The judgment also calls for the village to withdraw its request to state Sen. Jack Martins and Assembly Member Daniel Norber to pass legislation to allow the village to alienate the parkland.<\/p>\n
Norber introduced legislation to this effect, which was passed in the state Senate last year, but the bill is still pending in committee in the Assembly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposed alienation cannot proceed unless and until SEQRA [the State Environmental Quality Review Act] is complied with,\u201d the judgment reads.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled with the decision,\u201d said Nancy Sherman, one of Save Kings Point Park\u2019s leading activists. \u201cThis is exactly what we hoped for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Great Neck residents Daniel Capruso, Stephanie Perrault, Yuang Gu, and Dina Miller sued the village, the Great Neck Park District, and the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America, which would receive the 2.48 acres in exchange for 5.76 acres of its own land under the plan.<\/p>\n
Capruso has sued the village in the past for its attempts to alienate a section of Kings Point Park and won the case. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s really substantial pushback from the community because it\u2019s the last remaining forest we have on the peninsula,\u201d Capruso said.<\/p>\n
When the Village of Great Neck approved the construction of a center for the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America abutting Kings Point Park, it also approved variances that allowed fewer parking spaces than the village code required, provided the center had a shuttle bus from another parking lot.<\/p>\n
After construction began on the center, the village of Kings Point proposed a land swap with the United Mashadi Jewish Community of America so it could use the 2.48 acres to build a larger parking lot and other private facilities.<\/p>\n
Under the plan, Kings Point would then lease the 5.76 acres owned by the Mashadi community, known as the Wildwood property, and just under 8 acres of adjoining land owned by the village to the Great Neck Park District for 40 years.<\/p>\n
The village then formally asked Martins and Norber, who represent Great Neck in their respective state legislatures, to sponsor a bill allowing the village to alienate parkland for the swap.<\/p>\n
![\"Jody](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/img_4483-rotated.jpg\")
Jody Kass Finkel and Nancy Sherman speaking at a protest in Kings Point Park.Photo by Larissa Fuentes<\/p>\n
Kings Point Village Attorney Stephen Limmer said the village knew of the problems with the environmental quality review.<\/p>\n
\u201cRather than fighting [a lawsuit], the village decided that it would do a full environmental review,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The village only filled one out of the three sections it was required to complete under SEQRA before Kings Point Mayor Kouros Torkan signed off on the review.<\/p>\n
Efforts to reach Torkan were unavailing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Great Neck community is still up in arms,\u201d Sherman said<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen that environmental review is done, then new legislation will be proposed to the state for the alienation,\u201d said Limmer.<\/p>\n
But Limmer said the review would take \u201ca while.\u201d<\/p>\n
The issue of park alienation has been a significant concern on the Great Neck peninsula since Save Kings Point Park has been ramping up its pressure campaign on local lawmakers\u00a0 in the past several months.<\/p>\n