Badolato’s killed dog spurs Harbor trustee

Bill San Antonio

Solving the issue of motorists speeding along Bryant Avenue has long been a topic of conversation for Village of Roslyn Harbor officials, but it has become more personal after the deputy mayor’s dog was killed by a speeding car last month.

Trustee Louis Badolato said at the village’s board meeting last Monday that he while was away in England he received a call from his wife that the family’s dog had been hit by a car on Bryant Avenue while she was walking the dog. Because he was away, Badolato said he did not file a police report.

“As much as I love that dog, when I got the call from my wife, all I could think of was, ‘which of the kids,’ and I was actually relieved when she told me it was the dog,” Badolato said. “It’s going to be somebody’s kids one of these days. We’ve had meetings with the police, but nothing’s really been done.”

The village had considered erecting speed radar signs, meeting with county officials last year to determine where the signs would be placed and how much they’d cost. 

Badolato said former Village of Roslyn Harbor Mayor Yvette Edidin’s fence had been knocked down by speeding motorists “seven or eight times,” adding that his own fence had been knocked down four times in the seven years he’s lived in Roslyn Harbor. 

Badolato said if speeding isn’t curbed on Bryant Avenue, dogs and fences will not be the sole casualties of careless motorists.

“Kids ride bicycles, kids cross the street, something is going to happen if we don’t slow these cars down,” Badolato said.

Badolato said he remembered a study Nassau police conducted that said 60 accidents had been reported along Bryant Avenue in one year, but could not remember the year in which those statistics were collected.

Trustee Jeremy Rosof added the village had received 295 court summonses for traffic violations and accidents taking place on Bryant Avenue in the last year, down from the 491 received last year, which he said indicated a lack of recent police presence in the area.

Village Counsel Peter McKinnon suggested the board contact local politicians, saying similar community issues tend to be solved near election time, and Rosof said he may be able to personally contact former Nassau Executive Tom Suozzi, who is running for the position this year.

“Anything and everything we could do to slow cars down would have a positive effect on the safety of the people in this village,” Badolato said.

Badolato said he’s planning to draft a letter to Nassau police on the village’s behalf notifying them that the speeding on Bryant Avenue has not improved, though he acknowledged letters to police have not been successful in the past.

“Just to give them an update on where we’re at and to notify them of the lack of police presence in the area because my fence has been knocked down and my dog has been killed while my wife had him on a leash, perhaps you might want to think about putting a little more police presence in the area,” Badolato said.

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