Building a 'Garden of Hope' in East Meadow

A compelling sculpture that depicts the aftermath of drunken driving has found a new home in East Meadow. 

The sculpture, created in 1997 by artist Michael Alfano, who graduated from W.T. Clarke High School in 1987, was initially displayed in front of the Nassau County Supreme Court building in Mineola — until defense attorneys complained that it could unfairly sway jurors in DWI cases. 

The work, titled “Stand Up, Speak Out,” was moved to the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where it stayed for nearly a decade. Modernization work at the hospital prompted another move in July, this time to Eisenhower Park, in between the Veterans Memorial and the Firefighters 9/11 Memorial near Parking Field No. 6. 

Volunteers from the East Meadow Kiwanis worked most of last Saturday to ensure that the sculpture had indeed found a permanent home in the park.

Alfano recalled passing the sculpture at the NUMC while he was running the Long Island Marathon with his late father, Albert, who died last year. The artist, who lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Linda, and two children, said he is thrilled to see his sculpture find a permanent location in his hometown.  

“It will be incredible,” said Alfano, who will attend the ceremony to dedicate the site on Oct. 16. 

The Kiwanians, with support from County Legislator Norma Gonsalves, County Executive Ed Mangano and the county Department of Parks and Recreation, are landscaping what will be known as the Garden of Hope. “The project represents turning a negative into a positive, primarily because it makes people stop, look and think about what is going on,” Gonsalves said. “It increases the awareness for something we need to increase.”

Officials from Nassau County, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) will be on hand for the dedication, as well as families victimized by drunken drivers and other drug- and alcohol-related tragedies.