Legos are back

What have Valley Stream’s youngest builders been up to lately? Stop by the Henry Waldinger Library to find out.

The library is holding its annual Lego exhibition with more than a dozen creations by local children and teens on display. The projects will be on view throughout January. 

Library Director Mamie Eng said a few of the children this year have exhibited their Lego creations in the past, but many are participating for the first time. There are no restrictions on what children can build and they are not judged on their projects. “They’re recognized just for being creative,” she said. 

Brandon Catanzaro, 8, has participated for the past three years. Every year he looks forward to the announcement his principal makes at school about his participation in the library’s Lego exhibition.

At home, Brandon has three dresser tops covered with his various Lego creations. He likes to build spaceships and robots. 

Alessio Fratarcangeli, 6, found a box of Legos in the basement and wanted to build something. So he put together a racing car for the library’s exhibition. He then got a lot of his own Legos for Christmas and spent most of his holiday break playing with those.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. The Legos he found in the basement were his father’s. “I was into Lego myself when I was a kid,” said Alessio’s dad, Ruggero.

One of the oldest participants is 14-year-old Derrick Soler. This was his first time building a project for Lego exhibition along with his sister, Lynette. “I do like Legos,” Derrick said. “I have a big box full of them.”

Some of the participants and their projects:

Lynette Soler, 9

Lego creation: “Star Wars Ship”

Lynette said she used a combination of her Legos and her brother’s to create her project. She took three small ships she had already built and but them together into one big spaceship. 

Abhi Patel, 7

Lego creation: “Space Plane”

Abhi said he loves to build planes because he likes things that fly. 

Marcus Casimir, 7

Lego creation: “Hovercraft X”