Authors Posts by Barbara Donlon

Barbara Donlon

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John Swenning is running for a board seat. Photo from the candidate

Three Comsewogue Board of Education seats are up for election this year, but voters who hit the polls on May 19 won’t have a large selection — with Trustee Ed Barry stepping aside, there are only as many candidates as there are slots available.

Barry, a nine-year veteran, said he wants to give others a chance to fill the position he has loved holding.
“It really has been a great experience,” Barry said. “I may consider running again down the road.”

John Swenning
Board President John Swenning has served since 2002 and is running for another term on the board. The Comsewogue graduate said his time with the board has been great, which is why he is running again.
The father of four — one child at Comsewogue High School and three who have already graduated — said he enjoys working with administrators, teachers, parents and students.
“I just like what I do,” Swenning said. “We’ve really made some serious progress in the first few years and I want to keep it going.”

Rick Rennard is running for a board seat. Photo from the candidate
Rick Rennard is running for a board seat. Photo from the candidate

One of the things Swenning would like to see through is the accreditation from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools that the district applied for last year. The district is undergoing a three-year internal review on the road to receiving the nonprofit’s designation, given to high-performing institutions worldwide.
The board president also wants to restore programs that were cut in recent years to balance budgets.

Rick Rennard
Rick Rennard just finished his first year on the board, completing the term of a former trustee who moved out of the district.
“This one-year experience that I’ve had so far has been so positive,” he said. “I want to continue.”
He said he would like to finish some things the board started this year, such as the accreditation process. He echoed Swenning in saying he wants to restore academic programs.
He also “would like to continue to speak out on behalf of the district to our legislators to get our fair share of funding,” Rennard said. “I will fight for the district.”
The father of three children, 11-year-old Emma, 9-year-old Rickey and 7-year-old Brendan, and a social studies teacher at Newfield High School, he’s been living in the community for almost 11 years.

Louise Melious is running for a board seat. Photo from the candidate
Louise Melious is running for a board seat. Photo from the candidate

Louise Melious
A newcomer, Louise Melious, has decided to run for trustee after years of being on the fence about serving.
“I think I have something to offer and I certainly hope the community can give me this honor,” Melious said.
She has been following the issue of students opting out of taking the state’s standardized tests, she said, and while her children, 18-year-old Victoria and 16-year-old Matthew, are past that testing stage, she would advocate on behalf of other students. She said she feels the testing system is wrong.
If elected, she would like to work on tax relief for older residents, expand district sports programs, and restore other programs that were cut in previous budgets.
“If given this opportunity, I would change what I do and be more involved,” Melious said.

BOE President Karen Lessler seeks sixth term

Karen Lessler is running unopposed for the Middle Country Board of Education. File photo by Erika Karp

When hitting the ballots in May, community members will be voting on more than the budget. They will also vote for Middle Country Board of Education trustees who will run the school board, help shape future budgets and make sure proper programs are in place. There are three seats open this year and three incumbent board members are running unopposed.

Karen Lessler
President Karen Lessler is up for re-election and the 15-year veteran said she is seeking another three years in office.
Lessler has held the position of president since 2003 and said being on the school board is a passion of hers.
“I’m very committed to being a child activist,” Lessler said in a phone interview.
The Kings Park school district teacher has been living in the community for 34 years and has had a son and stepson graduate from Centereach High School.
Lessler has been vocal about the fight to keep public education alive and critical of recent changes in education proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
If re-elected, Lessler said she would continue to be fiscally responsible for the community and fight for students.
“I think the issues I continue to focus on are the needs of students and making them good citizens,” Lessler said.

James Macomber is running unopposed for the Middle Country Board of Education. Photo from Middle Country school district
James Macomber is running unopposed for the Middle Country Board of Education. Photo from Middle Country school district

Rev. James Macomber
James Macomber moved to Centereach in 2010 and has served on the board for the last three years.
Currently, Macomber is chair of the educational advancement commission, which spearheaded the science, technology, engineering and math program, which is commonly referred to as STEM. Macomber has been very involved in the STEM program as he feels it provides students with the tools they need to be successful.
Macomber is seeking re-election as he enjoys the community he serves and the board he works with. He called it one of the strongest board of educations around.
“It’s a satisfying way to give back to the community,” Macomber said. “I’ve always been a fan of public education.”
If re-elected, Macomber said he would continue his work to advance the STEM program and work to create partnerships and internships through local businesses for the students in the district.
Macomber, a Vietnam veteran, previously taught business at the University of Tennessee, and has lived in Ohio, Tennessee, New Mexico and Georgia. He has four adult children who have graduated from other school districts.

Arlene Barresi is running unopposed for the Middle Country Board of Education. Photo from Middle Country school district
Arlene Barresi is running unopposed for the Middle Country Board of Education. Photo from Middle Country school district

Arlene Barresi
Arlene Barresi has been on the board for the last nine years and is seeking a fourth term.
Barresi said she has enjoyed her time on the board and is hoping to get a chance at another term.
“We’re in a good place now,” she said. “We have our bond and I want to see it through.”
Last November, the community approved an approximately $125 million bond for capital improvements and security upgrades to the district’s 15 schools.
“We’ve come through very hard times and now we’re doing good, and I want to be a part of that,” Barresi said.
In the past, the district has faced aid cuts, which forced the board and the district to make some cuts. The district, like many across Long Island, is beginning to slowly restore offerings and Barresi hopes to be part of it. On her wish list: an art and music teacher for kindergarten students. Currently, kindergarten teachers provide instruction on the subjects.
Barresi added that she would like to provide younger students who are struggling with additional help, instead of letting problems progress. In addition, she wants high school students to be prepared for life after they graduate, regardless of their path.
“I would like to see more technology programs so people are not only college ready but career ready,” she said.

Rally against New York State education changes

A protestor stands on North Country Road in Mount Sinai on Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Barbara Donlon

Educators, parents and students gathered outside state Sen. Ken LaValle’s Mount Sinai office Tuesday with one clear message: They won’t forget he voted “yes” on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget when it’s their turn to vote in November 2016.

Nearly 100 people rallied in front of the North Country Road office of LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), holding signs letting the senator and the community know they were upset he voted in favor of a portion of the 2015-16 state budget that amended the teacher evaluation system, lengthened the time before teachers can gain tenure and created new designations for failing schools.

Beth Dimino, president of the Port Jefferson Station Teachers Association and a John F. Kennedy Middle School teacher, said her association and other groups coordinated the protest to show the senator they don’t take his vote lightly.

“The purpose of this rally is to remind Mr. LaValle that his vote in favor of Mr. Cuomo’s budget and anti-public education agenda will be remembered by the parents and taxpayers in the November elections,” Dimino said.

A child hoists a sign during a public education protest. Photo by Barbara Donlon
A child hoists a sign during a public education protest. Photo by Barbara Donlon

LaValle, who was in Albany at the time of the protest, was just re-elected to his 20th term in the Senate and will be up for election again next year.

He said in a statement Wednesday, “We improved on what the governor put in his budget proposal and I fully expect we will continue to fix the education piece, with the final result addressing parents and educators concerns.”

April Quiggle, a Port Jefferson parent, said she came out to show how disappointed she is in the senator she always supported.

“I feel betrayed by him,” Quiggle said.

Not one person at the education rally was without a sign. Young children also held signs.

Miller Place resident Erik Zalewski, who teaches in the Middle Country school district, said LaValle and other politicians who voted in favor of the governor’s reform sold out educators and kids.

“It seems money is more important than the children,” Zalewski said.

Lucille McKee, president of the Shoreham-Wading River Teachers Association, joined in to let everyone know she is tired of non-educators making decisions about education.

Halfway through the rally supporters broke out in a cheer: “Ken LaValle you let us down, Ken LaValle you let the students down, Ken LaValle we will not forget!”

Many parents at the picket said they tried numerous times to reach out to the senator by phone and email and never heard back.

Hundreds of cars drove by as everyone protested on the corner of the road. Drivers honked, gave thumbs-up signs and cheered, letting the protesters know they supported them.

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Board member Pam DeFord pushes for the implementation of another full-time librarian. Photo by Barbara Donlon

After incorporating all but one wish list item in its 2015-2016 budget, some Kings Park board of education members insisted on raising the tax cap to add a full-time librarian position.

On Tuesday, the district presented its last budget presentation, which included a tax levy of 2 percent — lower than the maximum 2.27 allowed by the state. The district was able to keep the levy low and still add all the items it wanted, except a librarian that would split time between both Park View Elementary School and Fort Salonga Elementary School.

“So on the wish list, the only thing we didn’t do was the librarian for Fort Salonga and Park View,” board trustee Diane Nally asked. “If we had gone to the 2.27 and we did do the librarian, would there be additional monies also in there to go towards the applied fund balance?”

The district’s superintendent, Timothy Eagen, addressed Nally’s question and said increasing the levy to 2.27 percent would leave the district with roughly $170,000 that could potentially pick up the last wish-listed item.

Increasing the tax levy to 2.27 percent would cost the average homeowner $22 per year, which is something board members Diane Nally and Pam DeFord were advocating.

“I am disappointed that the librarian to be split between Park View and Fort Salonga is not included in the budget because I do think that is important,” Nally said.

During the discussion, board trustee Pam DeFord spoke about a staff member being hired to fulfill an unfunded mandate from the state and said if the district did not have the mandate, the librarian position could have been fulfilled.

DeFord pushed to allow the tax levy to increase to 2.27 percent; she feels since the state is allowing it, the district should take full advantage of it.

“By going up to the 2.27, which is well below what budgets have passed historically here in Kings Park, we could possibly bring back a full-time librarian,” DeFord said. “Now is the chance to restore, start to restore what our kids have been missing for so long.”

Board President Tom Locascio and Vice President Charlie Leo said they felt uncomfortable maxing the allowable tax levy. Leo mentioned that the district originally projected a 1.71 percent increase and raising it to 2 percent was enough of an increase.

“One of my concerns is we have put forth a budget where we were always talking 1.71, and I think the community kind of started to get a nice feel the budget was going to be 1.71,” Leo said. “I don’t want to hire a librarian, then have to reduce a librarian.”

According to Eagen, the district has a contingent position in the budget in the event that kindergarten registration is higher than normal. If the registration is lower and the position is not needed, there is a chance the position could go toward a librarian.

“We could absolutely take that contingent position and dedicate it to the librarian,” Eagen said.

Parent Bill Claps addressed the board in support of adding a librarian and said he feels the school needs one. He said he is embarrassed that the district can’t offer a librarian to its students.

“You’ve all had librarians in your school, so why can we not afford that for our children,” Claps said. “I don’t want to pay taxes anymore than anyone else does, but we have to bring the district back to certain standards.”

Chris Philip, president of the Kings Park Classroom Teachers Association, also took to the board in favor of a librarian.

“It’s really incomprehensible under the common core rigor that we don’t have one [a librarian] in every school,” Philip said.

Philip said librarians do more than fund books and it’s crucial for their education that students have access to a librarian.

As of Wednesday, no decision had been made on whether the district will go to the 2.27 tax levy to add a librarian.

New DNA-based marker technology to aid town residents in securing property

Above, a view of the technology, called DNANet. Photo from Applied DNA Sciences

A new public safety pilot program in Huntington Station puts crime-fighting in the hands of residents by providing them with innovative DNA-based technology to mark up property susceptible to burglary.

Last week, Suffolk County Legislator William “Doc” Spencer (D-Centerport) was joined by County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and other elected officials in Huntington Station, where a new device manufactured by Stony Brook-based Applied DNA Sciences was introduced as part of a pilot program in the town. The kit called DNANet comes with a special marker that can be used to mark up to 100 valuables and assets in a home in an effort to keep track of goods if stolen or removed from the home.

“When I was approached last year by the scientists at Applied DNA Sciences with this unique technology, it was clear that it has great potential to be an effective tool in keeping communities safer,” Spencer stated in a press release. “Increasing public safety in Huntington Station and all of Suffolk County has always been a central focus of mine. Bringing in this resource will make this great community even better.”

Suffolk County is paying for the pilot program, which will cost $25,000.

The kits will be distributed to 500 homes in Huntington Station in areas with high burglary rates. Residents will be asked to perform in the study, mark up items and register them with the company.

The mark is not visible to the naked eye. A UV lamp will be needed to see the distinctive mark.

“You can’t see it [and] you can’t scratch it off,“ Spencer said in a phone interview Monday.

When items are stolen, burglars tend to trade the goods to pawn shops for quick cash. The new device will also force shop owners to carefully record data when items are pawned.

“Now it will be harder to pawn stolen goods,” Spencer said.

Once an item with the DNA code is run through the website’s database, it will match to a particular person and address. In the past, reuniting goods with an owner has proved to be difficult because there is no proof of ownership, according to Spencer. The mark would help prove ownership, he said.

Spencer hopes this new initiative will help increase item recoveries, theft convictions and decrease low level petit theft.

“This technology is another tool our police can use against crime,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in a press release. “Our police will be able to address and solve theft of personal property with the information made available by DNAweb.”

According to Spencer, studies show the DNA mark has proven to last up to 350 years. Also if the owner sells an item, a call can be made to have the item removed from the database to prevent confusion.

The program is expected to begin in Huntington Station and Huntington shortly as officials wanted to focus in areas with high crime. The program will be evaluated after six months to see if there has been an improvement in recoveries and convictions. Residents who participate in the program can also put signs on their lawns alerting people the system is in use.

Once the evaluation is over, the Suffolk County Police Department will decide whether to recommend the program expand.

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Shannon Meehan outlines the different ways in which the Kings Park Central School District saved money while crafting its budget for the upcoming year. Photo by Barbara Donlon

Kings Park school district held its last budget meeting Tuesday and shared good news with the community as it added wish list items to the budget while still staying below the tax cap limit.

At the final open budget workshop, the district presented an $84.7 million budget that preserves the current curriculum and extra curricular activities while also adding new staff and programs for next year.

Shannon Meehan, the school business administrator, said savings through teacher retirements and extra revenue helped the district craft the 2015-2016 budget with a 2 percent tax levy increase.

“We’re able to maintain all of our curriculum and programs, we’re able to keep all of our extra curricular activities — music, art, sports — stabilize or in some cases reduce our class sizes and propose a [budget] that’s within our tax cap limitations,” Meehan said.

The district is also projecting approval in the next few weeks for an energy performance contract, which is also expected to save money, administrators said. The contract is a comprehensive set of energy efficiency measures, accompanied with guarantees that the savings produced by a project will be sufficient to finance the project, the district said.

The contract was submitted to the New York State Education Department in April 2012 and has been under review. The wait time was blamed on issues caused from Hurricane Sandy.

Under the contract, the district is expected to update its heating system, perform weatherization measures and replace lighting and retrofitting.

The district is projecting a principal and interest payment of $358,082 for the 2015-2016 school year. The cost raised the levy to the maximum allowable amount of 2.27 percent, but the district was able to offset the cost due to the gap elimination adjustment (GEA) restoration the district received.

“We didn’t want to go to our community for more money than we needed. So that is why we didn’t take it to the full 2.27,” Superintendent Timothy Eagen said.

Kings Park will be receiving roughly $750,000 in additional usable state aid as part of the 36 percent GEA restoration and foundation aid. The surplus of money has allowed the district to include its wish-listed items in the budget.

Costing just shy of $400,000 the district will now add a social worker to split time between the high school and R.J.O Intermediate School, purchase much needed musical instruments, add an elementary librarian to R.J.O., add a third grounds man, reduce class size and more.

After the budget presentation the board and audience applauded the new superintendent and thanked him for the budget he helped put together.

“I tip my hat to Dr. Eagen on your first budget here in Kings Park,” Board of Education President Tom LoCascio said. “This is a good budget. This is a fiscally responsible, academically educationally sound budget.”

Suffolk County Historian Peter Cohalan, flanked by New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul and current and former Brookhaven Town officials, cuts a cake in honor of the town’s 360th anniversary. Photo from Brookhaven Town

Brookhaven town officials past and present along with New York’s lieutenant governor came out to celebrate the town’s 360th anniversary on Monday.

“When you think about 360 in geometrical terms, you’ve gone full circle,” Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) said on Monday, a day before the town’s April 14, 1655 founding date. “And this town has come full circle since the day six people, one from Southold and five from New England got off a small boat and landed in Setauket and saw land they wanted to make home.”

The first town zoning map, which was created in 1936. Photo by Barbara Donlon
The first town zoning map, which was created in 1936. Photo by Barbara Donlon

The event highlighted the town’s history and featured the original Town of Brookhaven zoning map, a 1936 artifact that doesn’t see the light of day much due to its delicacy, according to Brookhaven Town Historian Barbara Russell. Partygoers, including many local historical societies, also enjoyed a slide show of photos from historic landmarks and homes across the town.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) was also at the party and presented the town with a proclamation of appreciation from Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).

“I spent the entire day out in Brookhaven [National Lab] then in Stony Brook and stopping in various towns and villages,” Hochul said. “What an amazing quality of life you have here.”

Hochul reflected on celebrating her own town’s 150th anniversary and made jokes about the vast age difference.

Brookhaven Town Board members were also on hand to celebrate the event. Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) who represents the district where the town was founded spoke highly of the celebration.

“Tonight was an evening of celebration and reflection on a rich history in Brookhaven,” Cartright said in an email. “I was extremely honored to be present representing CD-1 and Setauket, where much of Brookhaven’s history originated.”

A view of the ‘I Matter’ art project at Northport Public Library. Photo from Dina Rescott

A local group that empowers children through character education and art is hosting a celebration and fundraiser event on April 30, where the public can come and see what it is all about.

Around 90 Commack, Huntington and Northport youth who participated in the “I Matter” art and character education project that was featured at local libraries in the past year will be honored at the John W. Engeman Theater at 6 p.m. prior to a performance of “A Chorus Line” at 8 p.m.

The “I Matter” project is an education and leadership program founded by the Center for Creative Development based in Huntington. It aims to inspire and empower students to make healthy decisions and steer clear of destructive behavior.

Several presenters from the project are expected to attend the event, including Rob Goldman, the center’s director; New York State Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R-East Northport); corporate sponsors and more.
The project’s new theme song, “Shine On,” will be debuted by writer and recording artist Alan Semerdjian. Choir members from Huntington schools will be featured on the song.

“It’s really bringing the community together,” Raia said in a statement. “We need to uplift the self-confidence of our teens and this is just the perfect program to do that.”

Participation in the “I Matter” project allows children to take part in a workshop environment where they share thoughts and feelings face-to-face, make photographic portraits of each other and more. The project also prompts public conversation and community involvement to address social issues and drug use.

Tickets for the event can be purchased and donations and sponsorships can be made at the website www.imatterproject.org/donate.html.

New programs and services included in $15.2 million plan

Library visitors do work at the Middle Country Public Library’s Centereach location. File photo by Barbara Donlon

An average Middle Country resident will see an increase of less than a dollar a month under the Middle Country Public Library’s proposed $15.2 million 2015-16 budget.

An average homeowner with an assessed value of $3,000 will pay $0.93 extra per month, according to the library’s spring newsletter. The budget increases by 1.4 percent over the current year and stays within the library’s tax levy increase cap.

Under the plan, the library will offer a 3D printing service. Adults can put in a request to use the printer, while children can utilize the device under the supervision of a staff member.

Outdoor games for adults are also available. Games such as Jenga and lawn bowling can be rented for seven days at a time.

“We thought this could be fun for adults,” library Director Sophia Serlis-McPhillips said. “They can now check it out instead of buying it.”

In addition, the library is working to get its Music and Memory program off the ground. The program is catered toward people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Program participants will listen to music via iPods to help jog memories and improve their quality of life.

Serlis-McPhillips also noted that the notary service offered at the library’s Centereach location would expand to the Selden location in May.

“We can now offer it to our patrons in that neck of the woods,” Serlis-McPhillips said.

The children’s department will also see new things. The museum pass program is set to expand, and starting next year, tickets to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan will be offered.

In addition, a new initiative called 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten will commence in September. With the goal of getting kids to read 1,000 books by the time they enter kindergarten, young kids will take home backpacks filled with 10 books at a time. Participants will receive an incentive for every 100 books they read. There will also be new resources for the adult and children sections. Two new child-friendly databases called ScienceFlix and FreedomFlix, which specialize in science and American history, respectively, will be available.

For adults, a new program called hoopla, which Serlis-McPhillips called “very popular,” will be available for adults to download movies and books.

The library will continue to expand access to downloadable e-books.

“There’s been an increase in circulation for downloadable [books] instead of print,” Serlis-McPhillips said.

Despite the change, the director said as long as people continue to read, that is all that matters.
Middle Country Public Library Board of Trustees President John Hoctor said he is pleased at the work the library does every year.

“Middle Country is always on the cusp,” Hoctor said. “They are the leader in the field.”

Hoctor’s deep love for libraries is why he sits on the board. He said every time he visits the library he get’s a sense of joy.

“One of the things I love about our library are the programs for children,” he said.

The library budget vote and trustee election will take place April 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Centereach building. Incumbent Trustee Jacqueline Schott is running for re-election unopposed. She was unavailable for comment Tuesday evening.

Evelyn Berezin is honored this month. Photo from Stony Brook University

A mere accident altered the life of Evelyn Berezin, and now, at almost 90 years old, she is being honored as one of the pioneers in the computer industry.

After 75 years since building her first computer, Berezin — a Poquott resident — is being honored and inducted into the Computer History Museum on April 25 in Mountain View, Calif., because of her impact on the ever-growing technology industry.

“Most people don’t know what a woman of great accomplishment she is,” said longtime friend Kathleen Mullinix, who will be traveling to the event with the woman she described as “a brilliant person of substance.”

Berezin said the best part about all of her success since logging into the computer field decades ago is the fact that she had no idea her life would turn out the way it did. She said she initially thought she would take the physics route at a young age, but it all changed for the best.

“I got into it by accident,” Berezin said. “It was so early in the game, I didn’t know what it was.”

But even though her life didn’t turn out exactly how she planned it, she said she has not looked back once since beginning her journey.

Berezin was born in the Bronx on April 12, 1925. At 15, she graduated high school and started at Hunter College, where she found an interest in physics, which was not an area of study at her all-girls school.

The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, her high school physics teacher knocked on her door and offered her a research job in the field she wanted.

“Every boy in the country was given a number to be drafted,” Berezin recalled on how she was able to get the job. “I happened to be there at the right time.”

At age of 16, Berezin lied about her age to get the job. She said her height helped her pass for 18, so she began working in the lab while attending college at night. She eventually studied math at Brooklyn Polytech, physics and chemistry at NYU and English at Hunter.

Four years later, she received a scholarship from NYU and accomplished her dream and received her degree in physics.

“It’s what I really wanted,” Berezin said.

After graduation, she received an Atomic Energy Commission fellowship while still working toward her Ph.D. Her dream shifted when she met her husband in 1951. Although the two did not have a steady salary, they decided to marry. So the search for a job began.

“I was told [there was] no way I would get a physics job in 1951 because of the Korean War,” Berezin said.

She then met someone who would forever change her life. A recruiter told her there were very few physics jobs in the government. So she decided to ask about computers, even though the industry was in its infancy.

“I had no idea why I asked,” Berezin said. “I never even heard of a computer.”

She landed her first job working for Electronic Computer Corporation for $4,500 a year — a huge increase from her previous $1,600 salary.

Before the company went bankrupt in 1957, she designed three or four different computers that were used by various companies. She then moved on to a job at Teleregister making computers that would distribute stock market information across the country.

After traveling all the way to Connecticut for her job, Berezin decided to switch jobs but stay in the computer business. She took a job with Digitronics and began designing computers with great complexity and speed.

After all her hard work, she still felt she wasn’t getting what she wanted.

“In 1969 I decided I would never get to be vice president because I was a woman,” Berezin said. “I decided to start my own company.”

It was then that Berezin’s company Redactron was born. From 1969 to 1975 she worked hard to build the company up with roughly 500 employees.

During the 1970s, the economy took a dip, when she said money was not coming in and interest rates were high. She decided to sell the company to the Burroughs Corporation for roughly $25 million.

She continued to work at Burroughs as part of the sale.

“At that time you didn’t work on the computer, you worked in them,” Berezin recalled of the large machines on which she worked.

After leaving Burroughs, Berezin spent the rest of her time getting involved in start-up companies and moved to Long Island.