Nassau County Legislator Joshua A. Lafazan (D - Woodbury) joined with Cat Colvin, President of the Marie Colvin Memorial Foundation; Syosset High School senior Sabrina Guo, leaders of the Marie Colvin International Center of Reporting at the Stony Brook University School of Communication and Journalism, elected officials and local residents on Saturday, Nov. 12 to celebrate the ceremonial renaming of West Main Street between Spring and South Streets in Oyster Bay as “Marie Colvin Way.”
Colvin, who was raised in East Norwich and graduated from Oyster Bay High School, was a world-renowned foreign affairs correspondent. During a career that spanned more than three decades, Colvin exhibited remarkable bravery, tenacity, skill, and compassion as she exposed war crimes and humanitarian atrocities through her fearless reporting. Colvin’s life was cut short on Feb. 22, 2012 when she was assassinated by the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.
Building upon a recommendation by Guo, founder of the not-for-profit Girl Pride International, Legislator Lafazan filed legislation to enshrine Marie Colvin’s legacy in the heart of downtown Oyster Bay in July. The Nassau Legislature unanimously approved the proposal on Monday, Sept. 19.
“It’s hard not to think about Marie today and for this past year when you think about what’s happening in Ukraine - when you think about those journalists in the subway stations that are doubling as bomb shelters in Kyiv; when you think about those journalists on the front lines in Kherson; when you think about all of those storytellers who are in one of the most dangerous places in the world right now, they are standing on the shoulders of a giant,” Legislator Lafazan said. “Like all of us today, we stand on Marie’s shoulders as well. We remember her, we honor her, and it’s our privilege to name this street after her.”