smoke.”

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