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Hempstead is not a bad place to live if you don't have kids to send to the school district. I've been here for years and a lot of middle class hard working families live here who keep very nice houses.
The Lighthouse or something similar is also crucial to Hempstead. We need our politicians to get their heads out of their asses and make this whole central Nassau (Hempstead, East Garden City, Uniondale, etc.) area our White Plains, Stamford or New Rochelle instead of the festering asphalt hellhole it is right now. I really hope they don't drop the ball on this one, this kind of potential for jobs, entertainment, transportation, housing and retail isn't going to come around again for a long time....maybe not ever.
They need to get rid of the Central American gangbangers and illegal aliens before they even think of doing anything like this. Otherwise it is throwing money away by putting lipstick on a pig.
If people are going to be crime victims (either directly targeted like muggings or accidentally targeted like shot in the crossfire) who is going to come there and take advantage of the "jobs, entertainment, transportation, housing and retail"?
My new favorite game in Hempstead is "dodge the family". Now, you must realize that I try to avoid Hempstead Turnpike and Fulton Ave at all costs. However, there are times I have to drive through there.
The problem is that everytime I drive through there, families of illegal immigrants are crossing right in the middle of a 4 lane road....THROWING themselves into oncoming traffic...no where near an intersection or crossing.
Now, I don't know if this is a custom from the home country or if they are looking for a quick lawsuit, but it is disgusting. No other town on LI seems to have this problem to this level.
It's as if the crosswalks don't exist at all in Hempstead.
They need to get rid of the Central American gangbangers and illegal aliens before they even think of doing anything like this. Otherwise it is throwing money away by putting lipstick on a pig.
If people are going to be crime victims (either directly targeted like muggings or accidentally targeted like shot in the crossfire) who is going to come there and take advantage of the "jobs, entertainment, transportation, housing and retail"?
I agree, but:
1. Where are we going to send MS-13 and the other illegals?
2. How could we ever hope to force a mass exodus of illegals without the race baiters and ACORNS of the world going nuts?
I think Hempstead will be revitalized pretty soon. The Mayor seems to have a good head on this shoulders, if some of the morons around there would let him do what he wants to do. It's too prime are area for it to languish like it is. I still can't belive ACORN killed this. The mayor said..we have enough affordable housing and non-paying churches...we need revenue!
I think you're being a little too optimistic. I know various parts of NYC have gentrified, but has any part of LI ever gone from a ghetto to an actual nice place to live?
They need to get rid of the Central American gangbangers and illegal aliens before they even think of doing anything like this. Otherwise it is throwing money away by putting lipstick on a pig.
If people are going to be crime victims (either directly targeted like muggings or accidentally targeted like shot in the crossfire) who is going to come there and take advantage of the "jobs, entertainment, transportation, housing and retail"?
In regards to the part that's bolded, you know I was referring to the Lighthouse project (in East Garden City, not in Hempstead) so do you honestly think there is a ton of crime in the Nassau Coliseum parking lot or are you just trying to make me look stupid?
For Hempstead, the idea would be to start attracting people above the socioeconomic caliber of "Central American gangbanger" in that one small area (right near the LIRR/Bus Terminal) and hopefully the rest of the village would (slowly but surely) follow suit. Obviously a one 1/4 mile stretch of shiny new buildings isn't going to cause a revolution, and a lot more things would have to go right to make that a reality, but it's possible. It's more possible than the INS swooping in, kicking down doors and loading everything that looks poor, brown & dangerous into a paddy wagon with a one way ticket to Guadalajara. There are people who want this to happen, there is money willing to invest in the area, and there is a market amongst young, middle class minorities (especially natives of the area) despite how ridiculous it might seem to you. On top of that, like I mentioned, I think the Lighthouse project would benefit Hempstead greatly, due to the proximity.
Things like this happen all the time, look at how many awful NYC hoods have been transformed back to prominence over the last 15-20 years....I'm not even talking about the poster children for gentrification, I'm talking minority communities, especially in the Bronx and Brooklyn, that have gone from absolute warzones to relatively safe, livable areas. Hempstead was the economic and cultural center of Nassau for over 300 years, the location is too good for it to stay as awful as it has been since the 1960s indefinitely.
I think you're being a little too optimistic. I know various parts of NYC have gentrified, but has any part of LI ever gone from a ghetto to an actual nice place to live?
Patchogue has turned around pretty nicely, can't say it was ever an actual "ghetto" though...there were some places on LI considered dangerous/crime ridden during the 19th century that you would never think of that way today. Merrick, for instance, was considered a slummy little port full of transients.
Give it some time, NYC is much older and has gone through several cycles of poverty/crime & gentrification....most of LI was either farmland or a playground for the rich up until the 1950s. Most of our "ghettos" are only reaching their nadir as we speak.
Patchogue has turned around pretty nicely, can't say it was ever an actual "ghetto" though...there were some places on LI considered dangerous/crime ridden during the 19th century that you would never think of that way today. Merrick, for instance, was considered a slummy little port full of transients.
Give it some time, NYC is much older and has gone through several cycles of poverty/crime & gentrification....most of LI was either farmland or a playground for the rich up until the 1950s. Most of our "ghettos" are only reaching their nadir as we speak.
Merrick? Really? I am interested in the details, it must have been before my time
My new favorite game in Hempstead is "dodge the family". Now, you must realize that I try to avoid Hempstead Turnpike and Fulton Ave at all costs. However, there are times I have to drive through there.
The problem is that everytime I drive through there, families of illegal immigrants are crossing right in the middle of a 4 lane road....THROWING themselves into oncoming traffic...no where near an intersection or crossing.
Now, I don't know if this is a custom from the home country or if they are looking for a quick lawsuit, but it is disgusting. No other town on LI seems to have this problem to this level.
It's as if the crosswalks don't exist at all in Hempstead.
Drive Hempstead Turnpike through Hempstead (especially near the border of Uniondale) and tell me ... isn't it just like an obstacle course? I feel like I am playing a car video game trying to avoid rather than hit the targets.
I will have to throw in a PC warning and say (before someone else does) how do you KNOW they are families of illegal aliens?
In regards to the part that's bolded, you know I was referring to the Lighthouse project (in East Garden City, not in Hempstead) so do you honestly think there is a ton of crime in the Nassau Coliseum parking lot or are you just trying to make me look stupid?
For Hempstead, the idea would be to start attracting people above the socioeconomic caliber of "Central American gangbanger" in that one small area (right near the LIRR/Bus Terminal) and hopefully the rest of the village would (slowly but surely) follow suit. Obviously a one 1/4 mile stretch of shiny new buildings isn't going to cause a revolution, and a lot more things would have to go right to make that a reality, but it's possible. It's more possible than the INS swooping in, kicking down doors and loading everything that looks poor, brown & dangerous into a paddy wagon with a one way ticket to Guadalajara. There are people who want this to happen, there is money willing to invest in the area, and there is a market amongst young, middle class minorities (especially natives of the area) despite how ridiculous it might seem to you. On top of that, like I mentioned, I think the Lighthouse project would benefit Hempstead greatly, due to the proximity.
Things like this happen all the time, look at how many awful NYC hoods have been transformed back to prominence over the last 15-20 years....I'm not even talking about the poster children for gentrification, I'm talking minority communities, especially in the Bronx and Brooklyn, that have gone from absolute warzones to relatively safe, livable areas. Hempstead was the economic and cultural center of Nassau for over 300 years, the location is too good for it to stay as awful as it has been since the 1960s indefinitely.
You are right. I didn't realize you were talking about the Lighthouse project, but thought you were evangelizing for something IN Hempstead Village.
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