Roslyn Harbor village officials criticized the Nassau County Police Department last Thursday for what they called a decline in traffic enforcement that has fostered reckless driving in the village, especially on Bryant Avenue, where a collision two weeks ago resulted in two injuries.
“The police are really failing us,” Deputy Mayor Jeremy S. Rosof said at a trustees meeting. “I hope I’ve got their attention.”
Mayor Louis Badolato agreed.
“The last thing I want to see is someone get hurt in the village,” he said.
The Nassau County police declined to comment, but cited statistics showing no increase in accidents at two key intersections.
Badolato said there were four accidents in the village in November.
In citing the need for greater enforcement, he pointed to what he termed a dangerous stretch on Bryant Avenue between Glenwood Road and Northern Boulevard, which includes an S-turn on an incline.
Two cars collided near the entrance to the Cedarmere Museum on the Bryant Avenue S-turn two weeks ago, Badolato said.
“The S-turn downhill is dangerous,” Badolato said. “There’s a longstanding habit of people on Bryant Avenue exceeding the speed limit.”
Badolato said the number of tickets issued in Roslyn Harbor has declined ever since the merger of the 3rd and 6th precincts in 2012.
“I don’t remember the last time I saw a police car pulling someone over on Bryant Avenue,” he said.
He said his concern is not about village revenue but about safety.
“I don’t care about money,” he said.
“I have two young kids. My villagers and neighbors have young children picked up by school buses on Bryant Avenue,” he said. “I see cars speeding past buses every morning.”
Badolato said he has sent eight letters to the county police regarding his concerns.
According to statistics provided by the Nassau County Police Department, the village has not seen an increase this year in the number of accidents at the intersection of Bryant Avenue and Northern Boulevard or Bryant Avenue and Glenwood Road. There were two accidents and four accidents at the respective intersections last year, and just one accident and three accidents at the respective intersections so far this year.
Rosof said he will contact Nassau County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton asking her to advocate on behalf of the village’s concerns.
Board Trustee Sandy Quentzel said an increased police presence would alleviate the problem.
“I would love for more police enforcement,” she said. “It’s people who drive unsafely and go over the speed limit. I don’t blame the police. But if police are there, people don’t go over the speed limit and it doesn’t happen.”
