Bronze statue to honor baymen, including Michael Kennedy, will soon stand in Oyster Bay park

Off the breezy waters of Oyster Bay Harbor, John Kennedy grabbed a shovel and moved the first mounds of dirt where a bronze bayman statue will stand at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park.

It was a symbolic moment — one more than four years in the making and more than five years after his son, Michael Kennedy, died at age 57 while shellfishing in Long Island Sound. The memorial will honor baymen and those who died working in the arduous profession.

The project was "a dream that became a reality," said Kennedy, 89, vice president of the Baymens Heritage Association.

The statue will feature a bayman pulling up a haul of shellfish into his boat. A one-legged seagull, a nod to Michael Kennedy, will be part of the memorial. Kennedy said a one-legged seagull would come flying into his son’s boat before heading into the bay.

Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said the memorial would be constructed in the coming months and would "forever remember those who have made their living on the sea, who have put the bounty on our table, who work in all kinds of weather."

Baymen are an important part of the town’s heritage, spanning back to the period before the formation of America, Saladino said.

"This monument belongs here," Saladino said. "This is a place of reflection where friends, family and visitors visiting our beautiful harbor can take time to think about the sacrifices made by our baymen."

The memorial will have a "parklike setting" with benches and educational plaques surrounding the monument, said Carol Kennedy, 71, John's wife. 

The project is expected to cost around $700,000, with over $600,000 raised so far, said the Kennedys, of Bayville. They said the cost of some materials increased the overall price compared with earlier estimates. The monument was funded through donations to the nonprofit Baymens Heritage Association, including a substantial donation by Oyster Bay native Billy Joel, officials said. Construction is expected to be completed in the spring.

John and Carol Kennedy said they aimed to tie in educational components to the memorial and planned to partner with schools and organizations like The WaterFront Center to make the site "more than a destination" and to "make it something people can appreciate and learn from."

During the ceremony, Carol Kennedy recognized Tony Capozzoli, who died in 2022 while shellfishing at Tappen Beach in Sea Cliff. The monument is for all baymen who go out onto the water and take the risks to bring home shellfish, she said.

"This started when our son passed away being a bayman," Carol Kennedy said in an interview. "John and I, and the family, were adamant that we really didn’t want [the memorial] for one person, we wanted it for all baymen ... it isn’t just him, that’s not what he would have wanted."

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ