Long Island bar owners and local law enforcement officials gathered for the first time last Thursday in the Garden City Hotel's nightclub known as Blu to announce the formation of Bar Owners Against Drunk Driving (B.A.D.D.), an organization created to ensure safer highways during holidays and throughout the year.

Brian Rosenberg, B.A.D.D. president and manager of the Garden City nightclub, Blu, welcomed Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta, Nassau County Police Commissioner William Willett, Public Safety Committee Chairperson and Nassau County Legislator Lisanne Altmann, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (M.A.D.D.) Coordinator Marge Lee, Garden City Police Commissioner Ernie Cipullo, Nassau County Deputy Chief Joan Yale, Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon and approximately 20 local bar owners and their staff.

Back in 1999, when Blu was known as The Dallenger in the Garden City Hotel, Rosenberg created D.A.D. (The Dallenger Against Drunk Driving). Despite the program's success, Rosenberg said it wasn't enough.

"When we unfortunately lost my assistant's niece in February of 2000 to a drunk driver, that hit home for us and made us realize D.A.D. wasn't enough. Blu Against Drunk Driving wasn't enough either because it wasn't going to make an impact on what we're trying to do," he said. "We changed Blu Against Drunk Driving to Bars Against Drunk Driving."

Lee added, "It takes a village to raise a child. Well it's going to take all Long Islanders to fight drunk driving to make a real difference. M.A.D.D. was started by only one person but it took a whole lot of people across this country to make a significant difference."

Rosenberg said he only invited approximately 20 nightclub owners, including those who own and manage Luxe in Levittown, Chelsea Street and Zachary's in East Meadow, Coco's in Huntington and more, because he considers them the real "influential" people in the industry.

"We feel that if we have these people on board then everyone's going to get on board. It's a follow the leader thing," he said. "The small bar around the block is going to wait and see what the big guys are doing and we got the big guys here today.

"We're not here to condemn alcohol or the business that we're in. We're here to say we're in the entertainment business - not in the business of having people on the roads intoxicated - and we want to get together with law enforcement to try and make things better. It's not about not drinking. It's about drinking and not driving your car."

Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta emphasized drunk driving deaths are the most preventable. "A word symbolic of today's gathering is networking because that is truly what we're talking about here," Gulotta said. "We're talking about bar owners who are working with others in the community to make an impact on fellow citizens. There's a very simple rule: If you drink, don't drive. The reality is that one drop of alcohol will impair your ability to react."

Year after year in Nassau County, drunk driving deaths have been reduced. This year alone, to this date, drunk driving deaths, when compared to last year, have been reduced by 25 percent. Gulotta noted, however, that "as long as there's one death or one tragedy related to drunk driving, our fight will continue."

William Willett, Nassau County police commissioner, reiterated Gulotta's point that fatalities are down in Nassau County. "Arrests were up by 298 in the first six months of this year when compared to the first six months of last year. That's a considerable number," Willett said.

"In March of this year, I told all of my precinct commanders and highway patrolmen that there would not be select individuals who would enforce D.W.I. Every police officer on patrol would be responsible for enforcing D.W.I. laws. This I know resulted in an increase in the number of arrests and we will continue this pattern. The Nassau County Police Department is dedicated to beating this plague of D.W.I. fatalities."

Legislator Lisanne Altmann, mother of a 19-year-old daughter, was also on hand to show her support. "For a long time people didn't talk about drunk driving. It's like talking about wife beating - you don't talk about it, you don't look at it and maybe it won't be there. But unfortunately there's tangible evidence of what happens when you don't talk about something and you don't do anything about it," she said. "It's the fear you have in your heart when your kids go out at night and you hope to God that they're going to make the right, common sense decision. I'm not going to tell my daughter when she turns 21 that she shouldn't go out and have a good time but what I'm happy about is that we're working together to make sure she gets home safely.

"It is a complement to law enforcement because they can only do so much and as Bill said, we're down 25 percent but I think there's already been six deaths. Six deaths is too much because if one of them is your kid or one of them is your mom, your lives are completely changed."

Thanking Garden City Police Commissioner Ernie Cipullo for taking the time to join him last Thursday at Blu, Rosenberg said, "Believe me, the Garden City Police Department is as tough as they come. They educate us on what's going on with our customers after they leave this place and aid us in any way that they can. It's very important for bar and club owners and promoters to make that effort to speak to their police department to get them involved in this program."

Representatives from Charisma Limousine, All-Island Taxi and Budweiser, who Rosenberg said are also very involved in the industry and very involved in this program, were also invited last Thursday to lend their hands in the fight against drunk driving. Charisma and All-Island, according to Rosenberg, will provide discounts for nightclub goers who choose to leave their valéted cars at Blu.

The Screening, Treatment, Education and Prevention (S.T.E.P.) Program of the Nassau County Department of Drug and Alcohol Addiction is an early intervention program designed specifically for first-time D.W.I./substance abuse offenders.

According to Carol Ann White, director, it's a crisis intervention program that assists first-time offenders through immediate assessment of their treatment needs, and when appropriate, refers individuals to treatment agencies.

If, after evaluation and the report to the court, treatment should be ordered by the court as part of the sentence, the S.T.E.P. Program will monitor treatment if ordered to do so.

Through education and treatment, White said, participants will learn the dangers of alcohol/drug abuse and will change their behavior accordingly. Thus, the defendant/client benefits and the community will benefit from a reduction in alcohol-related crimes.

This past Memorial Day weekend, White said the program treated 79 defendants, the youngest being 18 years old and the oldest being 68.

"What happens if these defendants don't get proper treatment? This program provides that treatment, at all different levels, as quickly as possible," she said. "One defendant, a 23-year-old male, had a blood alcohol content of .43, four times the legal limit."

Defendants are ineligible if they have a prior D.W.I. (Driving While Intoxicated) conviction; are out-of-county residents; and are on probation, parole or are pending pre-sentencing investigations.

However, out-of-county residents who work in Nassau County and those individuals who have prior D.W.A.I. (Driving While Alcohol Impaired) convictions are eligible. For further information on the S.T.E.P. Program, call White at 572-2456.