STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 More than 100 people gathered Saturday in Rossville to witness the unveiling of Madison Rochelle Alfano Way, a street co-named in honor of a young woman whose death inspired her family\u2019s mission to improve driving safety.<\/p>\n
The ceremony took place at the corner of Winant Avenue and Veterans Road East, where the new street sign was installed. The location holds special significance for the Alfano family, whose home is just a few blocks away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wondered \u2018how can we keep her name alive?\u2019\u201d said Lou Alfano, Madison\u2019s father. \u201cWhat\u2019s something that\u2019s lasting? With her being so young and from the neighborhood, we thought it\u2019d be nice that people could see Madison\u2019s name for years and years beyond this tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Madison, 18, was a 2023 graduate of Tottenville High School and a freshman at Monmouth University. On Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, Madison was heading home from school when she was involved in a multi-vehicle collision on the Garden State Parkway<\/a> near Exit 127. Rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, she succumbed to her injuries the next morning. <\/p>\n The street co-naming process began over six months ago as an initiative of the Madison Rochelle Alfano Foundation<\/a>. The timing proved fortuitous when the family contacted New York City Councilman Frank Morano, a Republican representing the South Shore.<\/p>\n \u201cA mutual friend of mine knew (Councilman Morano) and his team, and contacted them,\u201d Alfano explained. \u201cThey got back to us that evening because they had heard about the story when it happened. They also happened to know that the deadline to submit the application for the street naming was approaching.\u201d<\/p>\n The family submitted the application right on time, and it was approved by the City Council, Alfano said.<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s ceremony was attended by many who learned about the event through social media. Other attendees included Morano, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and Michael Colombo, who is running for borough president.<\/p>\n \u201cTotal strangers came up to us and said someone had shared this on Facebook,\u201d Alfano said. \u201cThey heard about the story when it happened in 2024 and just wanted to come, pay their respects and see the unveiling.\u201d<\/p>\n Alfano said he hopes the street sign will direct people to learn more about his daughter and the foundation\u2019s virtual driving school project<\/a>. The family is still fundraising, hoping to reach its goal of $125,000 to launch the program.<\/p>\n The program will offer free simulator training for drivers ages 17 to 20, focusing on situations and scenarios that can\u2019t be safely practiced during traditional driver education.<\/p>\n \u201cOur goal is to make the road safer,\u201d Alfano previously explained. \u201cWe think this is going to become muscle memory when these kids learn what happens in a dangerous situation and how to avoid it or get out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Virtual driving school project sessions would include classroom instruction followed by hands-on simulator experience with realistic controls \u2014 a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals \u2014 similar to those used in immersive driving-themed video games.<\/p>\n Once in the virtual driver\u2019s seat, participants will face varying simulations programmed to replicate experiences such as navigating wet roads and recovering from hydroplaning, reacting when another driver brakes suddenly and handling being cut off by angry drivers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like every week I\u2019m reading a new story,\u201d Alfano said, referencing recent traffic fatalities involving young people on Staten Island. \u201cIt\u2019s just such a struggle for me being close to the tragedy of my daughter, where I have a potential solution to prevent these accidents and fatalities.\u201d<\/p>\n The family also used the gathering to collect pet food donations for Lou\u2019s Helping Hand<\/a>, a foundation that operates a free pet food pantry for seniors and low-income residents. The connection is in honor Madison\u2019s love of pets, especially her dog, Leo.<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 More than 100 people gathered Saturday in Rossville to witness the unveiling of Madison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}