The following article was written by Claudia Borecky, the president of the North and Central Merrick Civic Associations.
As we were recently advised by Town representatives, Hempstead Town Attorneys met with the MTA and have agreed to designate 100 permitted parking spots at the Bellmore Long Island Rail Road Train Station.
After having received letters from Supervisor Murray stating that the Town could not implement permit parking at the Bellmore and Merrick train stations, President Claudia Borecky FOILed (Freedom of Information Law) and found that the Town has contracts with the Long Island Railroad for two lots in Merrick that specifically state that allows for spaces in those lots to be restricted to Town of Hempstead residents for permit parking.
Further, we found that the Town of Hempstead's lease with the Long Island Rail Road for the parking lot that was previously owned by Albert Brothers in Bellmore would be expiring shortly.
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Attached is the current lease that the Town of Hempstead has with the Long Island Railroad for the Bellmore lot.
Then, in December 2010, we formed the Long Island Railroad Parking Lot Committee and coordinated efforts with Legis. Denenberg's. D-Merrick, 19th Legislative District Commuter Council, and researched this issue. We learned that Bellmore and Merrick were the only two train stations in Nassau on the Babylon branch that did not have designated parking for residents.
The NCMCA wrote letters on March 5, 2011, March 28, 2011, April 6, 2011, November 18, 2011 and Feb. 4, 2012 requesting permit parking. We gathered hundreds of signatures and went to the Town of Hempstead to ask for permit parking at the Merrick and Bellmore train stations.
I am happy to report that the Town has reached an agreement with the MTA with respect to the Bellmore train station and will be restricting 100 spots for Town of Hempstead residents. However, residents have concerns and request input into this decision.
In a letter dated May 22, 2012, the NCMCA asked the Town to hold a hearing in the Bellmore and Merrick communities so that residents and commuters have an opportunity to express their concerns regarding the permits, their designated location and time restrictions.
The NCMCA seeks community input and will again, be writing to Supervisor Murray and Councilwoman Cullin to request a hearing before the contract is finalized. We believe it important that the agreement between the Town and the MTA for permit parking address the concerns of local residents and commuters.
If you would like to participate in our survey regarding parking permits, please take the survey at our website by going to North Merrick Civic website LIRR page.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email claudiaborecky@gmail.com.
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