I attended the Aug. 27 Great Neck Estates Village Hall Meeting. The Old Mill II decision was on the agenda. Mayor William Warner pretty much said that the Village of Great Neck (my village) locked Great Neck Estates in a corner by voting to approve the Lalezarian II house development, which will have no benefit to Great Neck Estates residents who opposed the project.
In all fairness to Great Neck village residents, we fought tooth and nail starting in 2014. Many of your Great Neck Estates residents attended. We fought to prevent an apartment building being built, then a second plan for 11 houses.
Mayor Ralph Kreitzman, the Board of Trustees and our planning board spent untold hours. We put every tumbling block in the way, but with Paul Bloom as Lalezarian’s lawyer we already knew that we would lose 50 percent. He is excellent, that’s why all the developers use him. Our faint hope was that you had Tom Levine as your legal counsel.
I saw the difficulty in your words as you each read a statement. Please don’t blame our village. We gave in for the same reasons as you. We, too, are upset with the final decision.
You did everything in your power to protect your residents, but it’s sad to say that there is no protection from a greedy developer, there is only blackmail. Do as I say or I will sue and win; the village residents will pay the price.
As to Lalezarian, you came to our country and became a successful developer. Mazal tov. But when is it enough? You grab any sliver of land to develop without any thought (other than the almighty dollar) to the consequences for years to come for the welfare of our existing residents. In August 2014, I said you have two faces—one that smiles when you get what you want and one that threatens to sue if you don’t. It still seems to apply.
—Jean Pierce
