An adult daycare facility may be coming to New Hyde Park. But business officials will need to provide the village’s board of trustees with additional information before being permitted to open.
Rakesh Mehta, a consultant for Senior Socials Adult Day Care, the proposed facility, presented a business plan to the board during Thursday’s trustees meeting. He requested an exception to the village’s zoning code so that the facility could open at 1300 Jericho Turnpike.
“This is a great need, because it prevents seniors from falling into depression,” Mehta said of the senior day care. “By interacting with each other and being happy, there’s [evidence] that they will need less hospitalization. It’s a great service to the community.”
Mehta said the social day care would operate two shifts, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week. Each shift would offer roughly an hour each of mentally stimulating activities, like word searches and coloring pages, discussion on current affairs and how they impact seniors, creative activities like dancing and singing and chair yoga.
The facility would serve seniors on Medicaid and Medicare as well as those on private insurance.
Mehta said all clients would be bused to and from the daycare. However, the board and members of the public still expressed concern over the potential for increased congestion and parking issues.
The board did not make a decision on the business, instead voting to adjourn and continue the public hearing to their Aug. 21 meeting.
Trustees requested that Mehta conduct and submit a traffic study to ensure the potential impact of the business on traffic conditions was fully understood. They also requested he reappear at the board’s August meeting, alongside Premal Jani, the prospective business’s owner, who was not present Thursday night.
Board members said they wanted to speak directly with Jani about the details of the business’s operation and her background.
Trustees also asked that business representatives provide copies of the terms of their lease and of all procedure manuals, audits, and documents regarding the facility’s operation and qualifications.
Deputy Mayor Madhvi Nijjar questioned Mehta on the qualifications of the employees at the center.
Mehta said all would go through a training program through the New York State Department of Health and that the business would employ social workers, but a person would not necessarily need to have held a certain position previously or hold any certain certifications to be employed.
Prior to the daycare hearing, Devane introduced Giovanni, the village’s summer high school intern, who sat between him and Nijjar for the entire duration of the meeting.
“He’s going into senior year at Jericho High School, and he came here to intern for us in the village of New Hyde Park,” Devane said. “We brag about him. Giovanni is one of 11 kids. His father fled Afghanistan when he was 14 years old after the Soviet Union invaded the country.”
“Giovanni wants to go to West Point to serve this country,” Devane said. He added that multiple of Giovanni’s brothers are in the military or doctors and that the young intern insisted upon wearing a suit every time he comes into the village.
“If Giovanni is not an indication of how great this country is, then I don’t know who is,” Devane added. “We are so blessed to have someone of Giovanni’s caliber and status come and work with us, and we welcome you.”
