Community Corner

Fence Sign 'Mystery' Solved

Days after taking down banner ad along Little Neck Parkway, homeowner expresses surprise at community reaction

It was the subject of a flurry complaints by area residents, as well as many a double take by passing motorists on Little Neck Parkway, for months. 

Today, with only metal fasteners left where an approximately 7-foot by 3-foot banner advertisement for a Great Neck dentistry practice used to be, homeowner Tina Glavas said this morning that she was still surprised by her neighbors' reaction to the sign.

"I had no idea it would cause any problems," Glavas said. 

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Glavas said she took down the sign earlier this week, not because of complaints made to nearby , but due to damage from recent snow and rain. 

According to a source, a citation for the banner advertisement prompted the homeowners to take down the sign. However, Glavas denied that was the case.

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"One night we saw that one part of it was torn, so we decided to take the whole thing down," she said.

As for the mystery Great Neck dentist, whose practice on the 1800 block of Northern Boulevard the sign advertised? Well, it turns out that he's a man Glavas knows pretty well.

"He's my husband," she said of Dr. Peter Glavas, who used to have an office on Little Neck Parkway until he moved his practice over the Nassau County border.

last December, one reader called on the homeowners to immediately take down the sign, citing "quality of life" concerns in the neighborhood.

"No, it's not the biggest problem in our community but yet these little problems can easily add up and the annoyances will just grow," wrote the reader, . 

In front of her well-kept yard on a busy corner of Little Neck Parkway and Brattle, Glavas said she and her husband thought the banner advertisement would be an improvement, not a detriment to, the overall aesthetic of the neighborhood.

"Instead of the graffiti people usually put on the fence, we thought we'd put up the sign," she said.


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