Trouble is brewing in Franklin Court, in the central section of Garden City. A group of citizens operating under the name Franklin Court Mews, LLC approached the board of trustees in 2012 about acquiring a roughly 39.000-square-foot piece of open green space that had been used by all residents for decades. The village considered the property surplus, an assessment was made, and a vote was passed last year at a Dec. 19 public village board of trustees meeting that was attended by 20 people. After $100,000 changed hands, the property belonged to a private owner.
In June of this year, a $10,000, 6-1/2 -foot-high, 167-foot-long gated wrought-iron fence was erected on the property. No public notice was issued giving neighbors a heads-up that they were going to be literally shut out. And while a letter had been distributed the prior August inviting residents to buy into the LLC, those living in nearby houses and not in the historic Mews section were figuratively closed off from what is shaping up to be Garden City’s answer to Gramercy Park.
Outraged residents are showing up at board of trustees meetings demanding answers. While Trustee Richard Silver finally publicly summarized the story of the sold property and the fence at a recent Oct. 16 meeting, members of the Franklin Court Mews, LLC have maintained their silence despite repeated calls/requests for comment. The discord among the residents who call Franklin Court home is escalating, and the situation doesn’t promise to go away any time soon.
—Dave Gil de Rubio
