Babylon eyes blighted property for 'transit-oriented' redevelopment 

The Town of Babylon has renewed a push to acquire a state-owned parcel in East Farmingdale near Republic Airport that is considered prime real estate for redevelopment.

Town officials have written to the New York State Department of Transportation to ask them to transfer ownership to Babylon of the more than 11-acre property on the north side of Conklin Street between Route 110 and New Highway.

It's unclear if the state would attach a cost to such a deal.

Dilapidated buildings that Aircraft Finishing Corp., an aircraft painting and plating company, used until the late 1980s, sit on the property.

“It’s a prime location,” Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer said of what's known as Aircraft Finishers site. “I think it’s a no-brainer to try to get it cleaned up and back on the tax rolls.”

Schaffer said the goal is to obtain state and federal money to pay for the demolition of the buildings and cleanup of the site before putting out a request for development proposals.

He said he envisions housing that could include off-campus living for Farmingdale State College students and other development as part of a "transit-oriented" model tied to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's previously announced plan to reopen a former Long Island Rail Road station on the property.

An MTA spokeswoman said Tuesday its proposal "is not currently being considered in the upcoming capital program," but wouldn't say if it still was a possibility after years of inaction.

In 2005 the town came up with a vision for East Farmingdale, including the Conklin parcels, that encompassed 109 acres of dense, mixed-use buildings potentially six stories high and hosting nearly 2,700 apartments.

However, in 2018 the town abandoned the project due to community opposition.

Schaffer said where the town faltered was in proposing a “global” approach to zoning and now would be willing to evaluate proposals on a parcel-by-parcel basis.

Town officials said it is unclear if there's any contamination on the site. There is a chemical plume the state is treating and monitoring on the south side of Conklin Avenue between Route 110 and New Highway at the site of the former Fairchild Aviation plant. But the plume isn't flowing in the direction of the Aircraft Finishers site, according to state officials.

“I haven’t seen anything that indicates it’s anywhere near a Superfund site and there hasn’t been a smoking gun yet,” Rich Groh, Babylon’s chief environmental analyst, said of the site.

He did note that the buildings likely contain asbestos.

A spokesman for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation said in an email that “underground storage tanks, waste, and other materials were removed as part of earlier cleanups under DEC oversight.”

In a statement, a DOT spokesman said his agency has hired a consultant to perform an environmental assessment of the site. He said more talks about the property's future will take place "with local stakeholders" after that assessment.

Residents have expressed concern about the possible presence of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), manufactured chemicals the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says can cause serious health problems with long-term exposure.

DEC officials said they “do not have any data that would indicate PFAS is an issue” at the site.

Nancy Cypser, a trustee of East Farmingdale’s Woodland Civic Association, said the community is in favor of redevelopment if the site is "sufficiently" remediated.

“It’s ugly and we’re glad if it’s going to be cleaned up,” she said. "It all hinges on the levels of contamination there."

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.