East Rockaway village board commends residents, businesses

Dozens of residents, businesses and organizations were commended by the Village of East Rockaway at Monday night’s board meeting for their participation in July’s Stars & Stripes Festival and the more recent 9/11 ceremony held in the village’s Memorial Park.
“There are so many people to thank, people who have gone above and beyond for this village… we had record numbers of people at the Stars & Stripes Festival and at the fireworks display ... the new stone at the memorial in the park is a gateway to our American Heroes …”
The board also awarded individuals and veterans organizations for their work and support during these village-sponsored events.

Privilege of the floor
After the business of the evening was taken care of, Teddy Sieban, the 17-year-old son of the late Mayor Ed Sieban, strode to the front of the room during privilege of the floor to take the board to task for what he said was a “lack of care and patriotism” on 9/11.
“As a concerned citizen and a member of the USNSCC, I want to ask why the American flags were not put at half-mast on 9/11 until 4 p.m. that afternoon,” Sieban said as he read a prepared statement to the board. “I was there at midnight, paying respects to my father’s dedication stone, and they were not down … after attending church at 9 a.m. they still were not down … and on my way to another 9/11 ceremony that afternoon, I was dismayed to see that the flags were still not at half-mast. It is upsetting that the village had such disregard for such a tragic and painfully memorable day that the flags were not at half-mast. Can anyone on the board tell me who was responsible for the flags being put at half-mast?”
Lenahan asked Sieban if he informed anyone of this, and Sieban replied that he did notify the VFW, since it was a Sunday and Village Hall was closed.
“I apologized on behalf of the board … for the fact that the flag was not half-staff at the appropriate time,” Lenahan said. “Consider it an apology for an oversight.”