Officials consider options at site of fatal Valley Stream crash

Valley Stream Mayor Edwin Fare said residents are split on... — Valley Stream Mayor Edwin Fare said residents are split on whether they would prefer increased police enforcement, a stop sign or a traffic light at the intersection of Rockaway and Dubois avenues. Credit: Michael Owens

By Stefanie Daziostefanie.dazio@newsday.comJune 5, 2018

Valley Stream and Nassau County officials are looking into the possibility of installing a traffic signal or stop sign on Rockaway Avenue following a fatal motorcycle crash last month.

Village resident Jason Rosenbaum, 27, died May 24 after his 2006 Harley-Davidson motorcycle collided with a 2012 Honda SUV at Rockaway Avenue — a county road — and Dubois Avenue.

Rosenbaum was ejected from his motorcycle and died three hours later at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside.

James Rosenbaum said he hopes that his brother’s death won’t have been in vain if it prompts officials to erect a stop sign or traffic signal.

“It’s a bummer that it had to cost a life, but maybe it would save another one,” said James Rosenbaum, 30, a village maintenance worker and public safety officer.

The brothers grew up in Valley Stream, moving to their grandmother’s mother/daughter house as youngsters after their family was displaced by a fire. After their parents died when Jason was a teenager, they stayed in the home together.

Jason Rosenbaum, a carpenter, lived in the basement and often came upstairs to see his brother’s family, including his 10-month-old niece and goddaughter, Madison.

Jason Rosenbaum, 27, of Valley Stream, was killed May 24. Credit: Courtesy James Rosenbaum

“She loved him, he loved her,” James Rosenbaum said.

Jason Rosenbaum inherited his fascination with motorcycles from their father and bought the same bike his father had, his brother said.

Mayor Edwin Fare, who taught the siblings at Valley Stream South High School, said residents are split on whether they would prefer increased police enforcement, a stop sign or a traffic light at the intersection. He said he wants to get traffic statistics about the area before making a permanent decision but supports an interim measure.

“You can’t put a traffic light everywhere there’s a fatality,” Fare said. “I don’t know if that’s the best solution.”

Nassau Legis. C. William Gaylor III (R-Lynbrook) said he has asked the commissioners of Nassau County police and the county’s Department of Public Works to research the matter.

“I think it’s a horrible tragedy,” Gaylor said. “I think there needs to be a stop sign or a traffic signal along that stretch of road.”