Community Watchdog

Thomas Joseph Jr. and other residents of East Farmingdale say their one community park has been in need of renovations for years.
Newsday photo by Gwen Young

Sometimes blog comments can be annoying because people vent about things that have nothing to do with the issue that’s discussed.

That’s not the case with opinions voiced about the item posted here Thursday and published in yesterday’s Newsday concerning Michel (pronounced Michael) Park in East Farmingdale. (See comments below on the item with Thomas Joseph Jr., president of the local civic association.)

Obviously, East Farmingdale residents feel this park has been long-neglected and are frustrated because it’s taken years for the one park in their community to be refurbished.

In the hundreds of e-mails, calls and snail-mail we’ve gotten about problems, the question that comes up most often is “Why is the neighboring community taken care of, while ours is neglected?” It’s the same question, whether readers are writing about sidewalk, road and curb repairs, litter cleanup, lighting problems and other quality of life issues. Most people seem to think the disparities in services have to do with who you know. If there’s a town official living in the community, that’s the place that will receive attention.

I’d like to think that’s not true, but I have no explanation to explain the differences

For people in East Farmingdale, who obviously care about their hometown and it’s little park, I hope the Town of Babylon will move quickly to give residents what they’ve been promised.

We’ll post pictures here when the renovations are finished.