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Birch Lane Fifth Graders Demand Stop Sign After sending a barrage of letters to Massapequa Park Mayor James Altadonna, Jr., asking for the installation of a stop sign near their school, students from Birch Lane Elementary School in Massapequa Park were invited to an informal meeting to discuss the matter. On December 12 about 25 students from Ms. Zicherman's fifth grade class went to Village Hall to learn about how Village government operates, courtesy of a crash course from the mayor. "Thank you for all your great letters and drawings," said Altadonna to the attentive crowd of 10- and 11- year-olds. The intersection in question, Whitewood Drive at Nassau Street is near the school and concerns the students, their parents and teachers because many drivers speed past a 30-mph zone sign, breaking the law. After installing a car counter from November 30 to December 7, Village Clerk Peggy Caltabiano said 32,001 cars passed the intersection during that time. Caltabiano stressed, however, that the number reflects the number of times cars drive over the counting device and that some may be the same car passing the intersection several times a day. A colored pie chart was made for the students that, when broken down, compared heavy versus light travel times, as well as the number of speeding cars and how fast they went. For example, the largest slice contained 25.5 percent or 8,147 cars that were driving between 25 and 30 miles per hour. Only 1.1 percent or 345 cars were speeding 40 to 45 mph and .01 percent or 38 cars were going between 45 and 50. "Most people are law abiding," said Altadonna. "It's the volume of cars that concerns us more than the speeders." After discussing the possibly of the stop sign's in- stallation, a question and answer period followed and showed that the students had done their homework. They posed questions to the mayor concerning ordinances in the residential handbook that had a direct impact on them. One wondered why they couldn't play in the street, referring to a Village code that states ball playing of any type is prohibited in public streets. Another youngster girl asked what happened if they were playing baseball in a park when it got dark. "Would we be told to leave?" she asked, referring to an ordinance that states no one is allowed in Village parks after sunset or 8 p.m. Another student asked why the book prohibited bikes on sidewalks in the business district. Although the Village must formally decide whether the intersection gets a sign or not, Altadonna said it most likely would be approved after a public hearing to be held some time this month. Some of the students asked if they could watch the sign being installed, if it was approved.
"It's not really exciting," responded the Mayor, adding however that he would inform their teacher of the time and date so the students could be there.
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