Competitions
SFS 2023 WARD MELVILLE HIGH SCHOOL TEE SHIRT CONTEST
A huge thank you to Supervisor Edward Romaine, Councilman Jonathan Kornreich, WMHS Principal William Bernhard, Felicia Azzara, Visual Arts Coordinator Jennifer Trettner, and the art department's Cortney Weisman for making the Sidewalks for Safety T-shirt competition an amazing success. And thank you to the Three Village BOE for hosting the prize giving.
The T-shirt designs that were submitted were exceptional, and we are thrilled to announce that we have printed the first and second-place winning designs. As a token of appreciation, we will be giving one T-shirt to each participant who registers for the May 14th Sidewalks For Safety 5K Run/Walk. So, if you want to run or walk for a good cause, while looking stylish and safe, sign up now at https://events.elitefeats.com/23sidewalks
The SFS/WMHS T-Shirt design winners are:
1st Place winner - Melina Montgomery
2nd Place winner - Julie Yang
3rd Place winner - Zoe Xiao
Honorable mention 1 - Lila Dabrowski
Honorable mention 2 - Rebecca Fazio
2nd Place winner - Julie Yang
3rd Place winner - Zoe Xiao
Honorable mention 1 - Lila Dabrowski
Honorable mention 2 - Rebecca Fazio
We invite you to join us in promoting safety and healthy lifestyles in our community by signing up for the Sidewalks For Safety 5K Run/Walk. Let's work together to create a safer and healthier environment for our children and future generations.
Once again, thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event a triumph. We are looking forward to seeing you at the run/walk!
The Ward Melville High School & SFS T-Shirt competition:
Deadline is November 30, 2022
A huge thank you to Supervisor Ed Roamaine & Councilman Jonathan Kornreich for agreeing to be our judges.
Check back soon for the winning designs...
A huge thank you to WMHS student Gabriel Sola for designing this great poster.
Ward Melville Poetry Contest
A huge thank you to Principal William S. Bernhard, Ward Melville High SchoolEnglish department, and Poets Michelle Whittaker and Sarah Azzara for making this wonderful competition possible.
THE JUDGES
Michelle Whittaker is a Long Island poet and musician. Her poems have been publishe in The New York Times Magazine, New Yorker, Upstreet, The Southampton Review Narrative, Vinyl Poetry, Long Island Quarterly, Transitions Magazine for Hutchin Center and other publications. Her debut book, Surge, was awarded a Finalist Medal for the 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Poetry. She also has received 2017 NYFA Fellowship in Poetry, a Jody Donohue Poetry Prize, Cave Canem Fellowshi for African American poetry, and a Pushcart Special Mention. Currently she is a Assistant Professor in the Writing and Rhetoric program at Stony Brook University.
Sarah Azzara (it rhymes) is a writer, songwriter, and visual artist whose work has been published in journals including The Southampton Review, The Whale, Long Limbs, The Din, The GW Review, American Literary, and Wooden Teeth. Her other awards and honors include appearing in the Dramatist Guild of America’s Songwriter Salon Showcase, The Academy of American Poets College Prize and the David Lloyd Kreeger prize in sculpture. Sarah holds an MFA from Stony Brook University and an MA from George Washington University, and she currently teaches for the Program of Writing and Rhetoric and the Honors College at Stony Brook University. She resides in New York, where she cares for a juvenile human and other small creatures.
THE WINNERS
1st prize - parallel / Gateway - Amy Liu [Tied Poems]
2nd prize - The Buck - Ava Micena
3rd Prize - Autumn Creates - Matthew Chen
Additional prize - Under the Glass Moon with Illustration - Marc Staiano
HONORABLE MENTIONS
The Ascent - Makaeel Zohair
A Blurred Perspective - Jessica Guo
Between the Lines - Jacqueline Wu
First Generation American Teenager - Haya Hussain
parallel
by Amy Liu
two marigold lines, bold. mid-august and grandmother
teaches me píngxíng — parallel. rubber soles
over hot asphalt, we walk into the sun; her wire curls
scoop up the beams that slip through my hands.
two marigold lines, fading; mid-december and
the phone rings off its cradle, terse rubber cord stretched
píngxíng to the wall, the hospital, the face: aching white,
the decay at the center of the sun, the cry of the sky.
two marigold lines, faint. mid-february and grandmother
looks through mom with muddled, milky eyes;
rubber soles scrub saltwater into spotless linoleum as if
that will return the píngxíng sunbeams to her wire curls.
two marigold lines, gone. i want to tell grandmother
that i see píngxíng everywhere, the way she taught me:
in lines of prayer, rubber footsteps, sunbeams;
in this memory where we never got to say goodbye.
Gateway
by Amy Liu
Everything of that culture, laid across a
fantasy gateway, imagined color amid
a sea of monochrome. Fog condenses,
heavy in sorrow, saturating tracks laid
by missing fathers. Paper lanterns glow,
recalling dynamite that turned letters to
home into ash. Pacific mountain tombs,
photos of ribbon cuttings and half-truths,
poems carved into the Angel Island walls.
Everything of that culture— of the girls
whose bodies were bought and discarded,
of the paper sons who walked beneath
the smoking ruins of the city by the bay,
of the mourned. Of the perpetual foreigner
in quiescent resignation, the quill that
etched into legislation the disfigurement
of heritage into hate, the romanticized
gateway over which the blithe flag flies.
The Buck
by Ava Micena
I.
They don’t find us scary.
The deer, I mean, hordes of them —
With their tight bodies and mud-greased hooves
They were confident now, that’s all.
Sometimes, you’d see one dead on the roadside.
Its body, pink and flowering simply into the cold.
(The first time I saw one sat me down in shock,
But now I barely take a second look.
I thought I’d never see tragedy with indifference —
But we all know how that one goes, don’t we?)
II.
And then I was out with the dog.
We rounded the corner, across from the neighborhood sump —
A pit of mud and wet, fallen pines.
Its wire fence arms trapped a hulking trophy,
An impossible beast.
III.
The buck ran circles along the edge of his accidental pen,
Frantic and primal, screaming like a woman.
Did you know deer could scream? (Neither did I.)
A crumbling giant,
Head to the wind, handsome as despair
He was Antigone in her cave:
Not with the living, not held by the dead. A planet to himself.
IV.
“If he got himself in there, he can get himself out”,
I told the dog, beginning our walk home.
Oh, the tricks we play to comfort ourselves.
The buck’s last breath was likely visible in the cold, purple evening,
Like a seabird up from the crawling bay
Or the moon, slicing the fat of night —
Bursting from unstoppable darkness,
Shaking hands with forever
‘Till time cools it to nothing, like igneous rock.
AUTUMNCREATES
by Matthew Chen
Pockets of fisted what-nots,
it takes me
where you will find me.
Filled aster blue/leaf pillows,
wind song choir notes/frosted soul tips.
What’s blue is blue and will remain
blue until it becomes blue.
I am a tree-berserker, a dirt taster,
path walker, the stray beyond
the fence. The clouds will rob
me of blue until the path takes me
to gather more dew flower disciples;
This is yours to keep.
Under the glass moon - Illustration
by Marc Staiano
Under the glass moon
by Marc Staiano
Just look at us in this picture
Half smiles that never looked richer
Our faces
were so senselessly jovial,
Over the moon;
Although
Yours chokes me with string of doubt
They’d never guess
The photo was taken
When the soul was broken
And rain pelted down like
Blood.
Ignoring the cast
Of bullets bathing the sidewalk
Can’t they hear us screaming SOS?
Sirens wailing out of our chests
Get a little closer and you’ll see
The bond is just
Imaginary
I want you here; I miss you
Get over here; I need you
Somebody just
Help
Me out
At least give me a chance to smile
Here in this void of opaque glass
I know communication isn’t part of our style
But I can’t let the flying shards pass;
Not anymore.
Let’s dye our worlds
Even we can’t wield these swords
I just have to get through you
For us to beat this game
We’ll drown our worlds
Let the moon catch us in the waves
after our rendezvous through hellfire
We can beat this game
Give me a chance to save that smile
Here in this trench of shattered glass
I know we can beat this game
I know we can’t cheat this game
the ascent
by Makaeel Zohair
We must keep walking,
but the dark has come.
Mother continues to
ascend the terrain with
the life force of ten suns.
But father has no sun left.
We must keep walking,
but the winds blow a
breeze that rattles our bones.
All hope has withered
away, leaving nothing
but the silhouettes
of broken shadows.
We must keep walking, surviving the bleak fate we endure
along these trails. There is little faith in the journey,
but we carry on with determination.
We must keep walking,
over the mountains that hinder our
success, towards the land of dreams where
even the smallest of birds can fly.
We must keep walking.
A Blurred Perspective
by Jessica Guo
The balls of my feet vigorously slapped the pavement,
My eyes circled in annoyance,
I stared at my mother with a chilling aggravation running through my veins.
How she disregarded acceptable cultural conventions and followed her own practices,
It swished my feelings and stole my patience.
“You cannot bargain with the grocery store mom.”
Her endless bartering with chain stores, which were also unsuccessful,
was wearing on my vain disposition.
I have told her this before. Why must she continue? Why must I endure this sordid humiliation?
My eyes shot up at hers and hers bulleted towards mine.
What was she thinking?
“Are you embarrassed of me?”
I sank back in my seat and my thoughts plummeted.
With stinging passion, an emotional bearing, and guilty ignorance,
My retrospective thoughts knitted my conscience into dark patches of shame.
Was I embarrassed by my immigrant parents who did nothing but work hard to
support me?
In my heart, I felt a crippling sense of sorrow, sadness, and soft yet bitter regret.
I invalidated her.
How could I invalidate the woman that leapt from the comfort of her country,
To one in which she relentlessly wove clothing to pay for her education so that she could provide
for me?
My mother is my biggest supporter through joy,
My light through pain,
My strength through loss.
How could I forget?
I will never again blur my perspective and I am not ashamed of my mother.
Between the Lines
by Jacqueline Wu
One
The violin is in your hands, pale as the tao we shared, stuck to the soles of our teeth
It is at your side, with the shiny brown varnish, the moment we share: surreal
Like the one picnic, red and white cloth between our legs, day cotton; golden sunshine
streaked on cheeks flush with first love’s embarrassment and shine
like your music
Except our cheeks are white now, Snow White’s dove circling
As I watch you from the third seat on the left 50 feet above the life stage
a forgotten shadow
A stranger once again, like two years ago
Two
You start singing with your bow, the black air pooling and stuffy,
spotlight on your freckles, tiny stars painted on the sky that is your face, tanned
I remember. You have 7 freckles, three on your hooked nose,
Imperfectly flawless
The notes on the page floating off in your fervor and concentrated effort
Three
The music starts slow and cautious, the space between your body and my flowered
bosom
Your eyes mixed with dusk and honey, the dawn of something new: perhaps
You smiled, a sideways C, flattened, even when I put on shades, my mask in tints
But you peeled off the pain and anguish floating to the surface, vulnerable
You were connected to me in thick strands and blood
Perhaps I should’ve disappeared, my weight crushing your will to live weightless
Even when I screamed in the war for redemption, numbness spreading in the blotched
lake
Your index finger digs into the string born,
Dark and dissonant chords ascending upwards as if there is no time left to waste
You stayed, hugging me close, a bear hug on my torso’s curve
Even when I thought my arms too wide
My skin too pale and oily
And my hair not straight enough like the pretty ones
Feeling returned to my body, yours
Mind stronger than will
Shielding me from the wailing gale on our house, intruders
From the bottomless abyss so carefully chosen lest I slip
That fragment my mind into pieces you sewed together
Again and again
Four
Of course I’ll never kiss and tell, watching you now, my throat condensing in waves
Crescendos and fortes outlined on the faded linen sheets,
The energy rising and falling with moving notes gliding across silver strings
Rough and shallow, destined to flow and run out,
And move us in the moment of passion we call lover’s curse
Yet we persevered, a foolish youth’s dream
It was an illusion in the heat
Finale
Every piece has a beginning, middle, and end I think
Your hand catching the stream of tears from my eyes,
Free and drowned
There is silence in tone, a space where I once fit perfectly
And when you bow, a tear trickles down your frosted cheek that I once kissed
Alas I had long left the auditorium and your heart in between the notes and bars
Behind your smooth mask of apathy, fist in heart
You smile and it’s done, as fast as it started like the end of a movement
The end of us, the word sounds weird and
We are strangers once again
Passing shadows in the moonlight as our witness
Walking on different paths
The symphony ends, the moment gone with the spotlight
First Generation American Teenager
by Haya Hussain
A bridge between two drastically different worlds and cultures is where I reside.
Walking back and forth, waiting for the wind to sway me one way or another.
But, it never does.
I remain at this midway, neutral point.
It’s impossible to maintain a balance on such a fine line.
Being obstructed from the vital feeling of belonging and home is terrifying and puzzling.
Everything and everyone feels unknown and foreign.
I still continue, though and tread carefully between two places I call home.
Ward Melville Video Contest
Suffolk County Legislature Kara Hahn, Town of Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine & Councilwoman Valerie Cartright at the Sidewalks For Safety awards ceremony for Ward Melville High School Students. Thank you so much to the winning students: 1st Place Nicole De Lucia , Benjamin Dombroff, 2nd place Mia Schoolman & 3rd place Elyas Masrour.
We were fortunate to have Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine present the awards at a recent, well attended, Three Village School District Board Meeting. A big shout out to County Legislator Kara Hahn and Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartwright for their continual support for SFS. Our contest would not have been possible without the help of Three Village School Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich and Ward Melville High School principal William Bernhard.
Sidewalks for Safety (SFS) sponsored a video contest for Ward Melville High School students to promote a greater awareness of current traffic issues and the importance of sidewalks. Students were asked to express their concerns of getting safely to school and around the community. We got a great response from the Ward Melville students and some really great entries! You can see the winning videos by clicking below.
SFS vision is for a minimal number of strategically placed sidewalks on a few connector roads to enable students and residents to walk safely. Imagine your kids being able walk safely to school, to friends houses, imagine being able to jog to West Meadow Beach, imagine being able to walk to get a coffee, being able to walk to the local shops. Walkable communities are associated with higher home values!
Nicole De Lucia’s winning video:
Benjamin Dombroff’s winning video: https://youtu.be/7zAouBxJ_q0
Mia Schoolman’s winning video:
Elyas Masrour’s winning video:
Drive the Limit. – meaning: never drive higher than the posted speed limit. Save your life, and other lives!! Speed matters: only 5% of pedestrians would die if struck by a vehicle traveling at 20 mph or less. At 30 mph, there’s a 40% chance of fatal injury if struck; at 40 mph, the chance of dying increases to 80%, and at 50 mph, it reaches 100%. – U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Winners
Nicole De Lucia’s winning video: 1 st Place
Benjamin Dombroff’s winning video: https://youtu.be/7zAouBxJ_q0 1 st Place
Mia Schoolman’s winning video: 2nd Place
Elyas Masrour’s winning video: 3rd Place
SFS Gelinas Lawn sign competition
The winning design by Theresa Jiao
Congratulations to our winners!
1st Prize Winner
Theresa Jiao
Finalists
Molly Treder
Megan Nielsen
Kayla Gioffre
Olivia Van Tuyl
Samantha D'Angelo
Thanks to everyone who participated and helped make this contest a success. We were so impressed with the level of artwork, thought and time that went into designing the SFS lawn signs from the students of Gelinas Junior High. All the judges loved the colors, the message and the hand-drawn elements in Theresa Jiao's winning design. A huge thank you to Principal Corinne Keane who made this competition possible and was also a judge. Stay tuned for our next contest in 2019. We are really looking forward to seeing the SFS signs around town!
Email us at sidewalksforsafetyli@gmail.com if you would like a sign
“Walking is a man’s best medicine.” –Hippocrates
The Top Ten Health Reasons to Walk by Dr. Nancy McLinskey
Aim for 30 minutes of activity daily
1. You will feel better! (Improves sleep, Improves mood, Increases energy)
2. It reduces stress (Lowers cortisol levels, Walking meditation)
3. It boosts immune function (Walking 30 minutes a day)
4. It helps prevent falls in the elderly
5. It strengthens your bones, joints, and muscles (Well tolerated by people with arthritis)
6. It’s good for your brain (Extensive cognitive benefits)
7. It may decrease the risk of some cancers (Colorectal cancer - 6 hrs/week, Breast cancer - 1 hour/day)
8. It improves glycemic control (Decreases dips in energy)
9. It protects you from heart disease (lowers blood pressure, lowers triglyceride levels)
10. It decreases your rate of weight gain
Benefits of Walkability
The benefits of walkability are all interconnected. Local business will be enhanced by more foot traffic. The means more economic vitality, and social benefits–so people are out and having conversations and connecting–as well as health benefits.
1. It helps people live longer
Inactivity is the fourth leading cause of mortality around the world; physical activity dropped 32% in the last four decades in the U.S., and 45% in less than two decades in China. For people over 60, walking just 15 minutes a day can reduce the risk of dying by 22%.
2. It helps people lose weight
A 30-minute walk can burn 100 calories; for every 12 blocks or so walked a day, your risk of obesity drops 4.8%.
3. It reduces the risk of chronic disease
Regular walking may reduce the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and colon cancer. Inactivity is a primary cause of most chronic diseases.
4. It makes people happier
Someone with a one-hour commute in a car needs to earn 40% more to be as happy as someone with a short walk to work. On the other hand, researchers found that if someone shifts from a long commute to a walk, their happiness increases as much as if they’d fallen in love. People who walk 8.6 minutes a day are 33% more likely to report better mental health.
People who walk 8.6 minutes a day are 33% more likely to report better mental health.
5. It improves traffic safety
More than 270,000 pedestrians are killed around the world every year; better street design, and policies that reduce speed, can obviously help reduce the risk of crashes. Just shortening a long crosswalk can reduce the risk of pedestrian deaths 6%.
6. It brings back “eyes on the street”
While some countries invest in security cameras for streets–like the U.K., with 5.9 million cameras in public spaces–encouraging more people to walk is a cheaper way of increasing surveillance and making streets feel safer.
7. It reduces crime in other ways
Making streets more pleasant for walking–reducing trash, for example, or enforcing the speed limit–also has the added benefit of reducing crime. In one Kansas City neighborhood, crime dropped 74% after some streets went car-free on weekends.
8. It makes neighborhoods more vibrant
The same features that make streets more walkable, like a safer and more attractive design, make people want to spend more time in them generally, bringing vibrancy back to neighborhoods.
9. It enhances the “sense of place”
Spending time walking through a neighborhood, rather than driving, helps people have a better sense of what makes it unique–and more likely to want to help take care of it.
10. It’s a driver for creativity
If a neighborhood is walkable, it’s more likely to become home to public street art and open-air events; conversely, public art and cultural events can help draw people to streets where they might not have walked before.
In one Kansas City neighborhood, crime dropped 74% after some streets went car-free on weekends.
Walkability is increasing on Long Island!
The demand for walkable neighborhoods is increasing, as more and more members of the millennial generation, the largest generation in American history, enter the home-seeking market. 50 percent consider it “very important” to be within an easy walk of places “such as shops, cafes, and restaurants,” according to the National Association of Realtors.
Walkability offers surprising benefits to our health, the environment, our finances, and our communities. The average resident of a walkable neighborhood weighs 6-10 pounds less than someone who lives in a sprawling neighborhood.
Walkable communities provide older adults with improved physical and mental health, increased independence, and socialization opportunities that can prevent isolation.
Walkable neighborhoods help seniors remain active, healthy, social and free to move around. How?
Quality of Life While Aging in Place
Many retirees choose to age in place—to avoid moving and remain in their homes as long as possible. But since baby boomers were the generation that built suburbia, many will want to maintain a quality of life in unwalkable neighborhoods.
Older adults socialize more when living in walkable neighborhoods. According to the EPA, in an age-friendly walkable neighborhood or town, regular social interaction is possible, convenient and more frequent. The American Journal of Public Health published a studypublished a study that reveals older people living in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods have higher levels of social interaction compared with those residing in car-dependent burbs. Living in walkable neighborhoods means you are more likely to know your neighbors, participate in politics, engage socially and even trust people.
2. Transportation + Mobility to Leave the House
Independence builds self-worth and being able to move around your neighborhood is freeing. “More than 20 percent of Americans age 65 or older do not drive. Of those, more than half — about 3.6 million people — stay home on any given day because they have no transportation, AARP says,” from a Washington Post article. Men outlive their “drive-ability” by 7 years, women by 10 years. Public transit becomes key for allowing seniors to remain independent. “A 2002 study by the National Institute on Aging found that about 600,000 people who are 70 or older stop driving every year and become dependent on other forms of transportation.”
A 2003 Brookings Institution study found that 79% of seniors age 65 and older live in car-dependent suburban and rural communities. But older adults increased their use of public transit by 40% between 2001 and 2009. About 15% of those over age 65 use public transit at least once time per month and more than half of them need specialized transportation, according to Placemaking article.
Community Voices
email your comments to: sidewalksforsafetyli@gmail.com
My daughter is .09 of a mile from school and there are no shoulders or sidewalks.it is not safe in anyway! - Melissa, Stony Brook
I want to be able to walk to the library and to town with my children safely, without threat of being run over by a texting teen or an absent minded driver going too fast. This is such a beautiful area and we would walk so much more if there were more sidewalks. - Cynthia, East Setauket
We need infrastructure to support pedestrian and bicycle transportation. We should not rely more and more on busing and parents driving to get kids to school. Walking and riding is healthier for our kids, for their mental and physical well being. It also teaches them to be stewards of the community and society. - Jenn, Setauket
We live on 25A and would like to walk to the village, Dunkin donuts, etc but there is no sidewalk and the cars speed excessively. It is very dangerous. Many college students walk or bike to Stony Brook University. I feel they are risking their lives by doing this with no sidewalk. A young man was hit and killed by a car last year. What are they waiting for? More people to get hurt or killed? Every road with a double yellow line should have a sidewalk. With sidewalks more people would walk or ride a bike instead of getting in a car. This would actually help alleviate some of the traffic in our heavily congested area. - Lourdes, Stony Brook
School children who are "walkers" and commuters using the Stony Brook train station should have safe walking paths, especially along Quaker Path & Christian Avenue and other high traffic streets. Kelly, Setauket
I love to walk and need to walk to remain healthy, and have nearly been hit many times. Dyke Rd, Maple Rd, Gnarled Hollow/Old Town roads in Setauket and Christian, Cedar, Quaker path in Stony Brook. These roads are too busy for pedestrians and are the only way to connect one small subdivision to another. Bernadette, Setauket
I watch children walking to school, forced into the middle of the streets with cars coming at them. In addition, it would be nice if my children could walk to our local stores. Its time. Alison, Setauket
I ride my bike to walk and I know how hazardous it can be! M. Raafat, Stony Brook
Sometimes I drive even though I want to walk, because it feels more dangerous (and it would be so) when there's no proper sidewalk. Jun Seok, Stony Brook
Stony Brook Road needs a sidewalk!! I see university students everyday walking along this road littered with blind spots, poor lighting and no sidewalks. There are no sidewalks in my entire neighborhood and I have two little kids. Greg, Smithtown
Side walks are important for pedestrian safety. Peter, Stony Brook
There are 3 accidents (major) on my corner alone and there is a grammar school behind our house and young people jogging on a dangerous road. It's awful. April, East Setauket
I am a mother and an athlete. I want to be able to walk safely and ride my bike safely. I want my child to be able to do the same. Christina, Setauket
Our street is horribly unsafe w/o sidewalks. David, Three Village
My friend was killed by traffic on Quaker path and I am afraid for my children who like to walk and cycle. Wendy, Stony Brook
I recently was hit by a car while riding my bicycle in the area, and I believe bicycle safety is something that all road users should be aware of. Sean, Setauket
Would like to see more sidewalks and bike lanes for the safety of everyone! - Evelyn, Setauket
It would be a great idea. - Lorrie, Setauket
Not enough safe sidewalks. Also bike lanes for bikers, like myself , would greatly increase the safety of the community. - Christina, Stony Brook
I'm a concerned parent and neighbor. - Tali, Setauket
My street needs a sidewalk. - Christopher, Setauket
Safety and healthy alternatives to driving a car mandate these improvements. The community also IS more connected and has higher resale value. - Owen, Mount Sinai
Because loading kids into a car to drive somewhere safe to take a walk or ride a bike is just ridiculous. Let's put our tax dollars to work and create something that benefits everyone, gives our gas tanks a break, and encourages physical activity. - Lindsay, Stony Brook
I don't feel safe walking or biking in the three village area. - Benjamin, East Setauket
We need sidewalks and bike lanes in our community so our children and teens can live an active life safely. - Mary, East Setauket
I would like my child, along with all the children in the community, to be safe. Also, I would not like to hear that a child in our community has lost a parent, sibling, friend or pet along any of the roads in our town. - Martha, Stony Brook
As an alumni of Stony Brook University, and employee of Stony Brook Village, and recreational user of Stony Brooks parks, I deeply appreciate the historic beauty of the area but am also very concerned for the safety of people who walk and bike the narrow streets. This beautiful area needs to be safe for all people, on foot, bike, or vehicle. Thank you in advance for your time and effort to quickly improve the safety of the area. - Amy, Smithtown
Dangerous turns on Stony Brook Rd and kids riding and walking all over. - Elisa, Stony Brook
I walk and bike a lot in the three village area and I feel that there is a great need to add more sidewalks that is pedestrian friendly. - Deming, Stony Brook
Especially true for Stony Brook Rd between Stony Brook University South entrance and 25A. This stretch urgently needs a sidewalk and bike path. - Helmut, Stony Brook
I'm concerned for pedestrian safety. - Danielle, Stony Brook
I frequent Setauket every day. I would like a safe place to walk my dog and push my childs stroller without being in the road. I feel with so many people distracted while driving, I would feel much safer with more sidewalks. - Michelle, East Setauket
As more people jog and walk the roads, it is hard to see them when driving and sidewalks would make it a lot safer. Particularly the university students at night. - Victoria, Stony Brook
I live on a very long and busy street. Despite multiple stop signs and speed divets, drivers speed on our block. I want a safe place for my children to take walks and go for runs without the fear of speeding drivers. - Rosa, Centereach
It's terrible that it's unsafe for people of any age to walk or ride their bikes from Strongs Neck into the village. Please add sidewalks or a boardwalk along Dyke Road. - Matthew, Setauket
Our community needs sidewalks for the safety of our citizens. - Karen, stony Brook
I do agree that sidewalks would help to safety. I do take walks with my son and dog in that area. - Iveta, East Setauket
I'm signing because Long Island is one of the most dangerous places in the country for Bike Riders. More people will ride if it's safer, saving gasoline and cutting pollution. - Ken, East Setauket
We walk to work (university) and to synagogue services and Friends every Saturday. - Deborah, East Setauket
I believe exercise is important for everyone including children and we need ore sidewalks to provide safety for such exercise. - Veronica, Stony Brook
Safety is always a good thing!! - Karin, East Setauket
I would like a safer way to walk and bike in three village. - Lauren, Port Jefferson
I almost died. - Andrew, Stony Brook
I'm signing because I live on Strong's Neck, where the traffic has gotten too fast to be safe for walking. - Neta, Setauket
I have lived in Stony Brook 35 years. Time for sidewalks !! - Lorraine, Stony Brook
We need sidewalks. - Gina, Stony Brook
I'm a senior citizen who walks and bikes a lot. More sidewalks are a must, especially given how bad many Long Island drivers are. - Peter, East Setauket
I'm signing this because the need for adding sidewalks are important in many areas in Setauket. My family rides bikes, I get my dog walked, and I take regular walks and the roads are not safe. Cars drive too fast. - Joanne, Setauket
I would love it if my children could safely walk to Setauket Elementary School. - Janene, Setauket
We need to make are town safe for walkers,bikers and all our students that are commuting back and forth to the University. - Maria, Setauket
I would like to be able to :
1. WALK with my kids to the library.
2. WALK my dogs around the neighborhood safely.
3. Have my kids be able to WALK or BIKE to Middle School next year. - Shelly, Setauket
I am a cyclist and runner, and I am always somewhat paranoid about my safety when I'm riding - a dedicated lane would really make me feel a lot safer. My roommate actually got hit by a car a few weeks ago, so I'm sure he would appreciate it too. - Nicholas, Setauket
I do agree that we need more space to walk and bike ride safely. - Lesya, Setauket
Oxhead road is a major thoroughfare to a public school, university (which houses grade school sports), two parks with baseball fields and two churches. There is no excuse for the state of the sidewalks on that street. They are so broken I couldn't push a stroller on them! - Jill, Stony Brook
The fact that there are so few sidewalks in Three Village poses a significant safety issue for pedestrians and bicycle riders. A few years ago, a mother of 2 girls was killed while walking on Quaker Path during the day. Lourdes Lento, Setauket. - Monica, Setauket
Rebecca Borrie was outspoken about the need for sidewalks to allow our children safe access to Gelinas. Tragically, she was killed almost 8 years ago as she walked along the side of Quaker Path. She left behind two young daughters and a loving husband. Each time any one of us sets out to walk in the roadway, we are placing ourselves at great risk. Let us learn from Rebecca Borrie's preventable death. Install sidewalks a long any double-yellow lined road. - Kathleen, Stony Brook
Everyday and night I watch students walk from/to SUNY and Stony Brook school. Also, all the kids waiting or been dropped of from the school buses. We should have a side walk/bike path uniting the train station and West Meadow beach. Another one on Christian ave, uniting stony brook village to Setauket schools (Gelinas and Setauket elementary). Children could be children again and be able to play outside and be safe walking to their neighborhood schools and parks. Another need is to finish the side walk from the train station to stony brook village and connecting to stony brook road. How many more students have to be killed before the sidewalks/bike lanes are built? - Rejane, stony brook
I'm a former Three Village resident, and I still visit regularly. It is a beautiful area and should be walkable for residents and visitors. I can see the benefits in my area of Maryland, where communities are becoming more walkable. I hope the Three Villages will consider installing bikeways and walkways to improve the lives of residents and tourists alike! - Kathi
It is a kill zone on 25a from St James to Stony Brook Village. - Karen, Stony Brook
I walk, my husband walks, my children walk (including one to and from Gelinas) and I would like it to become something that didn't at times feel dangerous. It would also great if I felt comfortable allowing kids to bike! - Diana, Setauket
I'm a resident of the Three Village area and a walker, and I'd like to know all my fellow residents can walk safely, along with me.- Joan, Setauket
We want sidewalk access to all the wonderful facilities we have here in the three villages.- Lynn, Stony Brook
My children have to walk to the junior high school its a very dangerous walk. - Michelle, Stony Brook
The streets are EXTREMELY unsafe for children and all human life without sidewalks! - Peter, Setauket
I value a walkable community. - Melanie, Setauket
I walk daily. And it is very good for our health. - Tan, Setauket
I have walked to and from OFC to WMB. And it is a scary walk. Also have biked from library to WMB. Scary. - Nell, Stony Brook
Bicycling and walking are good exercises and build confidence in children. All people should be able to do these things safely. - Alice, Setauket
Every day I see SB University students walking in the roads with no shoulder, no sidewalks. Adding sidewalks is the humane thing to do. - Karen, Stony Brook
We are part of 3VCSD but considered PJV. I grew up with sidewalks & was able to ride bikes, walk the dog & even walk to school more safely than I've ever seen since!! Cost? Hogwash...kids, teens adults are all safer with good old sidewalks. Now, we need them in PJV, too!! - Sandy, Port Jefferson
Setauket: Main St. south of pond & Neighborhood House sidewalk ends! Dangerous for children walking to elementary school, library... Christian Ave & Main St dangerous walking to Gelinas Jr High, no school bus. - Jayne, Setauket
My street intersects with Rt. 25A near the Long Island Museum and while there is a sidewalk going into Stony Brook Village for part of the way, there is no place to walk or bike going east on 25A from the museums to the train station or University. It would be very nice to have a safe place to walk or bike along that section of Rt 25A. - Stephen, Stony Brook
I see all the time how dangerous it is to walk on our streets. And two people were hit and killed in our area because of it and my husband was hit on his bike and we don't even think the person realized that they hit him - he was left unconscious on the side of the road for close to an hour with a head injury on West Meadow Road. All these roads are very dangerous and many of our children have no busing and have to walk on these roads. I truly hope sidewalks could be put in. - Lucy, Setauket
I believe sidewalks not only make for a more friendly neighborhood, they also reduce crime: more people walking means more eyes on the street. - Tim, Stony Brook
I live on Old Field Road and it is impossible to walk with or without Children to the Library ... Town or Beach. - Christine, Setauket
My children are designated as walkers to Gelinas Jr High School as we live only 1/3 of a mile away, yet it is UNSAFE for them to walk and they must be driven. - Linda, Setauket
It would feel much safer to have sidewalks in our area. It would mean more independence for the children, and better safety for runners! - Arianna, Setauket
Dominick James Daniel & George would've to safely walk too!!! - Kristen, Setauket
marilyn - what a wonderful idea. I am a runner and a few times a week I almost get ran over by a car! - Marilyn, Setauket
I would like my kids to be able to safely ride their bikes around the area. - Margaret, Stony Brook
I would love for the Christian Avenue sidewalk to be extended. We drove our children to the start of the sidewalk so that they could enjoy it! We saw many other friends and neighbors utilizing it as well. - Josette, Stony Brook
I work in the Stony Brook Village area and so spend a lot of time here. The area feels fractured, not having a flow that connects public transport, the university and the village. - Deborah, Rocky Point
I live on Main Street, Setauket, and the number of joggers, strollers, bikes and dogs that walk our street without shoulders or sidewalks is frightening. Drivers exceed the speed limit, without exception, some doing 50 mph and blowing through stop signs. It is a dangerous problem that must be dealt with. - Jack, Setauket
People drive too fast and don't pay attention to walkers and bikers. - Josephine, Stony Brook
I walk and bike with kids down to west meadow and cars drive very fast. - Jennifer, Setauket
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Eastern Long Island Mini Maker Faire
A festival of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement. Makers + participants of all ages experience innovative robots, kinetic and interactive art, fire sculptures, explored the ocean through virtual reality and many more cutting edge creative experiences through hands-on, minds-on exhibits and performances at the Maritime Explorium and Village Center.
