Uniondale street renamed for couple who protected, beautified community

For years, the husband and wife team of Ernest and Marie Catanese worked to transform a vacant and dilapidated plot of property in Uniondale into a park honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On Tuesday, Uniondale Avenue between Nassau Road and Jerusalem Avenue — just outside Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Park — was renamed "Catanese Way" in honor of the couple, who spent a lifetime beautifying and protecting Uniondale.

Marie Catanese, who also served as president of the Uniondale Historical Society, died in 2019 but her husband, who attended the street renaming ceremony, remains a fixture in the community.

"If my wife was here she would be so thrilled," Ernest Catanese said Tuesday. "She was a dynamo. There was nothing about Uniondale she wouldn't protect … Uniondale has always been our town. And we will always stick by it."

Legis. Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport), who sponsored the street renaming legislation, said he never saw the Cataneses without each other.

"Marie would say that all of her friends have left Uniondale and moved to East Meadow, North Merrick and Bellmore," Abrahams said. "But the Cataneses always called Uniondale their home and they never left. And we are so blessed to have them continue to be in our community because I don't know where we would be — 60 years of advocacy — if they were not here today."

In the early 1990s, the couple created Uniondale Neighbors in Total Effort [UNITE], an influential civic group, and were heavily involved in local environmental and veterans projects, road resurfacing and streetscaping efforts.

The Cataneses were also at the forefront in the decadeslong effort to preserve Uniondale's Goehner farm stand, eventually turning it into a children's farm museum.

The couple moved to Uniondale from Brooklyn in 1955, and Marie immediately began shopping at the stand, along with her children, who picked string beans at the farm.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said the Cataneses' legacy is the importance of community investment and civic pride.

"It's about giving back," Curran said. "It's about looking beyond your family. To your community. Adopting other neighbors who need your help. Adopting this beautiful piece of land and turning it in to something even more beautiful. Something the community can really use and appreciate."

Hempstead Town Supervisor Don Clavin said the Cataneses have been mainstays at town board meetings, always advocating for Uniondale and its needs.

"This is wonderful tribute to them," Clavin said. "They are really great people who do it all for this community."

Abrahams said the street sign should also remind future community advocates of the difficult work already accomplished in Uniondale.

"As we look for new advocates to step into our community, the trail has already been blazed by the Cataneses," he said. "And it is important they recognize and see what's going on in our community and who were the trailblazers."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.