From The Three Village Times:

Visions of Sugarplums

The Town of Hempstead envisions the redevelopment of the Courtesy and its surrounding blight far differently than most West Hempsteaders. Indeed, the town, through its Department of Economic Development and Zoning Board cum Planning Board, looks to remove blight in our community as one would take aim with an elephant gun to shoot a single, lowly mouse (Not that this wouldn't have been the way to go, with prudent planning, timely deployment, and proper implementation.)

As things now stand (aside from quite still), the town offers grand ideas, absolutely no workable plan, and the elephant gun isn't even loaded.

Nassau County, similarly taking aim, the big gun in the hands of the County Planning Commission, envisions a greenbelt on Broad Street, a two-story parking garage, and nominal building setbacks - not exactly what West Hempstead residents had in mind.

Truth be told, had the Courtesy been closed 10 years ago, or even three years ago as promised by Town Supervisor Kate Murray, the West Hempstead community might well have been amenable to alternative plans for the redevelopment, not only of the Courtesy site, but of the entire 10-acre parcel designated by the town as "blighted."

Behind the eight ball, with the Courtesy - the hottest crime spot in the 5th Precinct - still open for business, residents no longer have the breathing room, or the patience, to embrace Ms. Murray's broader "vision." That vision, best of intentions aside, has not played out in the unincorporated areas of the township beyond the occasional brick paver and Victorian-style street lamp - the façade that is passed off as "downtown" improvement being just that, a façade.
Yes, redevelop not only the Courtesy venue, but also the surrounding parcels, home to the likes of a waste transfer station and the seemingly abandoned MTA right-of-way. But first and foremost, close and demolish the Courtesy Hotel, the epicenter of blight at our hamlet's eastern gateway.

In rebuilding community, and revitalizing its infrastructure, one has to start somewhere, sometime. The time to start the wrecking ball swinging is now, and the place to start is at the front door to the Courtesy Hotel.

West Hempsteaders implore the County Planning Commission and the Town Zoning Board to act in our community's best interest and with all deliberate speed. And to Kate Murray we say, "Madam Supervisor, tear down that hotel!"

Seth D. Bykofsky
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Mr. Bykofsky, a community advocate of longstanding, has been in the forefront of the fight to close the Courtesy Hotel and to revitalize the eastern gateway to West Hempstead since 1995. He is a past president of the West Hempstead Civic Association and a founder of The Community Alliance.