Number Six School vote this Wednesday

As the March 20th referendum on the sale of the Number Six School approaches, community efforts to halt the development are intensifying along with acrimony, arguments and advertising campaigns.

Local community members formed a coalition to stop the sale and are coordinating door–to door and phone campaigns as well as mailed fliers and advertisements in all the local newspapers. A debate is scheduled at the Peninsula Public Library on March 12 comparing Simone development’s positions to those of the CC5T, the Community Coalition of the Five Towns.

Rumors have been circulating about Mt. Sinai’s and Simone’s pulling out of the deal. “There are a lot of rumors about people puling out,” said Joshua Lewin-Jacus, a campaign organizer for the CC5T. “They are not true and we still have to vote.” “There is no truth to the rumors,” said Benjamin Weinstock, attorney for Simone Development. “They are not withdrawing. We are continuing to the end of the referendum—the public vote; it will either be voted up or voted down.”

The 6.7-acre site with an 80,170 square foot building stands on the corner of Branch and Peninsula boulevards in Woodmere. The elementary school building was built in 1953 and was closed due to declining enrollment and has been vacant since it closed in March 2009. The sprawling, tan, L-shaped two-story structure abuts its paddle ball courts, a grassy baseball field and a park with climbing structures for children.

The Lawrence Board of Education weighed bids for the property from Shulamith school, the Jewish Community Center, the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach and others, ultimately accepting the highest offer from Simone Development. Based in Mt. Vernon, N.Y., Simone is a commercial and residential real estate investment and development company. The company has plans to lease the building to Mount

Sinai Hospital for use as a multi-specialty medical practice.

Four members of the school board, termed the real estate committee, reviewed the bids and then brought their analysis of the bids to the rest of the seven-member board. On January 14th, the board voted 4 to 2, with one member absent, to sell the property, to Simone, subject to a public referendum to be held on March 20th. If the sale is rejected, the process starts all over again and bids have to be resubmitted; new bids can be submitted as well.

The current disagreement weighs the potential use of the property as a prime real estate space for development as a medical center providing the community with much needed tax funds on one side of the argument. On the other hand, members of the community see this development as an infringement on the residential nature of the neighborhood, paving over green space and increasing traffic in an already congested area.

A local resident who chose not to be identified called into question the wisdom of paving a grassy zone in an area that had recently been submerged under feet of water in Hurricane Sandy. She pointed out that further down Peninsula Boulevard the highway has open drainage that allows water to flow away from traffic and homes. The proposed paving by the Number Six School could further exacerbate the flooding that is often a trademark of Peninsula Boulevard in Woodmere, she said.

Lewin-Jacus noted that the CC5T received a copy of the agreement signed by Joseph Simone, of Simone Development, and Dr. Asher Mansdorf. president of the Lawrence Board of Education. Lewin-Jacus said the agreement indicated that “Simone is going to apply for an abatement to be done on or before 60 days following the Referendum Notice, so they won’t have to pay the full amount of the taxes.” He also pointed out that Mount Sinai Hospital is not mentioned in the agreement.

As for their phone and door-to-door canvassing, stressed Lewin-Jacus, “We are seeing the tides change. More than that, that people are against it, especially after we explain the downside. They are changing from being unaware to aware and mobilized. (We are) making sure they are going to go vote.”

Voting places and hours:

Voting on March 20th is from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and the four voting sites are Lawrence Middle School (195 Broadway, Lawrence), Number 2 School (1 Donahue Avenue, Inwood), Atlantic Beach Village Hall (The Plaza, Atlantic Beach) and Lawrence High School (2 Reilly Road, Cedarhurst). If you have any questions regarding where to vote, please call the Lawrence School District Clerk at (516) 295-7032.

Registered voters unable to vote in person on March 20 can appear in person at Lawrence Middle School on any school day prior to March 20 between 8 AM and 4 PM, and go to the District Clerk’s office (first office on the right, when entering the building), where one can fill out the absentee ballot request form, and vote by absentee ballot on the spot. The Board of Election’s official deadline for registrations for this election was March 11.