Community Corner
Board Exploring GC Casino For Senior Activities
Senior citizens and Casino members speak out against the idea.
Garden City trustees toured the Garden City Casino earlier this month as they continue to explore options to better accommodate the village's senior population.
Many seniors have criticized the board for not moving forward with the Golf Club Lane senior center expansion project and see this latest consideration as just another "delay tactic."
Mayor John Watras, however, said the board is weighing its options and has not made a decision. "We're looking at Golf Club Lane. We have a senior group that's going to go over and review the Casino facilities," he said. "We're looking at a couple of options. We're getting closer here."
Watras added, "We are very serious about our citizens, your amenities and what we can do for you and the services we provide. Honestly this board has been zeroed in on it big time."
The Casino is owned by the Village of Garden City and is run by a board of governors that consists of volunteer members. The board was established as part of its charter with the village. The long-term agreement between Casino Club Inc. and the village was last renewed in 1999.
Resident Frank Kiernan said the facility is "very inconvenient for older people." He said that seniors would have to either use a ramp or walk up a "long flight of stairs" to get into the building. "Most of these new senior facilities are ground level," he said.
Grace Kelly of Roosevelt Street, a fourth-generation resident of Garden City, said when she left a board meeting last fall she believed it was "all systems go" for the Golf Club Lane project. "Now what I'm hearing is members of the Casino are up in arms about this," she said. "To me this all sounds like one big delay. Because of all this fighting in town, when are we going to know when something is going to happen?"Garden Street resident Geoff Gaspari, a Casino member, said it breaks his heart that "nothing's been done" for the village's seniors. "Another thing that would break my heart is if we had a shared-use facility because all the members I've spoken to are dead set against something like that," he said.
Lou Fasano, a member of a special committee appointed by the Casino to "deal with the issue," added, "The Casino costs no money to the village but that's because it's self sustaining by membership of the Casino. There is a substantial amount of money we pay annually for improvements to the Casino. We are responsible for all of the undertakings at the Casino, including the recent new roof. We have spent probably $300,000 the past few years on improvements. We have put together a schedule of events that we will be sharing with you. We also feel that the right place for seniors in this room and seniors like myself are at Golf Club Lane. We will work amicably with the village on the situation concerning the Casino."
Patricia Sheehan, newly installed president of the Community Club of Garden City and Hempstead, was concerned the club, which has 220 active members, wouldn't be able to use the Casino this year for already scheduled meetings and events. The club, which offers trips to Manhattan, fine arts classes and more for its membership, has been meeting at the Casino since 1919.
"We pay rent to the Casino. We pay rent to the worker at the Casino who makes us coffee and tea after our programs ... It's costing us a lot of money but it's a perfect spot for us," Sheehan said. "What insurance do we have we will be there this year?"
Mayor Watras assured Sheehan the board isn't looking to displace anyone. "We're just looking for a better business model," he said. "We're just looking to enhance it's overall value. We're looking at different scenarios."
Ellen Moynihan of Brooke Street didn't buy it. "Most seniors feel this is just another delay tactic," she said. "We expected, originally when we were told, that we would be in our expanded building on Golf Club Lane now. Instead we're discussing another site and we don't know when that consideration will be complete ... The frustration amongst seniors is building."
Mayor Watras said trustees are not looking to delay anything but rather looking to make accommodations in the meantime.
Trustee Richard Silver added, "There is no disagreement among the people sitting up here that our seniors in this village deserve first-class facilities. What we are in the process of studying is how we best deliver ... The spirit of which we've been approaching this is can we over deliver? Can we invest money in the Casino, which needs significant investment, and can we invest money to refresh Golf Club Lane and literally deliver better facilities than we might have been able to with considerable delay by the Golf Club Lane project. We are in investigatory mode."
George Salem, co-president of the Garden City Retired Men's Club, supports the Golf Club Lane expansion and has been pressing the board to move forward with the renovations. "The senior center at the Casino should not be used as a bail out of shortfall funds that might exist at the Casino," he said.
A Hawthorne Road resident who's lived in Garden City for 43 years said moving senior activities to the Casino is a "big mistake." She was blunt in her remarks: "Most every senior that I know said 'I'll probably be dead before I see a senior center.'"
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