By Mary Malloy
Collins, with Troop 121, his younger brother, Tyler, and their friend Eddie Brower, brought a visual presentation to Monday's village board meeting, along with prototypes of other skate parks, skating terms, and photos of skateboarders doing their tricks and runs.
"I find it to be a poor decision that skateboarding is being banned from downtown areas in Lynbrook," said Collins, addressing Mayor Ed Sieban and the village board. "Please don't let that happen in East Rockaway."
Collins pointed out that skateboarding is an athletic event, and said that it is planned as an Olympic event for 2012. "It would be unfortunate if other Olympic events, such as baseball, basketball, gymnastics and swimming were banned. "Imagine banning these activities in our village?" he asked. He cited national sales of $5.2 billion in board sales, and $2.4 billion in industry retail.
"Inevitably, kids look for the next challenge," said Collin's father, Scoutmaster Tim Collins. "They look for curbs and ledges, with two steps, seven steps, twelve steps...we don't want to be skater unfriendly to these kids," he said. "Skate parks are safe, and no more dangerous than a basketball court."
Sieban said that he and the board "embrace" the idea, but there are three issues that need to be addressed: location, finances, and safety. "The facility would have to be supervised," he said. "And the kids would have to be required to use safety equipment...that is, if we can find a location."
Deputy Mayor Richard Meagher urged Tom Collins to "keep the momentum going" on this project, and suggested that they bring it up again at the Mayor's Youth Summit, planned for October 23. "Unfortunately, East Rockaway is land poor. There is not a lot of empty land - but I encourage this effort."
Trustee Francis Lenahan asked how much land would be needed, and if it would ever need to be expanded. "Hundreds are being built, and there are hundreds of different kinds of parks," said Tim Collins.
The demostration included suggestions for types of parks, equipment used - with price list - and skateboard terminology.
There are some skateboard parks nearby - in Baldwin Park, Nickerson Park in Lido Beach, Oil City, and Riverhead.
Comments about this story? MMalloy@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 202.
