A Nassau County Supreme Court judge reversed the North Hempstead Town Board’s decision to deny New Hyde Park’s Hillside Islamic Center’s expansion proposal after nearly a year-long court battle challenging the board’s action.
“We initiated this lawsuit with faith in our creator and in the Court system to uphold the sanctity of reasonable religious accommodations. It is unfortunate that we were forced to litigate at all, especially since numerous efforts to resolve any community concerns were in place,” the center’s Board of Trustees chairman, Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan, wrote to Schneps Media Long Island. “However, we are pleased with the court’s decision, confirming the right of every house of worship, including our Masjid, to proceed with well-planned construction accommodating religious services.”
North Hempstead Director of Communications Umberto Mignardi said the town is still reviewing the court’s ruling.
“We are reviewing the decision and our legal options, but our Town Board will continue to do everything it can to protect our residents’ quality of life,” Mignardi wrote to Schneps Media Long Island.
Judge Erica Prager reversed the town board’s decision denying the site plan approval, calling it “arbitrary and capricious,” according to court documents. She added that the board also failed to provide suggestions to accommodate the site plan and did not provide reasonable conditions despite the Islamic Center expressing a willingness to cooperate on addressing issues.
While she granted the reversal, Prager denied the Islamic Center’s request to have its legal fees covered.
The Hillside Islamic Center in New Hyde Park proposed enlarging the existing mosque by building a third story on the two-story structure and increasing the square footage from 5,428 square feet to 6,600 square feet.
The proposal also included expanding the center’s parking lot onto the three surrounding parcels of land, which the mosque purchased, to provide 63 parking spaces. The expansion is intended to provide for its current congregation and ease traffic impacts on the neighborhood, according to court documents.
After more than seven months of divisive public hearings, the Town of North Hempstead voted along party lines in January last year to deny the Hillside Islamic Center’s expansion plan. The site plan proposal did not require any variances and was compliant with the town code.
The Islamic Center filed an Article 78 in response to the board decision, challenging its action and requesting it be reversed.
The town cited a “concern for safety” in rejecting the plan because the center’s Friday services create traffic congestion in the neighborhood.
The town Republicans—Council Members Ed Scott, Dennis Walsh, David Adhami, and Supervisor Jennifer DeSena—based their negative vote on concerns for public safety and calls for more action to address the current issues.
Democratic Council Members Robert Troiano and Christine Liu voted to accept the proposal, with Council Member Mariann Dalimonte abstaining.
Neighbors of the Hillside Islamic Center also opposed the proposal, with more than a dozen urging the board to vote “no” at the meeting, which they ultimately did.
One of the main issues expressed by residents was mosque congregants parking illegally in surrounding areas, sometimes blocking neighbors’ driveways and parking in local shopping center parking lots.
Residents said they were also concerned about public safety as the congregants’ parking could potentially prevent emergency vehicles from accessing the neighborhood’s narrow roads or block residents’ cars in their driveways.
Bhuiyan previously countered these claims, saying that there had not been a traffic incident nor a complaint that emergency vehicles could not pass through the streets surrounding the mosque. He added that the mosque’s traffic safety study confirmed there are no traffic or safety concerns with the stricken proposal.
One resident compared the mosque’s congregation for Friday services to a “swarm,” which Bhuiyan denounced. He called it discriminatory and not an accurate depiction of events at the mosque.
“We doubt that members of any religious organization, whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, in fact, any human would appreciate being described in such a way,” Bhuiyan previously said. “We sincerely hope council persons’ no votes were not based on the racist and bigoted comments of so-called neighbors who call God’s worshipers a ‘swarm.’”
Bhuiyan thanked the court, their attorney Kathleen Deegan Dickson, the community and Allah for what he called a “victory.”
“[Hillside Islamic Center] looks forward to executing our expansion project and to better serve the needs of our worshippers and our neighbors,” Bhuiyan wrote.
Bhuiyan said that all neighbors are invited to visit the Hillside Islamic Center and can communicate with the center to mitigate any concerns.
