Last Thursday, the Village of New Hyde Park Board of Trustees held a virtual board meeting to discuss some upcoming events taking place around the village this month as well as an update on COVID-19.
Trustee Richard Coppola gave a warning from the Nassau County Police Department about an uptick of car thefts.
“The NCPD wanted to let everybody know that car thefts are up 22 percent, same time last year,” Coppola said. “People are leaving their car doors unlocked. New Hyde Park doesn’t have that problem, but just be aware of it. If you see something, say something. A lot of cars being stolen are from delivery guys.”
Coppola also said the New Hyde Park Fire Department wanted to thank those who came out to its most recent blood drive that was held last month.
Trustee Richard Pallisco also thanked the village’s Department of Public Works for decorating Jericho Turnpike and village hall for the holiday season.
Trustee Rainer Burger gave an update to residents about the ongoing process of the third track project taking place in the village.
“On South 12th Street, it looks like they started the sheet pile installation,” he said. “So the next big event will be the push of the pedestrian underpass bridge, which will be done in the spring of 2021. Right now there is no scheduled night work for the month of December. I’m not sure about January, but I will keep everyone posted on that. On New Hyde Park Road, we’re still working on some safety concerns with respect to the pedestrian crosswalk. We’re also waiting on some designs for the commuter lot for the entrance and exit lanes.”
Deputy Mayor Donna Squicciarino informed residents that the Hillside Public Library is doing a toy drive in partnership with Assemblyman Ed Ra. People can stop by the library to drop off an unwrapped toy to benefit NYU-Langone. Donations are now through Friday, Dec. 11.
Mayor Lawrence Montreuil gave an update about COVID-19 and its impact on the village.
“We see the numbers are getting higher and continues to be a threat,” he said. “In Nassau County, the number is 5.6 percent infection rate. In New Hyde Park, it’s 4.3 percent, so please do everything you can to stay safe and to stop the spread of this virus. I sent a letter to all residents urging them to comply with the guidelines that are out there and to also provide information from Nassau County on a grant for restaurant recovery. I think the county executive and the legislature have been very sensitive to the fact that restaurants have been hard hit, economically, by this pandemic. We’re very grateful that they’re offering to do what they can to assist the restaurants.”
Montreuil also urged residents to patronize local restaurants for pick-up in order to keep them in business.
“We did benefit from the Town of Hempstead who gave us a supply of about 50 boxes of PPE,” Montreuil said. “Some of that we distributed to local schools, some to local businesses, the chamber of commerce and we kept a little bit of a stockpile here [in village hall] just in the event there is a surge and we’re able to help people out.”
