Community Corner

Parking Mall Reconstruction Stuck at Red Light

Ford says funding for the project needs approval from Nassau Interim Finance Authority.


Bureaucracy is taking the blame for delays in reconstructing a deteriorated parking mall in the East End of Long Beach.

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Development of a Nassau County-owned parking mall on East Park Avenue, between Long Beach and Monroe boulevards, was completed in early 2012, but the county’s delay in reimbursing the City of Long Beach for moving forward with that project has left the pending redevelopment of a second mall on East Park, between Roosevelt and Neptune boulevards, at a red light.

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"One is completed and one we're still waiting for some kind of recognition from the county that there's actually funding available to reimburse the city and we can start construction,” Jim LaCarrubba, the city’s commissioner of public works, told the City Council at a meeting in June.

Both projects are part of an inter-municipal agreement between the county and the city, in which Nassau agreed to fully reimburse Long Beach for the designs and reconstruction costs for both aging malls, which the City Council approved in 2011.

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The mall at Long Beach-Monroe, long beset with potholes, deep cracks and broken curbs, was considered the more hazardous of the two lots and was rebuilt first. It was rebuilt with new parking surface, striping, handicap parking spaces, catch basins and brick sidewalks at a cost of about $800,0000. The upgrade to the Neptune-Roosevelt mall is expected to cost $750,000. Both projects will be paid for through the county’s capital improvement funds.

Legislator Denise Ford, R-Long Beach, told Patch on Monday that she has submitted to the county’s department of public works information and requests for reimbursement for the first mall, but more work is necessary.

“I’m going to get to the bottom of this,” said Ford, who noted that she is still awaiting more information about the project and will update the city on the status via a written letter. “But there are still things that need to be done so that we can get the first project fully compensated, close that project and get started on the next one.”

Ford said that the county has the funds for the projects but indicated that approval for it depends on the Nassau Interim Finance Authority, which oversees the county’s finances.  

“So we have assured the city that the money will be there, and I will personally send a letter to NIFA asking them to let us know about the funding,” Ford said.

In 2011 the city repaired a broken water main on Monroe at East Park, adjacent to the parking mall, for which it needed emergency funds to complete the work immediately. The city used funds from the Roosevelt-Neptune parking mall project for these repairs, Ford said.

“So that will also be deducted from the total amount,” Ford said.  

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