The-Leader_1982-07-22

              Olllei»l
_JieWspaper
Villagebr •
Freeport
•
Freepwi
ScJiool District
. . •'
Baldwin
School Disif ic(
^EEPOHT ME;M0RL il!; iv,r-kr
FREEPORT. NEW YORK. JULY 22.1982
47thYEAR, No. 13
FREEFORT UEUORIKL LJtBRART
PRICE 2 5 * PER COPY
Two From Street Are Heros In Fire
I
SCENE OF A TRAQEDY. Th« lurnltur* and ci\lldr«n'» toyi IhtA form
me pllM of rubble ouUld* of 145 Randall Avanu* tali a ttory of a
tragedy and of heroa*. A tire, In aaeeond floor badroom Wednesday
evening, July 14, waa ftrtt (potted by -two Freeport man, who were
standing near the garden apartment.complex.' Brian Haggarty and
Loran Wilton raced indoors and.up on* tllqhl of stairs to raacua
two-year-old MIctUMi Kelly and four-yeer-«ld (^Ittopher KImllngen.
Driven back by dens* black smoke and Intense heet, however, they
were unable to find th* room's third occupant. Two-year-old John
KImllngen was pronounced dead at the scene. The lire was caused,
olildal sources say, by the youngsters themselves, who were playing
with matches. (See story, this page.) . .
Begin Feaslbliity Siudy
For A BaUL^in Rec Center
byJoanDelinay
BALDWIN • The concept of a community center for Baldwin was
discussed at a recent meetiDg' attended by representatives of tike
Baldwin Chamber of Commerce and the PBC, Dr. Peter Lynch, princi­pal
of Baldwin Senior High School and eight students, as well as
representatives of other community groups indudiog the Baldwin
Ubtaty Board of Trustees,
-B€A0AT—tbe- Balilsin__Bojs'
the South-East
the Naisan
and
Assodadoo,
Baldwin Assodatioo,
County PoOce Department,
THELEADEE.
The meeting was an outgrowth ,
of previous Chamber meetings on
crime preventioo as well as an
attempt to ooordinate inforroation
&om and participants of a PBC-spoosored
meeting on the forma­tion
of a community center held
earlier in the jt*z. However,
attendance was sparse—perhaps
the resnh of its schednfing during
the fommer mosths or perlups,
as one woman said, the result of
the lack of any action following so
much taUdng.
Altfaoagh opinions concermng
the need for a center were not
Qnaidmoas and there was tre­mendous
variation as to the type
of center that was being dis­cussed,
all agreed that it was
important.to listen Jo the teen­agers
concerning their views and
perceptions.
The students said that,
although there were many activi­ties
available, there was oo place
to "hang cot." They referred to
•The Refuge," whidi served as a
gathering place for teens at St.
Christopher's before a Eire in
1980. Now with facilities restored,
the Youth VCnistiy Program at St.
Christopher's has coordinated a
series of summer activities and
informal open houses. It was this
type of bformal center rather
than the more grandiose pro­jections
of some adults that
seemed to be the suggestion of
many of the students.
Several teens mentioned the
lack of publicity of the activities
' that are available. They also
(Cont. on Page 5)
Village Sued For
Return Of Bond -
FREEPORT - Crtnalu COn-i
struction Corp., the short-termed '
• low bidder for construction of the
• Village of Freeport's new public
^ works building, has filed papers
I in New York State.Snpreme Court
• in an attempt not to lose its
J S&S,436 performance bond.
j claimed by llic village.
In April, Citnalta had sub-
,- mitted a bid for Sl,708,727 for the
construction on the Mte of the
village's old sewage treatment
plant. Citnalu's bid was S2&4,000
less than the only other bidder.
Sea Crest Construction of
Freeport.
Bids had been opened on April
JS .and. in ,a. telegram ..dated
May" 4, foOow^ up by^"tetters
dated May S and May 14, CitnalU
informed the- vffiage thai it
wanted to withdraw.
. According to Cttnalta pru­dent,
Nicholas Oargiolo, at that
(Com. on Page 12)
Board Approves
Assessments
FREEFORT - After taking
under coiuideration the various
complaints they had received «t a
public meeting the week before,
the Village Board of Trustees
voted Moiulay evening, July 19.
to approve the.assessments for
street improvements in Housing
Improvement Area 13.
Seven home-owners had
attended the public meeting
Monday evening, July 12, to
present to the B<MFd reasoiu why
their assessments should be
lowered. In approving the
assessments, the Board agreed
with some of the facts raised by
the oaraeia of the iproperties at
138 East Avenue and 50 Sports-mans
Avenue.
TlBceMIIUM
ForSaads
The Mayor was aathoriied to
sign an agreement with the State
of New York for a S3 milliai
Signal and Signing Program,
which, according to a village
spc^esperson would cost the
village nothing. .
The. program covers trafiic
signal modernizations, signing of
streets, and such minor roadway
improvemcDts as the roondisg off
of comers. Mote than 50 various
street locations are involved. The.
program was designed to "make
things safe^" ^^lage sources
explained.
Among the planned pro­jects,
which would not be started
until at least this Fall, is the
Rescue 2 Children In Apt
Fire, A Third Child Dies
FREEFORT - Two Freeport men, who rescued two toddlers fiom a
bunting room Wednesday evening. July U, were called "truly heroes"
by veteran firefighters and fire ofiidals. Bat both men, a 19-year-<dd
landscaper and a 27-year-old father of two, stiQ felt remorse, nearly
one week later, that their efforts to save a third yoangster bad failed.
-The two men, I;oran Wilson of
Randall Avenue who works fee
Sunshine Landscaping, and Brian
Haggerty, of Ray Street, father of
a _ four-year-old and nine-momb-
old boys; were cited for
their heroism by both Freeport
Fire IVpartment officials and U. -
Murray of the tUisao County
Arsba Squad.
U. Murray said that "anoaier
three minates eitter way" would -
have been fatal to the rescued
toddlers. Michael Kelly. 2, and
Christopher Kimfingen, 4.
Chtistophet't ' two-year-old
brother, John, was the lone
fatality in the fire at 145 RandaB
Avenue which apparently started,
police and fire department
sources say, when t&e three
youngsters began playing with
matches in tl>e npstsin bedroom
of the duplex apartment, in which
apparency the three and their
mothers lived.
• The children's mothers,
Virgina Umlingen, 23, and •
Virginia KeDy, 25, were in the
downstairs khdien and, a Nassau
County Fire Marshal's Office
spc&esman' said, probably
couldn't smell tiie smoke or heat
anything until two men burst
through their apartment's front
door.
San Up The Stairs
Wilson and Haggerty were
outside. Wilson said be had just
arrived there about a Jialf-bour
earlier and that was the fird time
be -bad -met Haggerty. From
where they stood, with five; or ten
istber people, tbey-saddenly saw
the smoke billowing out of the up-stairsr
window. Of the group.
Wilsoti and . Haggerty alone
acted. Tbey.-'ran - to' tbe apart­ment's
oot^de door and finding It
unlocked quickly" dashed ioside. -
Wilson said later the two ran right
up the stairs witii.the mothers
behind them at Snt. He remem­bers
the tiudk. dense black smoke
and a pillow burning' right in the
middle of the floor. <'lt was hard
to find yocr way,'.' said Wilson.
He and Haggerty saw. or heard,
two youngsters. One was crying
and Haggerty grabbed him
(apparently Chiistopbet). The
other, said Wilson, was sleeping.
"1 grabbed him," said Wilson,
identil^^ng the youngster as
Michael Kelly.
According to Wilson, they
found out that the thad youngster
was apparently still upstairs after -
tl>ey came down and out of the
house. "We weren't stirc he was
in the room." said Wilson; "and
hoped he wasn't" but the two
men tried to go back up a second
time.
But, the smoke and beat were '
too intense by that time and tlve
(Cont.onPage16) . .
Two Guys Store Slated To Be plant ^--^^^^^
tive of the corporation at that time
OHE LEADER. Nov. 12. 1981).
(Cont. onPagel2)
FREEPORT - Rumors or-cnlatiag
throogfaont the village of
Freeport for the past several
wedis are ctnnisg cjose to being
fact as Bnknra Watch Co., Inc.'s
president, Andrew H. Tisch,
confirmed this week that his
company has signed a five year
lease for 63,011 square feet of
space in the former Two Guys
Discount Store.
Two Guys dosed its doors prior
to this past Christmas as its
parent company, Vomado,
retrenched its retail outlets. The
Freeport store, which opened is
April, 1980 was one of three Long
Island stores, all wiuch were
closed. In all, the chain shut down
all its New York sites, leaving six
stores open: five in MaryUod,
one in Pennsylvania and six in
northern New jersey,
Vomado, according to sa exca-just
wanted to be in the real
estate busness.
Some stores were taken over
rather quickly by other retail
operations. In Massachusetts and
Connecticut, Bradke's took over
two stores. In Reading, Pfcnn-sytvanla,
plans were for a Patfa-marfc/
Rickels store. But, al­though'
the Vomado executive
said that they were in the middle
of negotiatioas with someone at
that time, the Freeport outlet has
remained empty.
According to the terms of the
original contract, signed when the
Village of Freeport %did the land
(o Vomado, that company had
until March, 1982 to develop aii
additional 30.0d0 square feet or
lose that part of the property.
(Com. on Page 16)