According to recent reports from various economists the recession is now over. Reports claim that despite high unemployment rates around the country and that money is still tight, the worst is over. But the Village of Hempstead is experiencing the recession differently than surrounding communities due to its surplus, according to Mayor Wayne Hall.

A recent marketwatch.com article reported Chariman Ben Bernanke of Federal Reserve at a conference at the Brookings Institution “From a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point. It's still going to feel like a very weak economy for some time."

Hall said because of the makeup of his community’s demographics, the recovery from the recession will be different with private businesses than other Long Island communities.

“The businesses are running at a slower pace and there’s always, in minority communities, a jobless rate that is always higher than the national,” Hall said in a phone interview.

As a municipality though, the village did not lose much due to its $7.2 million surplus, Hall said.

“If I look at the municipality as a whole, we came out with a surplus, when many other communities had deficits. They depend on sales tax, we don’t,” Hall said.

Businesses have suffered, though.

“You know what I think that the recovery is about the same. It’s slow here. If anything is happening at all, I’ve seen at Home Depot, I think they had a pretty good year. The restaurant business, though - people aren’t going out much,” the mayor said.