West Hempstead

By Lee Landor

[Note: This article and its accompanying photos originally appeared on LIHerald.com on May 12, 2011. This content is the rightful property of Richner Communications, Inc.]

At long last, the Courtesy Hotel has come down.

The notorious West Hempstead hotel lay in piles of rubble last week following its demolition, which marked the end of a decade-long fight to rid the hamlet of the seedy, crime-ridden building.

Hundreds of community residents, cameras in hand, joined civic leaders and town, county and state legislators at around 11:30 a.m. on May 12 on a vacant property adjacent to the hotel to watch as a backhoe tore it apart.

Dozens of media outlets showed up to document the long-awaited demolition. People cheered, congratulated one another and exchanged stories about their unwanted encounters with hotel patrons. They recounted the history of the Courtesy and how it blighted their community — bringing in prostitution, drugs and other crimes, posing a threat to the safety of area residents, increasing crime and diminishing home values.
But they also celebrated the potential growth in West Hempstead once a new development — the Alexan at West Hempstead Station — is constructed on the site.

Copyright LIHerald.com
After years of complaining, the residents of West Hempstead finally got to see the demolition of the crime-ridden Courtesy Hotel.

“My face is tired from smiling,” said Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association and a leader in the fight to close the Courtesy. “[I’m] delighted, exhilarated — I mean, every adjective you could think of. This is, like, the culmination of a very long journey for the residents of West Hempstead. I can’t be happier for all the … efforts they put into it because this isn’t one individual, this is a group of people living in the community who came together that wanted the same thing and we fought for it.”

Hempstead Town Supervisor Kate Murray echoed Norton’s sentiments, saying it was high time the hotel was demolished. “Today is a victory all around,” Murray said. “I’m so excited for the residents of West Hempstead. At long last we’re going to get this absolutely blighted source of criminality out of our neighborhood. West Hempstead has suffered for a long time with this hotel.”

Mindy Bekritsky and her 26-year-old daughter, Tammy, are among the residents who have counted down the days to the Courtesy’s demise. “It really put a crimp in people’s lifestyles,” Mindy said. “I’m glad — it’s really good that it’s finally going, although I would have liked to see it implode or something.”
The Bekritsky family has lived in West Hempstead for 11 years. Within three months of moving into the neighborhood, Mindy recalled, they learned about the infamous hotel.

“It was my son’s bar mitzvah and I was looking for hotels for family members to stay in,” she said. So she checked out the Courtesy. “I walked in — it was very sleazy — and I told the guy at the counter, ‘I’m looking for a place —,’ but he shook his head before I even finished the sentence and said, ‘Honey, I don’t think this is the place you’re looking for.’ I got myself out of there as fast as I could.”

According to Tammy Bekritsky, the crime and other nefarious activities associated with the hotel were not confined to its premises. “You always had people in cars trying to pull people in, and condoms on the street corner,” Tammy said. “You just didn’t want to step foot in this part of town.”
When she came home from college on weekends and vacations, Tammy said, she couldn’t even take the public bus that traveled near the hotel, fearing for her safety. “You’re growing up here,” she said. “You don’t want this kind of danger level here.”

The danger is now gone, according to Murray, Norton and Town Councilman Ed Ambrosino, who has also been active in the fight to close the hotel. They expect the development that will rise in its place to be a catalyst for community revitalization. The developer, Mill Creek Residential Trust, is replacing the hotel with a 150-unit, four-story complex that features market-rate rental apartments.

Maria Rigopoulos, a managing director of MCR, said it would take about two years to complete the complex, but that the company expects its first units to be finished in the fall of 2012, when it will begin leasing units. Residents, she added, should not expect to see much vertical activity on the site until much later this year.

Copyright LIHerald.com
Hundreds of West Hempstead residents gathered to celebrate the demolition, an event they had been awaiting for more than a decade.

Copyright LIHerald.com
Flames engulfed the portable classrooms connected to the George Washington Elementary School in West Hempstead Monday night. Damage to the building was extensive. More than 100 firefighters responded to blaze.

Lee Landor

[Note: This article and its accompanying photos originally appeared on LIHerald.com on Aug. 10, 2010. This content is the rightful property of Richner Communications, Inc.]

They were really playing with fire.

Two 14-year-old teens who were charged with starting a fire on Monday that damaged a West Hempstead elementary school set papers on fire and then threw an aerosol can into the blaze to see what would happen, police said.

They saw what happened shortly thereafter — and it was a sight that is likely burned into their memories: The can ruptured, causing flames to engulf a temporary building attached to the George Washington Elementary School.

Police charged the pair with fourth-degree arson, a felony, but would not identify them because of their age. They were charged as juveniles, according to Det. Lt. Kevin Power, commanding officer of the arson and bomb investigation squad.

While at the scene of the 8:35 p.m. blaze, West Hempstead school district Superintendent John Hogan suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized, according to reports. He was still in the hospital on Thursday.

According to Power, the boys were playing with a cigarette lighter and setting fire to pieces of paper on a concrete patio near the annex, which housed three first-grade classrooms. Then they threw the aerosol can into the fire and it blew up, alerting neighbors who reported hearing an explosion and seeing people running from the school.

With the help of residents and witnesses, arson investigators identified the boys as local kids, and arrested and charged them Tuesday night.
When asked whether this was the result of ignorance about fire safety, Power said it appeared to be a case of curiosity. “It was ‘Let’s see what happens when we place [the aerosol can] in fire,'” he said.

“Education is always good,” Power continued. “And the fire service, the Nassau County Fire Marshal, does do school education programs throughout the school year, so people do hear about the dangers of fire and what can happen. So those programs are out there, but it’s still not going to take an interest away from a child or person if their mindset is to do it.”

The teens were released on Family Court appearance tickets and are scheduled to face juvenile delinquency charges later this month, Power said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, school officials reported that fire remediation specialists monitored by an independent environmental engineering firm began a “complete top-to-bottom cleaning” of the school building. Deputy Superintendent Richard Cunningham, who has taken over all the superintendent’s responsibilities, said he expects the work to be complete in a week’s time.

“While there is extensive damage to the schools ‘portable’ classrooms, the rest of the building was not affected and will be ready for the start of the school year,” Cunningham said. “We are confident that we can accommodate all students scheduled to attend the school without affecting class size.”

Classes at the William Street school will begin as scheduled on Sept. 7.

Lee Landor

The end of an era: The Courtesy Hotel comes down

Teens use aerosol can to start school fire