The New York Supreme Court handed down a judgment on Thursday, Feb. 19, annulling the conclusions of the Village of Kings Point’s environmental review of 2.48 acres of Kings Point Park.
The judgment is a victory for the activist group, Save Kings Point Park, a coalition of residents who have pushed back against the proposed land alienation and swap.
The judgment also calls for the village to withdraw its request to state Sen. Jack Martins and Assembly Member Daniel Norber to pass legislation to allow the village to alienate the parkland.
Norber introduced legislation to this effect, which was passed in the state Senate last year, but the bill is still pending in committee in the Assembly.
“The proposed alienation cannot proceed unless and until SEQRA [the State Environmental Quality Review Act] is complied with,” the judgment reads.
“We’re thrilled with the decision,” said Nancy Sherman, one of Save Kings Point Park’s leading activists. “This is exactly what we hoped for.”
Great Neck residents Daniel Capruso, Stephanie Perrault, Yuang Gu, and Dina Miller sued the village, the Great Neck Park District, and the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America, which would receive the 2.48 acres in exchange for 5.76 acres of its own land under the plan.
Capruso has sued the village in the past for its attempts to alienate a section of Kings Point Park and won the case.
“There’s really substantial pushback from the community because it’s the last remaining forest we have on the peninsula,” Capruso said.
When the Village of Great Neck approved the construction of a center for the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America abutting Kings Point Park, it also approved variances that allowed fewer parking spaces than the village code required, provided the center had a shuttle bus from another parking lot.
After construction began on the center, the village of Kings Point proposed a land swap with the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America so it could use the 2.48 acres to build a larger parking lot and other private facilities.
Under the plan, Kings Point would then lease the 5.76 acres owned by the Mashadi community, known as the Wildwood property, and just under 8 acres of adjoining land owned by the village to the Great Neck Park District for 40 years.
The village then formally asked Martins and Norber, who represent Great Neck in their respective state legislatures, to sponsor a bill allowing the village to alienate parkland for the swap.
Kings Point Village Attorney Stephen Limmer said the village knew of the problems with the environmental quality review.
“Rather than fighting [a lawsuit], the village decided that it would do a full environmental review,” he said.
The village only filled one out of the three sections it was required to complete under SEQRA before Kings Point Mayor Kouros Torkan signed off on the review.
Efforts to reach Torkan were unavailing.
“The Great Neck community is still up in arms,” Sherman said
“When that environmental review is done, then new legislation will be proposed to the state for the alienation,” said Limmer.
But Limmer said the review would take “a while.”
The issue of park alienation has been a significant concern on the Great Neck peninsula since Save Kings Point Park has been ramping up its pressure campaign on local lawmakers in the past several months.
The activists, whose Facebook group has almost 900 members, regularly encourage residents to voice their disapproval at Village of Kings Point and Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees meetings, as well at Great Neck Park District Board of Commissioners meetings.
These meetings have often become heated with clashes between residents and board members.
Save Kings Point Park has also held protest events at Kings Point Park and information sessions that have drawn over 100 residents.
Sherman said the group plans to continue its activism in the community, especially since the Village of Kings Point recently announced tentative plans to alienate a separate section of the park to relocate the Department of Public Works there.
“The Great Neck community and Save Kings Point Park is adamantly opposed to the alienation of one inch of Kings Point Park and we will fight it every step of the way,” Sherman said.
“We know that it won’t stop at 2.48 acres.”
