Too bad you can’t buy street smarts on Amazon.
As a people and as a community, an alarming number of Great Neck residents are engaged in actions that are harmful not only to themselves, but to others. It seems an invisible line has been crossed.
When I walk the residential streets of Baker Hill Road, my spouse and I are frequently the only individuals wearing face coverings. That’s not the worst part. Lately, when un-masked walkers see that you seek separation from them, they cross the street in order to come closer. Or rush up within a few scant feet as they run/jog behind you. Or ride bicycles, three across, zigzagging on the road and obstructing efforts at social distancing.
Aren’t we supposed to “choose life?” As a community and as a people, “Aren’t we too smart for our own actions?” With over 200,000 people dead in the United States from Covid-19, can any of us afford to be so arrogant that it won’t happen to us?
My 86-year-old mother speaks up when she confronts mask-less individuals in her face on Great Neck residential streets. Her latest confrontation involved a couple – the woman in a mask, the man un-masked. The man’s retort to my mother, “I’m a Republican. I don’t have to.”
While we are being cursed at, must we also receive a person’s political views as an excuse for non-compliance? This defiance takes place daily.
While walking, a group of three men easily observed I was social distancing and so they engaged in what I can only presume was “pretend coughing.” I felt certain I was being mocked. Today, a man on a scooter saw that my husband and I were temporarily stopped as we spoke with the driver of a parked car. Before we recognized what was happening, the man on the scooter was inches away from my husband — and without a mask.
Residential streets should be our safe place. Great Neck residents are understandably outraged at being vulnerable to other residents’ acts of aggression. Make no mistake. This is a political war and the lines have been drawn. But this is also a matter of life and death. Nassau County Department of Health indicates a rising number of Covid-19 infections in Great Neck. Over one million individuals worldwide have already perished. There is no gold star for being a human sacrifice to a deadly disease easily prevented with a $4 face covering.
Great Neck residents, including myself, demand action. Some spiritual leaders demand action but fear their sensitive leadership role in the community. They fear speaking out. But isn’t harm from more lives lost worth speaking out for? Aren’t we too smart for silence?
Relaxation at Allenwood Park, Kings Point Park, Memorial Field Park and Steppingstone Park should not be blackened by those who seize an opportunity to spout political views about face coverings. If a narrow path in Allenwood Park is blocked by a non-compliant resident and someone wishes to pass, should they be subjected to a rant about “the right to be mask-less?”
What about our right to move about freely and safely in public spaces? How can Nassau County government reopen public spaces without the creation of a clear-cut enforceable law that protects all people? And imposes substantial fines. And receives the full support of the Nassau County Police Department and private police? If such a law exists, it’s not working.
For those courageous individuals, who are attempting some return to normalcy, should our daily blood pressure boil confronting un-masked strangers, all because we feel vulnerable to aggressive acts on the streets where we live? Residential streets must be our safe place. We, the people, demand that Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and all government leaders confront this life-and-death dilemma, because my 86-year-old mother shouldn’t have to.
Judy Shore Rosenthal
Great Neck, NY
