Community Watchdog

I've been exchanging comments with readers about our frustrations with the litter problem on Long Island and this weekend, I heard about the Town of Brookhaven scheduling it's community cleanup dates.

The town's looking for volunteers to take part in it's Keep America Clean/Keep Brookhaven Beautiful campaign.

It's likely that at least some of the other 12 townships on Long Island will be holding the same kind of clean-up days.

To all the volunteers who put in the effort to keep your communities litter-free, nice going.

Jean Branigan says an abandoled oil tank punctured during a house demolition emits unpleasant odors in her Massapequa neighborhood.

We live in a quaint area of Massapequa, Old Harbour Green. On the corner of my street is an empty lot. The owner demolished the house to build a new one and punctured an underground oil tank, resulting in a large oil spill. Neighbors reported it to the town, the DEC and Department of Health. A cleanup was started but never finished. There still remains a large unsafe crater, garbage and the oil tank. On warm or rainy days the smell of oil is still in the air.

Problems like these take a while to resolve because of the different agencies involved. But if everything stays on track, the lot should be cleaned up by mid-May, Town of Oyster Bay spokeswoman Marta Kane said.

After the oil tank was punctured and reported by neighbors, the Nassau health department ordered the owner to call the state Department of Environmental Conservation to oversee the cleanup.

The owner hired a contractor to do the job last fall but after payment problems, the project was abandoned, Kane said. On Nov. 27, the town board voted to take on responsibility for the project. A few glitches snarled progress further, but now there’s a remediation plan.

The contractor who started the cleanup is expected to be approved by the town board on April 8 to remove the tank and tainted soil. The town highway department will fill in the crater, Kane said.

Nassau residents with oil tank questions can call the health department at 516 227-9673, Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:45 pm.

Related sites on this topic:

Anthony Palmieri wanted a warped LIPA pole replaced before it caused damage.

I reported a wooden street pole in front of my house to LIPA because it is leaning at about a 30-degree angle and I am afraid it will fall. Someone from the company came to look at it, but no action was taken. I was informed the pole was condemned over seven years ago but never removed. Can you help?

LIPA moved quickly to fix the problem after our call Monday. On Tuesday, an inspector was dispatched and he determined the pole should be replaced. LIPA spokeswoman Elizabeth Flagler said in an email the work would be done Wednesday, and a grateful Palmieri confirmed the pole had been replaced.

A metal marker with a yellow tag on the old pole indicated it was “defective” and required replacement, Flagler said. “This pole was considered low priority.” [See the marker in the video player.]

After visiting Palmieri, we started noticing that there are many utility poles on Long Island that aren’t straight. Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown is a good example.

“Over time, it is not uncommon for poles to shift several degrees due to ground conditions and loadings,” Flagler said.

But they’re not about to fall over. There’s a formula for setting them in the ground, Flagler said: “The rule is 10% plus 2-feet of the pole goes underground, so a 50-foot pole would be buried 7-feet below the surface, leaving 43-feet above ground.

To report electrical emergencies or pole damage, call 800-490-0075.

Related sites on this topic:

Denise Romero says she has a hard time backing out of her driveway because her neighbors park their cars their vehicles on the narrow street.

My problem is with neighbors who live across the street from me. The family has four cars and park three of them in the street. One car is parked directly across from my driveway, which makes it hard for me to pull out. This is a curved and narrow residential street that accommodates only two lanes of traffic, not parked cars. This is why we have driveways and garages. Are there any laws or rules of etiquette that could be enforced?

We've received a number of inquiries on this issue.

Everyone with a legal driver’s license knows you can’t block a hydrant or a driveway, and there are local ordinances that restrict overnight parking on some streets. But Nassau’s Third Precinct Police say there are no laws requiring homeowners to keep their cars off the street, regardless of how narrow or difficult to navigate the street may be.

“This is an increasing problem on Long Island,” said Officer Nick Mosesso, with the precinct’s problem-oriented policing unit. “Years ago, a lot of families had only one car. Now that each family has multiple cars, they’re more inclined to park in the street to avoid blocking each other in the driveway and moving cars around every five minutes.”

According to Mosesso, there are only two main restrictions with regard to parking on residential roads in the area covered by the Third Precinct: 1) no commercial parking after 10 p.m. 2) no parking in front of fire hydrants or sidewalk and driveway aprons.

One tip, Moesesso said, is for drivers to let oncoming traffic pass before trying to “squeeze through” a funnel of parked cars.

“Also, if you have a good enough rapport with your neighbors, politely ask them to use their driveway,” he said. “It’s the best solution.”

In the Romero’s case, however, the nice-guy approach hasn’t worked.

“We wrote them a letter, which was ignored,” Romero said. “I guess we’re out of luck.”

Related sites on this topic:

Thanks to Ryan for his comments on cigarette butts. Those filters are so annoying and never seem to disappear no matter how much rain, snow or wind we have.

Check out Ryan's comments on yesterday's blog and a link he found about what the city of Slidell, LA. is doing to stop the problem.

Is it my imagination or is there more litter - everywhere?

Driving along local roads, there are so many areas that look like garbage escaped from sanitation trucks and landed along the streets of Long Island.

A lot has to do with drivers who think nothing of throwing plastic bottles, coffee cups, wrappers, fast food containers and other trash from their cars. What about the slobs who empty their ash trays in parking lots, not to mention used disposable diapers?

We rarely see clean-up crews picking up debris, but Long Island's not looking too spiffy these days.

UPDATE
Thanks for your comments on this issue.

I've lived on Long Island for most of my life, and I can't remember it being as littered as it is now. Ryan, Toby, Richie and Mike we're on the same page.

But what to do about it? Mike, the question of manpower is a big one. None of us want to pay more taxes for litter clean ups. But we pay more taxes now than ever. How did the various government agencies manage in the past when we could be proud of our communities?

And what about having a sense of pride in where we live? Not just our own home towns, but Long Island as a whole.

The person Toby talked about - the smoker who threw his cigarette wrapper out the window - multiply that slob by 1,000 (a lowball number for sure), which is only a fraction of the people living in Nassau and Suffolk, and you've got mountains of fast food trash and other garbage being tossed out of car windows, landing along the highways and commercial areas.

Anybody travel along the Town of Babylon's New Highway lately? What a mess.

FRIDAY UPDATE:
Mike talks about overlapping jurisdictions, which is one of Long Island's biggest problems. But people who live in Nassau and Suffolk have always been reluctant to give up any "local" control of anything, including their school districts.

If I had a solution, I'd offer it. But I think so much of the problem is the lack of pride and respect people have. That's the bottom line. Linda (see comments) talks about the litter campaign of years ago. I agree we need one. And if kids can learn the importance of recycling, they can learn to have pride in where they live. Kids are always a great place to start when you want something good to happen. Some parents would argue that they have more important concerns, but community pride would be something youngsters would carry into adulthood.

Maybe in the scheme of things, litter doesn't seem like a big problem, especially if you're trying to raise kids in a sinking economy, when you're worried about keeping a roof over your head and problems many Long Islanders face. It wouldn't take much to have a litter-free Long Island, but it would have to become a priority and, let's face it, it's obviously pretty low on everyone's list.

Where are the Boys and Girl Scouts? The community groups that used to have clean-up days. Everyone is so busy with their own lives, we've forgotten about our community as a whole.

If anyone knows of any area on Long Island where there are programs to keep the community beautiful, let me know. I'd love to give them space on this blog. Maybe we can all benefit.

Before, Don Vaneck wanted the town to install a fence to keep out trash...

...and after the Town of Hempstead installed a new fence around the Bellmore lot.

The Town of Hempstead has kept its word to Don Vaneck and his Bellmore neighbors, installing a new fence around a town lot that’s been fence-challenged.

We featured Vaneck in a column last month after he contacted us because fences around the lot have fallen apart or disappeared after being vandalized. That problem left the lot, which contains a box culvert pipe to stop occasional flooding, open to large trash deposits and graffiti-makers.

Town spokesman Michael Deery told us that residents in the area would be polled about their fence preferences. Earlier this month, 60 feet of new vinyl-coated chain-link fence that cost $2,500 was installed. Vaneck’s wife Regina declared, “This is much more appealing to the eye.”

Residents with town fence problems can call 516 489-6000

I live a The Colony at Holbrook, a gated community on Furrows Road. We’ve been told the reconfiguration of the intersection at Patchogue-Holbrook Road (CR19) and Furrows Road would be started in 2006. This is a very dangerous and heavily traveled intersection. Another project, which was promised even longer ago, is drainage improvements to Furrows Road between CR19 and Nicolls Road (CR83). Nothing has been done. What’s going on?

The two road-improvements projects are still in the cooker, but it’ll be a while before they are completed because both require three land parcel acquisitions by Suffolk County Public Works and the Town of Islip Department of Public Works.

“Normally, it takes up to three years for us to acquire property,” said Bill Hillman, chief engineer for the county, which is handling the $1 million reconfiguration project at CR 19 and Furrows Road. “When you deal with eminent domain and condemnation laws, it’s a huge process.”

Hillman said the acquisition process, which began last year includes a 4-foot wide parcel on the northwest corner owned by a shopping center, another parcel owned by an adjacent homeowner and a parcel belonging to Mamma Lombardi’s restaurant.

The project will widen Furrows Road to provide a left-turn lane, one through-lane and one right-turn lane on the eastbound and westbound approaches to CR19. The county expects to break ground by 2011, he said. “We certainly recognize the need to enhance traffic flow at this busy intersection,” Hillman said.

The Town of Islip is finalizing land acquisition for the drainage project, which includes a rectangular piece of property east of The Colony’s entrance and two small privately owned parcels located on the south side of Furrows Road and west of the entrance to the community.

As part of the project, a new sediment basin will be constructed that will contain retention wells to allow water to filter down from the road to a recharge basin connected to the underground pipe network.

The town expects to file a right-of-way certification to the state next month, which will state that the town has acquired, or is close to acquiring, the three properties. The town then must await a review by the state Department of Transportation.

Related sites on this topic:

Assistant Principal Cathleen Potorski wants a traffic light to help students cross Wantagh Avenue.

I am the assistant principal at Island Trees Memorial Middle School in Levittown and for 25 years I have been writing to legislators regarding the unsafe traffic conditions in front of our school on Wantagh Avenue near Hempstead Turnpike.

We need a flashing yellow light in front of our school with a push button for pedestrians to turn the light red, but we’ve been told it would cost $100,000 and there is no funding for it.

Wantagh Avenue is a busy four-lane street as we saw on a recent weekday. Some drivers were reluctant to stop for crossing guard Theresa Joseph and beeped at her as she stood in front of them with her hand up, or drove around her.

But whether or not assistant principal Potorski is successful in her quarter-century quest for a traffic light depends on Nassau County, which controls all traffic devices between Queens and Suffolk.

Deputy County Executive Ian Siegel, who oversees parks and public works, said based on the last traffic study in 2000, the county decided a traffic light wasn’t needed. However, Siegel said a new survey will be done before the end of the school year. “We’re going to restudy it," he said, and the county will base its decision on traffic volume, accident rates in the area and pedestrian traffic.

Related sites on this topic:

Driving from Baldwin on Southern State Parkway, there’s a sign that says traffic information is available on 1640 AM radio. I turn it on out of curiosity and every five seconds or so, there’s this announcement: “This is the New York State Department of Transportation Highway Advisory Radio System, site No. 2.”

I’m headed east to Melville, so I keep it on to see if it’ll say anything different, since there’s intermittent traffic buildup. But the recording stays the same until I reach the Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway (135) Exit 28A South. Then the recording says, “This is the New York State Department of Transporation Highway Advisory Radio System, site No. 1.”

I guess with satellite radios and car stereo systems, the DOT doesn’t feel it needs to do anything special on the airwaves. Maybe the recording should at least announce the next few exits so that visitors and even residents who don’t travel around Long Island often will know which exits are coming up.

Just a suggestion.

Just an additional comment regarding LI street signs.

It would seem to me that safety should be a top prioriy in view of the increase in traffic accidents
In NJ, they have a sign and a turnaround at major intersections.Not possible to do here, of course. But the bext best thing would be more specific signage way in advance of the exit or major cross street to enable drivers to have enough time and clearance to make their move to get over safely, without cutting of another vehicle.

We have noticed more & more that the signs are RIGHT at the turn off & not far enough ahead.
Aren't lives worth the resaerch & money more than things like Trump on the Ocean, which local governments seem to have plenty of time to dispute?

--Suzanne Germaine, Massapequa Park

See Sunday's column for more comments.

Last week, we asked readers what they think about overhead street signs and if street signs should be bigger.

Dozens of readers said YES to overhead signs and bigger ones. State and county officials agree that overheads would be helpful to drivers. But don’t expect to see an explosion of them at Long Island intersections anytime soon.

The state has a handful of them on Route 110 and Route 25. State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Eileen Peters said, “We do consider them, if it’s appropriate and there’s no conflict with utilities in the area. We do install them where it’s feasible and appropriate.”

Mostly, the state uses advance street signs before major intersections, a system also used by Nassau County.

Gilbert Anderson, Suffolk Public Works Commissioner said the county follows federal highway signage regulations, but if a request was made for an overhead sign at a particular intersection, “We would consider it.”

Nassau Public Works Commissioner Ray Ribeiro said there’s no argument overheads are effective. But with undergound cables, utilities, sewers and other obstructions, it’s almost

The Community Watchdog column on Sunday asked a question: Is bigger better? What do you think about overhead street signs at intersections? Are bigger signs helpful?

Responses sent in by readers are overwhelmingly in favor of bigger signs. You can see some of the comments here (click Comments on last Wednesday’s blog from March 5 and Monday’s blog from March 10.)

This Sunday, we’ll run some of the emails Newsday readers submitted on the issue.

Joe Nowotny, the Town of Smithtown's investigations division supervisor for the Department of Public Safety called to report that the large hole in a fence surrounding a preserve in Commack was fixed. Town workers began the repair job on Monday morning and finished by early afternoon.

The break in the fence had been there for at least a year, but the town acted quickly when we called about it last week. Our call was prompted by a reader who complained about fires being set in the sump-turned-preserve behind her home on Gannet Drive.

Kudos to both the town and LIPA for working quickly to keep out trespassers.

The $6.8 million project aimed at improving traffic flow and reducing accidents on Sunrise Highway is scheduled to be done by this spring.

The project includes upgraded traffic signals at 11 intersections and resurfacing Sunrise Highway.

The state Department of Transportation says this would benefit the 50,000 drivers who use Sunrise Highway everyday.

Have you noticed a difference since the project began?

Here's the original press release issued last year about the project.

Teachers Cathy Mercurio and Carole Forman with the Kids for Saving Earth Club

For two years, Kids for Saving Earth Club at Gardiner Manor School in Bay Shore has been involved in recycling efforts. The Town of Islip provided us with WRAP bins for paper, but they won't pick up the paper because the district doesn't pay taxes. In May 2007, the club wrote to Supervisor Phil Nolan and included a petition signed by the entire student body hoping to change this policy. After all, recycling students become recycling adults. We hoped local government would support all recycling efforts, but this is not the case.
--Teachers Cathy Mercurio and Carole Forman

We don’t know what happened to the petition, but after we called Islip Town Supervisor Phil Nolan, he cut through the green tape and found that the town's own trucks pick up garbage and recyclables in that neighborhood.

Officials will be notifying the school that paper collected by club members will be picked up at the curb. "We'll just add that to our collection every other Wednesday because that doesn't cost us anything more," he said.

The town would not have been able to offer the same service if the area were serviced by a private carting company contracted by the town because the contract calls for pickup in residential areas only.

Nolan said he’s planning a townwide discussion for school districts to begin programs that will enhance the e-waste recycling initiative he implemented. "A massive amount of garbage that goes into the dumpsters in school districts is recyclable materials," he said.

Related sites on this topic:

Janet Mannion wants the fence of a preserve behind her home in Commack to be repaired. (Newsday photo by Gwen Young)

A fence to keep out trespassers surrounds a Town of Smithtown sump-turned-preserve behind our home. But there’s a large hole in the fence and in 2007, three fires were set in the woods. The opening, adjacent to a LIPA right-of-way, allows the fire-setters, four-wheelers and dirt bike riders free access, creating a dangerous and noisy environment. In June, town safety officers said they would fix the fence, but it’s still not fixed. The police told us that this opening also allowed house burglars to escape from the law as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

--Janet Mannion, Commack

Both LIPA and the Town of Smithtown were quick to respond when we called about Mannion’s complaint. LIPA workers installed “No Trespassing” signs at the opening of its right-of-way for high-tension wires and repositioned a horizontal rod to block vehicles from entering the area. On Monday, town workers are scheduled to install about 60 feet of fencing to close up the opening at the preserve.

Long Island Power Authority spokesman Ed Dumas said the utility was unaware of problems at the right-of-way, which is not considered a dangerous area because the high-tension wire stanchions can’t be scaled. However, he said, “We will do outreach, based upon your call, to see if there’s something we can do with the community that would remedy the situation” with trespassers.

Joe Nowotny, investigations division supervisor for Smithtown’s Department of Public Safety, said a work order to repair the opening in the fence was submitted to the highway department last July, but apparently, the work hadn’t been done. After we called, the area was inspected and Nowotny the job would be done on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, it was a bigger job than we thought,” Nowotny said. “It’s about 60 feet. They’re trying to get the whole thing secured.”

Park rangers are on duty 24-7, he said, and town residents who need to report problems with any town park area should call the hotline number, 631 360-7553.

Pat Gangitano of Massapequa says overhead street signs would provide better visibility for drivers.

Why aren’t street-name signs hung overhead alongside traffic lights? In Massapequa, there are several locations, including the intersection of Sunrise Highway and Unqua Road, where this would be beneficial. It’s often hard to hunt for a small sign on a street corner when you’re driving on a busy road. How is sign placement determined?

Aside from freeways and expressways, the use of overhead street-name signs is determined on a case-by-case basis. The New York State Department of Transportation prefers local municipalities install street-name signs on corner posts for consistency.

“The key is to reduce confusion,” said DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters, noting Long Islanders are used to seeing street-name signs on corners. “If we’re inconsistent with sign placement, then drivers are constantly wondering where to look when they approach an intersection.”

According to Federal Highway Administration guidelines, intersections with overhead street signs are often locations where roadside space is at a minimum due to private property, steep hills or other troublesome geography. Other factors include traffic volume, the number of lanes, sight distance, speed and lighting.

To avoid overhead signs at intersection like Unqua and Sunrise, the state will often use advance street-name signs to alert drivers a road is 100 or 200 feet away. At the request of residents last summer,“We installed signs with eight-inch letters,” Peters said. “But a few months later, residents asked for even bigger signs, so we’re installing ones with 12-inch letters this spring.”

Related sites on this topic:

A couple of reader reax based on an item in the Community Watchdog column published Sunday dealt with freight trains parked over Deer Park Avenue (Route 231), and one issue that goes farther back about a Hicksville couple who wanted a large tree removed so their sight-line wasn't impaired.

On the freight train issue (see below):

I agree 100% with the LePore's. These trains are parked every weekend on the 231 train overpass. I have called the town and nothing has been done. Have you ever noticed the signs that say town beautification program at this overpass? A beautiful clock,brickwork and landscaping below this overpass were put in. Why would an elected official let these trains park on the top of this overpass after all the time and money was spent to beautify this area? I bet our town supervisor wont take a new picture of that area with the trains parked overhead standing next to the town beautification sign. These trains must also be putting a strain on the overpass with all the consent weight on it. God forbid something broke with these trains parked over the cars sitting at the red light. What else can I do to get the town to move these trains 100 feet in either direction? The President Victor Paul is lying when he says 10 or more cars. There are never more than 10 cars parked up on that overpass and they are still there over the entire weekend just about every week. Please forward this to Mr. LePore so that he can contact me and I will join him in the fight to get these trains moved. What a joke it is getting these trains moved 100 feet in either direction. I am sorry to be a little negative but the elected town officials work more for the businesses than they do for the people who live in the town these days.

On the tree issue:

Please stop cutting down trees! That is not progress, nor is it necessary to kill a hundred yr. old tree so someone can see out of their driveway. Tell them to back out slowly & they will see just fine. Not every problem deserves the easy solution. People have to live in the environment & with the environment. Sidewalks can be replaced w/o cutting down trees. New trees will take decades to provide shade or make a dent in CO2 removal. Please consider the consequences of your actions. Thank you.

I paid a visit to Calverton National Cemetery this weekend. It's not fancy, but the 1,045-acre property is maintained beautifully and seems a fitting resting place for the more than 190,000 veterans who have served this country and are buried there.

Thanks to all those who work on the cemetery's upkeep. You're doing a great job.

If there are other places on Long Island that deserve a shout-out, add your comments here, or email watchdog@newsday.com and we'll share it on this blog.