Greenlawn McDonald's proposal sparks traffic, safety fight at hearing

A vacant Citibank building at 260 East Pulaski Road in Greenlawn became the center of a fierce local clash over traffic, safety and neighborhood character when McDonald’s USA LLC pressed for a drive-through at the northeast corner of East Pulaski Road and Park Avenue. The Huntington Zoning Board of Appeals cleared its agenda to focus only on the application, a sign the proposal has grown into a major planning fight rather than a routine reuse of an empty building.

The site is a roughly 1.6-acre parcel zoned C-8 General Business, with the property brochure listing traffic counts of about 18,000 vehicles a day on East Pulaski Road and 27,000 on Park Avenue. The former bank building was about 2,320 square feet, was built in 1964, and had one drive-thru teller window before Citibank closed the branch in February 2023. The brochure also shows multiple curb cuts, including one on East Pulaski Road and two on Park Avenue.

Opponents filled Huntington Town Hall and argued that the project would worsen congestion at an already busy corner and create risks for emergency vehicles and drivers. More than 200 letters or emails opposing the plan had already reached town hall before the hearing, and one opponent said ambulances frequently use Park Avenue to reach Huntington Hospital, which sits about 2.3 miles from the property. Nearby uses also include Fairmeadow Park, a landscaping business, a nursing home, Northwell Health buildings and Family Service League, adding to the pressure on a corner that residents say already carries a mix of commuter and neighborhood traffic.

McDonald’s is seeking to have the project treated as a permitted food shop rather than a restaurant, while also seeking approval for the drive-through window. The applicant’s team, represented at the hearing by State Assemblyman Keith Brown, argued that the proposal fits current zoning and that the property has long been used for traffic-generating banking activity. Still, residents questioned whether a right-turn-only entrance and exit would actually prevent risky driving or simply encourage unsafe maneuvers as cars stack up on the corner.

The board made no decision, leaving the application unresolved and sending the project back for more scrutiny of its traffic data and design. For Greenlawn and nearby Huntington Station, the debate now reaches beyond one vacant building: it has become a test of how much commercial traffic the area can absorb, and how far residents can push back before a redevelopment proposal becomes the wrong fit for the corner.