Crossing guards yes, GN Plaza benefits no

The Island Now

I was thrilled to see that both of the crosswalks at the entrance to Grace Avenue Park were freshly painted just two days after the publication of my letter in this newspaper.

I was particularly surprised at the swift response because I had visited Village Hall just several days before to once again voice my concerns.

I spoke to the commissioner of public services who rattled off a list of reasons why the village was powerless to do anything to improve the safety of the crosswalk, because even something as simple and obvious as painting the crosswalks could create an unacceptable risk of liability for the village if a pedestrian had been injured crossing because they believed the fresh coat of pain somehow made it safer.

He attempted to placate my concerns by explaining that this was a priority for Mayor Celender to address with the Nassau County Department of Public Works, and emphasized that she had even taken the time to write a letter to Nassau County in March of this year.

The Grace Avenue/Park Place intersection, crosswalks, and park entrance are a tragedy waiting to happen, and it was eye-opening to learn that our village leadership was proud of their previous efforts to address this.

It turns out that the Commissioner was correct – a visible crosswalk does not make anyone safer.

Residents learned this throughout the week when they continued to be a target of oblivious, high speed, inattentive drivers.

And yet I should have known Mayor Celender and her team were indeed on the case. Had I waited just a few more days, there would have been no need for me to publicly express any doubts about the village’s regard for our community’s safety.

A few more drops of patience would have bought me enough time for the June issue of the Plaza Voice to arrive, and my questions would have been answered. For there on page 6, in the center of the page, in bold type, italicized, read the following words: [Kid] “What ideas do you have for promoting and improving traffic and pedestrian safety in Great Neck?”

And who is our village leadership looking to for solutions to keep our community safe? Whose experience and insight are our elected officials relying on in an effort to address a serious problem?

Third–eighth graders. Children.

Ideas could be submitted as either an essay or a poster. Essays were limited to 700 words, and posters could contain a maximum of 5 words and be no larger than 24×36 inches. (These arbitrary and stifling signage requirements are already familiar to many of Great Neck Plaza’s merchants, but more on that another time)

So while I’ve missed the eligibility cutoff for this contest by about 20 years, here are five words to increase the awareness of the serious nature of this problem, and promote traffic and pedestrian safety:

Eliminate trustee benefits. Hire crossing-guards.

With growing disgust,

Matthew Ruzz

Great Neck

 

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