CEMCO Discusses Potential of Sonic in East Meadow [POLL]

At last week's Council of East Meadow Community Organizations (CEMCO) meeting, Elizabeth Fries, CEMCO's corresponding secretary, shared that she heard from a co-owner of Aura that there's a possibility of Sonic opening where Rita's Ices once stood.

CEMCO officers and residents shared an initial hesitation. Parking is already tight, especially if the new establishment were to operate as the typical Sonic drive-up location.

"I work near the Deer Park location," East Meadow resident Bill Alderman said. "If you go down Deer Park Avenue, it's bumper-to-bumper still. If that were to come here, it would be a disaster."

CEMCO President Joseph Parisi agreed, but said it's important to keep an open mind until the entire proposal is made clear.

"We need to get the facts," Parisi said. "If it were going to be as we're describing with multiple drive-thru services, it would not work and we all know that, but we need to hear the proposal and have an exchange of ideas."

Parisi also added that Sonic could potentially bring in jobs and business to the community, and in this economy, "that's important."

Fries ended the discussion by saying that nothing has been set in stone, and the community will be updated as more information comes in.

In January, Sonic denied that there was interest in an East Meadow location.

“At this point in time we do not have anything planned or in the works for East Meadow,” Sonic Representative Becky Rickard told Patch.

Michael Ganci contributed to this story.