Security has always been at the heart of Roslyn Country Club. From the earliest days, the community came together to fund safety and health initiatives (1949, Newsday). The neighborhood used to have private security (neighbors and then for-hire) patrolling the neighborhood.

May 1983: When Citizens Fight Back (Newsday)

There was also an internet surveillance system with private security cameras, tho there is mixed recollections of how that system was implemented. Webcams in the mid-90s were of a different caliber than they are today.

February 1996: Surveillance Cameras Monitor Comings and Goings in Roslyn

Today, we could create a similar system far more simply, without the high cost of maintenance, with each of us connecting a camera on our own property to our own centralized system. All who join could have access to all the cameras to monitor our neighborhood. It would be a voluntary system to enter, with probably a low monthly fee, but to enter, one would obviously need to be a resident of the neighborhood, and have a camera on their property facing the street that is part of the network.

WE could do it… again.

October 1982: Civilian Crime Fighters on Patrol

September 1982: Communities Take Role in Watch on Crime (NY Times)

May 1998: Someone’s Watching: Internet surveillance in Roslyn Heights

Summer in the ’50s at The Club. It still looked a lot like this in the 90s and early 2000s.

Thanks Chet Robbins for providing the video!
Music is by Dashboard Confessional, which concludes with added background audio recently released by NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration of a blackhole.