West Hempstead Residents To Town Supervisor Kate Murray --

"PADLOCK THE COURTESY HOTEL NOW!"

When residents of the unicorporated hamlet of West Hempstead joined a standing room only crowd at the community's middle school for a civic meeting last week, the Supervisor of the Town of Hempstead, Kate Murray -- conspicuous by her absence -- got an earful in absentia:

"We want the infamous, crime-ridden Courtesy Hotel closed NOW!"

Its not like West Hempstead residents haven't been calling for the closure of this hourly-rate haven for rapists, drug dealers, prostitutes, and the like for years on end.

The battle to shutter the hotel -- and to clean up the eastern gateway to West Hempstead -- now enters its 12th year, and residents are now well into their third Town Supervisor.

The Town of Hempstead, having jurisdiction over zoning, building codes, and enforcement, has final say over what will become of this "scourge" upon the West Hempstead community, and yet, for more than a decade, the Town has done little to move the hotel toward closure, vehement protests of the citizenry notwithstanding.

West Hempstead residents -- and those who reside within the Town of Hempstead who are concerned about their neighbors' quality of life -- are urged to send an e-mail to Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray, demanding the immediate closure of the Courtesy Hotel.

In 2000, upon the introduction of then Town Councilman N. Scott Banks, the Hempstead Town Board adopted a so-called Nuisance Law.The Nuisance Law contains a "padlock provision" which permits the Town of Hempstead, upon appropriate notice, to padlock the doors to the hotel upon two (2) felony arrests committed within 12 consecutive months.

In 2006 alone, there were 94 “reports” to the 5th Precinct of the Nassau County Police Department emanating from the Courtesy in 2006 (meaning officers actually wrote up an incident report); 46 actual arrests (many felonies); and more than 200 calls. [Prior years, dating back to the 1990s, bore similar reports and arrests.]

Shortly after the enactment of the Nuisance Law in 2000, and continuing to date, community and civic leaders in West Hempstead have made demand after demand upon the Town of Hempstead to envoke the padlock provisions of the Nuisance Law, all to no avail.

Dating back to 1995, through no less that three Town Supervisors -- Greg Peterson, Rich Guardino, and Kate Murray -- West Hempstead residents have asked the Town of Hempstead to take appropriate action [condemnation, civil enforcement, padlocking under the Nuisance Law] to forever close the Courtesy Hotel, all to no avail.

With a contract for private sale pending with a respected and reputable developer -- Trammell-Crow -- pending, and other avenues of renewal and redevelopment at hand and under consideration, residents of West Hempstead now need and deserve the breathing room, permitting the opportunity to review, examine, and ultimately select the best proposal for the redevelopment of the Courtesy site.

Such "breathing room" can only be had through the Town of Hempstead's immediate closure of the Courtesy.

CLICK HERE TO SEND AN E-MAIL TO TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD SUPERVISOR KATE MURRAY. Remind her that this is an election year. Tell her to CLOSE THE COURTESY NOW!