Babylon moves ahead on plans for expanded Veterans Plaza in Copiague

The final piece of a nearly 20-year-old plan to revitalize downtown Copiague is starting to come to fruition.

The Town of Babylon has begun the process of purchasing the property at 782 Marconi Blvd. for $450,000 as part of an effort to expand Veterans Plaza near the Copiague Long Island Rail Road station. The creation of a large plaza in the hamlet’s downtown was part of a Vision Plan that began in 2007 with a series of meetings between the town and community members.

“It’s the last piece,” said Tony Martinez, deputy supervisor for the town who has helped navigate the plan over the last two decades.

The plan was adopted in 2009, just as the economy took a nosedive, resulting in delays, Martinez said. Momentum was regained a few years later with town-led facade and streetscaping improvements and developers buying up rundown properties on which they built several new apartment houses.

In 2015, a special zoning overlay district was created for the area near the train station, allowing for mixed-use development.

Martinez described a downtown that had been littered with dilapidated buildings, with homeless people living in some, and an illegal gambling operation in one building. He said the downtown has been transformed into a vibrant area with hundreds of rental units and several new businesses with hardly any vacancies.

“It’s a different Copiague than when we started,” Martinez said.

Other parts of the plan

There are two more apartment projects that are in the works for downtown, he said, and then the planned outside plaza will be the last part of the Vision Plan.

The property at 782 Marconi Blvd. is one of four parcels extending to Verrazano Avenue that the town wants to use to expand Veterans Plaza, located at the intersection of Great Neck Road and Marconi Boulevard. The commuter parking lot between that plaza and the properties would be relocated, although it hasn’t been worked out where, said Kevin Bonner, town deputy chief of staff.

“Amityville has their public space; Lindenhurst has theirs that they use for Octoberfest and other events,” Bonner said. “Copiague’s been looking for that public space since the Vision Plan.”

The approximately 2,500-square-foot property the town is purchasing has a building with no certificate of occupancy on file, only a 1931 letter that doesn't specify a use, said town spokesman Ryan Bonner. There were illegal alterations made on it in the 1990s, he said, and it has had mixed residential and commercial uses at various points over the years. He said the property is owned by 782 Marconi Blvd. Corp.

The town and other agencies have issued numerous citations for the property over nearly 20 years, including for abandoned vehicles, lack of rental permits and raw sewage discharge, Ryan Bonner said. The town has had to board up the building six times since last year, he said.

Babylon officials are in conversations with the owners of the other three properties and have done appraisals, Kevin Bonner said. They are expecting to spend about $3 million on those properties and will demolish the buildings on them, he said.

The town received $1 million in federal grant money and there is a commitment for more that should cover the costs, Martinez said.

'A jewel in the crown'

Martinez said he envisions a plaza there within two years, creating a place for community events and a weekly farmers market.

“It’s going to be a jewel in the crown of Copiague,” he said.

The news of the property purchase was greeted with enthusiasm by Donna Farina, president of the Copiague Chamber of Commerce. Farina was involved with the creation of the Vision Plan and said the outdoor public space has been needed by the community.

“I think it’s going to be an asset,” she said, adding that she hopes it will attract more businesses to come to the downtown, especially more restaurants. “I think it’ll have a big impact.”

Farina’s late father-in-law, John Farina, a U.S. Army veteran and community leader, pushed the town to renovate the Veterans Plaza in 2015, including the addition of a statue of a World War I “doughboy.” She said she holds veteran events there, including a Memorial Day service, and with the plaza being extended, she now aims to do more.

“I think it will bring the community together,” she said. “We have a lot of organizations that are always doing some kind of event or fundraiser. But also just to sit together and listen to music at a concert or something — I think it’ll be nice.”