Monday, April 9, 2012

Seaford Library budget passes

On April 4, 2012, the Seaford Library budget passed, with a vote of 85 to 40. Patricia Coughlin was reelected, unopposed, with 106 votes.
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Below, I list some results from previous years:
On April 6, 2011, the 2011-2012 budget for the Seaford Library passed, 110-36.  Stephen Gaughran was reelected as trustee, with 129 votes.
In April, 2010, the Seaford library budget passed, 103-29. Eileen Montalbano was reelected as trustee, with 119 votes.
In April, 2009, the Seaford Library budget passed, 98-30. John Rall was reelected as trustee with 115 votes.
In April, 2008, the Seaford Library budget passed, 110-52.  Peter Ruffner was reelected trustee for a five-year term.
The 2007-8 budget of the Seaford Public Library passed, with a vote of 78 "Yes" to 45 "No." Maybe the drenching rain kept the turnout low. Possessing a valid library card is different from registering to vote in a library district or school district, and I do not know the number of registered or eligible voters. About 10,400 Seafordites have Seaford Library cards in a district of approximately 16,000 residents. As library cards must be renewed every three years, the number of card holders may be a little inflated by people moving out of the district. The voting register for school district and library district (a combined list) totals about 10,000 to 12,000 names.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Fewer Merrick Road buses



The bus service cutbacks, effective 4.8.2012, on route N19 along Merrick Road show the following changes in eastbound service:
From Monday to Friday: 20 eastbound trips instead of 31.
On Saturdays: 17 eastbound trips instead of 26.
On Sundays: the same 9 eastbound trips as previously, providing hourly service.
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Westbound cutbacks are similar.
In the 1960's, I recall several trips on the Freeport-Patchogue route through Seaford, as provided by Utility Bus Corporation.  I have been unable to find a bus photo from the Utility era.  
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From about 1930 to about 1973, a North Merrick firm, the Jerusalem Avenue Bus Company, connected Seaford with Hempstead, via Waverly and Seaford Avenues.  When Sunrise Mall opened, the routes were changed.  The new schedules for the N54, which travels on Washington Avenue from Jerusalem Avenue to Sunrise Highway (serving the Seaford railroad station) show a mostly unchanged timetable from the past months: 15 hourly trips Monday to Friday, 13 hourly trips on Saturday, and no service on Sunday.  The N54 connects Sunrise Mall, Seaford, North Wantagh, North Merrick, and Hempstead, much of it via Jerusalem Avenue.