He fights for his village and battles a disability

Richard Tedesco

For the past 12 years, Donald Barbieri has served as a trustee for the Village of New Hyde Park while battling multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.

The disease keeps Barbieri wheelchair bound, but doesn’t keep him down or prevent him from playing an active role as trustee.

“He’s an amazing individual. He inspires me every day,” said Village of New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio, who has worked with Barbieri over the past 12 years. “He has an ability to treat his illness as if it’s not even there. He works through his problems and never makes his problems anyone else’s.”

Barbieri’s involvement in politics began with his 15 years of advocacy work with the Multiple Sclerosis Society preceding his election as trustee. His first initiative as trustee was to push for installation of handicapped ramps along Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park. 

But he’s advocacy has not been limited to issues of the handicapped. He’s been an equally passionate advocate on many issues effecting the welfare of the village that has always been his home. 

“I do appreciate the fact that this community has given me this opportunity. I am a disabled man. But my mind is still clicking and I enjoy the opportunity to work for the village,” Barbieri said.

Baribieri, 51, was diagnosed with the disease 23 years ago, and found it necessary to begin using a wheelchair shortly before he was elected to the first of this three terms for village trustee. He said he will probably seek a fourth term in the village election in March.

He said he is proud of the “pocket parks” he helped establish at New Hyde Park Village, Holy Spirit Church and elsewhere. And he’s proud of the role he played in securing a $100,000 state grant to refurbish the William Gill Theatre in Village Hall.

“Hopefully the community will benefit from this for many generations,” Barbieri said.

Barbieri has taken a leading role in the initiative to establish a New Hyde Park Museum on the second floor of Village Hall, which will be an interactive multimedia exhibit that includes an oral history of the village, historical photographs and memorabilia. Barbieri secured a $17,000 grant through Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello, a fellow New Hyde Park Memorial alumnus, for a camcorder and other equipment to enable volunteers to record the recollections of elderly community members. 

“We want the kids to know from where this has come,” he said, adding that New Hyde Park has seen the assimilation of a series of diverse ethnic groups over the past century. “How seamlessly this transition has occurred. I think it’s a story to be told.”

Barbieri also has been the village board’s point man on Project Mainstreet, a plan to upgrade the New Hyde Park business district along Jericho Turnpike that is close to entering its final phase. Barbieri has worked on the project with Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who secured a $1.25 million federal grant for the village.  

Perhaps not so coincidentally, Barbieri said McCarthy sparked his interest in public life after he met her in his early years of advocacy for victims of multiple sclerosis. 

Barbieri said he recently received word that the state Department of Transportation would likely soon provide final approval for the last stage of Project Mainstreet. That would pave the way for contract bidding and the project’s completion in late spring or early summer.

“With a little bit of luck, we’ll see the final leg of this project in the next year,” he said. “It’s going to remain a high-speed highway. But we’re going to tweak it to be safer than it is now.”

The safety features will include bulbouts, rounded street corners that will slow down motorists making turns off Jericho in the heart of the village’s business district. Installation of countdown traffic lights by the state DOT to increase pedestrian safety in crossing Jericho Turnpike will precede the village’s final phase of the upgrade project. The final phase also includes installation of benches as an amenity for pedestrians. 

“Donnie puts in a lot of time. He truly loves New Hyde Park,” Petruccio said.

Barbieri said he didn’t know anything about improving street safety or implementing smart growth before he began work on Operation Mainstreet. 

Barbieri said he sees his role as a village trustee as something beneficial in his battle to overcome his disability.

“Being involved in this village has been a healthy place for my mind to be. It’s been a fun time, a good time,” he said.

And while he serves that community, Barbieri is also conscious of giving testimony by example for what someone with his disability can accomplish.

“I do feel it is my responsibility to represent people in this circumstance in the best light,” he said. 

Over the last couple of years, he’s also had the support of a “pretty fantastic friend” in Hallie, a companion dog he acquired from Canine Companion for Independence organization       

A former registered nurse, Barbieri currently owns a shoe repair business in Penn Station.  

As an advocate for those afflicted with M.S., Barbieri has studied the disease and is currently working on a co-authored article with an M.S. researcher at Stanford University.  

“I know too much about M.S. I’ve become well versed in the science of M.S,” he said.

Barbieri is also an avid reader and a sports fan who roots for the New York Giants, Yankees and Knicks.

Friends and family help him get through difficult days. But he said he also relies strongly on his faith as a Catholic to see him through.

“I’m not going to tell you there aren’t too many challenges,” he said. “With faith, I’ve got nothing to worry about. We’re all trying to help each other. I have that strong feeling that’s our job: to reach out and help each other.”

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