As the last remnants of our 84-year-old, iconic water tower head for the scrap heap, a local resident wants to keep the memory alive with commemmorative shirts bearing an image of the proud, intact structure in all its glory.
Emily Aghabi, who has lived in West Hempstead for 39 of her 43 years, snapped the photo back in January, before a demolition team began welding holes and disassembling the structure, which has been replaced with a more efficient successor.
“it’s like a piece of your childhood is gone,” she laments of the old tower.
The shirts aren’t cheap — $50 for a sweatshirt, $28 for a tee- but Aghabi says she is barely breaking even with printing and shipping costs, since they’re not being produced in bulk.
The idea struck Aghabi after watching a friend perform in his band, the Shipwrecks, earlier this year and one of the musicians wore a similar shirt. Another friend said, “How cool would it be to have the West Hempstead tower” on a shirt, and Aghabi obliged by creating one.
She’s since sold about 20 shirts, strictly through Facebook (contact her via Facebook Messenger for orders.)
Aghabi, a dental office manager who is active in community and civic affairs, grew up within view of the tower. Regarding the new structure, despite it’s greater capacity, she says she’s not a fan.
“It’s ugly.”
