Townhouse's last dance?
Owner of Huntington Townhouse wants to build condos, but to many, that's no casual affair
BY KEIKO MORRIS
STAFF WRITER
March 9, 2006
The lavish, glitzy catering hall in Huntington Station that holds a place in the photo albums and memories of thousands of Long Islanders may face demolition if a plan proposed by its owner is approved.
Rhona Silver has made a formal request to the Town of Huntington to change the zoning of the Huntington Townhouse property from commercial to residential to make way for 189 condominium units.
Silver did not return several calls for comment, so the reason she filed the application in November and whether she will continue her catering business elsewhere could not be learned. But the proposal to raze the original white building with its landmark giant chandelier and sweeping two-story staircase, and a modern addition built later, and replace them with condominiums came as a shock to many in the area. They lament the potential loss of such a reference point and fear the possible effects such a project could have on the school population and traffic.
Suffolk County Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) said he has mixed feelings about the proposal. Cooper said that a development with affordable housing could address a critical need. Yet he has a strong emotional attachment to the place because he and his partner, Rob Cooper, held a celebration there for some 380 people after their commitment ceremony in 2000. And he guesses that in recent years, he's been there at least 100 times for events that included a fund-raiser he hosted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's senate campaign.
'It's going to be strange for me driving by there' if the project goes forward. 'It's almost like visiting your family home and it's not there anymore and it's a bagel store or something.'
Town Councilman Stuart Besen said he could not comment on the application itself but described the Townhouse as a 'staple in Huntington,' adding he had his bar mitzvah party there.
'It was very large and it was glittery,' he said. 'I remember my parents had a huge round thing with all types of desserts ... a Viennese hour. I remember being incredibly proud that my parents had my bar mitzvah there.'
The catering hall, which sits on Jericho Turnpike, had its start some time in the 1950s as a restaurant called Gerard's, said Robert Hughes, the Huntington Town historian. It became the Huntington Townhouse in the early 1960s, he said, and Silver became the owner in 1997. She has called the it the largest catering hall on the East Coast, with a maximum seating capacity of 3,000.
Several years ago, the town approved a zoning change to include a 240-room hotel, which Silver had proposed building next to the catering hall. That hotel was never constructed.
This latest proposal, which was submitted in November under Rhobar Inc. and Rhona Silver Enterprises-Hotel LLC, calls for 15 two- and three-story structures to be built on the 17.56-acre property, including a clubhouse and pool. A total of 1.76 acres is to be set aside as town park land.
In December, the town board concluded that the proposal could adversely impact the surrounding neighborhood and asked for a draft environmental impact statement, which has been submitted. The planning department has comments and is waiting for Silver and her company to respond.
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I think this is probably steeming from so many complaints about bad service there since her takeover. If anyone has booked w/ them I would call to see what their plans are
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