Renaming a street

A street sign will be officially unveiled on June 5 at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Franklin Place in Woodmere to honor the memory of Dr. John L. Santopolo, who was killed in a hit-and-run accident in January 2015.

The sign will rename a portion of Franklin Place Dr. John L. Santopolo Place, where Santopolo’s endodontic practice, Long Island Endodontics, continues to serve patients. The practice specializes in root canal treatment and is now owned by Cedarhurst resident Dr. Craig Berry, who previously worked under Santopolo. The practice also has a Merrick office, which opened in 2007.

“My father grew up in Hewlett-Woodmere, raised his family here and worked his entire life in the community,” said Jill Santopolo, one of John and Beth Santopolo’s three daughters. “It was such a special place to him and my family, and I find it so meaningful that his name will live on here, weaving its way into the fabric of the town. He was connected to so many people in the community, and I hope that when they drive down Dr. John L. Santopolo Place they’ll remember him as a student, father, dentist, mentor, friend — with a smile.”

In practice for nearly 30 years, Santopolo, who lived in Hewlett, was a trailblazer in his field, using the latest technology. He was on the staff of Peninsula Hospital before the facility closed in 2012, teaching and treating patients. He served on the board of the Nassau County Dental Society, and was president of the Woodmere Merchants Association. Santopolo, along with Joseph Gelb of the Hewlett Business Association and others, engineered the merger of the two business groups into the Hewlett-Woodmere Business Association in 2011, and served as its first president. A graduate of Hewlett High School, he is in the Hall of Fame sponsored by the Hewlett-Woodmere Alumni Association. His father, Michael, was the district’s superintendent from 1955 to 1976.

“I thought about it in all honesty because John and I were very close and our families are rooted together,” Larry Franklin, Santopolo’s father-in-law and a former Hewlett-Woodmere Board of Education trustee, said of the street renaming. “It is John’s legacy. If you look at the amount of things he was involved in in the community, and there was so much he had done.”

Santopolo was one of the first to use new technology such as the YAP laser, which helped remove broken pieces of tooth and reduced the amount of time a patient spent in the chair, and other state-of-the-art equipment. He lectured frequently up and down the East Coast, and published articles on a variety of topics related to his field, including stem cell technology and the single-tooth anesthesia system.

Craig Spatz, who served as vice president under Santopolo when the HWBA was created, said that no one is more deserving of a street-naming. “For everything he did for the community, the type of person he was,” said Spatz, a senior vice president of Signature Bank in Woodmere and the president of the Marion & Aaron Gural JCC. “His leadership, how he cared for the community and tried to grow the business network. He was a good friend, not just a client. When I go down that street, the sign will remind me that it was his street. His office was his second home.”

The unveiling of the street sign is scheduled for Sunday, June 5, at 10 a.m.