Rockville Centre worker dies in car accident

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Nicholas DeMaio, 19, a part-time worker in the Rockville Centre Sanitation Department, died in a traffic accident on Nichols Road in Holbrook on his way home from work during a rainstorm on Sept. 28.

Though he had worked for the village for less than a year, he had won the respect and affection of his supervisors and co-workers, about 20 of whom attended his funeral on Oct. 4. Village Administrator Keith Spadaro and Mayor Francis Murray, who also attended the funeral, noted his passing at the Oct. 9 village board meeting.

Until recently, DeMaio had commuted to work from Holbrook in Suffolk County via the Long Island Rail Road, a journey which required him to travel first to Jamaica before doubling back to Rockville Centre to report for his sanitation duties by 7 a.m. and his co-workers joked that he spent more time on the train than on the sanitation truck.

Both Public Works Superintendent Harry Weed and Sanitation Supervisor Michael Leccese commended his dedication and work ethic.

“He was a very promising young man,” Weed said. “He seemed on track for a full-time job with us in the future.”

“You don’t find many young men these days determined enough to do what he did just to get to work,” Leccese said. “He came to work early and was eager to learn. Everyone enjoyed him and we’re all going to miss him. He was just a good young man.”

DeMaio is survived by his mother, Angela, his grandparents and many cousins.