YOUR COMMUNITY WATCHDOG: Jones Beach tower e-mail hoax

The historic Jones Beach Water Tower is now a pile of rubble, flattened to a moon-sized mound of brick and concrete debris.

Phooey.

It's the latest claim circulating in an e-mail hoax that's been going around for the past few months. Who makes up this junk? The faked picture on the e-mail we received shows demolished bricks and concrete piled two-to-three stories high.

State parks spokesman George Gorman said he received the first inquiry about the false report in October. Since then, he's fielded calls from politicians, private citizens and a dozen media outlets, reassuring everyone that the tower still stands and is being refurbished.

"It's a historic landmark," Gorman said. "No one wants to do anything [destructive] to it - that's why we set aside the money to refurbish it correctly." The rumor started around the time the tower's copper cap was removed for refurbishing, he said.

Newsday has published stories about the $6.1 million restoration project, but apparently not everyone with a soft spot for Jones Beach has seen them.

John Madden of Coram was one of many who contacted Newsday to find out if the e-mail was true. He has a special fondness for the place, he said, because he worked there as a kid, when he lived in Wantagh. "Europe does so much to preserve their historical buildings. It's a shame we don't do the same," Madden wrote. "Robert Moses must be crying in his grave to see all his work coming apart."

Gorman said there are blatant errors in the phony e-mail. One goof puts the blame for the supposed destruction on the state's Department of Public Works. But there's no such agency now because many years ago, it was merged into the Department of Transportation. Another error says the tower is no longer used to supply water to Jones Beach, but Gorman said the 315,000-gallon tower still provides water for the beach's theater, pools and bathhouses, as it has for decades. And a rose garden will not be planted in place of the tower.

"It's all completely false," Gorman said of the circulating e-mail. "If anyone drives down to Jones Beach, they'll still see the water tower."

There is a broken metal box in the lawn between my home and my neighbor's in South Setauket. I've complained several times to the utilities to no avail. It was like this when I moved here in 2007. We're worried that someone will fall over it.

- Helen Penna, South Setauket

A telephone symbol on the box cover led to us to contact Verizon, which dispatched a manager to the Penna property within hours of our call. The box was repaired the next morning.

Verizon officials said the box encloses the service connections between the utility's main feeder run - or cables - and the house.

"These enclosures are very common in communities or developments where all the services are buried," said Verizon spokesman John Bonomo. Generally, a contractor or lawn mower can cause damage to them.

Readers with concerns about similar Verizon boxes should call at 800-837-4966.

- Michael R. Ebert

There's a dangerous situation on Foxhurst Road in Oceanside between Silver Lake Park and Yorktown Avenue. Drivers speed and trucks weighing more than the 8,000-pound limit use the road. There have been a few accidents and many near-misses. I've contacted the police many times. You take your life in your own hands on that road.

- Richard Hansen, Oceanside

Nassau County police acknowledge that Foxhurst Road is a trouble spot and say they'll continue to patrol the road as they have been.

Since 2006, there have been 199 vehicle accidents on the 1 1/2-mile road. During that time, police have issued more than 1,140 citations for traffic violations.

"We've given this a tremendous amount of attention," said Officer Domenick Stanganelli, with the Fourth Precinct's Problem-Oriented Policing unit. "The best way to reduce accidents is by writing tickets. That's what we've been doing and that's what we'll continue to do."

According to Stanganelli, nearly 70 percent of Foxhurst's accidents occur at the intersections of Long Beach and Oceanside roads, which is where he focuses his patrols every six weeks. In between, he and the unit's four other officers focus on roads with an even higher accident rate.

In response to Hansen's complaints, Stanganelli said that the Town of Hempstead recently installed additional speed limit signs on Foxhurst.

However, he said, "Speeding is not the problem. It's following too closely, illegal turns, etc. The intersections are just very busy."

Fourth Precinct residents with concerns about speeding in their neighborhoods should call 516-573-6400.

- Michael R. Ebert