Expressway: Corey Swinson's bridge to the future
Corey Swinson and former President Bill Clinton in 2006 at a Democratic Party event at Republic Airport in Farmingdale. Credit: Messiah Swinson
Corey Swinson lived large. When he entered a room, his 6-foot-5, 400-pound frame was impossible to miss. He wore tailored suits and matching handmade Italian shoes. He might greet you with his deep, expressive bass, or just a wink.
He gained some notice while playing football for the St. Louis Rams in 1995, but he made his most indelible mark back at home on Long Island as a director of school security, first for Bay Shore public schools from 2002-12, and then in the Copiague district.
A graduate of Bay Shore schools, he'd walk the hallways. His eyes might meet those of a passing student.
"What's up, young fella?" he'd ask. "You making it to class on time?"
"Yes, Mr. Swinson," would come the respectful response.
He might look at another's backpack and tease, "What kind of snacks did your mom pack for me today?"
He knew all of the kids and they all knew him.
I'm remembering Corey now because a year has passed since his death to natural causes at age 43. Next Saturday, an overpass on Fifth Avenue over Sunrise Highway will be dedicated in his name.
I met Corey when he was 15. He was the youngest of 10 children of a couple from Georgia who moved north in the 1960s. As a teacher, I tutored him in high school algebra.
After the NFL, Corey provided security for various celebrities, including model Tyson Beckford and NBA players Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury and Chauncey Billups.
Later, he was a school security director like no other. He would befriend everyone. He'd help organize a district program for Black History Month, or visit a gym class and take five minutes to play goalie in a student floor-hockey game. Once a member of the Bay Shore basketball team, he'd urge athletes to work hard. "When you're not working," he'd say, "somebody else is."
In the late 1990s, before he worked for the district, Corey reached out to his contacts among pro athletes to help Bay Shore player Will Frisby find expensive size-16 sneakers. NBA star Alonzo Mourning sent four pairs. Later, Corey helped Frisby find a landscaping job -- and put up some of his own money to help the player enter a summer hoops tournament.
Corey took school security seriously, attending school events and games after hours. One Halloween night, he kept watch outside a local restaurant where perhaps 30 students had gathered, just making sure all was well.
He was in constant touch with police about issues like street gangs, and advised Bay Shore administrators to install security cameras and to ban students from wearing gang colors. In 2012, Corey earned a special recognition award from the Suffolk Detectives Association.
His people skills came into play once when a young man shut himself in a Bay Shore High restroom with a gun. Corey called police, but calmly went in, asked the teen to trust him, and was handed the weapon.
In his office he displayed a photo of himself with former President Bill Clinton. The story goes that when Clinton saw Corey's massive frame at a Democratic Party event at Republic Airport in 2006, he asked Corey to pose with him.
A father to two sons, Corey was a mentor, community leader and youth league coach. He even amassed 1,500 votes in a losing bid for Bay Shore school board in 2013.
After he died Sept. 10, 2013, politicians, judges, teachers, administrators, parents and students overflowed his funeral at the First Baptist Church.
Earlier this year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed legislation sponsored by Assemb. Phil Ramos (D-Brentwood) and Sen. Phil Boyle (R-Bay Shore) to rename the overpass the Corey J. Swinson Memorial Bridge.
The bridge will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Fifth Avenue Elementary School. When I think of the many children who cross the span daily, I think of it as a bridge to a better future Corey wanted them to have.
Reader Michael Cohen lives in Brightwaters.
