Billy's Dream: Friends of Teen Killed on LIE to Lobby For Skate Park

Billy Schettino loved skateboarding and with that love came an idea: to raise support to petition the county and neighbors to turn the former Blue Point Laundry property into a skate park.

Schettino didn't live long enough to see his idea become anything more. The 18-year-old from Blue Point was last week on the Long Island Expressway when he was struck by a deputy sheriff's car.

Schettino's friends, though, don't plan to let his dream die. 

"Billy poured his heart out into this park and we personally want to help carry out one of his ultimate dreams," said Joseph Ryan, a senior at Bayport-Blue High School, of the county-owned property on Park Street. 

The two-acre property, known as "The Wastelands" to skating enthusiasts, has been dormant since the county took over the land in 1998.

Schettino, a 2011 B-BP graduate, helped build small ramps using his own money and supplies for skateboarders to use at the site, Ryan said, but skateboarding is officially prohibited at the site.

"Our goal is to make The Wastelands into an official open skate park where any one can come and skateboard and express themselves openly without resistance from the town or other local authorities," said Ryan, who along with Vito Ingraselino, a fellow senior at B-BP High School, is spearheading the effort. "Billy's legacy is now ours to carry on and we wish to not only continue the work he started, but make this into an official park in honor of Billy Schettino."

Before anything can be built on the site, though, it must first be cleaned up. That will happen this summer, when the county addresses contamination issues caused by a chemical that was used in the dry cleaning process at Blue Point Laundry, according to Legis. Rob Calarco.

As to the future of the property, Calarco--whose predecessor, Jack Eddington, held a public meeting last September to discuss the fate of the property--said that is still very much up in the air.

"What I plan to do as legislator is to have a few more public meetings with the community to continue to go through the different ideas and proposals that are out there," said Calarco, D-Patchogue. "We want to make the property into an asset for the community and to do that, you have to make sure that it's something that the community is looking for and wants in their neighborhood."

Calarco said a park, which would require county legislation and a funding source, could make sense for the property as its location and past contamination issues rule out commercial and residential options.

On the idea of a skate park, Calarco said "it may not be the best place to do it in the middle of a residential neighborhood."

"That doesn't mean it's something that can't happen," Calarco said of a skate park, adding that he would be interested in meeting with the teens pushing the idea. "Whenever you have people who get engaged, that helps to find the answer to what we're looking for."

Bob Draffin, president of the Bayport Civic Association, said the organization, which has been involved in discussions on what to do with the property for years, "was most interested in the clean-up and restoration of some sort of park that the immediate neighbors would like."

Ryan said he knows it will be a difficult road to see a skate park come to fruition, but he said the teens have already been in touch with local politicians and have received support from the high school (B-BP school officials did not return a request for comment). 

"This was Billy's dream and legacy," Ryan said, "and Vito and I are here to make his dream come true."