Traffic death brings safety measures to Mineola Ave.

Max Zahn
The intersection of Mineola Avenue and Hillside Avenue, where 82-year-old Sion Bakhshi was struck and killed by a car on Feb. 18.

Sion Bakhshi, a longtime member of Temple Torah Ohr in Roslyn, walked in and out of the synagogue every day for years.

After Shabbat services on the night of Feb. 18, the stroll across nearby Mineola Avenue became the 82-year-old man’s last, when a car struck and killed him.

“My father meant a lot,” said Daniel Bakhshi, his son and a synagogue member. “He was one of the people encouraging the young kids to come more and more to synagogue.”

Since the accident, members of the temple have demanded changes from Nassau County that could make the four-lane road safer for pedestrians to cross.

“They have to fix it,” said Rabbi Doron Baalhaness, the head of Temple Torah Ohr, who has contacted officials with the Village of Roslyn Estates, the Town of North Hempstead and Nassau County.

The county, which is responsible for the road, has since taken steps toward securing the dangerous intersection at Mineola Avenue and Hillside Avenue, cutting down trees to improve pedestrian sight lines and installing street lights on Mineola Avenue, Baalhaness said.

But he said the changes are not sufficient.

The county should cut down more trees and add a painted crosswalk, Baalhaness said.

“I would like them to put out a new traffic light at Hillside Avenue and Mineola Avenue,” he added.

Currently congregants are encouraged to walk south on Mineola Avenue and cross at the road’s intersection with Warner Avenue, where there is a traffic light but no crosswalk, Daniel Bakhshi said.

“They need to do something to control the speed so people cannot go so fast,” Daniel Bakhshi said. “It’s like a highway over there.”

The speed limit is 35 miles per hour but drivers use the road as a cut-through when traveling north to places like Glen Cove or Sea Cliff, Daniel Bakhshi said.

“There are things to be done so people know to go another route,” Daniel Bakhshi said. “If they put in a speed limit, a camera, a stop sign or more lights.”

Shabbat services, held at the synagogue every Friday and Saturday, are attended by 120 to 140 people, Daniel Bakhshi said.

He estimated that 85 percent of the attendees arrive and leave around the same time at the beginning and end of services.

Ninety-nine percent of congregants walk to and from Shabbat services in observance of the religion’s day of rest, Daniel Bakhshi said.

The walk across the intersection is more dangerous for the temple’s older members, Daniel Bakhshi said.

“They can’t walk as fast as young people,” he said. “They can’t run. I’m not discriminating but when you get older your body goes through changes.”

Bryan Rivera, the clerk-treasurer in Roslyn Estates, said the village “is supportive of anything that improves safety.”

While the synagogue awaits further improvements, it has taken a safety measure of its own: colorful vests are available to make congregants more visible as they walk across the street.

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