I've talked previously about the good people with The Long Island Index, a project to gather and publish important data about Long Island. I cited them in the early days of this blog, after their report released in the fall of 2007 showed that 61% of Long Islanders favored high-density housing in downtown areas adjacent to mass transit. This proved that the myth of every resident of suburbia wanting a single-family home with a white picket fence is just that, a myth.
The Long Island Index is back with a new report, one that is accompanied by this bone-chilling video, aptly titled "The Clock is Ticking on Long Island."
I defy anyone to watch that and come to any conclusion other than this: Long Island is dying, and it is in dire need of the kind of bold thinking represented by projects such as the Lighthouse. This is something we need, and something that could do a world of good for the community.
Also, please understand something. There are naysayers out there who claim we are a threat to the community's very existence, secret assassins ready to destroy everything they moved here to build. That could not be further from the truth, and I am deeply insulted by the inference, especially since many of the naysayers are the ones who are pushing the limited, community-choking worldview.
I'm in favor of housing options for everyone, not only those who want to buy a single-family home. There is room for both.
I'm in favor of economic opportunities for everyone, because it's a shame to move from a place due solely to cost of living, or because you were forced to by a lack of options.
I'm in favor of bold action, not sticking our heads in the sand like ostriches and denying there is any problem at all.
We may disagree on the way to fix our problems, but we need to all agree that our community needs us, and the problems we face are too great for us to simply hurl insults at each other or refuse to have a discussion.
I'm ready to step up and stop the ticking of that terrible clock - who else?
Here, here!!
ReplyDeleteI am with ya 100%, Nick...I am fed up to my eye balls with reading these articles about Long Islands challnges but we aren't doing anything to fix them...The LHP can be a huge game changer and it can be a catalyst for a "new burbs" as they wrote about in todays Newsday...They write about the possibilities of new housing options and building in these old parking lots but they don't mention the LHP which typifies everything they suggest or propose as the "new burbs"...
That flic made me want to "jump ship"...
ReplyDeleteNow if only the LHP was actually in a downtown; one that the index lists. These designated 'downtowns' all have LIRR stops & regular bus hubs/stops, the proposed LHP? A proposed tram! And the stated low cost housing proposed at about $2000. a month!! Talk about dooming the island!!
ReplyDeleteReally, it seems mostly out of towners & Islanders fans that want this to happen.
NYI FAN, I am not gonna lie...I was a supporter of the LHP only because of my Islander Fandom but as I learned about the situation I began to support the project for greater reasons that the only major pro sports franchise that bears our name.... Regarding the fact that the NVMC area isn't near a train station is an excuse but the fact that Wang is going to pay for this to happen and Long Islanders will benefit in ways that are greatly needed...
ReplyDeleteIf by out of towners NYI fan meant people not living in the TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD, I guess he means the rest of Nassau County is out of town.
ReplyDeletePolls in Nassau consistently put the pro LH number at about 70% Even the TOH admits that in the TOH the polls show 55% of residents support the LH.
ugh.. can someone from either side just step up to the plate and make a decision already?!?! It's just bittersweet to see Isles fans coming back to the Coliseum and the team doing well with no guarantee of a project happening! It's personally torturing me inside!!! 8 YEARS NOW! 8!!!! I remember when Mario Lemeiux was looking at our designs to try to design and get the Pens a new arena! Now they are ready to open it in the fall and WE STILL HAVEN'T BROKEN GROUND!!! SO SAD!
ReplyDeleteHey, no one loves the Isles more than me, & no one on these blogs is more against the LHP than me..... I just see it as more of a congestion problem, as it is designed now, a compromise might be an option, but if it is built I would hope more public transportation is incorporated to the final plan. Lets go Islanders!
ReplyDeleteNYI Fan - good to see you. You know my position on this, and it hasn't changed. There needs to be a solid mass-transit solution for the Coliseum site regardless of what ends up being built there. If it isn't included the project would fail - however, since there are so many options, and since we all know that a certain group of people are threatening to go to war over one of the options, I support the decision to not tie the project to any specific mass transit solution. It doesn't make sense to say that it can't succeed without a particular option (though there needs to be something).
ReplyDeleteTo me, approval of this project (in some form related to what was originally proposed) would then focus our attention on the traffic and logistics in the area.
And NYI Fan, believe me, judging by the attendance at every public hearing, the majority of citizens, even those who wouldn't be able to name 3 Islanders, support it. That doesn't mean there is no opposition, just that it's widely supported.
ReplyDeleteThat video is distrubing.
ReplyDeleteI will share that with others...thanks.