Commercial Development in Nassau County - Who Wants It?

Sean O’Kane
JRNL 80B
Final Article
Nassau Commercial Development
4/15/08


Recent proposed commercial developments such as Donald Trump’s ‘Trump on the Ocean’ have seen their share of initial legal resistance, but deeper in the Nassau County community the feelings are mixed.

“I don’t want it,” Barbara Richardine declared, a long-time resident of Point Lookout. “I think we’re really quite developed now.”

“Not in this area,” Long Beach resident Pat Williams said. The lifetime Long Island native then expanded from the ‘not-in-my-backyard’ position; “The rest of Long Island is just too crowded,” she added.

But other Nassau County residents were much more inclined to the idea of commercial development. Larry Legend, another Long Beach resident, said that for him it’s a matter of being able to balance the good and bad.

“I think it’s beneficial if it’s done in a proper manner, and people can still enjoy the beauty of the beaches and the environment,” he said. One concern he did hold was whether or not the cost of large projects would actually be balanced in the end by the jobs and revenue they promise to create.

The Lighthouse Project, a massive revamping of the Nassau Coliseum area into a full-fledged community and entertainment based shopping center, promises to do just that. Not only would the development itself require hundreds of new jobs, but the developed area would become a hub for commerce in Nassau County.

That the economy could see a boost would be helpful in a time of economic distress, said Lake Success resident Seth Elliot. While he said it is not a solution to any national crisis, he would take pride in seeing a “community be able to come together behind a project that can keep us afloat,” in tough times.

As promising as it can sound, there still is concern. And while developers in Nassau County continue to try and push across their projects, it has become clear that a collective voice of the people won’t be enough of a representation. Every Nassau County resident has a different opinion, and each one as valid as the next.

“If there [are] big buildings it will only look like Manhattan,” East Meadow resident Kamal Williams said, “and who wants two Manhattans?”