VLT backers blow whistle on rally

Called state to report code violation

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The New York State Education Department has contacted the Sewanhaka Central High School administration and informed the board that it violated the capacity limit of the Floral Park Memorial High School auditorium during a rally against video lottery terminals at Belmont Park on Jan. 12, that was organized by the Belmont Task Force, a village of Floral Park run entity. The school board approved the use of the auditorium for the event.

The 400-seat auditorium was filled to capacity during the demonstration with dozens of children seated on the floor in front of the stage and people standing in the doorways to watch the presentation outlining concerns over installing a gambling facility in the area.

According to Carl Thurnau, director of facilities at NYSED, the body that monitors occupancy in school buildings, residents, including pro VLT advocate Patrick Nicolosi who was in attendance at the rally, contacted his office and complained about the safety concerns during the rally due to the overflow of people in attendance.

“The space was posted for a maximum occupancy and we’re led to believe that that occupancy was exceeded,” said Thurnau. “Therefore that would be a code violation, which means that they were occupying that space in excess of its maximum occupancy which by definition creates a safety hazard.”

Having a space exceed capacity can lead to serious safety issues, Thurnau said.

“If there are too many people that overcome the exits that’s when tragedies happen, people either get pushed aside or trampled or things of that nature,” he said. “That’s the immediate risk that the district took on.”

After members of Thurnau’s staff spoke with Superintendent Ralph Ferrie, they were assured that the board would take the proper steps in the future to make sure this wouldn’t happen again. NYSED makes annual visits to schools throughout the region to make sure that each building is up to the proper codes. They are not able to monitor every event that happens in schools in the state. As a result it is up to the organizers of each event to ensure that safety measures are taken.

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