On October 2, 2004, Billy Joel was married and got a verbal present from the Theodore Roosevelt Association. The TRA board voted to approve the concept of having a carousel in Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park, an idea which Billy Joel is encouraging. The credit for the move goes to the Main Street Association for pulling out all the stops and giving the TRA the one thing they wanted - security for the park.

Dr. John A. Gable, executive director of the TRA said he has been working with the Town of Oyster Bay for the past 30 years trying to keep the park secure.

Dr. Gable explained that on Saturday (Oct. 2) the TRA executive board voted to endorse the carousel, subject to the establishment of security/police in the park sufficient to protect persons and property and to enforce park rules. "We approved the plan presented by the Main Street Association of placing the carousel in what is called Zone C in the 1942 Deed of Gift, and restoring and enhancing the formal area known as Zone B," he said.

He explained that the park is divided into three divisions: Zone B, designated a passive memorial area is seen from the entrance to the park at the end of Maxwell and Audrey Avenues with a vista to the flagpole. Zone A, classified an active area is the ball field which is clearly marked by fences. Zone C is an irregularly shaped piece of land to the east of Zone B and includes the picnic pavilion, parking area and the marina.

Mr. Gable called this step one in the process. "Now they have to get the town and the county to agree. The town owns the park and the county owns the carousel and they seem to be interested in the project," he said.

"The plan is being developed by the MSA and I don't think it has been released to the public or to the town," he said. The benefit, he added, is that it is expected to make a profit, as does the carousel in Greenport.

"I'm trying to use this as leverage for a renaissance of the park. There has never been proper security in the park in the 30 years I've worked with the town. The park appears to be a lawless zone, fortunately there have been no serious incidents there," Mr. Gable said.

Security will be very important to the carousel because he said, "The horses are worth over $100,000 apiece and without adequate police protection they wouldn't last overnight even with locks, so they have to have adequate police and security."

He said Councilman Chris Coschignano, chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Park Advisory committee has been moving to get the police booth now on South Street, opposite Dodds & Eder to be re-established at the park.

Mr. Gable said the proposed police location is an existing building being used for storage. It was originally a public rest room and has sewage, lights and electricity connections so it will be a viable location for the police booth. The small office on South Street was just a drop-in booth.

He said, "This will be a real substation with water, toilets and heat. It is sizable and there is talk of using horses [for mounted police] and there is room for that. It is basically next to where the carousel will go."

Mr. Gable said, "The carousel is beautifully designed. It is described as the Cadillac of its style when it was built in 1912. And, it is in pretty good shape. I saw pictures taken of it within the last two weeks. And, we have this terrific love of Nunley's Carousel, which is all throughout Nassau County. People will be coming here from Valley Stream who never have before. One of the members of our board, now living in Rhode Island remembers vividly riding on the Carousel."

Mr. Gable said Liz Roosevelt is in favor of the carousel as outlined above. He said she never wanted it to be located in Zone B and neither did he. He said, "a lot of the opposition in the street involves that (the location). She's heard every side of this and made up her mind after studying it and has provisos. The idea of a carousel never occurred to her or to me. We see this as a fulcrum to get a renaissance of the park and the protection it needs to which we can just say yes or no. The deed, by word says 'no carousel' but it can be removed from the document. It can be changed by signing a new agreement with the town. It's been done twice before in '69 and '73 with various and sundry changes. It becomes necessary every now and then. It is just details, but really, they couldn't proceed without it. If we were going to veto it, what's the point."

"I've written a letter to Chris Coschignano, chairman of the Theodore Roosevelt Park Advisory Committee this morning (Monday, Oct. 4) and carbon copied it to John Venditto (Oyster Bay Town Supervisor) since the town owns the park, and Tom Suozzi (Nassau County Executive) since the county owns the carousel, and the MSA, " he said.

Mr. Gable said the next step is for the plans to be adopted by the park committee and then they go to the town board. Nothing has been presented as yet to the park committee.

The MSA announced last week that Nassau County Police Commissioner's office, James H. Lawrence, Commissioner approved the removal of the South Street police booth, which has stood for many years in downtown Oyster Bay. Subsequently, Commissioner Lawrence also approved the reconstruction of a new one in Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park.

The MSA said in a press release that the request was approved just last week after the Oyster Bay Main Street Association Carousel Committee met with Ian Siegel, Special Assistant to Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and the Deputy Commanding Officer of the 3rd Precinct, Steven G. Williams (Deputy Inspector Williams was previously the Deputy Inspector of the 2nd Precinct.)

The MSA said several meetings with County Executive Suozzi's office were held prior to this announcement at the urging of Dr. Gable, who insisted that safety and security must be returned to the park.

Still, there is a long process to go through and local people want to be heard. A resident said there is a concern about a quality of life issue, of being able to sit on a park bench and eat lunch without music in the background. The TR Park has been known as a passive park and that pleases some local residents. As for MSA's reasons for wanting a change, that is something people can understand, still there is a great deal that must happen before anything becomes a reality.

And as for park security, Town Councilman Chris Coschignano, chairman of the TR Park Advisory Committee has been working on fixing the current security system and is trying to get a police presence in the park.

Whichever way things go, it appears to be a win-win situation. Everyone is looking for the same end result - security in the park. That sounds like a sound idea.

- DFK