Vision Long Island hosted the 24th Annual Long Island Smart Growth Awards on Friday, June 13.
The LI Smart Growth Awards recognize companies and organizations that promote sustainable and community-driven developments across Long Island. This year, 17 Long Island projects were honored across seven categories. Eight of those initiatives are located in Nassau County.
“These projects today represent tremendous growth and opportunity for Long Island [residents],” said Brian Sapp, director of external affairs of National Grid. National Grid, a gas and utility company, is Vision Long Island’s lead sponsor. “Together, we will build a brighter future for Long Island’s residents.”
The first project honored was Hicksville Streetscape, located in the Town of Oyster Bay, in the Walkability category. Hicksville Streetscape was honored for its “pedestrian safety [and] tremendous beauty,” Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said during the ceremony.
Hicksville Streetscape is focusing on pedestrian safety, convenience and visual appeal.
The goal is to make Hicksville “a real traditional downtown with state-of-the-art functions, facilities, and appointments. [It will be] something you want to visit over and over again … It’s a way to build a downtown that everyone can be proud of,” Saladino said.
The next Nassau County initiative to be recognized during the ceremony was for Lalezarian Properties, which is located in the Village of Mineola. It was honored in the Transit Oriented Development category.
“This project,” said Paul Pereira, mayor of the Village of Mineola, “is going to be really catalytic in changing the area that it’s in … [It] will replace a 60 year old building and a dilapidated – essentially condemned – parking garage with two beautiful twin buildings that are really going to beautify this part of the village.”
The 500-unit building has many amenities, including a small park and a pitch-and-putt golf course. It is also transit-oriented, as it is less than a five-minute walk from the Long Island Railroad Station.
The next transit-oriented development to be honored was The Langdon Lynbrook, a 201-unit luxury rental building in the Village of Lynbrook.
The goal of this development, according to Justin Breslin, vice president of Breslin Realty Development, was to make it “a place where young Long Island [residents] could feel like they have a sense of home” thanks to the building’s close proximity to transportation and the Village Cultural Arts district as well as its many amenities.
The Sign, Light, and Awning Program was honored in the Supporting Downtown Businesses category for its work to enhance the aesthetics of the Village of Farmingdale with hand-carved light signs and gooseneck awnings. This project is almost complete.
The Village of Rockville Centre and Uniondale were both honored in the Affordable Housing category for the Rockville Manor and Uniondale Community Land Trust, respectively.
“We need affordable housing and we need communities to step up and support affordable housing,” said Eric Alexander, director of Vision Long Island.
The next category explored was for Clean Energy, which only had one project on the docket: the Town of Hempstead’s Clean Energy Park. The park’s main successes have been in educating the public on clean energy and implementing renewable energy into government life.
The last award of the ceremony was given to the Hispanic Brotherhood for Community Leadership. Hispanic Brotherhood, led by Marguerite Grasing and Marguerite Keller, is a non-profit organization that specializes in empowering and advancing the Latino community.
“No project gets done without community leadership,” Alexander said. “Human services and local services are driven by community leadership. [Hispanic Brotherhood] really epitomizes that leadership we are honoring for the Community Leadership Award.”
