The Village of Great Neck began construction on its new village hall at 756 Middle Neck Road on Friday, Oct. 3, with a ground breaking ceremony. The Board of Trustees posed with shovels and hard hats, and Mayor Pedram Bral spoke about what the building will mean for the community.
“This is really a generational building. This is something that we’re passing for the generations to come,” Bral said. “This building, hopefully, is going to be standing here for over 100 years, and it’s going to serve many communities that come after us.”
Attendees included Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips, Nassau County Legislator Mazi Pilip, North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, North Hempstead Town Clerk Ragini Srivastava and a representative of Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The mayors of adjacent villages were also present, including Saddle Rock Mayor Dan Levy.
“The fact that we have so many mayors from different villages here shows the connection between all the mayors and all the villages,” Bral said.
He also linked the building’s theme of unity to the war in the Middle East.
“I hope that the beginning of this building will bring in more unity, and I don’t want to get political, but bring the end of the war in the Middle East,” Bral said. “Hopefully, all the hostages will come home, and we can celebrate many occasions in this building.”
Some attendees said “amen” in response, and Bral concluded his speech as onlookers clapped.
Around 2013, plans were in motion to move the village hall to a different location at 265 East Shore Road, according to Clerk-Treasurer Abraham Cohan. The plan did not move forward because of a change of administration, which pivoted. An additional plan to move the village hall was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Cohan said.
Then in 2022 the former village hall was destroyed when it was struck by lightning. The fire caused devastation to the building’s west wing and parts of the east wing.
The Great Neck Board of Trustees unanimously voted at a meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 6, to award bids to five contractors to build a new village hall.
“It will be a very exciting moment for the village,” Cohan said. “We have been waiting for this for a long time.”
The construction will take about 16 to 18 months.
