An old feather factory next to the Lynbrook train station was torn down in July of 2022 to make way for luxury apartments. About a year later, a hibachi and sushi restaurant, Asahi, was demolished to make way for condominiums. With the launch of the luxury apartments in early October and condos that opened in November, some question how this will affect the great Lynbrook community.
Asahi should not have been demolished; it was in business for almost 10 years, opening in 2014, and it was also well-liked by locals. Freshman Jameson Herzig reflected, “I really enjoyed [Asahi], and I thought it was disappointing that they destroyed it.” Replacing a part of the community for these condominiums, named Parson’s Corners, takes away some life from Lynbrook.
Parson’s Corners has 18 units and will allow for about 60 people to move in. Besa Lokaj, who lives next door to these future homes, shared, “I am glad the restaurant isn’t there anymore… drunk people were being crazy in the parking lot, and I’m glad there are houses. It’s much healthier for my kids and for the whole neighborhood having houses instead of the restaurant.”
The feather factory has been closed since 2008. The building took up 278,000 square feet of space, so demolishing it was the right call. With it being so close to the train station, adding apartments there is logical. Another thing to take into account is that there is a lack of housing on Long Island. According to The New York Times (nytimes.com) article “Long Island, We Need to Talk (About Housing)”, “The New York region is in the throes of a housing crisis. The paucity of construction in recent decades has driven prices to record heights, and the resulting shortage of affordable housing is constraining regional economic growth and destabilizing the lives of millions of families.” With a building like The Langdon opening up, it will allow people to have a place to live amidst this current situation.
Freshman Jackson McDermott thought that overall The Langdon will positively affect the town, as he elaborated, “I think it’s [going to] bring a lot of people, and that will be both good and bad; new faces are nice, but [the town] could be very crowded.”
The Langdon, an apartment building, has 201 units, with 161 of them already being occupied as of Nov. 13. Since so many apartments are already occupied, the demand is clear. With 500 people moving in, the local economy will improve. Local businesses such as Vincent’s Pizzeria and Restaurant expect an increase in customers. Joe and Nicole Carusone, owners of Vincent’s, have not yet noticed an uptick in business since opening, but think it will come. Nicole voiced, “I think it will be great for business,” with her husband Joe adding, “I think [The Langdon] will be great for the town. I feel in the future once the building is fully occupied, it will bring new business to the downtown area.”
With an influx of so many new people moving to the town, an issue might be schools filling up. Principal Matthew Sarosy countered that concern. “We have not seen a significant change to enrollment for this school year, and what little change we have seen would be difficult to attribute to the new Langdon complex,” said Sarosy. His opinion on the building is that “building is a sign of progress, and progress is a good thing for any community.”
New housing in a town usually benefits the surrounding community and those who live there. Businesses will make more money, which supports the local economy. Fresh faces in town can also allow more people to meet. The one downside is that we had to lose Asahi to get new housing, but some people are positively affected by that as well. Overall, it seems like this should be a good change for Lynbrook.
