By Brian McLaughlin
The stretch of tracks includes the wooded area known as Wilcox Alley, where 10-year-old Kevin Brown was killed July 14 after being electrocuted by the third rail.
The fence, which will extend for roughly a mile and a half on either side of the tracks, from the corner of Wright Avenue to Peninsula Boulevard, will be 8 feet tall and made of green cast-iron. The links of the fence are specially designed so as not to offer firm hand or foot holds.
"This fence will be unclimbable and uncutable," said Skelos (R-Rockville Centre).
Preliminary work on the fence, which will require some deforestation of the Wilcox Alley woods, has already begun and is expected to last about three to four more weeks before the actual construction can begin. After that, Barra (R-Lynbrook) said the construction will last about two months, and will hopefully be completed sometime in early November.
The fencing project carries a proposed cost of $650,000, the bulk of which will be handled by the Long Island Rail Road. Barra and Skelos said they are also working on obtaining state funding for the project.
Wilcox Alley, which extends from Wright Avenue to Wood Street behind Leaman Place in Lynbrook, has been the site of accidents like Kevin's for years. Among the several accidental and suicidal deaths that have occurred there in the past ten years is the case of teenagers Michael Sangimino and Libby Ginis who were killed in 1994 after being struck by a train barely 50 yards away from where Kevin was killed eight years later. The public outcry for a protective barrier sparked by the deaths of Sangimino and Ginis however, was unable to earn a response from the LIRR in 1994.
"I was stonewalled by [the railroad] at that time," said Barra, who led a call for fencing while serving on the village board that year.
But this latest tragedy inspired Barra, Skelos, the Lynbrook Village Board and supportive residents to demand fencing again.
"This time we refused to take 'no' for an answer," said Barra. "The only way to honor Kevin Brown is to insure that this type of incident never happens again."
At the press conference, local resident Dorothy Hall expressed her gratitude to the politicians for finally getting the results that she and her neighbors have waited so long for.
"This is government at it's best," said Hall, a leader of the Wilcox Alley Civic Association, a group she formed with neighbors Theresa Lanzelotti and Lois Rothenberg following Kevin's death. The association circulated a petition calling for fencing around the tracks, which garnered more than 1,500 signatures in about three days. The petition was presented to Barra and Skelos and helped drive their negotiations with railroad officials.
Most of Hall's neighbors joined her in praising the quick action of the county and village officials, and expressed confidence in the fence as an effective security measure.
"I think it will be a major deterrent," said Leaman Place resident Barbara Moria.
Wright Avenue resident Angela Owens agreed that the fence would help protect area children from themselves, but added it is coming about eight years too late.
According to state law, the LIRR is not obligated to erect a fence in Wilcox Alley since no paths in the area directly cross the tracks, but Skelos said that once Ken Bauer, LIRR president, saw the area for himself, he agreed the fencing was necessary. Skelos said given its close proximity to Greis Park, the village pool and fire department headquarters, Wilcox Alley is a natural hangout area for many children, but warned them, "Stay away from this area, you see how dangerous it is."
Kevin's mother Nancy also spoke at the press conference despite being visibly upset. She thanked the village and county officials as well as her fellow residents and friends for all their support.
"I think it's important for people to hear about Kevin and what happened to him so it doesn't happen again," she said.
Melissa Mingo, a cousin of Kevin's, who answered questions for her distraught aunt, said the fence will offer her family some comfort, but she still feels for the families of other railroad accidents.
"They had to wait so long for the fence," said Mingo.
One of those other family members, Michael Sangimino's mother Rosaline, was present for the announcement. Sangimino protested unsuccessfully for fencing after her son's death in 1994. Sangimino accredited the success of the fence project to the strength of the Brown family.
"I wasn't able to get a fence put up, but then again, I didn't fight as hard as Nancy has," said Sangimino.
