Appointed Massapequa Park superintendent of public works by the board of trustees in 2008, Bob Macri relished the opportunity as one of movement; it signified a career that allowed him to return to where he grew up and that permitted job growth. Having served as assistant village engineer of the village of Rockville Centre for 10 years, he found no path for advancement there.
A neighbor of his parents who worked for the village told them about the opening after the previous superintendent passed away, so he applied. He saw it as "my chance to come home," explaining that "no one internally had knowledge of various aspects of the village."
Although he grew up in Pittsburgh, Pa., and lived there until he was 15, he considers Massapequa Park "home." Some of the early Pittsburgh influence remains, such as his blue-collar mentality and work ethic, along with his dedication to the Steelers. He and his family go to Pittsburgh annually to visit family and take in a football game. But it was his familiarity with Massapequa Park that landed him the job.
Knowing, Improving the Villages
Massapequa Park sits on the south shore of Long Island, less than an hour from New York City. First settled by a few families of German descent in the 19th century, the community experienced a growth spurt in 1938 after the New York Times ran ads for a new development built by a real estate firm. Soon, kit houses sold by Sears Roebuck began popping up. It was incorporated as a village in 1931 to control land use and other issues.
Once notorious for its connections to the Gambino crime family, Massapequa Park was recently ranked #140 on U.S. News' Best Places to Live list — and #1 in the state of New York. Rankings examine housing affordability, job prospects, school quality, access to health care, public safety, commute times and air quality, but the village is probably better known for its suburban charm, safe streets, walkable blocks and close-knit community.
The village of Massapequa Park, population 16,922, owns and operates three parks: Brady Park, Colleran Park and Mansfield Park.
"One is passive, by the ocean," Bob said. "The second has soccer fields and three baseball diamonds. The third is the main one, with a community center, picnic area, baseball, basketball, pickle ball, bocce ball and horseshoes."
Under Bob, the department of public works has upgraded them all and recently redid the baseball diamonds.
"We redo them every few years," he said. The department built new bocce ball, pickleball and basketball courts and two soccer fields.
The downtown area also has been revitalized with shops and restaurants. A 100-ft.-long berm at the entrance to the village near the elevated railroad features the town name written in concrete, a flagpole and landscaping.
"We upgraded the village square last year," Bob said. The square features a sitting area, an old-fashioned clock and a spot for the holiday Christmas tree. His crew added a white picket fence, sod, landscaping, memorial plaques and entrance signs.
Memorials
Bob's first project after taking office in 2008 was creating a gold-star memorial in the downtown business district. Using brick pavers similar to those of the surrounding buildings, placed in the shape of a star, the crew added landscaping and a small wall. It's a subdued, respectful and yet important memorial.
Another of the village's seven memorials was created during Bob's tenure. Located in front of the village hall, where everyone can see it and it's safe from vandalism, the 9/11 memorial is formed by one of the twisted I-beams from the World Trade Center.
"A Port Authority policeman called us about some steel from the World Trade Center in a hangar at JFK Airport," Bob said. "We obtained three pieces."
They gave one to the school district. The large I-beam was incorporated in Bob's design to commemorate all three crash sites from that tragic day. The beam sits on top of a brick keystone-shaped structure in memory of the Shanksville, Pa., site, and is surrounded by pentagon-shaped bricks in memory of the Pentagon site.
Much of the work on the memorial was done in-house. The crew hoisted the 20-ft.-long I-beam with a payloader and welded it in place with two steel posts. Bob said he expected to add the second I-beam to the structure this summer and have it finished by 9/11.
More Than Just Highways
Bob is very clear: "This is not just a highway department. The job is public works. It incorporates all of the village, not just roads and bridges."
He oversees management of the entire village, including emergency management, parks, highway buildings and engineering. His background in civil engineering was another key aspect in winning the position. He came with experience in design and installation of various civil engineering projects, including road paving and drainage.
He also manages and directs people. "I'm not getting as dirty as most, but I do get involved in all areas of construction," he said.
Bob oversees 22 full-time staff and three part-time staff, who work Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
One of Bob's most proud accomplishments was creating five new foreman positions.
"There was a lack of structure when I started," he said.
Just as he had been in his former position, people were "stuck" with no way to increase their income, nowhere to go in their careers.
"I created the foreman positions for promotions, which came with raises," he said, adding that these positions of authority give his workers a sense of responsibility, along with more say in the department. It also created a ladder system.
"One guy went from a laborer to a foreman to a supervisor. You find good people this way. You can see who wants to move up."
Some of the crew Bob has elevated to positions of authority include:
• Gregg Bencic, general highway supervisor
• Robert Fieman, general garage supervisor
• Frank Capobianco, highway supervisor
• Chris Magistro, garage foreman
• Juan Henriquez, buildings foreman
• Jeff Anfuso, grounds foreman
Projects
Delegating responsibility — and "a very fair budget" of $3.6 million (plus CHIPS totaling $492.313.41) enables Bob to focus on projects and other responsibilities.
"Things are different on the Island," he said. "It's not like upstate. We mostly hire contractors to do paving and drainage projects."
Safety has been a priority for him and one of the main projects he's been focused on. Ten years ago, the department implemented safety meetings. There is mandatory annual training, and he sends people to special classes as needed. They even train on rabies, poison ivy and sunburn.
"If you work in the elements, you need to know about these things," he said.
For added safety, he changed their uniforms.
"The DPW uniforms were dark and unsafe: no reflection, no safety vest. Now, we wear safety yellow, hard hats and reflective clothing."
An ongoing project the crew has been working on is converting all interior and exterior lighting, parking lot lights and streetlights to LED. Over the past 10 years, the department started one section at a time.
"We did 20, 30, 40 or more streetlights a week," Bob said. "Since we have two bucket trucks and we already repair the streetlights, we did it ourselves."
Nearly 1,200 streetlight updates were completed in just two years. Not only has this been a "good PR" move, but changing out the lights has decreased the village's electric bill by thousands of dollars.
Another ongoing project is train station beautification. This three-year project has been divided into phases.
"Last year, we did the railroad side of town," Bob said. Work includes adding lighting, trees, flowers, benches, sidewalks, curbing and paving to create a welcoming sight for commuters returning home from New York City.
Completing projects to enhance the village is Bob's favorite part of the job, so it's no surprise to find him working on fresh ideas. His list includes upgrading parking lots, paving more roads and updating sports fields and courts.
One future project involves municipal parking lot upgrades. The department has been working with Liro Engineers on lot reconstruction. The downtown business district has five major parking lots. One is 600 ft. long with 350 parking spaces and is used for the train station and for merchant parking.
"The lighting is poor," Bob said. "It needs new paving and concrete sidewalks."
If he ever runs out of ideas for projects, Bob can consult the file of complaints he keeps. He calls it his "wish list file." At the end of every winter, he goes through the file to see what issues he can address. Once a project is scheduled, he said he's "in constant communication with people" about it. He likes to ensure that the residents are informed about progress on projects.
Bob places a great deal of importance on communication, both with the public and with the crew.
"We always pick up the phone. We respond. We follow up."
Supervisors and foremen carry cell phones, and every vehicle has a CB radio. Computers are used for maintenance record keeping, payroll, complaints, data and inventory.
The Must-Do Tasks
Responsibilities of the department include parks, buildings, the central garage and the roads. Those buildings, many of them built in the 1950s, include: the village hall, community center, public works facility, salt storage facility, Kicherer cold storage facility, Front Street garage, sign shop, wood shop and central garage.
The salt storage building has a capacity of 500 tons.
"We don't get as much snow as upstate New York — no lake-effect snow," Bob said, explaining why they typically don't need as much salt, although he gets enough to provide salt to the school district. He watches it closely.
"It's not an unlimited pile. I like to keep it full. We continually stockpile the salt ensuring that the building is always full."
Preferring salt because it's cleaner, he uses little sand, which he said can get into the storm drains and cause problems with the drain pipes.
Snowplowing is Bob's least favorite part of the job, but when they do get snow, the department has seven plow routes, each of which takes approximately four hours. All roads in the village are paved and are routinely inspected in-house.
Most vehicle maintenance is also performed internally.
"We have three full-time mechanics," Bob said. "They do most of the work in-house, except for big jobs like transmissions, hydraulics on the buckets, etc."
Although Bob said his fleet needs to add two new six-wheel dump trucks, a considerable portion of the department's equipment inventory is relatively new, in keeping with his goal of not having more than seven to 10 years on most vehicles.
"Over the past five to seven years, we've acquired things," he said.
Some came through an ARPA grant. Others were a gift of Hurricane Sandy in 2012. When several vehicles ended up underwater due to the storm, FEMA provided funds for new equipment.
"There was three feet of flooding on the south end of the village, which goes to the bay," he said.
With more than 100 trees down, crews worked practically around the clock.
"It took a couple weeks of clearing and a couple months of cleaning up."
Power was out for more than a week, but the community center and the village hall had generators.
One Year at a Time
The upside of being appointed to a position is that you never have to campaign for it. The downside is that you have to wait for that annual letter to know your job is safe another year. The letters keep coming and Bob has no immediate plans to retire. "There's still a lot of work to be done, and I still enjoy what I do," he said.
Immensely proud of erecting the 9/11 memorial and some of the other things he's accomplished, nevertheless, the superintendent continues to work to improve himself and his department. In line with his views on safety, he is a member of PERMA Safety Institute, a risk management agency for training and safety programs. He's also a member of NYCOM, a conference of mayors that offers training for clerks, administrators and public works officials.
Of course, no amount of training could have prepared him for his worst day on the job approximately 10 years ago — a day he was technically on vacation until he received a phone call from one of his supervisors, alerting him to the suicide of one of his employees.
It wasn't an easy moment to get past, but Bob takes comfort in his family, who stands by him through all the challenges of the job. His wife, Kathy, who works for St. Francis hospital, tells him he needs to have a thicker skin when dealing with upset residents, and that he shouldn't sweat the small stuff.
The couple is "big on hiking," he said. "We like to find waterfalls, mountains and scenic overlooks. We also love the beaches at Fire Island."
Typically, they take long weekends to explore the Poconos and upstate New York, but they plan to visit the Smokey Mountains next year after the weddings of their son, Tommy, 27, in 2026, and daughter, Marissa, 25, in November 2025.
Ever the Pittsburgh boy, Bob takes the ‘Terrible Towel' with them wherever they go. Developed in 1975 in Pittsburgh, the Terrible Towel is credited with being the first rally towel in professional sports. Many fans take their towel to famous sites or on vacations. It has become recognized as a symbol of the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.
"It always joins me for every vacation, regardless of where it is," Bob said. It has accompanied him to the Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Lucia and on hiking trips. "It's something of a tradition that has stuck with me since my childhood."
Back on the job, Bob concentrates on long-term goals.
"I want to continue updating the fleet; implementing more safety initiatives; upgrading lots, roads and parks; beautifying the train station, downtown area and village facilities; and bringing in positive, experienced employees."
If he achieves even half of his goals, his hoped-for legacy of leaving the village better than he found it will be accomplished. Every day he proves that he deserves to be remembered the way he hopes he one day will be: "for doing an honest job and caring about the community." P
