Roslyn Estates' new mayor plans to focus on Black Ink Pond, other environmental issues

Minutes after Adam Koblenz was sworn in as Roslyn Estates' new mayor last month, he voted to approve the village's nearly $1.9 million annual budget. 

It was the first act of what Koblenz hopes is a mayorship that helps create new and preserve existing public spaces, addresses drainage issues to prevent future flooding, and reorganizes the village website to better facilitate communication with residents.

Koblenz, an equity partner at Goetz Platzer LLP, replaces Paul Leone Peters, who served as mayor for eight years. Late in his mayorship, Peters appointed Koblenz associate village justice.

“He served as a mentor to me,” Adam Koblenz said of Peters. “When he was thinking of potentially retiring … I started to get more involved. I started to attend more meetings.”

Peters, who served four terms over eight years, said Koblenz was a natural fit to succeed him to run the village of about 1,300 residents. 

"You do what you can to make everybody happy, but you're never going to make everybody happy," Peters said in an interview. "That's the balancing act. And Adam is really good at that. He's really good at weighing the options and making incredibly good judgments."  

In an interview with Newsday, Koblenz said he hopes to institute a number of environmental initiatives in his first term. He ticked off a few of them: Creating more public spaces such as a playground and a dog park; preserving wildlife at Blank Ink Pond, which he hopes to restore to its "historical glory,"; and remedying drainage issues to prevent flooding.

He was sworn in by his father, Michael Koblenz, the Mayor of East Hills for more than three decades.

“I’m proud. He’s following in his father’s footsteps,” Michael Koblenz said in an interview. “He’s seen a lot over the years with me doing it all this time.”

The elder Koblenz gifted his son a "lucky gavel" during the swearing in ceremony. 

“The unique bond of both being local mayors in Nassau County, I think is a memory that we’ll look fondly upon and share together for years to come,” Adam Koblenz said. “And I look forward to also collaborating with him and learning from him.”

Koblenz, who served as a village prosecutor in East Hills and a special prosecutor in the villages of Old Westbury and Sands Point, ran unopposed, receiving 50 votes in the March election.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What is your top priority for the village?

To ensure the continued fiscal health of the village, keep taxes low. Ensure safety and security, with the village partnering with [the] Nassau County Police Department. And I think also maintaining the historic beauty of the village, whether it concerns the preservation of trees or Black Ink Pond. 

What kind of work needs to be done at Black Ink Pond?

The focus is to restore it to its historical glory, which would include initiatives centered around conservation and preservation of wildlife including the fish and the ducks and other associated wildlife and habitat there. Addressing erosion control and also addressing receding waterlines and flooding that does occur as it relates to the pond itself. When you have flooding, and you have receding waterlines, you just don't have the ebb and flow of the natural habitat. That can have an adverse impact on species growth and viability. The more the waterline erodes, that exposes fish to the surface. Just creating a habitat that goes hand-in-hand with the pond itself.

What are some projects you’re most looking forward to working on?

One of my goals is to create open communal space, whether it be by way of a playground for children and their families, a dog run or dog park, or other gathering places throughout the village — in addition to the ponds. That is something I would like to accomplish, hopefully in the first term. In addition, I plan to revamp the website to make it more user-friendly. I also plan to integrate social media into the village so that there’s more efficient, effective and quicker ways of disseminating information. 

As a resident yourself, what are some issues that seem most pressing to people in the village?

Some of the bread-and-butter issues are enhanced security in the village. In Nassau County, there have been car thefts and break-ins. And trying to create a sense of security in the village by partnering with Nassau County police is something that is a priority. The village is situated in a high water table. So, to the extent that I can address drainage issues, to alleviate burdens on homeowners, to decrease flooding and property damage, that’s another intent that I have. 

What can you do to address the drainage problems?

There are dry wells and other areas we may look to expand or tap into, depending on how feasible it is, to try to slow the flow of water. This can offset potential flooding in residents' basements and homes. 

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.