The taxpayers of the Village of East Williston supported and paid for the renovation of the town hall and surrounding public space that has beautified the western entrance to our neighborhood. The pavilion adjacent to the train platform is among the many seating areas that was constructed for use by residents of the community, both young and old alike.
Now, by virtue of a set of newly posted signs, the area that was built for our enjoyment is off-limits to everyone “after dusk” regardless of whether you are a commuter waiting for a pick-up after getting off the train, or a family sitting to enjoy a refreshing ice after dinner, or a teenager who is meeting up to socialize with peers.
Trustee Bonnie Parente suggests that because the space has been used by teens during the later evening hours, a committee should be formed that includes the teens, and work to come up with a plan for where the kids can safely socialize (since none of the administration wants to see them at the pavilion). However, the baby has already been thrown out with the bath water, and coming up with a “plan” would have made more sense to do before shutting down a taxpayer-supported public area without even taking a vote.
The mayor and trustees do not want “outsiders” from our surrounding neighborhoods coming to East Williston to socialize with our youngsters here. This is unfortunate, because we have always been proud when our neighboring communities get together to support one another, as often happens when the volunteer firefighters from Williston Park, Mineola, Albertson, and so on, show up to assist with emergency situations across the borders.
It does not make sense that children of these very same volunteers may be among those that are not welcome to socialize with their friends in East Williston. It is as if our administration is creating some sort of elitist residential requirement for entering the Village. Discrimination at its finest. No, it is a social nightmare and tragedy.
The attendees at the recent board meetings at the Village Hall were shown a recording of vandalism that unfortunately occurred at the pavilion in the public area.
While it was shocking to see that this took place, hopefully the use of the camera would serve to deter future incidents. When asked about the recordings that show the teens being chased from the area when nothing other than social gathering was going on, or why the live images could not be displayed as a “webcam” feature on the village Web site (an idea that just makes too much sense), the mayor stated that there was a privacy issue that prohibited the contents from being available to the community members.
It seems that the board selects what they want to community to see, and withhold the rest of the footage that shows nothing other than teenagers socializing (as they should be). They claim there is some legal reason that only the board members have access to this footage, and the community members are excluded from viewing the material. The mayor did state that this would be looked into by our village attorney for further clarification.
It was reported that dozens of summonses were issued to teens within the village for being in a restricted “area” as indicated by a pair of signs.
However, it is unclear as to what defines the “area” that is in question. The area is not a “park” or schoolyard. It is not a gated area, or marked with any sort of indication of the boundaries of the “area.” Even the sidewalks are being included in the restricted area, and that is very disturbing.
The teenagers are not being told to vacate the area – they are just being detained and issued summonses. At this time, every one of these summonses should be dismissed. Whether there are teens or adults there, they are not substantially interfering with the use of the property. There is no rational reason for restricting this area from those who merely want to socialize.
Teenagers are being chased by both private security (hired by the board) and the police into the street to avoid being issued a summons. This is so that we can maintain what the village board members and mayor call a “safe environment.”
Trustees DiBenedittis and Parente both ran as concerned parents and supporters of our children when they solicited our votes at election time. They both stated that the children of the community were of the utmost importance to them. Oddly enough, Trustee DiBenedittis has not made one public remark at any of the village meetings regarding the treatment of our children now, even though she is a parent of teens herself.
In fact, the only remarks that any of our elected officials make about our youth are negative in nature. They are to be out of sight, somewhere else, and not to be seen in East Williston. They are rejected by their own community.
I hope this is not our future. It is a sad statement about how our adult community views their youth.
If Trustee Parente and her colleagues are sincere about their dedication to making this community one in which our children can be proud to grow up in, and her plans to bring a group together to formulate a realistic proposal for a safe place for our youth to socialize throughout their adolescent formative years actually come to fruition, then perhaps this neighborhood can once again be a vibrant and welcoming community for all of its residents.
We all will be waiting for the outcome. Closing everything at dusk is not the answer.
Walter Leonick
East Williston
