The Serenity Garden Park at the Town of Islip’s Brookwood Hall has been a dream long in the making, first breaking ground in July of 2023. The dream was boosted on November 14, 2024, as The Parks Foundation of Islip Town hosted a VIP Preview event at the Brookwood Hall Ballroom on Irish Lane in East Islip. The “park within a park” will cater to people with visual and hearing impairments, Alzheimer’s, or dementia, those on the autism spectrum, seniors, veterans, and all who enjoy the beauty of nature and the outdoors. The Serenity Gardens will feature landscaping elements that promote tranquility, with fragrant plants and flowers to aid in the sensory experience. Learn more about this project at isliptownparksfoundation.org.
Alise Colandero, and Michael Hasapidis of the project construction firm, Welkin Enterprises.Photo by Craig Low.
![“Unfortunately, and despite our warnings and advice to leave [Fire Island] while conditions allowed, many decided not only to stay but to come over to the island,” scolded Ocean Beach Mayor James Mallott in an emailed newsletter on the afternoon of Sept. 26, during the height of the nor’easter. “These decisions put themselves and their families in danger and jeopardized our first responders who had to answer calls that never should have been.”](https://www.fireislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/IMG_8692.jpeg?quality=51&w=700)
