(The following farewell message was received from Robert Femminella, president of Save Our Village in New Hyde Park.)

The board members of Save Our Village have devoted a year of their lives to researching the LIRR Third Track Project, a proposal which will dramatically change New Hyde Park forever. Following countless hours researching this extremely complex issue, we enlightened those who were interested as to the results of our diligent work. We persevered in our attempts to educate the public at large about the widespread consequences should this project come to fruition. At this point in time, our efforts have reached the pinnacle of what a group of civic-minded individuals could ever hope to accomplish under such difficult circumstances, and thus, our mission has been accomplished.

On February 19 we met with Helena Williams, president of the LIRR. At this meeting, our concerns, hopes and fears were given a voice, and we realized that our time in this quest as a small civic group had reached the saturation point. After informing NHP Mayor Dan Petruccio of the concerns of countless citizens and offering possible solutions to the problems inherent in the MTA/LIRR proposals, we placed the fate of our village regarding the Third Track Project squarely and finally with the NHP Village Board, which ultimately has the peoples' mandate and final binding authority to negotiate with the LIRR.

As president of Save Our Village, I would like to thank everyone who joined with us throughout our difficult journey. Board members Diane Bentivegna, Roseann Farina, and Cristina Prieto-Maroney have dedicated countless hours and expended great energy over the past 12 months in order for us to accomplish our mission. I am very proud to have worked with these people, and I consider them very dear friends. The decisions now rest in the hands of the LIRR and the public officials who represent the individual towns and villages.

We wish the mayor and trustees of the Village of New Hyde Park the courage and fortitude to meet the difficult challenges ahead, keeping the best interests of the citizens of New Hyde Park first and foremost.