Let there be light

I go home that way and it’s just plain dangerous. It’s a horrible, horrible situation.”

Alex Edelman, Lawrence mayor

More than four years after Hurricane Sandy flooding damaged the streetlights along the Nassau Expressway, the Village of Lawrence has moved ahead with repairs despite confusion over which government entities are responsible for maintaining the lights.

This section of the state expressway, also known as Route 878, which is a state road, stretches from Rockaway Turnpike, in the unincorporated portion of Lawrence, to the Atlantic Beach Bridge. 

The village began repairing upward of 70 streetlights earlier last month. Lawrence hired East Rockaway-based Pro Tech Electric Inc. to diagnose the problems and Mittman Electrical Construction, of Inwood, to fix what’s broken.

“I take this matter very personally. I never intended to be doing this, but I made a few calls myself and everyone said, ‘It’s not my problem,’” said Lawrence Mayor Alex Edelman. “I said, ‘Enough is enough.’ I go home that way, and it’s just plain dangerous. It’s a horrible, horrible situation.”

Edelman said that he is hoping to have 85 percent of the work done by early this month. The total cost is unknown, but village officials acknowledged that it will be expensive, possibly as much as $100,000. With much of the wiring underground, the problems are not visible until digging is done, and although the original plans are being reviewed, modifications made over time complicate the process.

“I’m certainly pleased that the village is moving forward on making necessary repairs to the streetlights on the Nassau Expressway, but we need to do more and we need to do it now,” said State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach). “It’s been four years since Sandy and it’s mind-boggling that these improvements have not been made sooner. I will continue to advocate locally and in Albany to ensure that 878 is given the urgent attention it deserves.”

Precisely which government entity is responsible for repairing the streetlights and poles along the roadway is in dispute. The village’s previous mayor, Martin Oliner, said Lawrence was responsible for maintenance such as cutting the grass on road medians, but the lights were too complex for the village. Town of Hempstead officials said the village is responsible for the lights, according to state officials. The section of road from Bayview Avenue to the Atlantic Beach Bridge is under the jurisdiction of Nassau County and the village. 

In October 2015, the town replaced 83 streetlights with new fixtures and more efficient, money-saving LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs from Rockaway Turnpike to the intersection at Bayview Avenue and Route 878.

Nassau County also acted on a request from the village to illuminate a portion of the expressway at three major intersections — Central Avenue, Broadway and Rock Hall Road — with portable lights. That was less than a month after Theodore Schiffman, 85, of Boca Raton, Fla., was struck by a car and killed while crossing 878 at Broadway last Nov.  28.

Atlantic Beach Mayor George Pappas said that the streetlight issue is discussed at nearly every village board meeting. Pappas said that he also has spoken to state and Nassau County Bridge Authority officials about the problem, but nothing was done. “This concerns the whole community, and it’s great that Lawrence is going after the problem,” he said.

About two and a half years ago, County Legislator Howard Kopel (D-Lawrence) began a campaign in collaboration with Assemblyman Phillip Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach) to have the state Department of Transportation not only renovate the roadway much earlier than the target year of 2025, but also to complete the roadway as originally planned, with its northern section, near the Belt Parkway and the Van Wyck Expressway in Queens, connected to its southern portion, which runs from the Atlantic Beach Bridge to Rockaway Boulevard. Last year the DOT spent about $6 million of the initial $61 million budgeted for the 2025 renovations to resurface and install drainage upgrades to mitigate flooding along a portion of the Five Towns section of the expressway.

“I congratulate Mayor Edelman and the entire board of trustees for taking action, and not waiting for the endless process of figuring out and fighting about who should do what among the county, state and village,” Kopel said. “None of this detracts from the critical safety problem that the lack of progress by the state in building out 878, according to the original plan, has created, but it is always encouraging to see public officials such as those in Lawrence moving forcefully to protect their residents.”

Barry Ringelheim, one of many Atlantic Beach residents who travel 878 to and from work daily, said he was happy that something was finally being done to solve the problem. “Four years after Hurricane Sandy, it’s nice to see that the Village of Lawrence is doing something,” Ringelheim said. “It’s pitch black and about time it was done.” 

Have an opinion conditions on the Nassau Expressway? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.