COVID-19 Efforts In Our Community - A Note From The President

May 2020           

On the evening of Tuesday, April 28th, the FSCA held its first online virtual meeting live on Facebook. It was a new format for us and took some planning but we are happy to say it appeared to be a success. Figuring out how to run a professional virtual meeting is just another part of what is becoming the new normal. Organizations and businesses in town have had to adapt and change and we all do this in the hopes that we can continue to serve our community. As part of our service to the community, our team continues to send out ’Round the Square emails with information regarding the changes some local businesses have made to their take-out and/or delivery availability to help them during this crisis. At this virtual meeting we discussed a few topics, which I just want to highlight here.

We sent a follow-up letter to the Town of Hempstead addressing an issue that was raised at a meeting late last year by one of our members regarding the lack of sidewalks in certain parts of the town. We wanted to pass the information along to our Councilmembers, with the specifics, in the event they were unaware that some residents for whom walking is their primary mode of transportation find it an issue for them. We eagerly await their response.

We also just sent a letter to the Franklin Square Chamber of Commerce indicating some questions residents have posed to us regarding their banners around town and we look forward to their response and working with them. 

A letter was sent in early March to Supervisor Clavin regarding the Council of Civics initiative started by his predecessor. We informed him that our organization was very pleased to have been provided with this avenue of direct contact. We have yet to hear back from him regarding this, but we hope when functions at our town government return to normal, we can again meet with the other Town of Hempstead Civic Associations.

We have also received information from the ad hoc Revitalization Committee that met early this year. There have been discussions about meeting again soon, either virtually or in person when the social distancing recommendations have been lifted. We also are aware that there have been surveys commissioned by Councilman Blakeman’s office approximately two years ago and we await the reporting of these results. This committee is TRULY open to any resident of 11010, any business owner in 11010, or any property owner in 11010, who is interested in and committed to meeting and getting involved in figuring out how to research, plan, and execute a revitalization movement here in Franklin Square. The main focus of the group presently has been to educate itself on how revitalization works on a Main Street.  Now more than ever it’s important for everyone who cares and anyone who has any special type of skills in this area to get involved so together we can get our downtown back on track to being the successful vibrant place we know it can be. If you have any questions about this committee, its inception, intentions, plans, please don’t hesitate to contact me at president@fsqcivic.org.  Live, Shop, Dine Local!

Going forward, we are hoping that we can live stream most of our meetings to make the FSCA more accessible, especially to those who may not be able to or may choose not to leave their homes. We of course, however, look forward to seeing our FSCA family in person in the future!

Katherine Tarascio
President, Franklin Square Civic Association, Inc.

COVID-19 Resource Websites

CDC:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

NYS COVID-19 Site:
https://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/coronavirus/

Nassau County COVID-19 Site:
https://www.nassaucountyny.gov/4946/Coronavirus-COVID-19