Port Times Record

A rendering of the new mixed-use complex to be built on the corner of Main Street and North Country Road in Port Jefferrson. Photo from The Gitto Group

The Gitto Group is one step closer to starting the construction on its latest project in Upper Port. 

Vice President Rob Gitto said that earlier this month the group received approval from the Village of Port Jefferson and the Town of Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency to finally close on an economic development package that will assist as the developer constructs a mixed-use project on the corner of Main Street and North Country Road. Gitto said the complex will include 36 rental units and two retail spaces below. It is to be located where the PJ Lobster House originally stood, as well as a former florist shop.

“We’re excited to have another project in the village,” Gitto said. “It’s a very important corner and we’re looking forward to building a nice product.”

The Gitto Group has built another development uptown, The Hills at Port Jefferson Village, which has been at a steady full capacity since opening. These projects are part of the continuous plan to revitalize Upper Port.

According to the IDA, Port Development, an affiliate of The Gitto Group, plans to demolish the two buildings, 4,400 square feet and 1,800 square feet respectively, and replace them with a three-story building totaling 48,660 square feet, spending $15 million to replace the now-vacant buildings. 

The complex will have 32 one-bedroom apartments of approximately 750-850 square feet each and four two-bedroom units of about 1,200 square feet. 

Resident amenities will include a fitness room, lobby and lounge spaces, an indoor garage, and a private outdoor patio and lawn/garden area.  

The ground level of the proposed building, within walking distance of the LIRR’s Port Jefferson station, will include 1,800 square feet of commercial/retail space.

“There is currently a high demand for rental housing in the Town of Brookhaven and the Port Jefferson area and this project will add to the supply,” said Frederick C. Braun III, chairman of the Brookhaven IDA. “Also, this development will make a positive, long-term economic impact on the village and further the revitalization of Upper Port.”

The project is expected to generate 133 construction jobs and five full-time equivalent permanent jobs. Construction is expected to take 18 months.

Gitto added that people will begin to see more movement on the property now that approvals have been secured. 

“We are starting the preliminary work,” he said. “We’re getting ready for demolition but we won’t be able to start construction until March.”

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Comsewogue had their hands full in their league IV season opener against West Babylon, where the Lady Warriors faced a stout defense resulting in several turnovers in the 58-28 loss at home Dec. 18. 

Jalyn Kirschenhucter was the bright spot for the Warriors scoring 3 triples, 4 field goals and a pair of free throws for 19 points. 

The Lady Warriors retake the court with a pair of road games against Hauppauge on Dec. 20 with a 4 o’clock start, and the following day against Eastport South Manor with a game time scheduled for 5:45 p.m.

— All photos by Bill Landon 

Stock photo

Bill Leonard and the sea were a perfect fit and inseparable. He was born on Dec. 21, 1928 and spent his early childhood on Gnarled Hollow Road (first house on the left) in East Setauket, New York. The Leonard home was just a stone’s throw from Setauket Harbor and just around the corner from the Rolston’s grocery store, where his father was manager.  Setauket Harbor was Bill’s “playground” and he’d tell you the marshy area behind his house “produced the finest muck in the world.”

His mother’s scolding’s were not enough to keep him from trudging around in that muck and coming home looking and smelling like a “swamp monster.”The family, now including a four-year-old brother, Edwin, moved to South Street in Port Jefferson village when Bill was 15 years old. One more Leonard boy (Francis) was born there, and Bill became a much admired and dearly loved big brother.  

He spent his teenage years cultivating life-long friendships, “having way too much fun,” and dreaming of the day he’d join the armed forces. At 17, he enlisted in the Army and at 20 he joined the Navy.

Bill and his duffel bag traveled the world. He was part of the occupational force in Korea while in the Army and served as an Engineman aboard four Naval ships in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and a PT boat in Vietnam. He achieved the rank of Chief Petty Officer before his retirement in 1973. 

During his 22 years in the Navy, he was a Frogman with the Underwater Demolition Team (UDTs).  These teams were the predecessors of the Navy’s current Seal Teams. It was very dangerous work.     

Bill and his wife, Shirley, were both in their late 40s when they married. Shirley was an Army veteran (a WAC from 1950-53) and a beloved primary school teacher. Their marriage was one of deep mutual respect, adoration and a love everlasting.  

Shirley once wrote to a friend “Bill is quiet and unassuming. Little by little, I am finding out more and more. He is not a braggart. If there were a catastrophe, I would put my life in his hands. He would protect me.”  

Bill described their relationship this way: “It was just so comfortable —  like slipping on your favorite sweater.”  

Shirley (Bill’s “Punkin”) passed away in 2017.  

Bill’s health began to decline in 2020. By March of that year, after a short hospital stay, he was thoughtlessly and indefinitely placed in a nursing home as COVID-19 raged out of control.  

Thanks to the unyielding efforts of his family, Bill was able to return home and spend the last year and a half of his life in the cozy little house he shared with Shirley on High Street in Port Jefferson village.  Even as the end grew near, Bill never failed to lift the spirits of those around him. He was courageous, a guiding light, and an inspiration to all.  

He will be remembered for his kindness, generosity, good humor, optimism, honesty and his unrivaled quick wit. He will be missed but never forgotten by his adoring family and a multitude of friends who so enjoyed his company.

Bill was placed in hospice care at Stony Brook’s Veteran’s Home on July 29 and passed away ever so peacefully on Aug. 15.  He asked that no formal service be held in his honor.  He wished to be buried at sea as that was where his spirit longed to be.  

The Rev. Gregory Leonard and many members of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Setauket held a very special place in Bill’s heart — a proclamation and certificate they presented to him in 2008 for his commitment and support was a prized possession.  

Contributions to the church in Bill’s memory may be made to:  Bethel A.M.E Church, 33 Christian Avenue, P.O. Box 2117, Setauket, New York 11733.

A portion of the cream cheese case in Bagel Express in Setauket. Photo from David Prestia

Across the North Shore of Suffolk County, bagel shops and bakeries have found that it has been a little difficult getting cream cheese.

While customers can still get their favorite spread on a sandwich or buy a cheesecake or Danish pastry, local bakery and bagel shop owners are having a difficult time procuring cream cheese, and the price of the product has increased over the last few weeks. The shortage has been felt across the nation.

David Prestia, owner of Bagel Express in Setauket, said he first heard about the shortage on the news. It was a bit concerning to him as his restaurant uses cream cheese often for their bagel sandwiches, even though they offer other options such as butter, egg salad and more.

Prestia said he deals with several distributors so he has only been slightly affected by the shortage. When a couple of them couldn’t fulfill his cream cheese order, he was able to go to another distributor. However, the amount he could order was limited. He said this distributor told him that they would have to limit orders until they could assess the situation.

Cream cheese comes in 50-pound blocks, and while it’s the norm to order a few blocks at a time, he and others have been lucky if they can get one or two per order.

Prestia said he also noticed the price was going up recently. He estimated, based on his experience, that it cost 20% more to buy the spread.

Cream cheese blocks can last 45 days if the seal isn’t broken, so Prestia said he should be good through the remainder of the year. He added that cream cheese is not the only thing in short supply and he has had trouble finding other products, including napkins and plates.

“It’s been so many different things that we’ve been short on and then when the stuff appears, then the price goes up and that’s the problem,” he said. “Prices are changing so rapidly. It’s hard to keep up with what’s going on.”

Cemal Ankay, owner of Bagelicious Cafe in Port Jefferson Station, has been experiencing the same issues as Prestia. He said he has been reaching out to different distributors throughout the state to get cream cheese.

Ankay said he always tries to have two-weeks inventory, and while he hasn’t been able to get as many blocks of cream cheese as he has in the past such as four or five, he has been able to get one or two here and there. He said it’s important to be proactive as the year winds down.

“Christmas week, that’s our busiest days of the year,” he said.

Product shortages have seemed to become the norm lately, Ankay said.

“After this pandemic happened, we always have different kinds of product shortages,” he said, adding at one point he had trouble getting bacon then cups for iced tea. He, too, has had trouble getting napkins.

Ankay has seen the prices skyrocket for cream cheese. He once paid $1.90 a pound but then last week it was around $2.49, and the other day he was told it would be more than $3.

“You’re lucky to get it,” he said. “I don’t want to say to my customers, ‘Sorry, I don’t have any cream cheese.’”

In Northport, Copenhagen Bakery & Cafe owned by Flemming Hansen has been facing similar problems getting cream cheese for items such as cheesecake, Danishes and their red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, according to employee Jessica Greenbaum. Like Bagel Express, they deal with a few distributors and have options regarding ordering. Recently, they ordered cream cheese from a distributor that they haven’t ordered the product from in the past.

“I hope it doesn’t come to, when in the morning you crave a cheese Danish, that we don’t have one,” she said, adding that the bakery has enough to get through the holidays as they don’t use as much of the spread as a bagel store would.

Grocery stores

The cream cheese shortage has affected local grocery stores, too.

Stefanie Shuman, external communications manager for Stop & Shop, said, “Like many retailers, we are seeing some shortages because suppliers are experiencing labor and transportation challenges due to COVID-19. With cream cheese, Kraft specifically has been having supply issues on Philly and Temp Tee [products] due to impacts from Hurricane Ida.”

King Kullen, which has stores in St. James and Wading River, is experiencing similar problems, according to Lloyd Singer, spokesperson for King Kullen.

“While we are in stock on most varieties, supply is tight and is expected to remain so through the end of the year,” Singer said.

METRO photo

It’s no surprise that face mask use is mandated once again when visiting or working in a store or venue in the state of New York. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said earlier this year if the COVID-19 infection rate kept climbing, the mandatory health protocol would be needed again.

Until Jan. 15, 2022, when the state will reassess, unless an establishment has a vaccine requirement, a mask must be worn by everyone 2 years old and up. The governor announced the statewide mandate that began Monday, Dec. 13, during a press conference last Friday. In addition, businesses that do not comply can face fines up
to $1,000.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, the state’s infection rate last Saturday reflected a 51% jump over 14 days. With more than a 7% seven-day infection rate in Suffolk County, Hochul’s new mandate seems more than appropriate for our communities.

While some people still have been wearing masks either because they aren’t vaccinated or as an extra precaution, many have not since former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) lifted the initial mask mandate in the state.

The news can be frustrating for those who are vaccinated and even received the booster shot. However, Americans have known since the virus first reached our shores that it would take a while to figure out how to lessen transmission, especially since a virus can mutate. With no practice 100% effective — and some people resisting not only wearing masks but getting the vaccine — the virus has continued infecting people and new variants have developed, such as Delta and Omicron. While medical researchers are still trying to understand the virus, why not take extra precautions? Even if they are not guaranteed to stop transmission, they can lessen the chances of spreading the virus.

While face masks can be uncomfortable at times, the protective gear acts as a barrier to protect the wearer from droplets released in the air when someone coughs or sneezes. It also traps the wearer’s respiratory droplets. If someone is sick and they are wearing a mask, they are less likely to give someone else the virus.

When Cuomo issued mandatory business shutdowns in the early days of the pandemic, New Yorkers debated if this was the right approach. A good percentage of people thought it would be the demise of many businesses. Fortunately, many business owners were able to swim with the tide and come up with innovative solutions such as curbside service and selling merchandise on social media if they didn’t have a website.

Now more than ever, local businesses need our support as many of them cannot make it through another round of shutdowns. So, let’s mask up before stepping inside a favorite store, restaurant or theater so that we can keep these places not only open but give them a chance to thrive.

After all, this is the season of goodwill.

Pixabay photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Dogs need to go outside, regardless of the temperature. My dog, who has a thick coat of hair, loves the winter and is perfectly happy to linger outside, especially when it’s close to freezing. When the grass is covered with frost, he slowly lowers his right cheek and does a lawn dive, bringing the rest of his body piece by piece down onto the cold, wet surface.

Once he’s completely on the ground, he rolls onto his back, using the blades of grass and the water and ice to scratch his back, while snorting with delight. With the eye that isn’t pressed into the ground, he stares at me, waiting for me to give up the ghost on getting some exercise or coming back inside quickly. When I reach down to pet him, I can almost see him smirk as he wags his tail triumphantly.

This month, he and I have seen some unusual sights. When I see something unusual, I try to take out my phone, but my reaction time, and all the extra material in my pocket, makes that a largely ineffective effort.

Even when I do manage to take out the camera and point it in the general direction of something interesting, the pictures typically disappoint, because my dog who hates to move suddenly gets the urge to pull just as I’m snapping the photo, leaving me with a blurry image of the road.

A few days ago, we were at the top of our street at dusk, near one of my dog’s favorite places to poop. In fact, I can take him on a four-mile walk and, within a tenth of a mile of our home, he finds his favorite blades of grass, takes his usual tentative steps, turns away from me — he needs privacy — and does his business.

This time, though, just as he was approaching his familiar spot, a hawk passed by only a few feet from my head, giving me a chance to look him, and the object he was carrying, squarely in the eyes.

The hawk was holding a squirrel, which seemed especially odd to me given the relative size of the two animals. The squirrel wasn’t moving but was clearly alive. When I told my family about it, they were sympathetic to the squirrel.

A few days later, walking toward the other end of the block, my dog and I observed a blow-up Frosty on one end of a lawn and a blow-up Santa on the other rise slowly from the ground as air flowed slowly into them.

My dog, whose fear of unusual inanimate objects builds around Halloween and the December holidays, stood at attention and considered announcing his presence with authority to objects that can’t, and don’t, react to his deep bark.

Fortunately, he only pulled his lips back slightly and lifted his tail, allowing the neighbors to enjoy their dark, quiet evening without the sound of a panicked pooch on a poop walk.

A few minutes later, I studied the stars at a distance when a light appeared in the sky, flashed toward the horizon and disappeared. Never having seen a shooting star before, I was mesmerized.

When I returned and shared the story, my son, who doesn’t seem too keen on superstition but is clearly aware of pop culture, asked if I made a wish. Not wanting to pass up the opportunity for help from anywhere, I did. Maybe by next December, I’ll let you know if it came true!

Pixabay photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

All of you devoted coffee drinkers, and that includes me, might like to know the information in an article in The New York Times headlined, “Why does coffee make me poop?” Written by Alice Callahan and published on Dec. 7, the story explains cause-and-effect, providing some understanding of what is happening in our bodies when we drink java. (That’s where it originally came from, hence the name.)

Not much is known about the precise mechanism of how coffee affects the gastrointestinal tract, but we do know that it can be a laxative.

“Coffee is a complex beverage containing more than 1000 chemical compounds, many of which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties,” according to The Times. This is also why drinking coffee is generally encouraged since it is considered to be a healthy beverage in moderation.

A gut reaction to the intake of coffee can surprisingly happen in a matter of minutes. How does drinking coffee on one end stimulate the other end of the GI tract so quickly? The answer is that a signal probably goes through the gut-brain axis, meaning that the arrival of coffee in the stomach, which happens in 4 minutes, stimulates the brain to send a signal to the colon to empty itself. The coffee actually takes an hour to travel through the small intestine and reach the far end of the colon.

“This communication between the stomach, brain and colon [is] called the gastrocolic reflex [and] is a normal response to eating,” according to The Times. 

But coffee has an outsized effect, stimulating colonic contractions as if a full meal had been consumed. The messaging is thought to be caused by one or more of the chemicals in coffee, and may be aided by some of our own hormones. Examples of such hormones are gastrin and cholecystokinin, which can spike after coffee drinking. 

Pixabay photo

It is not the caffeine that is the stimulant, however, because those who drink decaffeinated coffee can experience the same stimulatory effect on the colon. This makes coffee a useful tool in dealing with chronic constipation, along with eating more fruits and vegetables, which are high in fiber, drinking more fluids and getting more exercise. Incidentally, a brewed cup of coffee contains a small amount of fiber, one gram for an 8-ounce cup. Fiber is necessary for good gastrointestinal activity.

I have always been a coffee drinker, although my parents wouldn’t let me have some, saying it wasn’t good for children. But I found the smell of it irresistible and began drinking it in college, especially to facilitate those late-night assignments. But right around the time my second child was born, I started getting migraines that were triggered by the caffeine in coffee. This would suggest that a heightened state of hormones plus coffee with caffeine were upsetting my colon and causing trouble along my gut-brain axis. I have satisfied my coffee desires with decaf, but I will tell you what many of you decaf drinkers know: the taste and the effect are not the same. I do miss that lovely surge of energy to start off the morning.

It’s surprising how little we know about how coffee affects us. The most valuable study of digestion, in general, was done between 1822 and 1833 by William Beaumont, an American Army surgeon, on the French Canadian, Alexis St. Martin, a boatman employed by a fur company. St. Martin was shot in the abdomen on Mackinac Island in a near-fatal accident, and the wound did not heal properly, leaving a hole in his stomach. This provided a window of sorts for Beaumont to watch the digestive process. He learned much about the stomach, gastric juices and how digestion works, and he published those observations. But he doesn’t seem to have advanced our understanding about coffee’s effects. Perhaps neither man drank coffee.

To this day, I still say that the best part of coffee, regular or decaffeinated, is its smell.

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Mrs. Claus (Jennifer Quinn) with board members present gift bags prepared by students Ashley Doxey and Alysaa Morturano to military families. Photo from Andrew Harris

By Andrew Harris 

On Saturday, Dec. 11, at the Holiday Club Fair at Comsewogue High School, the district honored their graduates who are currently serving as active military personnel. 

“We hoped that some could actually be here but realized that they get very little time off and many are serving all over the world,” Superintendent of Schools Jennifer Quinn said. “So, we invited their families to receive the care packages.”

Santa Claus (Joseph Coniglione) with Mrs. Claus (Jennifer Quinn). Photo from Andrew Harris

One mother, whose sons Paul and Sean Piotrowski (2015) are serving in the U.S. Marines, said that “receiving the gift cards and handwritten notes for each of them was wonderful.”

The idea was inspired by students Alyssa Morturano and Ashley Doxey, who followed up by collecting cards at events and doing various fundraisers.

The wife and children of Michelle Flaherty’s son Billy (2004) attended because he is currently in the Army as a helicopter crew chief. The mother said that he is getting deployed to the Middle East this coming May. 

“I am so proud of my son and all the Comsewogue alumni who are serving in our armed forces,” Flaherty said. “It means so much to the families to have the support of the Comsewogue community — once a warrior, always a warrior.”

Joseph Coniglione, assistant superintendent of schools, was thrilled the event was able to happen.

“To have the proud parents of those who have made the decision to serve our country there, and to be able to share their pride was a tremendous experience for me and this community,” he said. “We are all so proud of all our students, especially those who made this commitment.”

Andrew Harris is a teacher in the Comsewogue School District. 

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Port Jefferson Free Library. File photo by Kyle Barr

The Port Jefferson Free Library Board of Trustees recently announced that one seat is due to expire. 

Trustee Jennifer Schaefer’s term expires January 2022 and she will not be seeking re-election. One petition has been filed by Carl Siegel who will be running unopposed.

Carl Siegel. Photo from Port Jefferson Free Library

Siegel served two five-year terms on the board of the Port Jefferson Free Library from 1994-1999, and again in 2016-2021. He was involved in multiple projects and initiatives including the creation of the Children’s Library and the Adult Reading Room. 

He states that experience gave him a strong understanding of the building development, its fiscal requirements and challenges, and he gained a solid understanding of the village population’s needs and priorities. 

Siegel is a retired English teacher who was employed at Port Jefferson High School for 23 years and taught dozens of literature courses over the past several years in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Stony Brook University. 

The Port Jefferson Free Library’s annual meeting and election will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 12 from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. 

Voters must be of at least 18 years of age, a resident of the Port Jefferson School District and a member of the PJFL Association with a library card in good standing

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Suffolk police commissioner Rodney Harrison. File photo

At a press conference Dec. 14 in Hauppauge, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) named Rodney Harrison as his nominee for county police commissioner. Harrison is the outgoing New York Police Department chief of department.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, Harrison is a 30-year veteran of the NYPD. His appointment will go before the county Legislature Dec. 21.

Stuart Cameron has served as acting commissioner since former police commissioner, Geraldine Hart, stepped down in May.