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From left, Huntington’s Amelia Heinz, A’Riana Elmore, Hanna Valenzuela-Ayala, Julia Aldas and Madeline Francis compete at the Section XI crossover invitational track meet at SCCC – Brentwood Dec 19. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington’s Hope Bilkey competes in the Suffolk crossover invitational at SCCC -Brentwood Dec 19. Bill Landon photo
Huntington’s Hanna Valenzuela-Ayala and Cindy Alvarez compete at the Section XI crossover invitational track meet at SCCC – Brentwood Dec 19. Photo by Bill Landon
8008 Huntington’s Veronica Cocoman competes in the Suffolk crossover invitational at SCCC-Brentwood Dec 19. Bill Landon photo
Huntington’s Hope Bilkey and teammate Brianna Halbeisen compete in the Suffolk crossover invitational at SCCC-Brentwood Dec 19. Bill Landon photo
Huntington’s Brianna Halbeisen competes in the Suffolk crossover invitational at SCCC-Brentwood Dec 19. Bill Landon photo
Huntington’s Jannel Maroquin competes in the Suffolk crossover invitational at SCCC-Brentwood Dec 19. Bill Landon photo

After an abbreviated winter track and field season earlier this year, Huntington’s girls track team showed no signs of slowing down in a crossover invitational meet at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood Dec. 19.

Olivia Conte won the 55-meter hurdles at 9.17 seconds. Hope Bilkey finished second in the 55-meter dash at 7.95 seconds with Brianna Halbeisen placing sixth. Jannel Maroquin clocked in at 3:45.94 at 1000-meters good enough for fifth place. It was a Huntington one-two finish at the 300 meter distance with Bilkey and Conte with at 45.87 and 46.12 seconds. respectively.

The Blue Devils are back on track again at SCCC in the Jim Howard invitational Jan. 5. Start time is 5 p.m.

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File photo

The Huntington Town Board held its December 14, 2021 meeting, where they allocated $22 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for the Huntington Station Hub Sewer Infrastructure Project, opted out of the State Cannabis Law, and approved proposed amendments to the Matinecock Court Housing Development.

Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci and the Town Board approved an intermunicipal agreement with the County of Suffolk to transfer the Town’s $22,209,010 in American Rescue Plan Act Funds to the County of Suffolk for the construction of the Huntington Station Hub Sewer Infrastructure Project, spanning the New York Avenue/Route 110 Corridor from the Huntington LIRR Train Station to 14th Street with additional adjacent parcels to the east and west.

The Town opted out of allowing cannabis retail dispensaries and on-site consumption sites within the Town of Huntington, outside of the Incorporated Villages, as authorized under New York State Cannabis Law Article 4. The board also voted to prohibit the consumption of cannabis on Town property, including parks and beaches, and on streets and sidewalks outside of the Incorporated Villages.

The board approved the developer’s proposed amendments the court-ordered settlement agreement with Matinecock Court Housing Development Fund Corporation and Matinecock Court LLC for the proposed development for low-income housing at the corner of Pulaski Road and Elwood Road in East Northport. The amendments, subject to approval by United States District Court in the Eastern District of New York, decreases the total number of units from 155 to 146, changes the 50/50 rental/equity split to 100% limited equity cooperative, and requires payments in lieu of taxes.

In other action, the Town Board:

  • Scheduled two regular Town Board meetings for Tuesday, January 4, 2022 at 2:00 PM and Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 2:00 PM.
  • Approved up to $125,000 in Environmental Open Space and Park Improvement funds for recommended neighborhood enhancements to install sidewalks, curbs, an ADA-compliant pedestrian ramp and trees along the south side of Madison Street to create safe community access to Heckscher Park.
  • The board amended the Town’s Affordable Housing Code (Chapter 74) to establish alternative formulas, created with the support of the Huntington Housing Coalition, for the calculation of affordable rents on smaller projects in commercial zones due to higher construction costs.

 

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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.

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Eric McCarthy and Deidre O'Connell in front of the new location.  Photo courtesy of Daniel Gale Sotheby's

Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty has announced that it is in the process of moving its longtime Huntington office from Park Avenue to a prime location on the corner of Main Street and New York Avenue in downtown Huntington Village. The new office will reap the benefits of high visibility and heavy foot traffic in this destination village known for its popular restaurants, shopping, and entertainment venues. 

Daniel Gale Sotheby’s Chief Executive Officer Deirdre O’Connell made the announcement with the expectation that the new office will open in early spring 2022.

“To say that we are excited about our new location is an understatement,” said O’Connell. “We are delighted to bring a state of the art real estate office to downtown Huntington Village. Not only is Huntington the hometown of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, our very first office was founded on this busy corner in 1922. Its opening will coincide with the start of our 100th anniversary celebration.” 

As the new home base for some 50 real estate advisors, the office, located at 263 Main Street with display windows running alongside New York Ave., has already been festooned with signs bearing Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty’s familiar whale logo.  

“We’re sad to say goodbye to our longtime home on Park Avenue,” said O’Connell, “but this new office will incorporate design elements developed to accommodate the latest technology, the health and safety needs of those who work there or visit, and include leading edge meeting rooms.” 

Eric McCarthy, sales manager of the Huntington office, is equally enthused about the move to Main Street. “An essential part of our culture is being part of the local community, and we will be in the thick of it here on Main Street. Huntington is among Long Island’s most desirable communities in which to live, and we look forward to inviting our neighbors, friends and passersby to stop in and say hello.” 

 

 

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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.

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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!

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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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Smithtown East freshman Angie Camarda drives the baseline in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington senior Shaneek Shand drives inside in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington senior Shaneek Shand drives inside in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Smithtown East sophomore Nicole Caputo #4 boxes out after a free throw in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Photo by Bill Landon
Smithtown East sophomore Melanie Pappas lays up for two in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Photo by Bill Landon
Smithtown East sophomore Melanie Pappas with the jumper in a home game against Huntington Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington senior Makaylah Frazier grabs the rebound in a league III road game against Smithtown East. Bill Landon
Huntington senior Makalah Frazier shoots from three-point land in a league III road game against Smithtown East. Bill Landon
Huntington senior guard Katie Browne from the free throw line in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington senior guard Katie Browne battles down low in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington senior guard Katie Browne battles down low in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington center Junie Nosile goes up for two in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Smithtown East junior Josie Lent looks for the rebound for the Bulls in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Credit Bill Landon
Smithtown East freshman Jordan Townes goes up for two in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Photo by Bill Landon
Smithtown East freshman Jordan Townes drives the lane in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington guard Gianna Forte shoots from the top of the key for the Blue Devils Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington junior Gianna Forte drives to the basket against Smithtown East Dec 14. Credit Bill Landon
Huntington senior Emily Plachta drains a three-pointer in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington senior Emily Plachta drives to the basket in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington senior Emily Plachta shoots in a league III road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington senior Emily Plachta lets a three-pointer fly in a league III road game against Smithtown East. Bill Landon photo
Smithtown East junior Darcy DeBenedittis with a rebound for the Bulls in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Credit Bill Landon
Smithtown East junior Darcy DeBenedittis drives towards the basket for the Bulls in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Credit Bill Landon
Battle in the paint. Bill Landon
Huntington forward Asyria Rios battles down low for the Blue Devils in a road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Huntington forward Asyria Rios battles down low for the Blue Devils in a road game against Smithtown East Dec 14. Bill Landon photo
Smithtown East freshman Angie Camarda drives the baseline in a league III matchup at home against Huntington Dec 14. Photo by Bill Landon

It was the Huntington Blue Devils defense that kept the Bulls at bay at Smithtown High School East where East trailed 33-7 at the half time break. Huntington coasted in the second half to notch a 48-20 victory in the League III matchup Dec. 14.

Huntington senior forward Emily Plachta led the way for the Blue Devils with seven field goals a triple and three from the line for 20 points, teammates Gianna Forte banked nine and Junie Nosile battled in the paint for six points. Smithtown East juniors Darcy DeBenedittis and Josie Lent scored four points apiece for the Bulls.

The win lifts Huntington to 3-0 in league play, 6-0 overall. The loss drops Smithtown East to 1-2 in league, 1-4 overall. Both teams are back in action Dec. 17 when Smithtown East has a road game against Copiague at 4 p.m. and Huntington hosts Hills East with a 5 p.m. start.

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Photo from Leslie Gang

This past weekend Judy Farabaugh, a representative from the Northport Rotary, along with several members of the community group, delivered 200 boxes containing 10,000 books to the home of Hindi’s Libraries co-founder, Leslie Gang, a result of their latest book drive.  The rotary, whose mission includes supporting education and promoting literacy, has been a supporter of Hindi’s Libraries since the organization’s inception.

Over 10,000 books were collected.

In addition to the book donations, Hindi’s Libraries received a generous contribution of $2,000 from the Northport Rotary to assist with shipping costs the nonprofit may incur.

Hindi’s Libraries is a 501c3 international nonprofit that donates new and gently used children’s books all over the world, spanning across 50 states, Israel, India, Puerto Rico, Haiti and Africa. Books are sent to recipients, completely free of charge, as the nonprofit absorbs all fees associated with shipping. Since the organization’s inception in 2018, they have collected more than 250,000 books and partnered with 650 organizations worldwide. 

All books are dedicated in memory of Dr. Hindi Krinsky, 32 year old educator and mother of 5 who suddenly passed away in August of 2018 due to complications from Crohn’s disease. For more information, visit www.hindislibraries.org.

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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.

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