Calling for a crossing guard

East Rockaway residents — mostly parents of school-aged children — are calling for a crossing guard to be stationed at what they say is a very dangerous intersection, not far from East Rockaway Junior/Senior High School.

Last month, the Herald reported that 60-year-old Carmel Kennedy, of East Rockaway, was struck and killed by a car while she was crossing at the intersection of Atlantic and Ocean avenues. Some pedestrians who frequently cross at that corner, which is less than a half mile from the school, say the intersection is unsafe.

“I used to cross that intersection all the time when I was a student, and it was even bad back then,” said Melissa Obregon, a 1996 graduate of East Rockaway High. “I remember not walking, but running across that street to avoid cars.”

Obregon added that the corner is no safer now. “I currently work at CVS on Atlantic Avenue as a pharmacy technician, and drive home through that intersection daily,” she said. “There are so many cars that run the light or inch up when people are crossing. I’ve said for year that there should be a guard there, and I’ve never understood why there wasn’t.”

The intersection is still causing grief for students, according to resident Liz Reider-Robinson. “My daughter Nadine graduated from East Rockaway High School last June, and she would often walk home from school via that intersection,” Reider-Robinson said. “When I told her about the recent accident there, she said it was always crazy and frightening trying to cross there … she always felt it was a dangerous intersection, and that it was difficult to cross.”

Christine Rindos-Paul said that the corner is hazardous not only for students in the area, but also for commuters on the Long Island Rail Road. “That intersection is a nightmare at all times,” she said. “My husband walks to and from the train station every day, and says that people drive like psychos and almost hit him to make a turn.”