About New Cassel, NY

Location

New Cassel is a 1.48 sq. mile unincorporated hamlet of the Town of North Hempstead (“Town”) with a population of 14,199 and a population density of 9,504.8 per sq mile (source: US Census 4/1/2020). The hamlet is centrally located in Nassau County at the corner of the Towns of North Hempstead, Hempstead, and Oyster Bay. Surrounding communities include the Incorporated Villages of Westbury and Old Westbury and the hamlets of Salisbury, Jericho, Hicksville, East Meadow, and Uniondale. The Town of North Hempstead borders the New York City borough of Queens. New Cassel is approximately 26 miles from midtown Manhattan.

Transportation

New Cassel has NICE bus service on Prospect Avenue and Old Country Road. The Westbury Long Island Railroad (LIRR) Station is one (1) mile west, and the Hicksville Station is 1.5 miles east. The LIRR tracks divide the residential area of New Cassel from the industrial park. However, the LIRR just completed grade crossing elimination projects at Urban Avenue and School Street as part of the Third Track project.

The Northern State Parkway is accessed in the northeast corner from Brush Hollow Road. The Wantagh State Parkway ramp is accessed from Old Country Road, and the WSP northern terminus is at Brush Hollow Road. Jericho Turnpike (NYS Route 25) is about 1 mile north of New Cassel. Old Country Road is the southern terminus of the hamlet. The Long Island Expressway is 1.6 miles north of New Cassel.

Community Residents

New Cassel has steadily grown in population from 1990 to the present. The population increase is due to an increase in households and household size. New Cassel has a young population, with 29% under 18 years old. Only 9% of residents are 65+ years (source American Community Survey), a population trend consistent since 1990. New Cassel has a sizeable foreign-born population of 45.1%, with 66.4% of households speaking a language other than English at home (source 2020 US Census). Spanish and Haitian Creole are the most common foreign languages spoken. American Community Survey estimates that residents self-identify as: 36.8% as Black alone, 55.6% as Latino, 5.7% as White only, and 3.4% as two or more races present.
New Cassel residents have a high labor force participation, with 70.6% of the population 16 years+ working and 60.5% of the female population 16 years+ working. The mean travel time to work is 27.6 minutes. The median household income (2016-2020) is $100,432. Approximately 8.8% of the residents are in poverty.

About Prospect Avenue

Prospect Avenue has over ten houses of worship in the hamlet. In addition, a federally designated community health center is at the Prospect and Union Avenue intersection. The west end of New Cassel has many contractor yards (the Union Avenue area). The west end terminates at School Street near the Westbury LIRR station in the Village of Westbury. The southwest portion of the Village of Westbury was recently rezoned for transit-oriented mixed development (immediately west of New Cassel) as part of the NYS Downtown Revitalization Initiative.

• Businesses and other Anchor Institutions: The Long Island Railroad divides the New Cassel hamlet into two distinct areas. Property north of the railroad tracts is primarily residential, with two commercial hubs on the east and west sides of Prospect and Union Avenue (“Prospect Avenue”). South of the railroad tracts is the New Cassel Industrial Park which includes commercial businesses on Old Country Road (“New Cassel Industrial Park”).
• The Nassau BOCES Barry Technical High School is located on the eastern end of Prospect Avenue. Across from the BOCES campus is the Nassau County Public Safety campus. East of New Cassel is a Hickville Industrial Park. Small businesses, mixed-use developments, and residential homes are between the west and east end of Union and Prospect Avenue, respectively.
• New Cassel Industrial Park
  The New Cassel Industrial Park is densely developed with low-rise commercial and warehouse buildings. There is limited parking. There are various commercial businesses on the southern side of the Industrial Park. A sample of businesses includes STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) businesses, residential and commercial construction (fabricators, suppliers, and installation), product design, distribution and marketing, automotive sales and maintenance, and professional businesses.

For more than twenty years, the Town of North Hempstead (Town) and CDA have been actively facilitating the redevelopment and revitalization of New Cassel in accordance with the New Cassel Vision Plan.

The Vision Plan, was developed with community input in 2002, updated in 2012, and most recently reviewed by the community in 2021, resulting in an Outreach Report.

Over the last ten years, significant local changes and federal and state investments have occurred. The Town has partnered with the NYS Department of State and the US EPA throughout the redevelopment process. This Project is funded by an NYS DOS Brownfield Opportunity Area (BOA) Predevelopment Grant. In addition, the CDA is currently a recipient of a US EPA Multipurpose Grant.

The CDA has identified priority redevelopment sites in the BOA to redevelop ensuring the implementation of community goals:

• Identify in detail beyond general terms, economic niches or opportunities based partly on economic and market trends.
• Review potential constraints or impediments to redevelopment or reuse. Identify potential solutions to address these constraints.
• Explore opportunities to engage anchor institutions in community reinvestment.
• Incorporate relevant recommendations of the town-wide Cultural Masterplan into the Project.
• Clean up brownfields and bring vacant and underutilized buildings and properties into productive reuse.
• Fill gaps in necessary goods and services for the community.
• Increase the volume and variety of goods and services available to locals to encourage local spending within the community.
• Retain and create long-term secure job opportunities that include residents of the community.
• Attract and expand MBE and WBE business enterprises.
• Attract and retain the style and density of development required to make a sustainable community