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The foundation for the Lee Place Walkway dispute dates back to Oct. 7, 1964. In a letter to Massapequa School District Attorney LeRoy Van Nostrand Jr., Town of Oyster Bay Attorney Attilio Braune wrote that the town has installed a macadam walkway from a point across the county drainage ditch from the dead end at Lee Place. In the letter Braune states that "this walkway is open for use by the general public without restriction."
On Sept. 4, 1965 the Lee Place Walkway began being used by children in the Arlyn Oaks and Crown Village areas of the Massapequa School District as a method of traveling to the Unqua School. The parents of children in the area were notified by letter that bus passes would not be given to children in the area.
In the fall of 1995 Frank Duffy, a resident of Argyle Place, applied for a bus pass for his son who attended the Unqua School. Along with his request he sent a letter from Deputy Town Attorney Gregory Giammalvo.The letter stated that at the request of Councilman Angelo Delligatti the attorney's office researched the Lee Place Walkway. Giammalvo stated that the attorney's office could not find any resolution or documentation declaring the Lee Place Walkway as a public route.
The request by Duffy for a bus pass was responded to by Massapequa School District Superintendent Dr. James I. Brucia. In a response letter dated Dec. 5, 1995 from Brucia, Duffy's request for bus transportation is denied. With the letter Brucia included a copy of the letter dating back to Oct. 7, 1964 from then Attorney Braune.
Brucia explains in his letter that the reason for his denial of Duffy's request was because the Town had declared the route "open without restriction."
The letter contends that, "pursuant to and relying upon this advice, Lee Place Walkway has been used consistently by students of the Massapequa Union Free School District walking between their homes and Unqua School for 30 years. Further, it has been used so in computing school bus eligibility during that time."
Jack Sweeney, another parent in the Arlyn Oaks area, began writing letters to numerous officials in relation to the issue; including Thomas Gulotta, Senator Norman Levy, 7th Precinct Inspector Joan Yale, and Councilman Angelo Delogatti. Also, Sweeney sent a petition to the Massapequa Board of Education with 150 signatures asking the board to reconsider their mandate.
In a correspondence from Nassau County Department of Public Works Commissioner John Waltz, Sweeney's complaint to Gulotta was responded to.
Waltz says that a county investigation found that the Lee Place Walkway was completely under the responsibility of the Town of Oyster Bay. The letter did however say that the county "strongly recommends that this walkway not be utilized in its current state, especially by children walking to and from school."
Meanwhile the Massapequa School District maintained its position that the dispute was not a matter of safety concerns but rather of transportation. In a letter to Senator Levy, Brucia defends the district's policies for the past 30 years.
"It seems that what we have here is a case where Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Duffy refuse to accept the fact that their youngsters are not eligible for transportation. They have set out on a campaign to paint the walkway as unsafe and dangerous (totally untrue) and have pestered us with numerous calls regarding the walkway's upkeep and (a town responsibility).”
After months of arguing back and forth, the Arlyn Oaks Civic Association petitioned the New York State Supreme Court to force the school district to provide buses for the children. Judge Geoffrey J. O'Connell presided over the case known as Arlyn Oaks Civic Association, Francis X. Duffy, Ann DeLetto, and John Sweeney, petitioners, against Dr. James I. Brucia and Massapequa Public Schools Board of Education, defendants.
Following this the courts ordered the district to begin providing buses for children in the area. The decision was made after preliminary paperwork was sent to the Nassau County Court system and was seen by Judge Steven Bucaria.
Bucaria signed the court order forcing the district to provide buses for the children in Arlyn Oaks. Although nearly 100 children live in the area, only 25 to 40 were affected by the decision.
However, one week later, a second court ruling overruled Judge Bucaria's decision and once again the buses stopped picking up the children.
On Jan. 14, 1997 Judge O'Connell finally made a decision in the case. In a 15-page decision the court refuted every one of the petitioners' claims and ruled in the district's favor. In the decision the court declared that the Lee Place Walkway met the definition of a "route" under New York State Education Law as defined in section 3621.
The court also ruled that the path is maintained properly by the 7th Police Precinct and the Town of Oyster Bay.
However, the court also ruled that the use of the walkway wasn't a mandate but rather a decision to be made by the district.
The decision follows:
"There are risks involved in transportation by bus as there are in walking on public streets or publicly maintained pathways. Under our system the responsibility for weighing these risks together with the competing interests involved in running a school system rests initially with the school administrators and the democratically elected school board."
