By Anthony Rifilato
Whenever an automobile careens down this swath of Central Avenue, an extremely narrow street where kids often play in front of their homes, residents sigh with frustration.
"We see something coming," Kotarski said, who has two children.
The speeding cars have residents here on edge, especially after a young boy was hit by a pickup truck last month. Though the child walked away with only bruises and scrapes, people here say it is an ominous sign. "If [the driver] was going a few more miles an hour, my kid would be in the grave now," said George Giannetti, the victim's father, who lives at 2705 Central Ave.
The incident has further galvanized the neighborhood, and Giannetti and others plan to circulate a petition and start a letter-writing campaign calling for the Town of Hempstead to put up more Children at Play signs, install speed bumps and No Parking signs, and anything else that would cut down on speeding in the area, such as making Central Avenue a one-way street or instituting alternate-side-of the-street parking.
"I want the town to realize that there's a problem they're ignoring," Giannetti said.
Though their efforts intensified shortly after Giannetti's son was hit, Central Avenue residents have been asking for help for some time. Last year they urged the town to make Central Avenue a one-way street and requested a ban that would prohibit large tractor trailers from driving through. "My son was almost killed by an 18-wheeler," said resident Terri Scalero, who wrote letters to the town.
Others have also expressed their concern. One resident said he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle on Central Avenue between Clinton Place and Merrick Road. Baldwin resident Deborah Maniaci had requested that the First Precinct conduct a traffic study at Central Avenue and Merrick Road, after she said two pedestrians were killed walking on the street two years ago. She and other residents argued that a traffic light should be installed, but they were told by the First Precinct that it wasn't warranted.
"We know there have been fatalities there," Maniaci said.
After a traffic assessment, the town concluded last January 2003 that making Central Avenue a one-way street would not be feasible. The town said that it would be conducive to speeding because of the lack of oncoming traffic, and also explained that a one-way street would cause confusion among motorists unfamiliar with the area, as well as delaying the response time of emergency vehicles.
"I think they're excuses," Giannetti said.
The town did, however, post signs that prohibit trucks over 8,000 pounds from driving onto Central Avenue between Thomas and Church Streets.
But residents said that the process had been lagging, explaining that although the town proposed the truck signs in January, they were installed only a week after Giannetti's son was hit by a pizza delivery truck. And while there is a Children at Play sign here, which was put up last year, residents say it only faces southbound and is in the center of the street. The signs should be placed near stops signs, as well as at the center of the block, they said.
"I think if he saw a sign, he would have took the time to go slower," said Giannetti.
For its part, the town said that speed bumps cannot be installed and that speeding is a police department issue, but added that if residents request more Children at Play signs, that's fairly easy to accomplish. "A Children at Play sign is definitely routine," said a town spokesperson.
But some here said they feel that signs won't help. "You can put a million signs here," said resident Alvaro Souza. "Who's going to stop?"
Souza, a retired engineer who has grown children, said that while he is concerned about speeding, he feels that children should avoid playing in the street. "This is not a playground," he said. "Police can't always supervise this."
Police said that there haven't been many accidents on this stretch of Central Avenue. "It's definitely not a high-frequency accident location," said First Precinct Deputy Inspector Rich McCarrick. "We haven't had much in the way of complaints."
McCarrick said that in March, the First Precinct, which has five patrol cars covering Baldwin, began a campaign against aggressive driving, and cited 111 locations considered hot spots. Though none of those areas are on Central Avenue, McCarrick acknowledged residents' concerns, saying that if there is a large number of speeders, they should call the First Precinct.
"We would notify the post car to do enforcement if they can," McCarrick said.
But while residents said they are concerned about safety, they explained that the situation has turned into a quality-of-life issue as well. "Some people feel as if it's a main way through [town]," said Kotarski, referring to drivers who circumvent main thoroughfares such as Grand Avenue to reach south Baldwin and businesses on Church Street. Many of those businesses, such as Rose Fence and Waldbaum's, have been the targets of complaints in the past. Residents said that although the area has been revitalized, the businesses have contributed to the traffic and parking problems in the area.
"For such a nice quiet block, why don't they take care of this?" Giannetti said. While he added that he doesn't intend to sue the driver of the car that hit his son, he said that he has hired a lawyer to assist with the petition efforts so that the next accident isn't a fatal one.
"We want to stop this from ever happening," Giannetti said.
