Wednesday, June 18, 2025
The Council of East Meadow Community Organizations passed along crime prevention tips during a recent meeting and informed residents about several key initiatives and upcoming projects that will affect the greater East Meadow and Salisbury area. The area is covered by the first and third precincts.
CEMCO leaders began their late-April meeting, held at the East Meadow Public Library, by acknowledging the death of Norma Gonsalves, a former Nassau County legislator and longtime East Meadow resident. Gonsalves, who died in February at age 90, was an integral part of CEMCO’s leadership, running its crime watch committee for many years. Following a moment of silence, CEMCO’s president, Joe Parisi, announced that John Nikiel, who was part of the crime watch with Gonsalves, has agreed to take on her leadership role.
A 30-year law enforcement veteran, Nikiel said no concern is too small.
“If there’s something happening in your neighborhood, on your street — if something’s happening that concerns you, let me know,” he said.
The crime watch committee meets regularly with local police officials, as well as the East Meadow School District superintendent and school principals, to discuss safety concerns and potential solutions in the community.
Overall, crime is down in East Meadow, Nikiel said, adding that the police department is doing a great job and taking a proactive approach. But three issues continue to affect the area, including thefts from vehicles, mainly because people leave cars unlocked outside of their homes or running outside of stores.
“Most of the vehicle thefts that we see aren’t break-ins,” Nikiel said. “We have people that go through the neighborhoods (and wait for people to leave their cars unlocked). They’re going to go in there and take whatever they can.”
Nikiel cautioned residents to keep belongings out of sight in their vehicles. He also addressed the ongoing threat of scams, particularly those that target seniors. Nikiel encouraged those who attended the meeting to speak with older relatives and neighbors about common scams, such as gift card fraud and schemes in which callers falsely claim a loved one has been arrested and need bail money wired to them immediately.
As for past projects that CEMCO has worked on, Parisi said a new fence has finally been installed at the organization’s bird sanctuary — an area of untouched land behind Speno Park in East Meadow.
“We’ve had, over the last five years, a lot of trespassing happening,” he said. “This organization has worked closely in conjunction with (Legislator) Tom McKevitt’s office, and the new fence has been installed there. It was a costly expense, I would say, but it’s helping to at least cut down on some of the vandalism. The concern has been, not only vandalism and trespassing, but since there’s a large body of water, we wanted to make sure that it’s not easy for younger kids to get in there and have some kind of serious accident.”
In addition, owl boxes, designed nesting structures for owls, will be purchased and installed in the sanctuary, thanks to available grant money. CEMCO has enjoyed a close partnership with PSEG, a power and energy company on Long Island, over the last few years and applied for a few community-based grants, which have allowed the organization to work on some projects in East Meadow.
“When the foliage comes in, we’re going to organize a little project to go in there and have these boxes installed,” he said. “It definitely helps the wildlife, and there is a lot. You can’t believe how much is there, so we do our best to help nature out and to keep the sanctuary as clean as possible.”
Hempstead Town Councilman Dennis Dunne, who represents East Meadow, shared upcoming projects with meeting attendees, including upgrades that are headed to some local ballparks. He also touched upon the state of roadways in East Meadow and Salisbury, adding that the town is working to repave 100 miles of roads this year, and about one-third of those repairs will be completed in Dunne’s district.
The town’s highway department inspects the roads and finds that wear and tear usually occurs during the wintertime. The councilman said if residents know of a particularly bad section of road that they would like to be surveyed, or any other concerns in the town, they could call his district office at (516) 812-3180.
In reference to a shopping center on Hempstead Turnpike, near the intersection of East Meadow Avenue and Park Boulevard, major changes are on the horizon, thanks to a project by Regency Development. The parking lots and storefronts are being redeveloped, as is the sidewalk that surrounds the lots — which has long been in need of an upgrade, Parisi said.
“If anybody takes a look at those sidewalks, they are terrible, and the landscaping leaves a lot to be desired,” he explained. “We learned about this project, and it’s been in the works for at least a year-and-a-half, and it’s going to move forward.”
