Needs Discovered?

To The Editor

If I were a member of the Village staff, and the Trustees asked me to come up with”needs” that could be solved by moving them to an empty, century old building that has been quietly rotting away for years, I guess I would come up with something, but I wouldn’t want to expain why I just discovered these needs, or present a cost justification analysis.

Remember the proposed “need” to move the library.?

That proposition was hotly promoted by some trustees, but then soundly rejected by the taxpayers as unsound and “unneeded.”

This has been a long and wearying road, that will eventually end, but, along the way, we should not confuse motion with progress.

Frank Kiernan

It's 12 O'Clock &

1 O'Clock & You Still Don't Know Where Your Kids Are!

To The Editor:

In response to the this past Friday's letter about G.C. Vandals I have to agree! Both last Friday the 22nd and this Friday night the 29th our sleep was ruined by the noise from drunken teenagers at the Nassau Boulevard Railroad parking lots. The kids sometimes start as early as 9:30 and go at it as late as last week's 1 o'clock in the morning. Just in case there are still parents at home saying Oh, this doesn't really happen in Garden City. There are boys and girls yelling, cursing and leaving beer bottles, trash, used condoms, and clothing behind all over the parking lots! What a shame that there is nothing better for these kids to do on a Friday night. Maybe we as a village better get with it and really make a Recreation Center so that some of these kids may actually think of some other way to spend there time. For the parents who think well my kids are in sports and busy and probably don't do this sought of thing-think again half of these kids had on G.C. maroon athletic jackets while causing the trouble! As you may remember having once been kids many otherwise quiet kids will be persuaded to join in these stupid adventures for lack of anything else to do and for wanting to fit in with the kids who they perceive as cool and daring. Many of these kids lack the fear of punishment by their parents if they are caught red handed! I know for a fact that had I been bought back to my house at these ages by a G.C. Police Officer my parents definitely would have taken it seriously and not have given the police a hard time or write off my bad behavior to "kids will be kids" etc. We did do stupid things and we were punished and made to apologize to all grown-ups involved! How can it be acceptable to let your child off the hook so easily?

It is 11:00 o'clock and 12 o'clock and 1 o'clock and the parents still don't know where their kids are! This condition is nothing new, except now the kids are getting bolder and walking down WELLINGTON ROAD and vandalizing people's houses and property. They destroyed spot lights, ruined Halloween Decorations, opened people's car doors looking for God only knows what! They made scarecrow poles into crosses and drove the crosses into neighbors front yards! This was not an easy sight to explain to our kids-what had happened in front of their own house. Guess what we tell them the truth that these are kids not concerned with what they are doing to other people's property, that they are drunk and that they should not of course be behaving like this and that when they grow up such behavior by them would never be tolerated! Maybe as parents you need to get in your cars and park a few blocks away from the Nassau Boulevard Station parking lots and see if your kids are involved in this type of behavior! If my kids were this age I know that I would be double checking them!

We were told by the G.C Police that many parents turn a blind eye and deaf ear to what they are being told about their kids, shame on these parents! Do they as parents even stop and wonder why these kids are even allowed out so late? At 14 and up how as a parent is it okay for the children to be out this late, not to mention the drinking and vandalism involved! Children out at this hour can only in my opinion can lead to trouble. As a grownup and parent I would wonder where my kids are. I grew up in Garden City and remember being questioned as to what we were up to if we were walking on the streets at say 9 and 10 o'clock by the Garden City Police and guess what you answered a police officer in a respectful manner! You did not act like how dare you even talk to and or bother me.

We were also told that there are many trouble spots at night in the village and that the G.C. Police can't cover all of them, they don't have enough man power on the over night shift. We were told that from 11 o'clock on it is usually six police officers to handle the whole 5 square mile village, maybe that is not enough at night! Maybe we need some kind of civillian patrol till the kids get the message that their behavior will end one way or another. Years ago the same things when on in the very same parking lot, it is nothing new.

However, most of the time a police car was left there for a longer amount of time and the kids stayed disbanded. Now because the police are getting more similiar calls they can not leave a vehicle in an area for an extended amount of time. When the police cars left on Friday night within a half hour the kids returned and resumed their bad behavior and were screaming and making fun of the cops efforts to break up their group!! We were further told by our police to take pictures of the kids committing these acts of vandalism so they could be used to proof to the parents what the kids are up to. Unbelievable that the parents doubt the word of a police officer when they are bringing these kids back to their own front door. We are also told that many parents are Missing In Action when these kids are returned home! So I guess if there is no parental supervision the kids will do what they want! Do they think the police are making it up? Oh, and guess what I don't think the little vandals will really be posing for us to take their pictures as they are running around and ruining our property!

In closing I think we as a community need to get a grip and stop just physco-babbling with and start holding them accountable for their actions. We need to find out what is going on, where, and by whom, so that it may actually get under control. The consequences can be devistating as we know. It may be a sad accident where drunk kids will run in out in to traffic and get run over, or maybe it will be the drunk girls getting more than they bargained for in the bushes by the parking lot surrounded by other drunk teenagers and don't forget all the used condoms left behind after the weekend!, who knows.

Name signed but withheld upon request.