At the most recent Arts & Crafts street fair, the Roslyn Village Chamber of Commerce, for the first time since 1981, was not included as a co-sponsor.

Citing "apparent retaliation" for a political falling out between principals from both the Village of Roslyn and the Chamber of Commerce, the chamber has filed an Article 78 lawsuit against the village for keeping that body from participating in the fair.

The lawsuit, filed last week in New York State Supreme Court offices in Mineola, also charges that the village refused to give permission to the chamber to sponsor the fair "because [the village] desired to usurp the Chamber's good will and source of revenue." Finally, the suit maintains that village acted in order to "establish a chamber which was more supportive of them [the village] politically."

According to the suit, relationships with the village and the chamber over the fairs remained good in recent years. Each year, the chamber continued to pay a $300 fee and one-half of the overtime pay for village employees who assisted with the fairs. The suit also claims that the village never had any formal rules or regulations, but "apparently....adopted procedures on an ad hoc basis."

Trouble between the village and chamber began with this past spring's Antique Fair. The suit maintains that Mayor Janet Galante "directed the operator who conducted the fair on behalf of the chamber to pay over to the village the net proceeds realized." The suit adds that after the chamber threatened legal action, the proceeds went, as before, to the chamber.

The lawsuit goes on to state that the mayor and chamber president Frederic Carlton "had a falling out over certain issues with regard to the governance of the village." On June 30 of this year, the chamber applied for permission to hold the recent Arts & Crafts fair. The application was never approved and the village, according to the suit, entered into a contract with the fair operator whom the chamber itself had used for previous fairs.

The Article 78 lawsuit was filed to overturn what this particular suit calls "municipal actions which are undertaken in an arbitrary and capricious manner." Violation of state and federal laws, including "free speech rights" are also cited in the suit.

At an Aug. 31 Town of North Hempstead meeting, both Roslyn Mayor Janet Galante and Deputy Nolan Myerson offered their perspectives on the fair and the state of the Chamber of Commerce.

In testimony before the TONH council, Mayor Galante said that there had been "no chamber presence" at the spring fair and that the fair itself "created severe liabilities for the Village." More specifically, Mayor Galante cited village personnel working "triple time" with one employee being disabled for almost a year from injuries suffered while working at the fair.

The mayor praised the idea of having two street fairs in Roslyn. She noted that the spring fair is now 20 years old, while the more recent fall fair was the idea of former deputy mayor, Marlene Freeman. The mayor added that the village opposed bringing in outside food vendors to the fairs because they would take away significant business from the restaurants and delis along Old Northern Boulevard.

Mayor Galante also acknowledged that the chamber has paid the necessary fees to sponsor the fair and that, in the past, it has paid for concerts in the park and for Christmas decorations and festivities. However, the mayor claimed that the chamber currently "isn't functioning." According to the mayor, it holds no meetings.

"[We] are faced with a problem," the mayor told the TONH council. "We're faced with a problem with a nonfunctioning chamber. I wouldn't presume to sit down with Mr. Carlton tonight with a threat of an Article 78."

Deputy Mayor Myerson commended Mr. Carlton for trying to keep a Chamber of Commerce functioning in Roslyn. He hoped that Mr. Carlton could build a "working Chamber of Commerce" that provides information and "brings business to the business area."

The deputy mayor noted that while other villages in Nassau County have phone numbers for their own chambers, no number exists for the Roslyn Chamber of Commerce. He also defended the decision not to have food vendors at the fair. In addition, he stated his opposition to moving the fair from Old Northern Boulevard to a location near the Roslyn Long Island Rail Road lot.

Through the suit, the chamber hopes to receive permission to conduct both street fairs in 2000. The chamber is also seeking monetary damages on several fronts. Specifically, they are seeking $10,000 in "incidental" damages, plus $50,000 in compensatory damages, $25,000 in attorney's fees, $100,000 to "permanently [enjoin]" the village from sponsoring or conducting a fall or spring street fair, and $500,000 in punitive damages.

The chamber has sponsored street fairs in Roslyn since 1981. According to the suit, such fairs have grown in popularity over the years, bringing in approximately $20,000 a year to the chamber, which that body, in turn, uses to support various community activities. The fair, also according to the suit, is the principal source of revenue for the chamber.