By Dana Williams
³There have been three deaths in two years at this crossing,² Panzarella said. ³That is unacceptable, so something needs to be done.²
The three accidents that occurred at the grade-level crossing were similar, in that each victim was attempting to cross the tracks after the gates, which signal an oncoming train, were lowered.
³I don¹t think anyone can blame the railroad for the deaths that took place, because people just walked right into the trains,² Panzarella said. ³If someone wants to go under the guardrail, there is nothing we can do to stop that.²
However, to make the railroad crossing safer for pedestrians, Panzarella is pushing for the installment of four quadrant gates, which he said would help physically block pedestrians from walking onto the tracks while a train is passing.
Trustee Jim Callahan has voiced his concerns about this proposal. ³Those gates might cause someone crossing to the other side to get stuck and not be able to pass through to exit either,² said Callahan. ³That¹s always a big concern when you put a hard gate in. All of sudden, if someone is stuck, they can¹t get out.²
There will also be different measures to encourage pedestrians to exercise caution when they cross the tracks near Connolly Station. ³We are also going to create sidewalk striping and put up more warning signs to alert people about the tracks,² the mayor added.
Starting a community education program, creating public service announcements and having officials visit local schools were some of the other suggestions made at the meeting. ³If it¹s something that would help, then that¹s fine,² Trustee Joe Hennessy said of the quadrant gates. ³But if people want to cross, they¹re going to cross. Why people can¹t wait, I don¹t know. I thought the officials did a very good job of putting the new crosswalks in. But if the people who were at that meeting came up with other suggestions that will help, then that¹s fine.²
MTA officials also plan to fix other safety hazards at the crossing, including cutting down an exposed third rail, according to Panzarella.
³I¹m very concerned not only about the safety of our residents, but also that the train station stays open,² said Trustee Patricia McDonald, referring to rumors that the LIRR might close the Malverne station entirely. McDonald also expressed her displeasure with Panzarella, saying that he never informed her or any of the trustees ‹ with the exception of fellow Taxpayers Party Trustee Malone ‹ of the meeting with the MTA.
³Three out of the four trustees were never informed of this meeting with the MTA,² McDonald said. ³In fact, Jim Callahan is involved with emergency management for the village, yet this was something that was never discussed with us. That¹s not open government.²
Panzarella defended his decision not to include the trustees, claiming that he didn¹t call them to the meeting because they aren¹t involved in railroad crossing issues.
Hennessy said he believes the choice was politically motivated. ³It¹s election time,² he said. ³He didn¹t offer us to come, so we didn¹t have a choice. If we would have known about it, we would have been there.²
³To say I left them out because of party politics is completely untrue ‹ it¹s an empty accusation,² Panzarella fired back. ³What does Patti [McDonald] have to do with the railroad crossings? And as for Jim Callahan, this isn¹t terrorism, this isn¹t an evacuation, I brought in the people who were directly concerned with this.²
Panzarella added that it was only a coincidence that Malone was the only trustee called to the meeting, and that it had nothing to do with Malone being a Taxpayers Party member and everything to do with the fact that Malone is the police commissioner. ³They can comment on it ‹ I¹m sure they have an opinion,² Panzarella said, ³but it¹s silly. You don¹t bring somebody from the youth board into a meeting about railroad crossings.²
The official plans for the crossing will be established at a meeting in the near future.
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