Deadly street: West Babylon neighbors plead for fixes near site of 5 fatalities since 2023

When Ana Almontes heard about the Sept. 21 crash on Great East Neck Road in West Babylon that killed three people, including local teenagers Riley Goot and Bella Trezza, she was heartbroken for their families — but not surprised by the latest collision.

Almontes, 65, lives about a quarter-mile south on the same road, which is known among residents for vehicles speeding and crashes. In July, an SUV spun out of control and plowed into her next-door neighbors’ living room.

Almontes said she’s afraid to fall asleep downstairs, fearing a vehicle could come crashing through the wall.

"It’s very, very dangerous here," she said in Spanish, adding that at least three cars have crashed into her front yard since she moved there in 2001.

Great East Neck Road, a 1.2-mile thoroughfare between Little East Neck Road and Montauk Highway, had 284 crashes resulting in 109 injuries in and near its intersections between 2019 and 2022, according to state Department of Transportation data. The recent crash that killed the teenagers was the third fatal crash since the beginning of 2023 near the road's intersection with Railroad Avenue.

Experts say it often takes a tragedy to rectify long-standing road dangers. In recent weeks, a group of West Babylon residents have started a letter-writing campaign to urge Suffolk County to make physical changes to discourage speeding and improve visibility on the road.

Even before the recent fatal accident, some residents pleaded for safety measures. Babylon Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer forwarded a letter from a resident to county transportation officials and legislators calling for changes to Great East Neck Road 47 days before the crash that killed Goot and Trezza, according to town email records. 

In the weeks since that crash, the county announced plans to install more signage and rumble strips, and to study other potential changes. The county said it also has asked Suffolk police to increase enforcement in the area.

But some residents say the county’s efforts are too little, too late.

"They're just putting a little bit of a Band-Aid on a bullet hole," said Michael Rosenberger, a local parent and leader of the letter-writing effort, of the changes — some of which, like the rumble strips, were completed earlier this month.

Newsday spoke with traffic experts and community members who identified speeding as a major problem, and said speeders need to be deterred with more physical changes that force them to slow down. They favored a variety of additional measures to make the corridor safer — from speed cameras to road medians, new signals and crosswalks.

Michael Martino, a spokesman for Suffolk County, did not answer Newsday’s written questions about how it decided on the announced changes, or whether a new traffic study has been completed. However, he stated in an email that the county will "continue to evaluate" whether additional traffic control devices, traffic signals or other measures are required.

In a statement, County Executive Edward P. Romaine said the Suffolk County Department of Public Works "is responding as quickly as possible and is listening to local elected officials and the community to ensure their concerns are heard, and we are taking action ... addressing this pressing community issue."

A busy road where speeding is common

Great East Neck Road, which is home to two schools and scores of homes, is a busy thoroughfare for commuters as well as truck traffic to and from a county sanitation plant on the South Shore. It has two lanes in each direction running north and south, plus a turning lane — which, during a reporter’s recent visit, an ATV driver was using to do wheelies and other tricks in the middle of traffic.

Though the speed limit is 30 mph, the road's wide lanes and open feel may make drivers comfortable going faster, according to experts. In 2019, the most recent year for which DOT data is available, 15% of southbound drivers were going faster than 47 mph (although the speed limit at the time was 40 mph; the county did not respond to questions about when the speed limit was lowered). In 2021, there were more than 350 red light violations per month, according to county data from five red light cameras located on Great East Neck Road.

The intersection with Railroad Avenue — one of the most dangerous — is bordered to the north by two overhead railway trestles that make it difficult to see traffic signals as well as the roadway, residents say.

The area around the trestles has had three crashes, killing five people, in the past two years, including September’s crash that killed three.

Eileen O’Hara, 78, was hit and killed by a northbound car on Jan. 21, 2023, as she was crossing Great East Neck Road on foot. The retired school aide and grandmother was returning from evening Mass at a nearby church, according to her son, James. Suffolk police said there were no arrests related to the crash.  

On Aug. 5, driver Thomas Parietti, 63, was killed when he veered from the northbound into the southbound lanes, crashing into some trees beside the railroad trestle. The accident was caused by a heart attack, according to his daughter.

Then at around 1:06 a.m. on Sept. 21, Michael Desmond, of Lindenhurst, drove a 2017 Kia sedan east on Railroad Avenue through a red light and collided with a 2025 Kia Seltos traveling south on Great East Neck Road. Desmond, 33, and Goot, 18, died the same night. Trezza, 17, died four days later.

Newsday has filed public records requests for Suffolk police's investigative files related to the deadly crashes.

County received warning before latest fatal crash

After the SUV crashed into the home in July, local resident Chris Graham wrote to Schaffer, the town supervisor, calling attention to the speeding problem.

"Please help us to get not just a study done, but to effectuate REAL change to the traffic conditions on Great East Neck Road so we can continue to keep our community safer as the volume increases," Graham wrote.

On Aug. 5, after the next fatal crash but a month and a half before the crash that killed Goot and Trezza, Schaffer forwarded that email to Charles Bartha, commissioner for the Suffolk Department of Public Works, and other staff.

Suffolk County shared its proposed changes with Schaffer on Oct. 9. These included new and refreshed rumble strips, additional 30 mph signs, digital feedback signs, arrow signs for curves, and a signal warning sign ahead of the Railroad Avenue intersection.

Schaffer said he commends "the County for their quick response."

But Rosenberger, who is an attorney, said the county should have acted earlier.

"They could have acted, and should have acted. There could have been the possibility of preventing this [September] accident," he said.

Experts, community members call for additional measures

Steve Maucere, a parent whose children knew some of the teens killed in September, said it seems like Suffolk police have stepped up patrolling after the crash.

"The police presence [is] a tremendous help," he said. 

But the county should do more, including installing additional signals ahead of the railroad trestles to improve visibility at Railroad Avenue, Maucere said.

"You can't see what's coming or going. You can't see what cars are coming from the side, because the railroad blocks the view," he said.

A rebuild of that signal is one of the options that Martino, the county spokesperson, said the county will evaluate.

James O’Hara, whose mother was killed last year, told Newsday he’d like to see more crosswalks along the roadway. His mother, who lived nearby and did not use a car, was hit while crossing a section of the road where there is a quarter-mile between crosswalks.

Elissa Kyle, placemaking director at Northport-based Vision Long Island, which advocates for walkable streets, said she recommends narrowing lanes to make drivers on Railroad Avenue feel less comfortable going fast — such as by installing a tree-lined median.

"If the road feels wide open and there's no obstacles, then [drivers] are going to feel comfortable going faster," Kyle said.

Carl Berkowitz, a Moriches-based independent traffic engineer, said rumble strips, which the county has installed, are not always effective at reducing speed.

"What tends to do it better than anything else is speed cameras," he said.

Great East Neck Road does not have speed cameras, which are only allowed in certain highway work zones under state law. County red light cameras, which were installed in 2013, do not catch speeders unless a driver runs the light.

And Suffolk County has announced it will wind down its red light program on Dec. 1 after state lawmakers did not extend the program in the last legislative session, and the Suffolk Legislature's failure to pass a “home rule message” to the State Legislature supporting an extension.

Berkowitz said that while he respects Suffolk leadership, the county's initial fixes don’t appear to be based on extensive research.

"Somebody should do a really intense study of this area ... I don't think you want to make recommendations without ... doing an in-depth traffic engineering study," he said.

A community comes together

Setha Low, who leads the Public Space Research Group at the CUNY Graduate Center, said grassroots efforts to reshape roadways often come about in the wake of a tragedy, such as September's crash.

"It is the problem that brings the public to the issue and gets them involved in speaking up about how they feel about a public space," she said.

Rosenberger sees the letter-writing campaign, as well as an effort he's leading to distribute yard signs encouraging drivers to slow down, as one of many ways the community has responded to September’s fatal crash. Local businesses and sports leagues also have organized fundraisers for the victims’ families.

"The community really has come together over this incident," he said.

With Arielle Martinez