Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi today renamed Nassau Beach Park as Eugene H. Nickerson Memorial Beach. The Dedication Ceremony occurred today, August 2, 2002, on what would have been Nickerson's 84th birthday. Nickerson, the third of only six County Executive's to serve Nassau, also served 24 years in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Judges from the United States District Court, as well as a member of the Nickerson Administration, were on hand to speak of Nickerson's legacy.

"Beyond his stellar personal qualities, when he was County Executive, Eugene Nickerson was the best friend the Nassau County parks ever had," said County Executive Suozzi. "When he left office in 1970, Nassau County had more than doubled the size of its park holdings. I am announcing that as part of our 4-year capital budget, we have plans to invest $2 million in this beach over the next several years. In addition, I will be forming Parks Committees for our county parks made up of volunteers from each community interested in restoring them to their former glory."

County Executive Nickerson once said, "To protect and preserve our beaches, our parkland, our green belts, our open spaces and all the gifts of nature-for the enjoyment of generations we will not live to see-this, it seems to me, is the great legacy of public service." One goal of the current administration is to rebuild and enhance our county and our parks to the glory days of the Nickerson Administration, and to restore them from the many years of mismanagement that have left these parks tarnished and in disrepair.

"It only seems fitting that we rename it after the man whose legacy is so firmly established in the growth of the Nassau County parks system," said Nassau County Legislator Michael Zapson (D-Long Beach). "Eugene H. Nickerson Memorial Beach will long stand as tribute to one of Nassau County's most preeminent leaders."

Today's ceremony included remarks by County Executive Suozzi, Alfred Connable, a member of the Nickerson administration, and Judges Jack Weinstein and John Gleeson, both Judges of the United States District Court. Boy Scout Troop 215 of Long Beach led in the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.