The Park at East Hills: Its History and Resident Access

"No person or guest shall enter or leave the park except through the main front gate or as otherwise directed by a Park official." That line comes from the Village of East Hills code, and it reads like ordinary park housekeeping. On this piece of land it carries some history. The parcel off Harbor Hill Road was ringed with barbed wire during World War II, and it was surrounded by razor wire when the village bought it in 2000. Today the village decides who gets in.

That history matters this month. The Park at East Hills turned 20 in September. The mayor who bought the land from the Air Force hands over the job on October 23. Between those two dates, the village's annual fall festival takes over the grounds on October 17.

Seven Feet of Barbed Wire, Then a Control Center

The military fence went up for the war. According to the New York State Military Museum's history of the Roslyn Air Base, the federal government leased part of a private estate as an Air Defense Post of the First Fighter Command. Before April 1944 it built access roads, a 7-foot barbed wire perimeter fence, and a bomb- and gas-proof Fighter Control Center.

The installation was known then as the Roslyn Filter Center. Its controllers used radar and ground observers to identify every aircraft operating over the greater New York metropolitan area. Unknown planes were flagged for interception by fighters from fields such as Mitchel Field. Blackout orders and air raid warnings also went out from the building to Civil Defense personnel. The operating staff withdrew around January 14, 1946, and caretakers stayed to guard the property.

The military returned soon after. From 1948 until 1959 the site was the Roslyn Air Force Station, home of the 26th Air Division's Air Defense Control Center. The museum's account describes a mission that covered all of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, along with parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The government formally bought the current 50 acres in 1953 for $250,000. Starting in 1959, New York State leased the station as a Communications and Electronics Training site for the Air National Guard. At its height the station had more than 30 buildings, including a dining hall and housing for as many as 80 people.

Before the Fence, a Mansion

Before the military, the land was private. The same museum history places the station on what had been part of Clarence Mackay's 230-acre estate. At its peak that estate employed 400 people. It hosted the Prince of Wales, later the Duke of Windsor, and honored Charles Lindbergh on his return from Europe in 1927. The society era ended in 1938, and a few years later fire destroyed the main house.

That gives the site three eras before the park, each with a different owner or user:

1. Through 1938: part of a private estate known for North Shore society parties.
2. World War II through 1959: an air defense command post, wired off by 1944.
3. 1959 to 2000: an Air National Guard training station on land owned by the Air Force.

December 9, 2000

The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure process set the handover in motion, and the Air Force owned the site until 2000. The village bought it, began construction in 2004, and finished the park in 2006. The village's anniversary account says it came in on time and under budget.

The two village sources give slightly different figures for the purchase. The anniversary page puts the price at $3.2 million and says the village issued about $17 million in bonds to turn "a military installation surrounded by razor wire" into a public asset it values at well over $50 million. Mayor Michael Koblenz's August letter to residents rounds the price to $3 million. He says the purchase itself was paid for by selling village-owned property, and he names the closing date:

"Years ago, before we purchased the property on December 9, 2000, razor wire surrounded the land now home to our Park and Village Hall. Today, the property has been transformed into beautiful gardens, rolling green lawns, excellent recreational facilities, and soon, an exciting new playground for our children."

The razor wire gave way to a park with a single main front gate. The village lists what now sits behind it. The list includes a 12,000-square-foot pool with a 100-foot water slide, tennis and pickleball courts, playgrounds, a 300-foot sledding hill, sports fields, a fitness facility, dog parks, a theatre, and a 13,000-square-foot Village Hall.

Who Holds the Gate After October 23

The village celebrated the park's 20th anniversary on Saturday, September 5, 2026, with a Polynesian theme it called "A Park Paradise." The afternoon included a luau show with fire and hula dancers, airbrushed tattoos for children, and a limbo contest. Deputy Mayor Brian Meyerson officiated. Elected officials from Washington, Albany, Nassau County, the Town of North Hempstead, and neighboring villages attended.

The party also honored the man stepping down. In a letter the village posted on August 16, Koblenz said he would pass the mayoralty to Meyerson on October 23, 2026. By then he will have served 32 years as mayor, after 2 years as deputy mayor and 4 as trustee. He wrote that Meyerson has worked beside him for the past five years, three as trustee and two as deputy mayor. He also thanked trustees Manny Zuckerman, Clara Pomerantz, and Stacey Siegel.

The handoff matters at the gate because the code gives the mayor a power no other official has. The mayor "is vested with the absolute discretion to invite guests free of charge to the Park at East Hills" when those guests have contributed to the village or are likely to in the future. After October 23, that discretion belongs to Meyerson.

What the Card Opens This Fall

For everyone else, the rules are written into Article II of the village code. Only residents and their guests may use the park. Residents, nannies, and caregivers need a valid identification card to enter, and infants are exempt. Guest rules as the code currently states them:

• Ten free guest passes per household each year, credited to the adult ID card. They reset January 1 and do not carry over. With October already here, any of 2026's passes still on the card expire December 31.
• Additional passes cost $18 per adult and $7.50 per child on weekdays, or $35 and $15 on weekends and holidays. Seniors pay the child rate. Passes can only be bought on the day of the visit.
• No more than six guests per household per day, and no single guest more than eight times per season, regardless of how many different residents invite them. Nonresident grandparents and nannies are exempt from the eight-visit limit.

Fees and limits in a village code can change, so the village office is the place to confirm current figures before a visit.

One provision is easy to miss. The code sets up a free Park Grille visitor pass for lunch. An adult visitor who comes with a resident adult can enter Monday through Friday, holidays excepted, by leaving a driver's license at the pool entry booth. The pass is good for 1½ hours, and the visitor shows a dated Park Grille lunch receipt on the way out. If the visitor uses the pool or stays longer, the resident pays the regular guest fee plus a $25 administrative fee. In March, trustees renewed the village's food service agreement for the grill with Delicacies, as the Long Island Press reported.

Dogs are the only animals allowed in the park. They stay in designated areas and may be walked on leash along the sidewalk to the dog park or dog trail and back toward Harbor Hill Road. They are not allowed on the sports fields, courts, playgrounds, pool deck, or Grille area.

Then there is October 17. The village's July notice called its annual fall festival, Spooktacular, a save-the-date for that Saturday. The village's ticket page links to tickets for both Spooktacular and "The Haunted Hayride and Wicked Walk." The village's events listing has not posted hours or prices, so check the ticket page directly before you go. Big nights at the park draw crowds. The Long Island Press estimated that 3,500 to 4,000 people came for the July 3 fireworks this year.

The Next Thing Behind the Gate

The next project inside the gate is a new playground. At their March 10 meeting, trustees approved a bond of up to $2.5 million to build it. Trustee Emmanuel Zuckerman said construction could start in early April and finish by mid-July. Koblenz said the borrowing would not raise village taxes because earlier bonds had been paid off. Mid-July has come and gone. In his August letter the mayor still described the playground as coming "soon," and the letter gives no completion date.

More may follow. In March, officials said they could consider bonds later for renovating the village theater and installing new air conditioning in Village Hall. Those decisions, and the playground's opening day, will fall to the board under Mayor Meyerson.

If you're thinking about how the park and the rest of village life fit your household's plans in East Hills, Limor Karudo & Elimore Kochavi are glad to talk it through, in English or Hebrew. We can walk you through how park access, guest rules, and village services work for owners here. Reach out whenever it suits you.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.