A proposal to open an Islamic boarding school at a former Catholic school complex on Long Island is set to go before local officials, drawing significant attention and organized opposition in the Bay Shore community. The plan would revive a religious academy on the site, this time catering to those of the Islamic faith, and a critical vote could determine whether the project moves forward.
At the center of the plan is the United American Muslim Association, which recently reached an agreement to buy the 13-acre complex on South Saxon Avenue in Bay Shore. If the proposal is approved, the association says it would offer full-time Islamic schooling, early childhood education and community programs at the site, converting the property to a new educational and community use. According to the initial application, 120 male students would reside on campus, alongside 20 faculty and staff members.
The decision now rests with the Islip Town Zoning Board, which is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the application. At issue is whether a boarding component is permitted for a parochial school within a residential district, a technical land-use question that will determine whether the association can carry out its plans for the property.
The proposal has met with vocal opposition from many in the surrounding community. Signs reading no boarding school have lined the sidewalks outside the proposed site, which sits next to a condominium complex and across from several residential neighborhoods, reflecting the concern the plan has generated among some who live nearby.
A group called Saxon Says No has emerged to challenge the application, and it has framed its objection strictly as a zoning matter. In a recent statement, the group argued that the proposed use by the new property owner is far more intensive than what is appropriate for a quiet residential neighborhood, saying its fight is about protecting the integrity of local zoning laws.
The group has also sought to make clear that it is not opposing any individual or organization, casting its position as a defense of zoning rules rather than a stance against the association or its members. That framing has become central to the debate as residents and the applicant prepare to make their cases before the board.
A spokesperson for the Town of Islip said the town's policy is not to comment on pending land use applications, leaving the public hearing as the venue where the competing arguments will be aired. The outcome of that hearing will shape the future of the South Saxon Avenue property and the association's bid to establish its school in Bay Shore.