Putting Price on Parades, Races

The idea of charging local organizations looking to hold an event in Garden City like a parade or race in order to help offset associated village costs made its way to the floor again during the most recent village board meeting.

Trustee Dennis Donnelly suggested trustees develop a policy going forward. Although these events are a positive for the village and do raise money for charity, Donnelly said they cost the village money, namely taxpayer money spent on things like police overtime and post-event clean up.

He cited as an example the April 17 "GC For A Cure" run/walk, which cost $4,218 in police overtime.

Spearheaded by a Stratford School fourth grade teacher, the Garden City Teacher Association's (GCTA) inaugural walk/run raised nearly $20,000 for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and boasted over 1,500 participants, including parents, teachers, students and residents from all over Long Island. 

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the events," Donnelly said. "But we have to have some way - because when people say 'I want to have an event,' 'I want to have an event,' 'I want to have an event,' we're now up in the $50,000 range in overtime on police annually."

He reminded fellow board members that two pending event requests from Nassau County have yet to be dealt with.

"We have to develop some policy in terms of partial reimbursement," Donnelly said. "I realize some can't reimburse us and some can but I just think we need to develop a policy."

Trustee Nick Episcopia agreed.

"Perhaps that policy would be if someone is in the business of raising funds I would say that would, I think, be on the top of the list for where we would charge," he said. "If there's an event where no funds are being raised, like homecoming or something like that, I wouldn't recommend that. But if it's an outside group and they are raising funds I would seriously consider it."

Episcopia first brought this issue to the table back in January when the GCTA first requested to hold the charity event. He suggested organizations like the teacher's association and the Turkey Trot Committee cover 50 percent of the village's costs.

Thanksgiving morning's annual Turkey Trot is a 30-year tradition in Garden City that costs the village approximately $5,700 to $5,800 in police overtime and Department of Pubic Works clean up. The Turkey Trot earns somewhere in the vicinity of $47,000 to $48,000, Episcopia said at a January board meeting.

Garden City's Belmont parade and street fair, which attracts hundreds to Franklin Avenue and Seventh Street every June on the eve of the famed Belmont Stakes, will again forego the parade this year to help defray costs.

The Belmont Committee has offered the village $2,500 to help offset costs associated with this year's June 4 event. Last year, the committee, through the generosity of a major festival sponsor, contributed $5,000 to help defray costs of both the parade and street fair. Ultimately, the economy forced the parade's cancellation and heavy rains subsequently cancelled the street fair. 

Foregoing last year's parade saved the village an estimated $7,000 to $8,000. 

This year's festival kicks off at 6 p.m. on Seventh Street and runs until 11 p.m. Seventh Street will be closed between Franklin and Hilton avenues.

"The Belmont festival is an extraordinarily great event for the village, for the restaurants and for the residents over the years," Mayor Robert Rothschild said. "Unfortunately as things have continued, the parade has gotten left at the gate. The Clydesdales are no longer here. But it's still a great evening, especially when the weather is nice, like a night like tonight there's nothing better."

The mayor intends to form a committee to look into developing a policy going forward. "I will put together some volunteers for a small committee to take a look at it, along with Mr. [Robert] Schoelle and Commissioner [Ernest] Cipullo," he said.